ALABAMA—In the mid- to late-1970s, the Birmingham congregation was large and growing, with attendance in the hundreds. The thriving congregation offered congregation events, youth activities, singles activities, Spokesman Club, leadership training and more. Many served in physical capacities, with several men serving as deacons and women serving as deaconesses. As a child growing up in the Birmingham congregation, I remember one man who was involved in many of these activities, Mr. Donald Leavell.

Donald (Don) Miers Leavell was born Apr. 1, 1941, and grew up in Montgomery. His mother was a homemaker, and his father was a prominent businessman. His grandmother was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and he spent much of his childhood going to church with her on the Sabbath. While attending the University of Alabama in 1960, he began listening to The World Tomorrow—With Herbert W. Armstrong in 1960 while attending the University of Alabama. He met his wife, Anna, at college and they married in 1962, a marriage that continues to this day. He graduated with a degree in real estate finance in 1963 and went to work for his dad in the real estate business.

In 1965, Mr. Leavell wrote Mr. Armstrong asking if there was a congregation he could attend. He was invited to Worldwide Church of God services in 1966 and was baptized in April of that year. Although his wife was not a member, he raised his children, Paul, David and Jane, in God’s way of life. Two of his children graduated from Ambassador College, and his daughter participated in the King Hussein School project sponsored by the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation. In 1971, the large congregation split into a Birmingham congregation and a Montgomery congregation, which is where he began attending.

Mr. Leavell continued to attend services in the WCG until troubling events and decisions by the Church leadership came to a head in 1998. The congregation’s local elder was directed to have the congregation participate in voting on whether or not the Church should worship on the Sabbath or Sunday. (The vote was 100 percent to worship on the Sabbath).

Mr. Leavell said he cried out to God in the midst of this trial, asking, “What do you want me to do?” Soon after, he received his first copy of the Philadelphia Trumpet. He had not requested the magazine and did not know who sent it to him until later. Wary of dissident literature, he did not read this issue, but upon receiving the next issue, he decided to read it. He recognized that it was teaching the same truth that God had given Mr. Armstrong. After contacting the Philadelphia Church of God, Mr. Leavell was invited to attend in 1998 and has been attending since. To this day, he still has those first, 27-year-old copies of the Trumpet.

Mr. Leavell went to work for Veterans Affairs in the real estate division in 1971 and was eventually stationed in the San Juan, Puerto Rico, office. There he observed Sabbath services with one other member for more than four years, following the service procedures exactly as they are in the congregations. He retired in 2005 and continued to live part of the year in San Juan. He has been living in Montgomery year-round for the past six years, serving in the congregation and during holy days “any way that I am asked.”

Mr. Leavell said he has come to see that “everything that goes wrong in our lives is usually because some part of God’s law has been violated.” He also said, “I am putting God first in everything as I seek the paths that lead to God’s way of life.”

He said his most enjoyable service is his relationships with the youth. Today, now at 84 years of age, he still travels more than three hours one way to attend services each week.