Joe Duke

Apostolic Ministers Fellowship

1912 ~ 1972

Reverend Joe Duke was born on January 14, 1912 in Catahola Parrish, Jonesville, Louisiana. He had no formal education. Being raised on Black River, Joe spent his young adult-hood as a fisherman. His adult life was spent fishing, singing, and preaching. He married Margaret Duke, and one son (Neal) was born to this union .

Brother Duke received the Holy Ghost during a revival conducted by Brother Sam Henderson. Afterwards he traveled for some time with Brother Henderson, helping conduct revival campaigns. He was also a companion in ministry with Brother Arthur W. Sassman.

Brother Duke participated in the miracle ministry. Throughout his ministry, hundreds of afflicted people were delivered from infirmities and desease under the operation of the gift of healing that he possessed.  However, over the years, he gradually succumbed to blindness, but his ministry was never hindered by his personal affliction.

Brother Duke was greatly used by God, especially in the gifts of the Spirit. Under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, Brother Duke frequently operated through the gift of discernment, the gift of prophecy, and the word of knowledge. Through these gifts he was able to induce true repentance and open confession.

Brother Duke was a member of the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ before joining the United Pentecostal Church in 1950. He later joined the Apostolic Ministers Fllowship, and remained with that group until his demise.

Brother Duke helped in the formation of new churches. One partucular time the UPC suspended his license because of his plain speech against sin. This good man of God fully gave himself to the work of the Lord. He literally broke down his body from his intense schedle of traveling, and many years of labor. 

At the age of 60, and completely worn out physically, he appeared to be much older than he actually was. On May 5, 1972 Brother Duke was set free from his mortal body of corruption, and went home to his eternal rest.

Leaving behind a tremendous legacy, Elder Duke is best remembered for his ministry of healing, and the ability to move people to open confession. He was intensly set against power of sin, and was purposed to redirect the path of those who had wandered off course. Joe Duke was inducted into the Ministerial Hall of Fame in 2002. Audio recordings of Joe Duke are available in the audio library of the Apostolic Archives International.

Howard A. Goss

United Pentecostal Church International

1883 ~ 1964

Reverend Howard A. Goss was born on March 6, 1883, near Steelville. Missouri. He was the fifth of seven sons born to Clinton and Margaret Goss who had moved to Missouri from Tennessee. His early childhood was spent on a farm, and the forests around the homestead abounded in wild game. In his own words, Brother Goss stated, "Books we had, but no shoes. They had to be made in our locality. Only the older boys had shoes bought for them. I was 12 years old when I got my first pair." In those days it was common for people to work from the peep of day until the darkness had settled down. Christmas and the fourth of July were their only holidays.

In 1898, Clinton Goss sold the farm, and moved to Galena, Kansas, where a boom was surging in the lead and zinc mines. Howard was a practicing infidel until he met Charles F. Parham. In 1902, he was invited by his school teacher to visit the revival that was taking place under the direction of Brother Parham. After hearing some young girls speaking in tongues, he was converted to Christianity and accepted the Apostolic faith message.

Soon afterward, he began to feel a call to the ministry. In 1905, he sold all his belongings, and went with Brother Parham and a group of twenty-two workers to Houston, Texas. In 1906, a band of workers in Houston boarded a train to conduct a revival in nearby Alvin. As they traveled and worshipped God, He began to pour out His Spirit. As the train was pulling into the Alvin depot, Howard began speaking in tongues as the Spirit of God gave the utterance. It was during that same year that Howard was ordained into the ministry. 

On February 24, 1907, Howard married Millicent McClendon, a well-known evangelist at that time. She died in 1910 due to complications during child-birth. In the fall of 1911, Howard married Ethel Wright, who died December 3, 1963. They were the parents of six children - three boys and three girls. In 1912, he took his gospel tent to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and then settled there as pastor. In the fall of 1913, he rented the Grand Opera House and moved his congregation into it. 

In November of that year, together with E.N. Bell, Howard issued an invitation to hold a convention in order to organize the Pentecostal work. E.N. Bell was elected Chairman and Howard Goss, Secreary. Out of this meeting came the organization known as the Assemblies of God.

It was about this time that the truth of baptism in the name of Jesus and the Oneness of God was revealed. Howard Goss, along with many other ministers, accepted this truth. In 1919, he moved to Canada, where he was instrumental in organizing the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, orginally a Jesus' name movement. In 1920, he founded Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle in Toronto. He pastored this church until 1937.

In 1939, Howard Goss returned to the United States, and was elected General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Church Incorporated. In 1945, he was elected the first General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church, and held this position until 1951. Following this, he labored as a Bible teacher and spiritual advisor. Though almost 80 at the time of his death, he was active in the work of God until illness prevented.

Brother Goss' long and useful life in the service of God came to an end on July 13, 1964, at his home in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.Reverend Howard Goss was inducted into the Ministerial Hall of Fame in 2002.

William Odell (Bill) Bowman

Apostolic Ministers Fellowship

1936 ~ 1981

Reverend Bill Bowman was born July 5, 1936 in Rockingham County, Draper, Carolina. In 1956 he married Barbra Jean Franklin. They have on child, Rebecca Lynn. Brother Bowman started preaching at the age of 20, and spent 13 years in the Church of God as a tinitarian minister. He left the Church of God in 1963 after Jackie Phillips, (his organ player) gave him the tract, "60 Questions on the Godhead."

Brother Bowman first heard the truth in 1967, from Charles Johnson in a tent revival in Hickory, North Carolina. He then went to Ocala, Florida, and studied the tract on the Godhead in his motel-room, which was located on Division Street. He then went to Fairborn, Ohio, and was baptized in Jesus' name on Superior Avenue, on March 13, 1967.

After meeting Herman Maroney in Tyler, Texas in 1967, Brother Bowman was encouraged to go to Fort Worth, Texas to meet Elder C.W. Shew. In 1970, he was introduced to Elder Paul Jordan by Elder R.C. Cavaness in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was also Brother Bowman's introduction to the Apostolic Ministers Fellowship.

On Thanksgiving week in 1970, Brother Bowman went to High Point, North Carolina. He rented a storefront building and started a church. In 1974 he built the Apostolic House of Prayer in Archdale, North Carolina. Among the things that he loved to do, fishing was at the top of his list. He also loved to sing, and compose songs.

Brother Bowman traveled throughout the United States, preaching camp meetings and conferences. He purchased a tent and was fulfilling his dream to be a tent evangelist, when on October 5, 1981, while preparing to take the pulpit under his tent to preach to a capacity crowd in Topsy, Louisiana, he was fatally shot at short range by a troubled young man. This sudden tragedy and loss of life left an emptiness in the Aposolic Ministers Fellowship, including all who knew him. Brother Bowman was highly respected among his peers! He was loved by many all across the United States of America. He left behind his beloved family, and church, but most of all he left behind a rich Apostolic legacy, and many wonderful memories. Reverend Bill Bowman was inducted into the Apostolic Ministers Hall of Fame in 2002. Audio recordings of Bill Bowman are available in the audio library of the Apostolic Archives International.