EEvangelistvangelist CharlesCharles S.S. PricePrice 2008

• Teen Challenge • Congregational Music • Racial Reconciliation Volume 28 • Religious Life of Elvis • Women in Ministry Plus Other Features

Published annually by The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center 1445 N. Boonville Ave. Springfield, MO 65802-1894 USA Phone: 417-862-1447, ext. 4400 Fax: 417-862-6203 Toll Free: 877-840-5200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.iFPHC.org ISSN 0896-4395

2008 Vol. 28 PUBLISHED BY THE FLOWER PENTECOSTAL HERITAGE CENTER Darrin J. Rodgers EDITOR AND DIRECTOR 4 Dr. Charles S. Price: His Life, Joyce E. Lee Ministry and Influence ARCHIVIST This Oxford-educated became one of the most noteworthy Pentecostal evangelists of the twentieth century. Glenn W. Gohr BY TIM ENLOE REFERENCE ARCHIVIST AND COPY EDITOR 14 Teen Challenge: 50 Years of Miracles William J. Molenaar What began as an outreach to the gangs of has SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR developed into one of the largest and most successful Christian drug-treatment programs. Sharon L. Rasnake BY DAVID BATTY AND ETHAN CAMPBELL ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR

Randy Clute 22 Conflicted by the Spirit: The HERITAGE DESIGNER Religious Life of Elvis Presley The “King of Rock ‘n Roll,” the most famous Assemblies of Wayne E. Warner Sunday school prospect from the 1950s, experienced an FOUNDING EDITOR all-too public struggle between his religious upbringing and the temptations of the world. Price: $8.00 BY JAMES R. GOFF, JR. Heritage is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, published by 32 A Short History of Congregational the American Theological Library Song in the Association, 250 S. Wacker Dr., The distinctive testimony of the Assemblies of God is reflected in 16th Flr., , IL 60606 its hymnody, which has evolved over the decades. E-mail: [email protected] BY BODIE GILBERT Web: www.atla.com 40 Known and Yet Unknown: Women ATLA Religion Database (RDB) is available on CD-ROM and US MARC of Color and the Assemblies of God Inspiring vignettes of women of color who have impacted the format directly from ATLA, as well Assemblies of God, but whose stories are largely unknown. as online through five aggregators: BY JESSICA FAYE CARTER OCLC’s FirstSearch, EBSCO Information Services, SilverPlatter, Ovid Technologies, and Cambridge 44 The Uphill History of Hispanic Scientific Abstracts. Microfilm of Assemblies of God Women in Heritage is available from Theological Ministry, 1915-1950 Research Exchange Network (TREN), An examination of the origins and early history of Hispanic P.O. Box 30183, 5420 N. E. Glisan, clergywomen in the Assemblies of God. Portland, OR 97294-3183. Heritage BY GASTÓN ESPINOSA on CD is available from the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. 50 The Assemblies of God and © Copyright 2008 by the Long Journey toward Gospel Publishing House, Racial Reconciliation 1445 N. Boonville Ave., An analysis of the historical roots of racial unity and disunity Springfield, MO 65802-1894 in the Assemblies of God. BY DARRIN J. RODGERS POSTMASTER: Send address change to Heritage, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802-1894 2 From the Editor 49 FPHC News 62 Heroes of the Faith 67 Resources

Front cover: Evangelist Charles Price in a preaching pose. The crowd from his Edmonton, Alberta crusade, October 1923, can be seen in the background. FROM THE EDITOR

tive, this history must consider the Enduring Core Values undesirable and often unmentioned By Darrin J. Rodgers traits that were only too apparent to those outside the Movement.1

ashions and fads — in the broader society According to Brumback, shortcom- ings found in the early Pentecostal as well as in church — may come and go. movement included: its impermanent However, history offers perspective about what status; doctrinal tangents; fanaticism; F immoral persons; a superiority com- lasts and what matters most. What lessons can be plex; and proselytizing fellow Chris- 2 gleaned from the history of the Assemblies of God? tians. One does not need to look beyond the past year’s news headlines Reflecting back upon the spiri- “the greatest that the to see that these difficulties continue to tual pilgrimage of the Assemblies of world has ever seen,” such resolve exist in some Pentecostal circles — and God, General Superintendent George must have seemed to some to be sheer in the broader church. O. Wood identifies five enduring core audacity. In less than one century, The Assemblies of God was formed values that its leadership has aimed to though, this commitment has yielded precisely to address these problems exemplify since its inception in 1914: results that hit shockingly close to the — to provide doctrinal, financial, and 1. Passionate proclamation, at home and mark. In 2007, over 57 million peo- moral accountability and to develop abroad, by word and deed of as ple were associated with the World structures to serve the growing Pen- Savior, Baptizer in the Holy Assemblies of God Fellowship. tecostal movement. The founders of Spirit, Healer, and Soon the Assemblies of God gave a five- Coming King; Learning from Struggles fold purpose for calling the first Gen- 2. Strategic investment There is a danger, however, that eral Council: unity, conservation of in the next generation; these encouraging statistics will breed the work, provision for missionaries, 3. Vigorous planting of a sense of triumphalism. The believers a legal charter for the churches, and new churches; who make up the Assemblies of God creation of a “general Training 4. Skillful resourcing are to be commended for bringing mil- School with a literary department for of our Fellowship; lions to faith in Christ and for faith- our people.”3 It was from this founda- and fully working to fulfill the Great Com- tion that the Assemblies of God devel- 5. Fervent prayer mission. However, Pentecostal history oped into what it is today. for God’s favor reveals a much more complex story — and help as we one in which testimonies of saved lives, In This Issue serve Him with restored families, and healed bodies This issue of Assemblies of God pure hearts and are accompanied by stories of human Heritage showcases stories of people, noble purpose. frailty, sacrifice, and struggle. ministries, and themes that illustrate Focusing on Carl Brumback, in his 1961 histo- some of the enduring core values iden- these enduring core ry of the Assemblies of God, warned tified by Dr. Wood. These stories will values has enabled against forgetting the hard-won lessons evoke memories for those who have the Assemblies of of Pentecostal history: lived the history. Hopefully, readers God to reach the will be challenged to reflect not just world for Christ. We tend to glamorize the formative about the triumphs of the faith life, When, in Novem- days of the Pentecostal Movement, but also about the snares that have ber 1914, the sec- to gloss over the objectionable fea- prevented people from accomplish- ond General Coun- tures, and to dismiss as prejudice the ing God’s will for their lives. cil committed the criticisms that were leveled against The feature article recounts the Assemblies of God it. We should be mature enough inspiring life of Charles S. Price, the to labor toward now to face the facts. To be objec- Oxford-educated Congregational pas-

