Meet The Ministers
Ruby D. Holland
Associate Minister
Rev. Holland is a retired native of Cleveland, whose work history includes 16 years of Corporate Business experience with the Diamond Shamrock Corporation in Sales and Marketing; 8 years Corporate Business experience as an Analyst in the Corporate Risk Management Department of BP America, and 12 years with Cuyahoga Community College’s Pathway Programs/Academic & Student Affairs, at the Tri-C District Office. She has a B.A. in Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College, Berea, Ohio; completed 2 years of Law School at the Cleveland Marshall College of Law; received six (6) certificates of completion in Bible Doctrine, Teaching & Missions from the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, and a Masters in Practical Theology (MAPT), with a concentration in Black Church Studies from Ashland Theological Seminary. She has taught Business, Math and Science, and provided personal and professional training to High School students within the Cleveland Municipal School District. She is also a Commissioned Notary Public for the State of Ohio.
She has been within fellowship of a local Baptist Church since the age of four (4), and acknowledges that in 1994 while serving as a Consecrated Deaconess as well as Superintendent of the Sunday School Department of the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, the Lord began calling her to preach the gospel. By the Grace of God, she preached her trial sermon July, 2006; and as an Associate Minister of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, was formally Ordained September 11, 2011. During Fellowship’s Pastoral Search and Installation of a New Pastor (Sept. 2014 to July 2015), she was asked to conduct the Installation of Officers, Baptisms, Holy Communion, and Clergy Rotation for Worship Service and Bible Study. She and her husband joined Antioch Baptist Church on January 31, 2016. Her Antioch ministries included that of, Worship Leader, Teach Tower/Board of Christian Education (BOCE) Leader, Clergy Team Leader, Wednesday Bible Study, Prayer Calls each Saturday, and assist other Baptist Churches as needed.
In January 2021 Rev. Holland, wanting to do her part to assist others during the pandemic, followed the dictates of the Holy Spirit and formed the Quiet Strength Ministry Outreach (QSMO) Nonprofit through the State of Ohio. QSMO received its 501C3 status from the Federal Government on February 14, 2022 as a privately funded nonprofit. In March 2022 she began Volunteer Chaplain training through the National Church Residences, a Christian Organization based throughout the United States. Upon graduation on March 21, 2022 she received her Commission as Volunteer Chaplain in Cleveland, Ohio. She was responsible for 171 apartment unit senior citizens at the Carnegie Towers on Cleveland’s east side. In April of 2022 she was appointed a member of the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (CADRC) – Minority Advisory Board (MAB) through Case Western Reserve University. As an Assistant/Associate Minister of Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, on October 17, 2023 Rev. Holland became a part of a history making event when the Baptist Ministers Conference of Cleveland and Vicinity, under the direction of Pastor, Rev. Dr. E. T. Caviness, admitted seven female ministers into the fold. Rev. Holland was the first woman to ever bring a message to that Organization in its over one-hundred-year existence!
Rev. Holland has faced many struggles along the way (including colon cancer and a rheumatoid arthritic condition of the legs and feet), but takes great comfort in the knowledge that God is using her faith and obedience in overcoming those struggles to make her a living testimony for Him! Her personal interests include the study and sharing of the Bible and the life of Christ, preaching, reading, music, teaching, and public speaking. She has been married for over forty years, to the one she refers to as, “God’s answer to my prayer”, a wonderful friend, and a true man of God, Deacon Vincent D. Holland, Ph.D. Together they enjoy three (3) wonderfully adorable cats!
