BISHOP CLAUDE L. CAMPBELL IS CELEBRATING HIS 50TH PASTORAL ANNIVERSARY AT THE GALLOPING HILL CATERERS IN UNION, NEW JERSEY, ON OCTOBER 16, 2015 AT 7:00P.M. BISHOP CAMPBELL WAS BORN IN RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA ON OCTOBER 6, 1931, THE FIRST-BORN OF ELEVEN CHILDREN OF DEACON BEN ROBERT AND MOTHER MARY BELL CAMPBELL.
BISHOP CAMPBELL GREW UP IN THE PRESBYTRIAN CHURCH UNTIL THE AGE OF 9 WHEN HIS FAMILY BECAME MEMBERS OF ST. JAMES CHURCH OF GOD COLORED IN RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LATE ELDER N.N. CRONE.
BISHOP CAMPBELL DEVELOPED A LOVE FOR MUSIC AND SINGING AT A VERY EARLY AGE AND BECAME THE LEAD SINGER OF “THE JUNIOR FOUR” WHICH INCLUDED AS ITS MEMBERS HIS BROTHER ROBERT, HIS COUSINS PRINCE, JR. AND LORENZO PURCELL AND LATER ARTHUR RAY, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE LATE SISTER FRANCIS PURCELL. THE GROUP TRAVELED THROUGHOUT NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA, SPREADING THE GOSPEL THROUGH SONG. BISHOP CAMPBELL LATER BECAME A PART OF THE ST. JAMES CHORUS, WHICH ALSO TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY AND BROADCASTED ON RADIO FOR MANY YEARS.
BISHOP CAMPBELL ACCEPTED THE LORD AS HIS PERSONAL SAVIOR IN 1948 AT THE AGE OF 17, WHILE UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LATE BISHOP J.A. JACKSON. HE MOVED TO NEW JERSEY IN 1954 AND BECAME ENGAGED TO DESSIE MAE CARPENTER IN SEPTEMBER, 1955. THEY WERE MARRIED ON APRIL 1, 1955. OF THIS UNION FOUR CHILDREN WERE BORN, DESSIE JO-ANNE, CLAUDE ANDREW, VONDELLA ELAINE AND JONATHAN BENTON. HE AND HIS WIFE NOW HAVE SIX GRANDCHILDREN, CHARMAINE ARIANNE, KENNETH JUSTIN, II, ALEXIS ALEXANDRIA, JONATHAN CHRISTIAN, JORDAN MALACHI AND JAXON LEE. THEY ALSO HAVE THREE GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTERS, JAZMYN MACKENZIE, PARIS ARIANNA AND GIANNA GABRIELLE.
BISHOP CAMPBELL BECAME A MEMBER OF MT. CALVARY UNITED CHURCH OF GOD IN 1955 UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LATE BISHOP JAMES A. LEAK. THERE HE SERVED AS AN USHER, TRUSTEE, ORDAINED DEACON, CHOIR PRESIDENT, SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER AND ENTERED THE MINISTRY IN 1958, LATER BECOMING AN ORDAINED ELDER. HE ORGANIZED A BOYS CLUB THROUGH MT. CALVARY FOR YOUNG MEN FROM SEVERAL CHURCHES SO THEY COULD “STAY OUT OF THE STREET AND IN THE CHURCH.” IN 1964, BISHOP CAMPBELL SERVED AS ASSISTANT PASTOR AT HOLY TEMPLE UNITED CHURCH OF GOD IN STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LATE PASTOR GRACE WILSON.
OVER THE YEARS BISHOP CAMPBELL HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN EXTENSIVE BIBLE STUDY, RECEIVING SEVERAL CERTIFICATES. HE HAS RECEIVED COMMENDATIONS FROM THE LATE CONGRESSMAN DONALD M. PAYNE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN WASHINGTON, DC. HE HAS RECEIVED SEVERAL HONORS FROM THE GENERAL UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, INC. THE NORTHERN DISTRICT CHURCH OF GOD, AND FROM HIS LOCAL CHURCH FOR HIS YEARS OF DEVOTED AND FAITHFUL SERVICE. BISHOP CAMPBELL BEGAN HIS PASTORALSHIP AT ST. PAUL’S CALVARY UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, UNION, NEW JERSEY IN OCTOBER, 1965 WITH A VERY SMALL CONGREGATION. MANY MEMBERS HAVE SINCE COME TO THE CHURCH AND THERE ARE SEVERAL ANOINTED MINISTRIES.
BISHOP CAMPBELL’S VISION CAME INTO FULL SIGHT ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2010, AS A NEW SANCTUARY HAD A RIBBON CUTTING AND DEDICATION ON VAUXHALL ROAD. ALSO, ST. PAUL’S CALVARY UNITED CHURCH OF GOD CHILD CARE CENTER HAS BEEN LICENSED AND IS FULLY OPERATIONAL. IN AUGUST 2001 BISHOP CAMPBELL WAS ELEVATED TO GENERAL VICE BISHOP OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, INC. OF AMERICA. IN JULY 2005, BISHOP CAMPBELL WAS ELECTED GENERAL PRELATE AND PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, INC. BY THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS AND WAS RE-ELECTED TO THIS POSITION IN JULY 2009. BISHOP CAMPBELL IS THE PRESIDING PRELATE OF THE NORTHERN DISTRICT UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, INC., A MEMBER OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF GOD GENERAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND MEMBER AND TREASURER OF THE UNITED CLERGY OF VAUXHALL AND VICINITY.