2 AG HERITAGE 2008 tor who scoffed at Pentecostals from his napolis pastor and missions leader Thom- and wall images of people and places pulpit, until he converted to Christ in an as Paino, Jr.; and Central Bible College they have known as well as enjoying the evangelistic service held by Aimee Sem- music professor Glenda Morrow. interactive video kiosks and displays. ple McPherson in 1920. He abandoned his theological modernism and became Bringing History to You Sharing Your Legacy one of the most noteworthy Pentecostal Assemblies of God Heritage is just Do you have Pentecostal historical evangelists of the twentieth century. one of the ways the Flower Pentecostal materials that should be preserved? Do Next, you will read the exciting Heritage Center (FPHC) helps bring you know of someone with treasures story of Teen Challenge, which is Pentecostal history into your home, in their attic or basement? I would be one of the largest and most success- school, and church. The FPHC’s honored if you would consider depos- ful Christian drug-treatment programs. online research center is the world’s iting these materials at the FPHC. We The ministry, birthed fifty years ago by largest Pentecostal history website would like to preserve and make them David Wilkerson as an outreach to the and includes searchable databases, accessible to those who write the history gangs of New York City, demonstrates digitized periodicals and photographs, books. Are you uncertain whether the that no person is beyond redemption. and more (see page 49). Our digital FPHC would be interested in your col- The next two articles touch on music. products (see pages 67-71) allow you lection? I encourage you to contact music historian Jim Goff pro- to browse through thousands of pages FPHC; I would be delighted to discuss vides a careful assessment of Elvis Pre- of rare periodicals and books on your whether your materials might fill in one sley’s religious confliction. Assemblies of the many gaps in our collections. of God members have often felt mixed As you read the following pages, feelings toward the “King of Rock ‘n I hope you will be inspired and chal- Roll.” Many liked his music and were lenged. The Assemblies of God was proud that he once sat in the Sunday formed to provide a mature, Biblical school at Memphis First Assembly of voice within Pentecostal and evangeli- God. At the same time, Elvis’ all-too cal . While no leaders — public struggles caused concern and, at including those within the Assemblies times, consternation. Next, a history of of God — are perfect, the lessons from congregational song in the Assemblies those who came before can help pro- of God explores the development of the vide perspective for the future. I pray songbooks and hymnals with which we One of the acquisitions in 2007: three that we in the Assemblies of God are were raised. I encourage you to see how notebooks of Kathryn Kuhlman sermon known for faithfulness to core doctrines transcriptions, donated by Patricia Pickard. many you remember! and principles and for sensitivity to the Racial reconciliation in the church personal computer and to perform full- Spirit’s leading. Ours is an inspiring often begins by making an effort to get text searches. These digital products are heritage, replete with testimonies of to know people from different back- incredible aids for writing sermons or faithfulness, great sacrifice, changed grounds. Toward that end, three arti- school papers and for exploring fam- lives, and miraculous provision. The cles introduce some of the people and ily or church history. heritage of the Assemblies of God is a issues important in the history of the At the core of the FPHC is its amaz- legacy that is worth passing on to the non-Anglo churches in our Fellowship. ing collection of printed materials, oral next generation! As you read about God’s handmaidens histories, artifacts, photographs, and from Hispanic, African-American, and memorabilia — making it one of the Darrin J. Rodgers is director of the other backgrounds, reflect about the largest Pentecostal archives in the world. Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center and editor of Heritage magazine. significant obstacles they overcame Duke University professor Grant Wacker as women of color to follow God’s calls the collection “unparalleled.” Many call. I trust you also will be challenged scholars and church leaders, when writ- Notes by a historical analysis of the Assem- ing about the Pentecostal movement, blies of God’s mixed record on racial first do their research at the FPHC. 1 Carl Brumback, Suddenly … From reconciliation. If you plan to visit Springfield, Heaven: A History of the Assemblies of Finally, you will read about four please stop by the FPHC museum. A God (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel Publishing heroes of the faith: military chaplain and walk through this 3,000-square-foot House, 1961), 107. New York City pastor R. Stanley Berg; exhibit has every newcomer reminisc- 2 Ibid., 107-115. early Chicago pastor Lucy Smith; India- ing and commenting on photographs 3 Word and Witness 9:12 (Dec 20, 1913): 1.

2008 AG HERITAGE 3 Evangelist Charles Price (standing left of podium) at a meeting held in the armory at Eugene, Oregon, March 1924. Dr. Charles S. Price His Life, Ministry and Influence

By Tim Enloe

Standing before a silent crowd of thousands, the evangelist with a mild British accent dipped his index finger into the glass bowl of anointing oil. Touching the oil-covered fingertip to the forehead of the sick he prayed, “May the mercy of God and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of His — which are here now — enter your soul, your mind, and your body for healing. SAmen.”1 The person receiving ministry then typically collapsed into the waiting arms of an altar attendant — apparently lost in another reality — as he or she was laid upon the floor.

This scene was commonplace in the ministry Early Life of Charles S. Price — one of the most noteworthy Born in 1887, Charles Sydney Price was raised Pentecostal evangelists of the twentieth century. in Sheffield, England by his deeply religious Dr. Price, as his enthusiasts affectionately called father and stepmother; his birth mother passed him, had made a long personal journey from another away when he was only two. His photographic continent, another belief system, and truly another memory aided by his stepmother’s encourage- way of life before he was catapulted in front of some ment toward education allowed young Charles of the largest evangelistic crowds of the era. to enter high school by age twelve.2

