Honoring Dr. Earl D. Edwards (13 April 1933 – 13 September 2025)

For ninety-two treasured years the Lord has richly blessed the world through his godly servant Earl D. Edwards. Missionary, gospel preacher, Bible teacher, evangelist, elder, professor, scholar, author, mentor; Christian husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather. This gallant man of God departed from this temporal life following a day of door-knocking to set up Bible studies and less than a week after his last sermon. He kept a record of the sermons he preached over the years, from 2nd June 1952 to 7th September 2025, totaling 7,629.

Impact on My Life (and Countless Others!)

Bro. Edwards started teaching at Freed-Hardeman College when I was an undergraduate student in the Social Work program and developing an interest in missions. He invited me to participate in a Spring Break campaign to Toronto, Canada, working mainly in an Italian community. This was the first time I had ever been outside the United States, and it significantly broadened my horizons. We learned basic Italian phrases for door-knocking, inviting people to study the Bible and to attend a gospel meeting, which bro. Edwards preached in Italian. He asked me to lead the singing, in Italian, which I reluctantly did, strictly following the words on the page!

My interest in missions continued to grow, so my final semester I enrolled in bro. Edwards’ “World Missions” class, which I think was the only missions class offered at the time. My research project focused on the Lord’s work in New Zealand, and the things I learned coupled with bro. Edwards’ influence led me to make the decision on the last day of class to devote my life to full-time evangelistic work in New Zealand.

Years later bro. Edwards brought the first Freed-Hardeman campaign group to NZ while I was working with the church in Wellington, which instilled in me the inspiration to organize and coordinate future FHU-NZ campaigns. He then invited me to serve as Freed-Hardeman’s missionary-in-residence and offered a scholarship to study in the Graduate School of Theology. I got to take some of his classes and still treasure his class notes. When my thesis advisor got sick, bro. Edwards stepped in for a time to offer critiques and then served on the oral comps panel. He didn’t make it easy but was gracious!

Worthy of Honor

For years bro. Edwards has been affectionately referred to as the fifteenth apostle. Although spoken in jest, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t like the comparison, the admiration and respect he has earned from all who knew him made the comparison somewhat legitimate. He never seemed to slow down. He was always busy in the Lord’s work. Like the apostle Paul, he “labored more abundantly than they all” and would be the first to admit, “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).

While we are eternally grateful for his life, service, and the incredible impact he has made, we are also thankful that he has now entered his long-anticipated and well-deserved rest, joining Ms. Gwen, Ms. Lora, and a host of heroes and heroines of faith who have gone on before him. In fact, if the eleventh chapter of Hebrews were written today, I’m pretty sure Earl D. Edwards would be included.

--Kevin L. Moore

Related: Obituary: Earl D. Edwards 

 

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