From a chain of restaurants to doing God’s work
A weekend with Ed Sealy is being presented at Brookfield Baptist Church
I have never met Ed Sealy in person. A few days ago, I talked to the evangelist, singer and guitarist for the rst time during a telephone interview.
Born in Bathurst, N.B., the oldest of eight children, Sealy worked part time while attending high school. After graduating and while in his early twenties he opened his rst Dixie Lee Fried Chicken takeout restaurant in Amherst. It was as if he’d opened a door to success.
“I joined two partners and a total of six takeout restaurants were opened,” said Sealy, 69. “I was involved in Dixie Lee Fried Chicken Restaurants in Amherst, Parrsboro and Sackville. I had fancy cars, snowmobiles, motorcycles and a home near the golf course in Amherst. My life was full of things but empty as a gun barrel inside. I began to read the Bible at home; during this search, the Lord found me.”
Becoming a Christian in 1978, Sealy left the business world to attend Bible School. After graduating, he pastored for ve years at a church in Belleville, N.B. He would later teach at Bible School and still later, in 1998, he founded Furtherance Ministries, with the purpose of furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sealy’s goal was to share a clear gospel message and you might say, music was on his side.
A singer, guitar player and songwriter, Sealy has released eight CDS. In 2004, the New Brunswick Gospel Music Hall of Fame named him Male Artist of the Year. In September 2016, he was inducted into the N.B. Gospel Music Hall of Fame and this past August, Sealy was inducted into America’s Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame in Lamars, Iowa.
“A talent is placed in somebody at conception,” Sealy said. “A gift is given at conversion. In my case, the talent is the horse and the gift rides to accomplish the task. With my music, I try to bridge a gap where a person can really appreciate the things of Christ. I’m not a great singer but God has given me the gift of exhortation; it is God working through the gift, to God be the glory.”
Sealy estimates he speaks and plays music to audiences approximately 50 times a year. is includes appearing at churches, restaurants and nursing homes and through radio and television.
“I go wherever God opens the door. I’m out there all the time, I even go door to door.”
Sealy also holds training seminars to help people share their own Christian faith. He has written one book and continues to work on another.
“Yes, I’m also writing. There are few days I don’t tell someone about Christ. I’m keeping on keeping on for Christ.”
In talking to Sealy, I asked him why someone who does not attend church or who does not have an interest in God or spiritual matters should come out to hear Ed Sealy when he appears at the Brookfield Baptist Church?”
His answer was swift and unwavering.
“It could be a life changing experience,” he said.
As we talked further, conversation touched on the many di erent outlooks people have.
“People don’t arrive at their own conclusions overnight,” Sealy said. “It is nice to learn how someone arrived at their own conclusion. I like to look at how a person has arrived at where he or she is – regarding what they believe.”
Sealy will be at the Broofield Baptist Church this Saturday and Sunday. ere will be a light breakfast Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with Sealy sharing. He will present a gospel music concert Saturday night at 7 p.m. and will speak and share special music during a 10:30 a.m. Sunday service. Everyone is welcome; there will be a free-will o ering.
“I have heard many positive comments about Ed’s speaking and music ministry,” Pastor Eric Mackinnon, of Brookfield Baptist said. “I am very much looking forward to having Ed with us this weekend.”
Rev. Robert Vaughan, a member of the deacon’s board at the Brookfield church, worked with Mackinnon in organizing Sealy’s visit.
“My congregations had several meetings with Ed,” Vaughan said. “Ed is very down to earth, he’s a very compassionate soul winner. Ed is very gifted in writing songs and performing them.”