MINNEAPOLIS, MN (December 4, 2000) – Services for Douglas G. Cedarleaf, longtime Covenant pastor and advocate for racial reconciliation and social justice, were held Saturday at Bethlehem Covenant Church. Cedarleaf, 86, died November 27 following a lengthy illness.
Cedarleaf served in full-time pastoral ministry from 1943 until 1980. A graduate of Whitworth College in Washington and North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, his first Covenant pastorate was at First Covenant Church in Spokane, Washington, (1948-55). He also served a 15-year pastorate at North Park Covenant Church (1955-1970) and also served Rochester Covenant Church in Minnesota and Grace Covenant Church in Stambaugh, Michigan.
Besides church pastoral ministry, Cedarleaf served as chaplain at the Holmstad in Batavia, Illinois, and had been on numerous denominational boards, including the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) Executive Board and the Board of Ministerial Standing. He also became a sought-after speaker at denominational functions. Doug and Carolyn Cedarleaf were recognized for their efforts in urban ministry by the ECC in 1998, receiving the Irving C. Lambert Award.
Long before he became a Covenant minister, Cedarleaf was involved in social justice issues. He gained national attention when he and his Erie Chapel Presbyterian Church in Chicago befriended an African-American family. A Time Magazine article March 5, 1945, stated that Cedarleaf invited the family to the north side church, preached about tolerance to his congregation and led 135 of his congregation’s 175 members to the family’s residence in a show of support. He then gave the family a Bible while preaching about the importance of tolerance to those who had gathered. The event was also documented in the Covenant Weekly March 16, 1945.
North Park Covenant Church pastor Art Nelson said Cedarleaf was a model for ministry and one of the most significant people in his life. “He was really, without question, my mentor,” said Nelson, who first became acquainted with Cedarleaf during college, shortly after Cedarleaf became pastor at North Park Covenant Church. “His passion for gospel and justice was monumental to me at that time,” Nelson said. “He preached with such passion and such sincerity that he would frequently weep in the pulpit, not to draw attention to himself, but because he was concerned for those less fortunate,” he continued.
“He was picketing for justice on the south side of Chicago in the 30s and 40s at a housing project,” Nelson recalled. “And he was holding marches long before it was a common practice to alert people to social injustices. But he was known in our neighborhood for his pastoral care, as well as his social passion. He did laundry at a parishoner’s house because he knew she couldn’t do it herself. He sat by bedsides of people all day long who were in surgery and stayed all night long to make sure things were all right.”
Cedarleaf resided in the care center at Covenant Manor in Minneapolis He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Carolyn, and by children Jeannine, Rebecca, Melanie and Glenda. Memorials may be directed to Community Covenant Church or to Colonial Acres Health Care Center at Covenant Manor, both located in Minneapolis.
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