Dr Douglas Wayne Slocumb

Jim Rush Funeral & Cremation Services 220 Wildwood Avenue, S.E. 2603 North Ocoee Street Cleveland, TN 37311 Phone 423-472-4555 Fax 423-472-2012July 14, 2016Dr. Douglas Wayne Slocumb, age 74, a resident of Cleveland, passed away Wednesday, July 13, 2016 in a Chattanooga hospital. Dr. Slocumb was preceded in death by his father and mother, William Paul and Fern Slocumb; stepmother, Geneva Slocumb; and brother, Dr. Paul Dwain Slocumb He was born June 30, 1942, in Carmi, Illinois. He received Christ in his youth and in 1956, at the age of 14, accepted the call by God into ministry. In 1961, he entered Lee College where he served in Pioneers for Christ and led the ushers at chapel services. In April 1963, he met Esther Joyce Lilly, and they married in October 1963. The couple left Lee to start their ministry in St. Paul, Minnesota and served as the pastor of St. Paul Park Church of God. In 1964, he became a licensed minister in the Church of God. In 1964, the Slocumb couple returned to Cleveland to finish his education at Lee College, where he received an associate’s degree followed by his bachelor’s degree in Christian Education and Bible in 1967. After Lee, he accepted a position as youth pastor in Chester, S.C., at the Chester Church of God. In 1968, the couple had their first child, Douglas Wayne Slocumb II, and moved in 1969 to Dayton, Ohio, to serve as pastor at the Hoover Avenue Church of God. Shortly thereafter, the Slocumb family moved to Lowell, N.C., in 1972 where Slocumb pastored the Lowell Church of God. While in Lowell, he served on the Zoning Board and School Board for the city of Lowell. In addition, he served as a substitute teacher in the local district of Lowell and as a Clinical Pastoral Educator at Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, N.C. In 1973, the Slocumbs had their second child, Robert Paul Slocumb. In 1976, Slocumb and his family accepted a pastorate at Thomasville Church of God, in Thomasville, NC. While in North Carolina, Slocumb wrote and compiled a concise history of the Church of God in North Carolina. In 1978, being used of God, Slocumb accepted a position in Church of God World Missions Department in Cleveland, Tenn., as Director of Communications. In 1980, he received a master of education degree from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. Later that same year, he enrolled in the Church of God Theological Seminary, now known as the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, and received a Master of Arts in Counseling. In 1982, a Dr. Slocomb also took his passion for photography and entered the Photography program at Cleveland State Community College. Dr. Slocumb while with the World Missions continued to write articles and publish books for World Missions. Dr. Slocumb would also author a book on instructing individuals on how to take better pictures, which he provided to missionaries to tell the story of the mission field through their photos. While in the World Missions Department, he also served as Assistant Coordinator of Education. What became his ministry passion was to help students especially foreign students to see them through their education at Lee College and push them to their higher calling. He began teaching at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in the mid-1980s and joined the PTS staff in 1988, serving in such roles as Director of Institutional Advancement, Director of Assessment and Placement, Director of Counseling and Placement, and Associate Professor of Marriage and Family. In 1991, he received a Doctorate of Ministry from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Among his many professional activities are membership in the American Association of Marriage and Family, American Counseling Association, American Association of Christian Counselors, and Association of Church of God Caregivers. He served 28 years on the Board of Clinical Pastoral Education at Erlanger Hospital, with 10 of those years as treasurer. He also served on the Church of God Historical Board, Board for Church of God Missionary Placement, and countless advisory roles and committees throughout the Church of God denomination. Dr. Slocumb also published several articles in the Church of God Evangel, Leadership Magazine, counseling journals and books Dr. Slocumb gave much of his life to counseling many in the Cleveland community, other church pastors and many throughout the Church of God. Dr. Slocumb has impacted so many around the world, he will be missed. He and his family have been devoted members of North Cleveland Church of God since 1978.Left to cherish his memory, are his wife of 52 years, Esther Joyce Lilly; his sons: Douglas Wayne Slocumb II (Lainey) and Robert Paul Slocumb; his grandchildren: Peyton Todd Slocumb, Elizabeth Slocumb, Benjamin Slocumb and Andrew Slocumb; three sisters: Joyce Summers and Glenda Wilburn of La Porte, Texas; and Brenda Jackson (J.D.) of Deer Park, Texas; a brother: Bill Slocumb (Debbie) of La Porte, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews of the Houston, Texas, area.The Remembrance of Life Service will be conducted Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 2:00 from the North Cleveland Church of God with Dr. Dennis McGuire, Dr. Don Walker, Dr. Oliver McMahan, Dr. Jackie Johns, Reverend Michael Brantley and Pastor Mitch Maloney officiating. Interment will follow in the Sunset Memorial Gardens with Stan Earls, Kenny Earls, Spencer Earls, Anthony Taylor, Robert Paul Slocumb, Peyton Todd Slocumb, Douglas Wayne Slocumb II, DeWayne Gruber and Steve Allart serving as active casket bearers. Honorary casket bearers are Andrew James Slocumb, Benjamin William Slocumb and Elizabeth Covington Slocumb. A Dove release will conclude the service. The family will receive friends from 11:00 until the service time at 2:00 on Saturday at the North Cleveland Church of God. The Jim Rush Funeral and Cremation Services North Ocoee Chapel has charge of the arrangements. You may share your condolences and your memories with Dr. Slocomb’s Family at www.jimrushfuneralhomes.com.Read Obituary