4 AG HERITAGE 2008 2008 AG HERITAGE 5 After high school he served in the Brit- ferent sphere from my simple and of long-standing friends of his parents; ish Navy for two years.3 His parents made beautiful home surroundings.5 they helped young Charles get a job on immense sacrifices to send young Charles the Canadian railroad. A few months to Wesley College, then to Oxford Uni- A series of rebellious decisions later, Price felt a strange leading to go versity for a total of two years studying would eventually lead him to another to Spokane, Washington and found law.4 After college, he was articled to a continent to escape the past and try to himself leaving yet another country prominent Sheffield law firm and began find himself. to find purpose and direction. to admire living the high life. Immigration records show that Charles Price recalled: Departure From England he crossed the border on March 20, In September of 1906,6 nineteen- 1907 — bound for Spokane — with While I loved my parents deeply, I year-old Charles left England for a $42 in his pocket.7 Some months after foolishly began to believe that their fresh start in Canada. He searched arriving in Spokane, he encountered an outlook on life was old-fashioned diligently for work from Quebec to evangelistic service at the Free Meth- and rather narrow. I had been Winnipeg, going from one law firm odist “Life Line Mission” that would caught in a social whirl and had to the next, but no one seemed to need a restore his childhood faith and bring become the friend of the sons of relatively inexperienced immigrant. new direction to his life. men, some of them titled [British After much struggle, he ended up Price recounted his conversion as nobility], who lived in a very dif- in Medicine Hat, Alberta at the home a young man:

6 AG HERITAGE 2008

When Mr. Stayt gave his altar call, of the meeting introduced himself to my back on the cross and started I sprang to my feet, squared my Price as Dr. Henry I. Rasmus, the pas- along the trail that led to the laby- shoulders and marched down to the tor of First Methodist of Spokane. Put- rinths of modernism.... The conflict front.… So that night I gave myself ting his arm around Price, he said, “My within my own breast was the age- to God.… It was a quiet, methodi- boy, God wants you. I believe he led old battle of reason against faith. cal, almost business-like proposi- me into this mission to speak to you.… How grieved and sorry I am today to tion I made to the Lord; yet I meant You are going to become a Methodist have to record that reason won.11 it. I was sincere.8 preacher.”9 This was the beginning of Price’s career as a clergyman. This decision plunged Price into By the very next night Price was Another significant event happened Modernism, the liberal movement participating in Life Line’s services, while at the Life Line Mission: he fell affecting Christianity in the early giving his conversion testimony. A in love with one of the workers, Bes- 1900s. He quickly began to reason short while later, the mission workers sie Osborn, and they were married in away his previous salvation experience, elected him to lead the service when the late 1907.10 and his ministry from that point would scheduled speaker did not arrive. With be marked by the absence of altar calls much fear, he preached his first gospel Journey Into Modernism and salvations for several years. message and two men responded for It appeared like Price had finally His first of seven Methodist pas- salvation. Afterward, another attendee found what he was looking for — pur- torates was in Sedro-Wooley, Wash- pose, fulfillment, love and ministry — ington. He then went on to ministry however, this new discovery was to be in Anacortes before landing in Athol, short-lived. Idaho. He was ordained by the Meth- One of Price’s friends had made a odist Episcopal Church and continued spiritual pilgrimage to the Azusa Street to pastor several churches in northern Revival in . Soon, sever- Idaho and eastern Washington.12 al of the other mission workers were Price’s Modernistic con- also baptized in the Holy Spirit, and tinued to develop until he was called Price could not help but notice the dra- to task by his presiding elder for some matic change in his friends’ lives. He of his teachings. This would be the became convinced of the reality of the inciting factor that led him to pastor Pentecostal baptism and while en route more liberal Congregational churches to a tarrying meeting (to pray until he for the next few years. received the baptism in the Holy Spir- The Prices’ first Congregational it with speaking in tongues), he was church was in Valdez, Alaska (1913- intercepted by another minister who 1915).13 While there, he was natu- sternly warned him of the dangers of ralized as a US citizen14 and was this new fanaticism. Price listened to selected to serve as a member of the the minister’s anti-revival apologetic all Alaskan Floating Court afternoon and was finally convinced to (the unique mobile court system for stay away from the tarrying meeting the lesser inhabited areas of Alaska). and in general. Once again he thrived on social stand- Later in life, he frequently lamented ing and notoriety. His hunting expedi- his decision that day. Price wrote: tions, dog sledding, and photography of Alaskan life would later open doors That was the turning point in my for his blossoming oratorical skills. life. With all my heart I believe that Since Bessie had been ill for the dura- God had led me to Spokane so that tion of their Alaska pastorate, the deci- I might step through the open door sion was made to relocate to a warmer into the glorious experience that I climate. Bessie and the four children am enjoying today, but I listened to — Ethel, Marjorie, Vernon and Lucille the voice of a modernist and by my — would go back to stay with her fam- own act closed the door. Two roads ily in Spokane to recover while Charles were opened before me and I took headed for in search of a new the wrong one. I foolishly turned pastorate.15 Valdez newspaper clippings

