D.E. & Brandi Paulk, Senior Pastors

What do we believe? Nothing! We honor the divine intelligence in you deeply enough to reject postures of intellectual superiority and methodologies of indoctrination. We also endeavor to avoid creating spiritual hierarchies and subjugating castes and constructs that create a chasm between the pulpit and pew. Our mission is not to teach you “what” to think. We are committed to offering a spiritual, methodical approach guiding you “how” to think.

At Spirit and Truth, we walk in the awareness that we are not our beliefs or biases, but rather unlimited potentialities capable of having, changing, considering and even letting go of beliefs.

Change is the only constant in the universe. We all change. Yet, we do so at our own pace and in our own space. Whether you are seeking the higher vibrations of spiritual oneness or simply curious about Inclusion or expanded consciousness, we are here to walk and wake with you into a bigger and better vision and version of the unnamable Ultimate Reality we call God.

At Spirit and Truth, there are no deal breakers. True Inclusion must find habitation in the tension between polarities. Therefore, we welcome those who are seeking interfaith expression and LGBTQIA affirmation. We also are a safe space for those with questions about Inclusion, curiosities regarding inter-religious texts, and concerns relative to scriptural interpretations.

Wherever you are in your progression of unfoldment, we ask you to consider the possibility that you are not your present level of consciousness, but rather an eternal, immeasurable capacity endowed with infinite expansion.

On December 4, 1960, the Gospel Harvester Evangelistic Association held its first worship service in St. John’s Lutheran Church on Euclid Avenue, in the Little Five Points community of Atlanta with thirty-nine people, including founders Earl and Norma Paulk, Don and Clariece Paulk and Harry and Myrtle Mushegan in attendance. The Harvesters choose as their theme scripture Matthew 9:36-38; for their first bulletin cover a picture of a white hand and a black hand clasped in a sign of unity with the accompanying slogan, “A church of compassion. ” Within the first year, this building is purchased and becomes the first permanent home of Gospel Harvester Tabernacle. Charter members are received on Easter Sunday, 1961.

During the early 60’s the Harvesters become involved extensively in community service. 1964 sees the purchase of The Christian Missionary Alliance church building , next door to the original church facility, which now becomes a youth center and fellowship hall.

The church purchases six and one-half acres in South Dekalb County (Decatur, Ga.) in 1972 and a new facility, seating 450, is built at 4650 Flat Shoals Road. The name of the church is changed to Chapel Hill Harvester Church. In its new location the church continues to grow and becomes one of the first truly racially integrated congregations in the entire South.

The 1980’s begin with a shift in the ministry from the traditional Pentecostal “rapture” centered theology to one that emphasizes a form of Christianity that rather than waiting to escape the evils of the world, views it as the church’s responsibility to become stewards of God’s earth and to infiltrate every social system with the love of Christ. Pastor Earl Paulk accomplishes this through a series of sermons about what he calls Kingdom Principles. Unpopular and misunderstood at first, these teachings on the true meaning of the Kingdom of God gradually gain acceptance resulting in exponential growth in the congregation as well as drawing pastors and leaders from all across the country to Chapel Hill.

Phenomenal growth forces the congregation to undertake a series of building projects for the next decade. Following the directive to reclaim all aspects of society for the Kingdom of God, many and varied ministries were established over the course of the next 20 years.

Under the direction of Pastor Clariece Paulk, the Worship and Arts Department became world renowned and presented hundreds of original dramas, performed concerts, hosted conferences, recorded albums and traveled across the nation to participate in other church’s conferences.

In 2003, after serving as youth pastor, worship leader and associate pastor, sharing the pulpit bi-monthly with Bishop Paulk, Donald Earl Paulk and his wife Brandi founded Grace Church in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where they ministered for 3 years until returning to become Senior Pastors of the Cathedral in August 2006. Upon their return, they continued in the founders' footsteps ushering the ministry into another shift in consciousness. Brandi brings her gifts and talents and continues the highest standards of excellence that Pastor Clariece envisioned for the Worship & Arts department. D.E. establishes the Pro-Love organization (www.pro-love.org) and a new network of churches and spiritual centers, the Communion of Christ-Consciousness (www.coc-c.org). In March of 2009, founder Bishop Earl Paulk makes his transition and several months later the church moves to its present location at 2600 H.F. Shepherd Drive. Mrs. Norma Paulk goes home to be with the Lord in January of 2011.

The first sermon preached from the pulpit of the first Neo-Gothic Cathedral to be built in the South was entitled Whosoever Will. That has been our theme from the beginning and is a message that still echoes from the pulpit today. Chapel Hill Harvester Church, now known as the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, has been recognized by both the spiritual and secular worlds for its 55 plus years of commitment to excellence and it’s dedicated service to its surrounding community as well as to the body of Christ worldwide.


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