Ernest J. Sperring was born in Ontario, New York and received a BA from Houghton College in 1949, a Bachelor of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Seminary in 1952, and a Master of Theology from the same institution in 1961. He served in many East Coast churches including St. John's Italian Baptist Church in Trenton, New Jersey, Mantua Baptist in Upper Darby, Pennsyvania and Highfield Baptist Church in Moncton, Canada. He served as pastor for the Atlantic United Baptist Convention from 1974 to 1986 and was appointed pastor emeritus for Highfield in 2003. He served in the Navy during World War II in both the European and Pacific theaters, and taught courses at Atlantic Baptist University, where there is a scholarship in his name.