2008 AG HERITAGE 7 tell of a packed out church listening to pressed and told them, “I can Price’s “eloquent” farewell address.16 explain it all. It is metaphys- Soon after Charles Price landed in ical, psychological, nothing San Francisco, the First Congregational tangible.”27 Even so, Price Church of Santa Rosa invited him to be had to admit that “some of their pastor, and Bessie and the chil- my best church members dren rejoined him in California. There were getting inoculated.”28 from 1915-1917,17 he climbed the local In an attempt to stop what social ladder and quickly became a Large revival sign for Charles S. Price meeting he considered foolishness, at Faith Tabernacle, Oklahoma City, about 1929. prominent public figure. In mid-1917,18 Price decided to witness first- invitation was given to assume the pas- Information, he would share the stage hand the San Jose revival being con- torate of the sophisticated Calvary Con- with many Hollywood celebrities dur- ducted by Aimee Semple McPherson. gregational Church in Oakland, and the ing these many events. He planned on going as a skeptical Prices once again relocated. Charles His recognition as an articulate observer, taking notes, and then dis- Price became friends with the well- and entertaining speaker was rapidly mantling the revival and the alleged known pastor of Oakland’s First Baptist increasing. It was no surprise when miracles publicly in Sunday morning’s Church, Dr. William Keeney Towner, he received a letter from the Ellison- sermon, but first he took out an ad in and together they shared a private box White Chautauqua System inviting him the local paper with his Sunday ser- in the T & D Theater in the city.19 to be an entertainer for their programs. mon topic, “Divine Healing Bubble By this point, Price was deeply Resigning his pastorate in 1920,23 he Explodes.”29 entrenched in Modernism and the would tell of his adventures in Alaska Imagine his surprise when arriving social gospel. He led the church to and show his prized lantern slides as he in San Jose he saw the sign, “Aimee install a white maple dance floor with entertained the crowds at Camp Curry Semple McPherson; Auspices William the capacity of 1,500 and smoking in the Yosemite Valley (as a comedic Keeney Towner”!30 His friend and the- lounges.20 Price himself took up cigar entertainer during the summer and a lec- ater partner from back in Oakland was and pipe smoking21 and his messages turer during the winter; this would last sponsoring the fanaticism! were mainly on psychology and current for six consecutive seasons).24 Rev. and McPherson’s tent was packed with issues. He would later recount, Mrs. Willard Peirce, early Pentecostal about six thousand people, and many pioneers, would enjoy Price’s comedy, more crowded outside to hear her mes- For sixteen years I never had a con- impersonations, and poetry recitations sage. Price met an exuberant Towner in vert and for sixteen years I never while vacationing there in 1920.25 the aisle and listened as his old friend gave an altar call…I used to love to The following year, he accepted the frankly told him, “Charlie, this is real. rise in my pulpit and tell the folks of pastorate of the First Congregational This little woman is right. This is the the theatres I had attended the past Church in Lodi, California, where he real gospel. I have been baptized with week, just to show how broad I was; would also continue Chautauqua lectur- the Holy Ghost. It’s genuine, I tell you. and I belonged to almost every lodge ing on a part-time basis. Lodi is where It is what you need.”31 and club that I could join.22 his life’s journey would take yet anoth- Price could only find an open seat in er turn — this time for the better. the “cripples” section and he later noted, His oratory skills soon opened even “That is where I belonged.”32 He was more prominent doors of opportunity; Rededicates Life to Christ surprised to find that Sister McPherson’s he was appointed to give four-minute In August of 1921,26 some of the theology was thoroughly biblical and persuasive speeches to sell war bonds Lodi church members told Price of convicting; so much so that hundreds for the government in theaters and ship- an incredible revival happening in responded for salvation after just one ser- yards. Receiving a Presidential com- San Jose — replete with mass salva- mon. He noted to himself, “That woman mendation for this work and appoint- tions, miraculous healings, and tongues has won more people to Jesus Christ in ment to the US Committee on Public speaking. He was immediately unim- one fore-noon than you have gotten in fourteen years of your ministry.”33 Evangelists like Charles S. Price your church or district can benefi t That evening, he sat on the platform have long served a vital role in from the ministry of an evangelist, with the other ministers and though ini- our Fellowship. Today, over 1,000 visit the website tially skeptical, became convinced of the Assemblies of God evangelists of the National reality of the healings he was witness- continue to help win the lost and Evangelist’s Offi ce: ing. A blind person could now see; a disciple believers. To learn how http://evangelists.ag.org man with crutches leapt from the plat-

8 AG HERITAGE 2008

A revival announcement from the Minneapolis Daily Star, about May 1926. Taken Newspaper announcement of a from the Charles Price scrapbook at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. revival meeting. Taken from the Charles S. Price scrapbook. theth years following. Willard vices daily in the San Jose tent. Fol- anda Christine Peirce hosted lowing the evening services, crowds as somes of Price’s mammoth large as 600 would migrate to Dr. Town- campaignsc in Toronto and er’s Baptist church for all-night tarry- werew his last visitors before ing meetings to receive Spirit baptism.41 heh passed away in 1947.39 Towner helped Price see the necessity Needless to say, Price of the Spirit’s power in his life: nnever preached the advertised ssermon. In fact, it was much Charles, you had better go all the way to the contrary. He was sur- through. It is like trying to build a pprised when, after preaching house without a hammer and saw aan uncompromising gospel — preaching without the Baptism of This testimony card of John C. Mackenzie message, his church did not the Holy Ghost… Never mind your documents his healing from stomach trouble fire him. Instead over eighty doubts, forget your dismay, you con- and other ailments at a Charles Price campaign at Vancouver, BC in September 1929. people responded to the altars! fessed to me there’s a hunger in your Price had a dramatic change heart and I advise you to seek the form in joy.34 When Sister gave the invi- of heart that would remain for the rest infilling of the Holy Ghost.42 tation for salvation, Price raised his hand of his life: to respond. A fellow minister tapped After four nights of tarrying, God him on the shoulder and said, “Charlie, In the course of a few short days not dealt with Price about his integrity, don’t you know she is calling for sin- only outlook on life, my viewpoint, ambition and pride. He finally came to ners?”35 Price responded, “I know who but my life itself had been trans- the place where he was no longer driven she is calling for.”36 He was quick to formed and changed. The burning, to pastor large, metropolitan churches, respond to the altar and confirmed that flaming fires of evangelism began but was willing to pastor even a small he “walked out of that tent a new man” to blaze in my heart. The thing that I mission not unlike the Life Line Mission with a renewed commitment.37 desired more than anything else in the he had previously attended. With all McPherson asked Price to testify world was to win souls for Jesus.40 of the pride-breaking God was accom- and lead the singing the next day at the plishing in Price, he still was concerned services. Willard Peirce was in atten- This blazing fire in his heart would about drawing attention to himself or dance and turned to ask his wife why awaken a hunger that he had sup- being a spectacle, especially that he the song leader looked so familiar. She pressed since his early days in Spo- would be overcome by God’s power reminded her husband of their previ- kane; he was fourteen years late for and fall over in public: ous vacation to Yosemite Valley and the a tarrying meeting! comedic entertainer from Camp Curry; I looked around at the people that it was the same man!38 The Peirces and Receives Spirit Baptism were prostrate under the power of Prices were to become dear friends in Sister Aimee conducted several ser- God and I did not like that. I did

