Early Developments of Oneness Pentecostalism

CHAPTER NINE

ONENESS SEED ON CANADIAN SOIL: EARLY DEVELOPMENTS OF ONENESS PENTECOSTALISM

David A. Reed

Introduction

Th e physical boundaries between Canada and United States have always been porous. Everything from contraband to intellectual prop- erty has been transported from one country to the other. Th e early Pentecostal movement was no exception. Pioneers of the new revival crossed the border, north and south, for conventions and campaigns, sometimes living for months or years in one country before returning home. Some, like Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944) and J. Roswell Flower (1888–1970), were born in Canada and made their home in the United States.1 Frank Ewart (1876–1947) entered Canada from Australia, but fi nally settled in California. Sometimes they served in one country while holding ministerial credentials in another.2 Howard Goss (1883–1964), converted under the ministry of Charles Parham (1873–1929) and an original signatory of the Assemblies of God, pastored in Ontario from 1919 to 1945, before returning to the United States as fi rst General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church.3 During his fi rst years in the Oneness movement, Andrew Urshan reported on Canadian mission eff orts in his magazine,Th e Witness of God, including his own itinerary to Canada.4

1 McPherson, born in Ingersoll, ON, was a celebrated evangelist and founding pastor of Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. Flower was born in Belleville, ON, and an early leader in the Assemblies of God. He evangelized, pastored and held a variety of admin- istrative posts with the organization. 2 Th is is particularly true for many Oneness organizations and independent Pentecostal ministers. 3 Goss was pastor of Danforth Gospel Temple in Toronto where he served until 1937, aft er which he moved to Brockville, ON, until he returned to the U.S. in 1945. During the time he was affi liated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Goss was also the fi rst chair of the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance, 1925–32, and later the general superintendent of the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated, 1939–45. 4 See especially his 1921 Canadian evangelistic trip. Th e itinerary included Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal, as well as a host of small towns in Ontario—Alliston, Athens, 192 chapter nine

Doctrines and practices were likewise oblivious to national borders. But their human carriers were a spiritual and intellectual source for internationally cross-pollinating the revival. Sometimes they transported beliefs and practices from one country to another. In other cases, they made their distinctive contribution on their own soil. Th is chapter will examine the early Oneness movement and the distinctive role played by Canadian leaders in that emerging tradition. As we shall see, some aspects were conventional and predictable on either side of the border. But other contributions were distinctive and unique, if not controversial. Canadians are written into the early Oneness story in a variety of ways—personally, theologically, and institutionally.

The Catalyst: R.E. McAlister

A human catalyst by nature rarely inherits the mantle of patriarch. Th is is the case with the birth of the Oneness movement—fi rst labelled the ‘New Issue’—within the early Pentecostal revival. Robert E. McAlister (1880–1953), a young Canadian convert to the new spiritual movement, became the catalyst for what soon became the occasion for the second schism within a decade of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. More signifi cantly, this schism was closely bound to the rst;fi and, as I have argued elsewhere, it was a radicalized outcome of the momentum propelling the fi rst schism.5 McAlister’s public role as catalyst for the New Issue occurred in April 1913, but the forces that brought him to that point began three years earlier. Specifi cally, by 1910 the Pentecostal revival had not only plateaued but was experiencing the strain of unresolved tensions—race, organization and doctrine. Th e two avowed Pentecostal patriarchs were wan- ing in infl uence. Charles Parham had failed to take command of Alexander Dowie’s crumbling ministry in Zion City, Illinois, and was disgraced over an alleged moral indiscretion in Texas.6 William Seymour, African-American leader of the Azusa Street Revival, was

Barrie, Collingwood, Dresden, Hamilton, Lansdowne, Markham, Picton, and Stratford—working with local evangelists; see Andrew Urshan, “Canadian Evangelistic Tr ip.” 5 See chapters 4 and 5 in Reed, In Jesus’ Name. 6 For an account of Parham’s indiscretion, see Goff , Fields White unto Harvest, 128–146.