Special to the News
Minister Earl Leonard is celebrating 40 years of ministry this year, having begun in 1984.
A native of Alexander City, Leonard currently resides in Marietta, Georgia, where he has lived for 22 years, since 1999. However, he was born in Coosa County in Equality and spent his early childhood there and his early teenage years in Kellyton. He also attended Coosa County schools in Rockford.
He is a 1985 graduate of Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City and a 1989 graduate of Faulkner University, formerly Alabama Christian College, in Montgomery. There he received an associates degree in the field of liberal arts.
At the age of 17, Leonard began preaching on January 1, 1984, at the New Elam #1 Baptist Church in Alexander City under the late Rev. Paul Lawson Jr.
He founded the Minister Earl Leonard Outreach Ministry on November 17, 1984. He ministered at the Alexander City Jail, Adam’s Nursing Home, Goodwater Nursing Home, Brown Nursing Home, and Alexander City Work Release Center.
Eventually he moved to Montgomery, where he lived for 17 years. There he ministered at the Woodley Manor Nursing Home, Dalraida Nursing Home and South Haven Manor.
He preached and ran revivals in Montgomery, Wetumpka and Brewton, as well.
The fortieth year celebration for Leonard will be held Saturday, October 26, at 6 p.m. at the Cooper Rec Center, located at 625 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Alexander City.
The guest speaker will be Rev. Stanford Benson, pastor of First Baptist Missionary Church in Rockford and moderator of the Morning Star District in Cottage Grove. Special music will be performed by The Traveling Harrells. Everyone is welcome to come join us in this celebration of 40 years of ministry for Earl Leonard.