2008 AG HERITAGE 9 not see the necessity for that and I ing lips … I had them for just a — along with the amazing success of said to myself, “Why cannot God moment or two and just then, sud- the Lodi church’s traveling gospel team baptize a man with the Holy Ghost denly, just as spontaneously and — stirred his heart for itinerant evan- while he is kneeling down?” I asked easily as water going over a fall gelism. All that was missing was con- a brother, I think it was Dr. Towner, I COMMENCED TO SPEAK IN firmation from God. “Brother, does everybody go down ANOTHER TONGUE.”47 After returning to Lodi from his when they get the Baptism?” He easterly trip with the McPherson said, “Well I did, AND I HAVE AN This experience would dramatically party, he spent several days in prayer IDEA YOU WILL.” Well, that is all change the course of his life and min- and bewilderment. While things were the comfort I got out of him.43 istry; his church in Lodi would never going well at the church — and a larger be the same. sanctuary was under construction to Price found an inconspicuous place Soon, following Dr. Towner’s house the increasing crowds — Price to pray — behind a piano that had been model, Price’s First Congregational was still confused. crowded into a corner. At about 1:15 in Church of Lodi became the scene of He took a train to Oakland to visit the morning,44 Dr. Towner found Price all-night, Pentecostal tarrying meet- some friends and, while walking down still praying in secret behind the piano ings. Crowds would reach 1,000,48 and the street, wandered into a restaurant. A and convinced him to come out of hid- the impact would be regional. Revival man dining there called out to him say- ing and pray with the others, “ You have was shaking the once-liberal church! ing, “My name is Miller. I am the pastor still got too much of this ‘ministerial Within just a few months of his bap- of the First Baptist Church of Ashland, dignity’ on your shoulders,” he said.45 tism in the Spirit, Price would report Oregon. I believe you have come into Within just a few minutes of pray- over 500 from the Lodi church having this restaurant in answer to prayer.”53 ing “in the open,” Price suddenly felt the same experience.49 Dr. B. C. Miller had come to Cali- the power of God coming upon him. As a natural outgrowth of the reviv- fornia as a representative of the Ash- He began to tremble and became aware al, the church formed a gospel team land, Oregon churches to persuade that something else was happening, “I of hundreds50 to minister in the com- Aimee Semple McPherson to hold felt so light! Just like a feather. I was munity and in the surrounding region. a campaign there; McPherson was going up, and yet my eyes told me I Caravans of as many as 20 carloads of not able to do so, but recommended was going down — the feeling was workers would go to nearby towns to that Miller invite Price in her place.54 one of going up, but in reality I was hold evangelistic street meetings.51 Divine providence had spoken, and just sinking to the floor.”46 A seemingly serendipitous chain arrangements for the first Charles S. The power of God continued to of events would launch Price from the Price citywide evangelistic campaign increase until: Lodi church into international promi- were set in motion. nence and the most fruitful ministry A feeling of glory came through he had ever witnessed. Catalyst of Revival my body and I tried to say, “Praise The Ashland campaign started on the Lord” and I could not. I com- Call to Evangelism September 3, 192255 in the 5,000-seat menced to stammer and Dr. Towner Aimee Semple McPherson had Chautauqua lecture hall (the town’s commenced to shout and to praise asked Price to travel with her evange- population at the time was also about the Lord and he said, “Praise Him” listic party to revivals in Canton, 5,000).56 By September 9th, crowds of and I said, “Prai—praise— prai— and Rochester, New York.52 The effec- over 3,000 would witness miracles at the .” I could not … with stammer- tiveness of the McPherson campaigns first divine healing service.57 By Sep- tember 22, the impact of the campaign would be in full swing as the build- The Healing Evangelists DVD ing was filled and the local newspaper offered by FPHC contains Charles S. Price’s would read “Few Sinners in Ashland” Golden Grain magazine (1926-1957) as well as a subtitle on the main page.58 as periodicals and books of other well-known The following scene is recorded in healing evangelists including John Alexander a secular newspaper about a healing Dowie, Aimee Semple McPherson, Carrie Judd service at Medford during this same Montgomery, and Maria Woodworth-Etter. series of revival meetings: Over 50,000 pages of digitized materials. $49.95 plus shipping. To order see page 69. The first 37 people who moved across the platform were so filled

10 AG HERITAGE 2008 of a terminal heart condition that had included 19 heart attacks, He would later carry on the campaign ministry of Dr. Price after his death.62 Headlines touted: “300 Prostrate at Once After Anointing at Arena,”63 “8,000 Present at Meeting of Faith Healing,”64 “Lame Arise from Chairs and Walk,”65 “Cripple Walks at Arena: Scores Go Down as if Before Machine Guns,”66 “Deaf and Dumb Converse After Evangelist Prays,”67 and “Prayer Restores Sight.”68 Minneapolis, St. Louis, Dallas, Seat- tle, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Pitts- burgh, Los Angeles and many other met- ropolitan areas would host huge Price campaigns. His meetings would also bear much fruit in smaller towns, such as Belleville, , where there were 10,000 conversions in ten days.69 From 1922 to the late 1930s, Price’s Charles S. Price mammoth campaigns brought the Full standing in front of a Gospel’s message and experience to the revival tent at Lancaster, PA, about 1930. masses of the United States, Canada and Northern ; even the Great Depression did not hinder his efforts. However, World War II brought fuel with the power of God that they had British Columbia, the power of God only rationing and restricted travel, even to be carried to their seats in the increased in the evangelistic campaigns. blackouts; these factors greatly limited church. Out of 50 people prayed Deep conviction of sin and remarkable the possibility for mass meetings. Dur- for, 47 fell under the power of God. healings along with the curious sign of ing this period, Dr. Price would turn his The Lord was present in such a prostration during healing prayer attract- effort to writing and meetings primar- mighty way that twice Dr. Price col- ed large crowds and surprisingly good ily in the populous region of Southern lapsed and had to lay on the floor at favor. From West to East, Price would California which he called home. one time to get control of himself. re-trace his earlier steps across Canada In a 1940 Maywood, California During the last half hour of the heal- as a troubled young man. This time, tent meeting, a dairy farmer insis- ing service, the evangelist was liter- however, he would bring the gospel to tently approached Price to go to the ally held up in the arms of two of the largest arenas from Vancouver to hospital and pray for his dying sister. the preachers. One deaf and dumb Toronto, bringing hope and purpose to This young lady, Florence, had been girl heard and spoke … one goiter people who were lost. in a car accident involving a paving melted away to such an extent that In the Winnipeg campaign, a con- truck — hot asphalt had spilled all the preachers were crying “Look, servative Methodist pastor named D. over her body and covered her with look!” and some of the audience N. Buntain was introduced to Spirit third degree burns. Her pelvis was broke from their seats … it was a baptism and joined the ranks of the broken in seven places, and her leg had great night in Medford.59 Pentecostals; he later became the gen- been torn loose from the socket. Dr. eral superintendent of the Pentecostal Price went to the hospital and prayed Word of the revival in Oregon Assemblies of Canada and father of for Florence’s healing — which God quickly spread, and pilgrims came from the Pentecostal missionary statesman miraculously granted to the amaze- as far as British Columbia to experi- Mark Buntain.60 In Edmonton, Alber- ment of the hospital staff. This man, ence the power of God, one of whom ta the 12,000-seat ice arena was filled Demos Shakarian, became a close would open the doors to Canadian min- to capacity, and some broke windows friend to Dr. Price, and they would istry for Dr. Price. to climb into the building.61 There a meet weekly for lunch until Price’s From his first meeting in Victoria, young man, Lorne Fox, was healed death in 1947.70

