The "glean" means to gather what has been left behind by the reapers; to collect with patient labor. Ruth was a gleaner of grain. "And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers..." (Ruth 2:3). Also, her patient labor is shown in verse seventeen, "So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley...". An ephah is equal to about a bushel.

Within The Church of God the word gleaners is used in reference to children up to the age of twelve. It is within the Gleaner Band that early training of our children begins. In the Gleaner Band services in the local church, children are taught to worship, pray, give in offerings, and be of service to God and His Church. The funds raised by the Gleaners help in raising Victory Leader Band funds. When children are present, every local church should be having regular Gleaner services in conjunction with the Victory Leaders service.