For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. [2 Timothy 1:7]

Pastor Archer now serves as Associate Director of the Purcellville Healing Rooms

Pastor Alfred Archer is a hard working pastor serving Loudoun County since 1969. He pastors Cedar Lane Bible Way Church in Purcellville, VA. At 79, he is the longest serving pastor in Loudoun County and is respected as a Spiritual Father in our faith community. I last had the pleasure of speaking with him at at Sterling Fest in October 2010 and then again at the Pastors Retreat at the Freedom Center on March 19.

I first met Pastor Alfred Archer during the monthly Shepherd’s Table gathering at Prison Fellowship Ministry in Lansdowne in 2008. His opening prayer was powerfully effective as his call to the Lord and the Word of Life captured my full attention. I was informed by another attendee that Pastor Archer was one of the deans in the religious community pasturing for close to 40 years in Loudoun County. Although the pastor was in his seventies, his legs appeared young as he nimbly moved around the crowded room greeting people as they ambled through the entrance to the Shepherd’s Table. I observed the deep respect reflected on the faces of the clergy and layman alike as they shook hands with Pastor Archer and exchanged pleasantries.

I met Pastor Archer again at the 2008 National Day of Prayer service at the Government Center in Leesburg. We prayed together in small groups that day and I felt his strong devotion to Christ and his compassion for all people. We met again as he participated in the Good Shepherd Alliance Walk for Shelter in Leesburg that September and it was then that I sought to get to know him better.

Pastor Archer told me in a phone conversation that he first came to know the Lord on July 23, 1961. He had previously been drafted into the Army during the Korean War serving in Germany until his discharge in 1955. He was married and working as an offset plate maker on that glorious day in 1961. He soon became active teaching Sunday school at a Baptist Church in Northeast Washington. He was spirit led to attend Washington Bible College in 1964 and then began preaching at Churches in Northwest Washington soon thereafter. He became an associate pastor at Bible Way Church of Christ in the late 1960’s in Northwest then moved west to become pastor of a vacant Church structure in Loudoun near Ashburn in 1969. His newly formed congregation gave the Church its name of Cedar Lane Bible Way. The original structure, built in 1891 lay on a rural road bordered by red cedars. The Church location then changed several times, with the congregation first moving to Sterling and later to a school in Leesburg, until finally settling down in 1991 on West Main Street in Purcellville. 

Pastor Archer first came to know the Lord on July 23, 1961. He had previously been drafted into the Army and served in Germany until his discharge in 1955. He was married and working as an offset plate maker on that glorious day in 1961. He began teaching Sunday school at a Baptist Church in Northeast Washington. He was spirit led to attend Washington Bible College in 1964 and then began preaching at Churches in Northwest Washington soon thereafter. Photo courtesy of Archer family.

By his own testimonial, Pastor Archer was cured of extremely high blood pressure and deteriorating kidneys in March 1998. Later in 2006, he received treatment for prostate cancer. Both times he said “my strong belief in the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus and the prayerful people in his congregation were the reasons for my total healing.”

One of Pastor Archers’ favorite scriptures is Isaiah 53: 5-6:
“But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.”

Cedar Lane Bible Way congregation is comprised of around 50 members with a lesser number of worshipers attending each Sunday.  For such a limited congregation, the Church does have a broad ministry and outreach program. 

Pastor Archers serves as the Chaplain for the American Legion Leonard W. Kidd Post 2001 in Ashburn where he ministers to returning veterans from overseas duties. He is involved in mentoring Loudoun high school students and active in fundraising to send young men and women to Boys State and Girls State, through the American Legion Auxiliary.

His congregation provides fellowship with mentally and physically disabled men who reside in group homes in Purcellville in partnership with the Salvation Army. Cedar Lane reaches into Charles Town and Martinsburg, West Virginia where they council people about the damaging effects of alcohol and drug use and host barbecues and fellowship. Members also visit 3 nursing homes in Charles Town and Winchester, Virginia to minister about God’s love and faithfulness to the aged and infirmed.

Currently Pastor Archer is a contributor in the weekly “Pray Purcellville” group that meets every Tuesday morning to pray for Purcellville at the Train Station. He played a key role in the training for the Healing Room and the launch of the Healing Rooms in Purcellville in April 2009. The approach is to minister to the sick who seek to be healed in prayer, enabling each individual to release their faith in healing through atonement. Pastor Archer now serves as Associate Director. The Purcellville Healing Rooms take place on the third Saturday of each month from 12 noon to 4 PM at King of Kings Worship Center. The Web Site: http://www.healingrooms.com/US1577.

Pastor Archer’s ministry attends the Shepherd’s Table quarterly meetings at Prison Fellowship Ministry in Lansdowne. The Shepherd’s Table provides a safe and centralized venue for shepherds/elders and ministry leaders to meet on a quarterly basis reaching out across all denominations and faith based non-profit foundations. The congregation also participates in the Loudoun Awakening programs. The Loudoun Awakening is an unprecedented opportunity for the Christians of Loudoun County and their churches and outreach ministries to unite together in a non-partisan expression of prayer and unity around the common denominators of the Leesburg Bible Reading Marathon, National Day of Prayer and the Global Day of Prayer. 

Pastor Archer participated in the 2010 Good Shepherd Alliance Homeless 1.2 mile Walkathon (Walk for Shelter) through historic Leesburg along with 15 other Churches. He informed me that he expects members of his congregation to participate again in 2011. This year Cedar Lane will again host a Men of Integrity Breakfast meeting. For more information regarding the Cedar Lane Bible Way ministry, please contact Pastor Archer at 571-918-4195 or email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).