2008 AG HERITAGE 11 Conclusion Charles S. Price suffered heart prob- lems for about three months prior to his death,73 and on March 8, 1947 he passed away — only two months shy of his 60th birthday. The funeral was conducted by two of his closest friends, Rev. Claire Britton of Alhambra, Cali- fornia and Rev. A. A. Wilson of Kansas City, . He was interred in For- est Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California74 — not far from the grave of Aimee Semple McPherson. Price campaign party, date unknown. (L-r): Marjorie Lewis, Edith Lewis, Ethel Price, Evangelists Hattie Hammond and Charles S. Price, Marjorie Price (secretary), Lucille Price, Evelyn Carvell (personal Lorne Fox would fulfill Price’s speak- worker & soloist), Albert Knudson (pianist), and O. Lewis (building manager). ing engagements. His long-term assis- Influence and Contribution his Golden Grain monthly periodi- tant and governess to the children, Eve- Demos Shakarian, founder of the cal — of which he was the primary lyn Carvell, would continue to publish Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellow- contributor — for twenty-one years. the Golden Grain periodical for more ship International, was not the only Of all his works, the book The Real than ten years. His writing ministry prominent lead- Faith has had the broadest impact; it would continue to be promoted by his er whom Price deeply influenced. In has been continuously in print since faithful daughter Marjorie until her his 1922 Albany, Oregon campaign, 1940. The thesis of The Real Faith is death in 1994; the messages printed strange circumstances brought a young that faith is more than merely hoping in his many books have proved to be girl from Concordia, Missouri to the or saying the right things (such as the his own written legacy. meetings. There she witnessed Spirit positive confession movement would This lost young man who made his baptism, divine healing, and prostration teach), but rather, a divinely imparted long, personal journey from England for the first time; this experience would spiritual commodity that comes as you to the United States via Canada — significantly mark her life. Kathryn draw nearer to Christ; a sudden cer- from rebellion to Modernism to Pen- Kuhlman would become the leading tainty that God alone can give. tecost — had indeed found himself. proponent of these same three experi- Though Price’s ministry was interde- From Sheffield, England to world- ences in the 1960s and 1970s.71 nominational, he found a special home wide spiritual influence, his journey Charles Price was one of the most in Assemblies of God circles. Serial- was complete. prolific Pentecostal authors of his era, ly preaching district camps in Oregon, Still today, the evangelist with a writing twenty-one books and editing Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and mildly British accent and a profound — to name only a salvation/healing ministry is affecting Appreciation to John Carver few, he would also preach at the many through his preserved teachings Inspiring, insightful stories from our Pen- AG’s biennial General Council on the Holy Spirit, divine healing and tecostal past could not be written without on occasion. He influenced and other Pentecostal themes. the behind-the-scenes work of those who inspired a generation of young collect and preserve historical materials. Pentecostal to convinc- Tim Enloe is It is appropriate to recognize Rev. John ingly preach and boldly demon- a student of Carver for his lifelong research of the strate the power of the gospel. Pentecostal church history with a Pentecostal healing movements in Ameri- A host of postwar healing evangelists would devour his special interest in ca. Tim Enloe says, “I am deeply indebted revivals and healing to Rev. John Carver of Faith Outreach books and magazines to further evangelists. He and Archives for access to his vast collection their own ministries. T. L. Osborn his wife, Rochelle, of personal effects and materials relating would note that the Golden Grain travel internationally conducting Holy Spirit Conferences, emphasizing to Dr. Charles S. Price.” Visit the Faith was a lifeline during his early stint as a missionary in India.72 Price’s a practical approach to the Holy Outreach Archives website for more Spirit’s power and giftings. Visit information about the healing movement: healing ministry would be a model their website and blog for more www.johncarverministries.org that many would emulate. information: www.enloeministries.org

12 AG HERITAGE 2008 Notes 1 Charles S. Price, “The Story of the recalls that he did not give an altar call Hicks campaign there in the 1950s. Conversion and Healing Ministry of Dr. for 14 years. 55 “Revival Campaign to Begin Sunday,” Charles S. Price,” The Voice of Healing 23 “Pastor Quits Pulpit for Lecture Ashland Daily Tidings (Ashland, OR), 5:9 (December 1952): 2. Platform,” Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Sept. 1, 1922, 1. 2 Charles S. Price, The Story of My Life CA), March 14, 1920. 56 “Evangelist to be in Ashland Another (Pasadena, CA: Charles S. Price Publishing 24 Charles S. Price, “Our Personal Week,” Ashland Daily Tidings (Ashland, Co., 1935), 5. Testimony” [tract] Words of Life No. 642 OR), Sept. 22, 1922, 1. 3 1917 US draft registration card reveals (Framingham, MA: Christian Workers 57 “Divine Healings Attract 3000 to all prior military service. Union, October 7, 1922), 2. Chautauqua Bldg.,” Ashland Daily Tidings 4 I was not able to confi rm the years or 25 Peirce audio. (Ashland, OR), Sept. 9, 1922. degree attainment from either Wesley 26 William Keeney Towner, “An After That 58 “Evangelist to be in Ashland Another College or Oxford due to record losses Experience,” Golden Grain 1:7 (September Week,” Ashland Daily Tidings, (Ashland, during World War II. 1926): 22. OR), Sept. 22, 1922, 1. 5 Price, The Story of My Life, 7. 27 Charles S. Price, “Our Personal 59 “Medford Day is Huge Success for Dr. 6 Allan Line’s S.S. Ionian passenger list, Testimony,” 3. Price,” Ashland Daily Tidings, (Ashland, September 1906. 28 Ibid. OR), Sept. 29, 1922, 1. 7 List or Manifest of Alien Passengers 29 Price, The Story of My Life, 25. 60 D. Mark Buntain, Why He is a Pentecostal Applying for Admission to the US from a 30 Ibid., 26. Preacher (Toronto, ON: Full Gospel Foreign Contiguous Territory, Washington 31 Ibid., 27. Publishing House, 1944), 86-90. State Ports, March 1907. 32 61 Price, The Story of My Life, 50. 8 Price, “Our Personal Testimony,” 5. Price, The Story of My Life, 14. 62 33 Ibid. Lorne F. Fox, “The Charles S. Price Story,” 9 Ibid., 15. 34 Ibid. World Pentecost (Issue 3, 1973): 24. 10 63 Tim Enloe, personal interview with 35 Ibid., 6. “300 Prostrate at Once,” The Evening Bessie Price’s niece, Evelyn Christian, 36 Ibid. Telegram (Toronto, ON), October 4, June 9, 1999. 1924. 37 Ibid. 11 Price, The Story of My Life, 19. 64 “8,000 Present,” Free Press Evening 38 Peirce audio. 12 Charles S. Price, “How I Received the Bulletin (Winnipeg, MB), August 13, 39 Ibid. Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” Golden Grain 1924. 40 Price, The Story of My Life, 32. 4:8 (October 1929): 7. 65 “Lame Arise,” Free Press Evening 41 Price, “How I Received the Baptism of 13 From an undated newspaper clipping in Bulletin (Winnipeg, MB), August 16, Price’s early personal scrapbook. the Holy Spirit,” 8-9. 1924. 42 Ibid., 8. 66 14 Charles S. Price, US military registration “Cripple Walks,” Vancouver Daily World 43 card, 1916. Ibid., 10. (Vancouver, BC), May 16, 1923, 1. 44 15 From an undated newspaper clipping in Ibid. 67 “Deaf and Dumb Converse,” East St. 45 Price’s early personal scrapbook. Ibid., 11. Louis Daily Journal (East St. Louis, IL), 46 16 Ibid. Ibid. February 18, 1925, 1. 47 68 17 Ibid. Ibid., 13. “Prayer Restores Sight,” The World 48 Pointer (Oklahoma City, OK), Aug. 23, 18 “Church Listings,” Oakland Tribune Price, The Story of My Life, 38. 49 1931, 1. (Oakland, CA), Oct. 20, 1917. Charles S. Price, “Testimony of Dr. C. S. 69 Price, The Story of My Life, 54. 19 Willard Peirce, audio of Rev. Peirce’s Price,” Bridal Call 6:5 (October 1922): 12. 50 70 recollections of Charles S. Price, no Price, The Story of My Life, 52. Nickel, Thomas, The Shakarian Story date. 51 Price, “Testimony of Dr. C. S. Price,” 13. (Costa Mesa, CA: FGBMFI, 1964), 18. 71 20 Charles S. Price, “The Ark is Coming 52 Ibid. Audio interview of Kathryn Kuhlman and Myrtle Parrott by Jamie Buckingham, Up the Road,” Golden Grain 2:6 (August 53 Charles S. Price, “My Call,” Golden Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton 1927): 8. Grain 15:3 (June 1940): 6. 21 College, Wheaton, IL, December 1974. Charles S. Price, “How I Received the 54 Tim Enloe, personal interview with Dr. 72 John W. Carver, personal interview of Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” Golden Grain Edward Miller, son of B. C. Miller, August T. L. Osborn, May 11, 2001. 4:8 (October 1929): 8. 17, 1999. Dr. Edward Miller had vivid 73 22 Ibid. In his earliest account of this, memories of the Ashland campaign and of Charles Sydney Price, death certifi cate, “Our Personal Testimony” [tract] Words of Price’s long-term friendship with the Miller County of Los Angeles, California, March Life No. 642 (Framingham, MA: Christian family. Miller is a missionary to Argentina 8, 1947. Workers Union, October 7, 1922), Price and was instrumental in the great Tommy 74 Ibid.

2008 AG HERITAGE 13 Teen Challenge 5500 Years of Miracles

By David Batty and Ethan Campbell

Teen Challenge, one of the world’s largest and most successful City. The article featured a large ink drug recovery programs, grew out of an Assemblies of God drawing of the seven defendants in minister’s burning desire to share Christ with troubled youth. court. In Dave’s own words, When David Wilkerson began his evangelistic ministry to New York City gang members in 1958, he could not have imagined My attention was caught by the the incredible ministry God was starting, not only on the lives eyes of one of the figures in the drawing. A boy. One of seven of youth in trouble, but within the broader Christian church. T boys on trial for murder. The art- His 1963 best-selling book, The Cross and the Switch- ist had caught such a look of bewilderment and hatred and blade, described the dramatic way the Holy Spirit worked despair in his features that I opened the magazine wide again though his ministry. This book became a catalyst for the to get a closer look. And as I did, I started to cry.... emerging charismatic renewal in Protestant and Catholic I was dumbfounded by a thought that sprung suddenly into churches. Today, there are more than 200 Teen Challenge my head — full-blown, as though it had come into me from programs in the United States and another 400 programs in somewhere else. Go to New York City and help those boys.2 95 other nations. A 50th anniversary celebration is slated to be held June 25-29, 2008 in New York City. For more infor- Early Failure mation about Teen Challenge and the anniversary activities With the prayers of his church members, Dave drove to see: www.teenchallengeusa.com. New York City two days later with his youth pastor, Miles Hoover. They did not meet with success right away. In fact, The Call their attempts to reach the teen gang members on trial ended in In the summer of 1957, the murder of Michael Farmer in failure. Dave was thrown out of the courtroom after an attempt New York City began a chain of events that would extend to to speak with the judge, and an embarrassing photo of him the whole world over the next 50 years. This brutal murder holding up a Bible was featured in the New York Daily News. of Farmer by eighteen members of a teen gang, the Egyp- During his second visit to the city, Dave discovered an tian Dragons, became a major news event in the months that unexpected result of the courtroom incident and newspaper followed. The February 24, 1958 issue of Life Magazine photo. Several of the Egyptian Kings gang had been in the published a two-page spread on this trial.1 courtroom the day he had been thrown out, and gang mem- At the time, David Wilkerson was 26 years old, the pas- bers throughout the city were closely following news reports tor of an Assemblies of God church in Philipsburg, Penn- of the trial. Without realizing it, Dave had suddenly become sylvania. Praying alone in his office on a Tuesday night, a celebrity among local gangs. As he explained, “Their logic he felt drawn to the Life Magazine on his desk. He opened was simple. The cops didn’t like me; the cops didn’t like them. it to the story about the Michael Farmer trial in New York We were in the same boat, and I was one of them.”3

14 AG HERITAGE 2008 Shortly after their conversion, Nicky Cruz (left) and Israel Narvaez (right) left their gang to follow Christ. Nicky is exchanging his gang bat for a Bible from Dave Wilkerson. Soon after this picture was taken, Nicky left for Bible school, graduated, and then entered full-time ministry as an evangelist. Israel went through several more diffi cult years before he reestablished his relationship with Christ.

