Paulks hold final celebration in cathedral

By Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When Bishop Earl Paulk preached his first sermon from the pulpit of the newly completed cathedral some 18 years ago, he spoke of a church where everyone was welcome.

“The old, the young, the rich and the poor, black and white — the whosoever will,” he said at the time.

Now, five months after his death, the congregation of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur held its last service in the cathedral Paulk built with his brother, Don Paulk.

The church will continue to worship in another location.

Sunday’s service was another milestone in the history of the racially-diverse church, which at one time had more than 10,000 members. But membership dwindled in the 1990s after a series of women accused Earl Paulk and others in the church of manipulating them into sexual relationships. Several lawsuits resulted. In one case, Earl Paulk pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying under oath when a DNA test showed he fathered a son with his brother’s wife.

That son, D.E. Paulk, now pastors the church, also known as the Cathedral at Chapel Hill. In November, membership declines and an inability to pay the mortgage forced church leaders to put the property up for sale.

But Sunday’s service was about new beginnings.

Members, young and old, rich and poor, black and white, and even gays and lesbians, present and past, filled the main floor of the sanctuary.

And they celebrated.

“If we cry, we cry today tears of joy,” said Beth Bonner, one of Paulk’s children who spoke during the service.

For a little more than three hours, praise and worship filled the air as family members reminisced on the rich history and legacy of a 40-plus-year-old ministry known for being in the forefront of social movements, such as racial integration and ordaining women.

Their message: When God closes one door, God opens another.

“We’re not losing anything,” reminded Bonner. “We are gaining something.”

Sold for $17.6 million

Earlier this month, Greater Traveler’s Rest Baptist Church purchased the property for $17.6 million. The church will hold its first service there on Aug. 30.

What’s next for the church the Paulks built is unclear.

The family seems closer, healed and committed to continuing the ministry of Jesus Christ and inclusion, under the guidance of D.E. Paulk, his wife, Brandi, and Bonner.

For the young man who became senior pastor in 2007, the future is bright.

“God is not done with us yet. There is still something very relevant for us to do,” D.E. Paulk said in an interview Friday. “Our church has survived one of the greatest media storms in the past 20 years,” he added. “The reason we are still standing is by God’s grace.”

“No matter where we go,” D.E. Paulk said during the final service, “we will still be known as the Cathedral. I don’t care if it is a storefront or in a basement. We will put a steeple on it and fake it until we make it.”

For the next four Sundays they will have combined services with D.E. Paulk’s cousin, Bishop Jim Earl Swilley, at the Church In the Now in Conyers. They will also use the space vacated by Greater Traveler’s Rest, behind South DeKalb Mall, part time.

His heart’s desire, “which does not mean it is God’s will,” is to be closer to the downtown, D.E. Paulk said.

“I find that there is a lot more openness of progressive thought there,” he said. “The ideal of inclusion is not as easy to preach in suburbia.”

Message continues

The church’s message of unity is being lifted up today by a new generation.

“We may be leaving this building, but we will never forsake the mission,” D.E. Paulk said.

“So much attention has been given to who we have been,” he said.

“Now we have a chance to speak to who we are becoming. Who we are becoming still continues.”