Daniel A. Poling

Daniel A. Poling
Daniel Poling, 1913
Born	(1884-11-30)November 30, 1884 Portland, Oregon
Died	February 7, 1968(1968-02-07) (aged 83) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Occupation	Clergyman

Daniel Alfred Poling (November 30, 1884 - February 7, 1968) was an American clergyman.

Poling was born in Portland, Oregon, to Charles Cupp Poling and Savilla Kring Poling in 1884. His father was also a minister, and two of his brothers, Paul N. Poling and Charles S. Poling, became clergymen as well. Charles Cupp Poling came to Oregon as a missionary of the Evangelical Association in 1883, shortly before Daniel Poling's birth, and was one of the ministers who helped found the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Daniel Poling graduated from Dalles College, which his father had founded. He married Susan Jane Vandersall in 1906. Among their children was Clark V. Poling, one of the Four Chaplains lost aboard the SS Dorchester in World War II.

Poling was ordained in the United Evangelical Church in 1906 in Carey, Ohio. He quickly became involved in the campaign to prohibit alcohol in the United States. During World War I, Poling helped to organize a unit of chaplains to serve with the American Expeditionary Force in France. He served near the front, was involved in an enemy gas attack, and received a citation from the United States government. From 1922 to 1939, he preached at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, and began giving weekly radio addresses. While there, he came to know Norman Vincent Peale, who later described Poling as "one of the greatest servants of Jesus Christ in this age or any other". In 1927, he became the editor of the Christian Herald, a non-denominational Protestant journal that became more successful under his leadership. He would remain at the Herald's helm until 1966. The same year, he became the head of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour.