CLEARFIELD – The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Clearfield Heritage Foundation are inviting the public to attend an unveiling of an official state historical marker commemorating former Clearfield County resident A. W. Tozer. The dedication will take place at Mahaffey Camp and Conference Center Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. in the Main Tabernacle.
Speakers include State Rep. Camille “Bud” George, D-74 of Houtzdale; the Rev. Jeffery Norris, district superintendent for the western Pennsylvania district office of Christian and Missionary Church; Bill Callahan, western Pennsylvania community preservation coordinator for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Edward L. Depp, director and developer for the Mahaffey Camp and Conference Center; and Arnold Smith, a relative of Tozer. After the dedication there will be a short recess for the group to walk to the camp entrance along U.S. Route 219 for the unveiling of the marker.
Although the state recognized historical marker system started in 1946, Clearfield County now has only 11 with the 10th historical marker for Arnold Nawrocki dedicated this past Wednesday. The state recognized marker program requires that the person, place or event be of national (or world) significance not just local known or this part of Pennsylvania. The PHMC encourages counties to install markers of “local” significance on their own and Clearfield County organizations have installed over 40 throughout the county. These markers can be easily identified with the Clearfield County Seal on the top of marker. The state recognized markers have the Pennsylvania Seal of Arms on the top of the marker.
The following is the narrative page from the Clearfield Heritage Foundations historical marker application sent to the PA Historical and Museum Commission in 2006.
Aiden Wilson Tozer was born April 21, 1897, in LaJose, (Newburg Borough) Clearfield County, a tiny farming community in western Pennsylvania. Being born and reared on a Pennsylvania farm proved an invaluable asset throughout his long, distinguished career as it paid regular dividends in his grass-roots common sense.
In 1919, without a formal theological education he was called to first pastor a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Within a few short years, Tozer, as he preferred to be called, would earn the reputation and title of a “20th-century prophet.” He was able to express his thoughts in a simple but forceful manner.
The greatest legacy to the Christian world during the 44 years he ministered would have been his writings. He was applauded by contemporary evangelicals as “one of the greatest Christian writers of the 20th century.” Two colleges have honored him with Litt.D. degrees, Houghton (NY) and Wheaton (IL). When he became editor of Alliance Life, the monthly denominational publication for the Christian and Missionary Alliance church, the circulation doubled almost immediately. He also served as a Bible conference and radio program speaker, denominational leader, and a spiritual mentor to many.
Tozer pastored C&MA churches in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Toronto, Canada, while still giving lectures in several states, plus he still found time to return as a speaker to the annual Mahaffey Camp near his hometown of LaJose PA. His longest pastorate was 31 years at Chicago’s Southside Alliance Church. The congregation, captivated by Tozer’s preaching, grew from 80 to 800 members.
During his years of Christian ministry Tozer touched many lives beyond his own denomination. Biographer James L. Snyder wrote of Tozer, “his works are more popular outside the C&MA than within it.” According to Christian Publications of Camp Hill, PA, “over 1.7 million copies of A.W. Tozer’s best-known work, The Pursuit of God, are in print in more than 16 languages.”
Often quoted by Billy Graham, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, and other famous preachers, A.W. Tozer’s words are being heard and read by millions still today. Three million copies of his more than 40 books in print testify to the timeliness and timelessness of his communication.
A. W. Tozer died May 12, 1963, not quite a week after preaching his last sermon. The pursuit was over, the destination reached. A simple epitaph marks his grave in Akron, Ohio: A. W. Tozer—A Man of God.