Home Frank H. Beard
Frank Hood Beard was born on October 31, 1899 in Pine Apple, AL to John and Martha Grines Beard. He grew up in a strong Methodist home. His father worked in the timber industry, and he owned 10,000 acres and his own saw mill. Frank was born the youngest of seven children.
During his youth Frank aspired to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers who were all in the medical field. After graduation Frank made plans to attend the University of Alabama to study pre-med. His brothers agreed to pay his tuition as long as he would work for his own spending money. So, during the summer he would work on the ships at the Mobile Harbor. On one of the trips along the western seaboard he felt the Lord say to him that if he continued with the ship to Alaska he would die. So while the ship was docked at Long Beach, California, Frank stayed behind.
While in the Los Angeles area he heard about the work of Aimee Semple McPherson and Angelus Temple. He decided to visit the church for himself. While in the service God used a visiting Evangelist to stir his heart, and when the invitation was given, he gave his heart to the Lord. God was preparing to do a mighty work in his life, and this was only the beginning.
That same night the new converts were invited to meet with the ministers and leaders of the church in the 500 room of Angelus Temple. They began to pray and seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Around 3 o’clock in the morning Frank was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Frank also felt led to quit studying at the University of Alabama and to begin studying to enter the ministry. This was not well received by his family. He told the visiting Evangelist that he felt the call to preach and that he wanted to attend Bible College. He asked the Evangelist if he should attend L.I.F.E. Bible College there at Angelus Temple or if he recommended another school. The Evangelist suggested that he attend Glad Tidings Bible Institute in San Francisco, CA. He enrolled there the next semester.
It was while attending Glad Tidings Bible Institute that he met Anne Margrethe “Margaret” Mikkelsen. She traveled to Fresno, CA, with a cousin from her Danish homeland when she was 18 years old. When her cousins asked her to go to church she said that she didn’t come to America to go to church. But her interest peaked when she was told that they “dance with their eyes closed.” She agreed to go to church and was saved during the service.
Frank and Margaret were married “live” on the air at the Glad Tidings Radio station on September 18, 1928. During the service Margaret sang and Frank preached. It was reported that people were saved as a result of the ceremony.
Shortly thereafter, the two began their life-long service into full-time ministry. Margaret became an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God in 1925, and Frank followed her in 1930. Both of them loved to preach and would often take turns in the pulpit.
Around 1930 they accepted the pastorate of their first church in Ceres, CA. From there they entered into the evangelistic field preaching mostly in Texas. In 1932, they went to pastor a newly formed congregation in Dillon, Montana. In the spring of 1933 the Beard’s returned to the evangelistic field in his home state of Alabama.
One night in 1934 Frank felt led to return to the pastorate but hadn’t received direction from the Lord. So he went into a cornfield and prayed until the next morning. Sure enough the next morning he received a letter from Kinston Assembly of God in Laurel, MS asking him to lead their congregation. He pastored there until 1940. While as pastor in Laurel, Beard also served the Mississippi District Council as Secretary/Treasurer and also as the District Superintendent.
In 1940, Russellville First Assembly contacted Bro. Beard and asked him to consider becoming their pastor. He served as pastor of Russellville First Assembly for only one year before deciding to move back to Mississippi.
He accepted the East Pine Street Assembly of God Church in Hattiesburg, MS in 1941 and served there until 1948. From 1948 until 1955 he pastored at Brownsville First Assembly in Pensacola, FL (this is the church where the Pensacola Outpouring occurred in the 1990’s). He then moved back to Laurel, Mississippi to pastor Kingston Assembly of God. He served there until his death on November 24, 1959.
Frank and Margaret had one daughter, Gladness. She is married to Doyne Jennings who is also an Assembly of God minister. They currently reside in Springfield, MO.
Bio by Ryan Morris