Dave took advantage of his newfound popularity to Christian ministry that would defy conventional wisdom. preach the gospel, both in street meetings and in the crowd- God took this ex-gang leader and turned him into an anointed ed rooms of gang hideouts and heroin “shooting galleries.” evangelist who has preached to millions.4 Conversions to the Christian faith did not come quickly or easily for teens caught up in the gang culture of drugs, Teen Age Evangelism fighting, and sex. With the help of 65 Assemblies of God On October 5, 1959, Assemblies of God pastor Reg Yake pulled churches from New York, Dave held a citywide rally for together a group of pastors to consider supporting Dave Wilkerson. gang members. Dave gave his new organization the name Teen Age Evangelism, which was changed to Teen Challenge a few years later. Turning Point In the late spring of 1961, an infusion of twenty new The services took place July 8-12, 1958, but the last full-time workers arrived in New York City: sixteen students night stood out from the rest, a night that would mark a from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, and four turning point for the ministry. Members of the Mau Maus, from Lee College in , Tennessee. Throughout the Bishops, and several other gangs were in attendance. At the summer, they conducted street rallies, shared the gospel with conclusion of his sermon, dozens of gang members came anyone who would listen, and offered shelter at the house to forward to accept Christ as Savior, including Nicky Cruz, young people in need. Two of these CBC college students, a teen gang leader from . Mike and Kay Zello, would go on to a lifetime ministry A few months later Nicky Cruz enrolled in the Latin with Teen Challenge, pioneering a Teen Challenge center in American Bible Institute in La Puente, California. When Washington, DC, and then in 1995 becoming missionaries he graduated three years later, he embarked on a career in with Global Teen Challenge.5

2008 AG HERITAGE 15 New Direction In the late 1950s, narcotics use increased sharply across New York City, and with it came a corresponding decline in teen gang activity. More and more of the people reached through Teen Challenge were struggling with drug addic- tion. Soon it became clear that the needs of the commu- nity had changed. Evangelism, street meetings, and outreach to teens remained essential, but Teen Challenge’s mission grew broader — to encompass recovery from addiction, counseling, and training in practical life skills. The ministry focused not only The Teen Challenge Training Center in Rehrersburg, on Christian conversion, but also on Christian discipleship, PA, became the model for the Christian discipleship the long-term practice of applying spiritual disciplines to programs to help drug addicts become established in their new walk with Christ. Here is one of the fi rst daily life. Don Wilkerson, Dave’s brother, joined the min- Teen Challenge students being baptized in water at istry and became the director of the program. the Training Center by the director, Frank Reynolds One of the first drug (on the right). addicts to come to Teen Chal- lenge was Sonny Arguinzoni. very first Teen Challenge Training Center for men. Frank After he completed the Teen Reynolds became the first executive director of this center.6 Challenge program in 1962, On the very same day that Frank and his wife Gladys he attended Bible school and left Staten Island for Rehrersburg, Dave Wilkerson asked if then worked at Teen Chal- they could also take a recent convert named Harvey Kuflik. lenge for several years in Los Frank agreed, so Harvey moved into the farmhouse with Angeles. He then pioneered them and their four young boys while they built the first Victory Outreach, a church for dormitory. Harvey went on to be the first graduate of the drug addicts and their families. Teen Challenge Training Center. Sonny Arguinzoni, This church grew, and then With the Rehrersburg Center, Frank’s vision of a long- former drug addict, helped establish over began to plant other church- term Christian discipleship program was finally realized. 400 Victory Outreach es. Today there are more than By the late 1960s, he had established a model of addiction churches. 400 churches that are part of recovery that would become the signature of Teen Challenge the Victory Outreach fellow- programs nationwide. The Farm took in men recruited by ship, and many of these churches have a recovery program the Brooklyn center and gave them eight to ten months of for drug addicts. a structured Christian environment. John Melendez came to Teen Challenge in 1964, leaving Residential Drug Recovery Program behind a chaotic life — he had been a member of the Drag- After a few years of trial and error, Teen Challenge staff ons gang, a drug addict who had been close to death. He members sensed the need for a structured program that could found new hope for his life at Teen Challenge. In 1976 he saturate young men and women in a healthy environment completed a master of divinity with Christian teaching over an entire year. at Fuller Theological Seminary An advocate for this new type of ministry was Frank and joined the US Army as a Reynolds, the Cornell-educated Assemblies of God pastor chaplain. He traveled to combat on Teen Age Evangelism’s first steering committee. Like zones all over the world, includ- many others, Frank marveled at the reports of miracles ing Iraq, preaching to service- coming from the Brooklyn center. At the same time, he men of every rank, from gen- recognized that addicts who had been delivered from drugs erals to privates. In 2002 he faced an enormous challenge when they tried to return to retired from the Army, having their old neighborhoods and attend churches. Temptations earned the rank of lieutenant from their old lifestyle remained strong, churches often colonel. proved ill-equipped to deal with their problems, and many In the next decades, hun- John Melendez went Teen Challenge converts fell back into old habits. dreds of young men experi- from being a gang In June of 1962, Dave Wilkerson purchased a farm near enced God’s transformation member to serving as a US Army chaplain. Rehrersburg, Pennsylvania, and he made plans to develop the in their lives and went on to

16 AG HERITAGE 2008 The Cross and the Switchblade book told the story of how the ministry of Teen Challenge started in New York City. The book became an amazing success with over 15 million copies printed in the fi rst 10 years. It has been translated into more than 30 languages and continues today to have a major infl uence in the lives of people, introducing them to Jesus and His power to set people free from addiction. The movie, starring and Eric Estrada, has also seen worldwide distribution where millions have seen this powerful story of modern-day faith in action. become pastors, missionaries, evangelists, teachers, and and the movie with the same name — through accepting business leaders. In 1976, the federal government funded Christ, receiving calls to ministry, and being challenged to a research project that verified that over 70% of the gradu- develop a life of faith. ates of Teen Challenge were continuing to live a drug-free life. Several other independent studies in the years since The Spread of Teen Challenge have confirmed that Teen Challenge is one of the most suc- In 1961, the same summer that the first volunteers moved cessful programs to help people find deliverance from drug into 416 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn, a new Teen Challenge addiction. “The Jesus Factor” is the key to this success. center opened in Chicago. Three years later, centers had The drug problem was not limited to men, and from its sprouted up in Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, earliest days, Teen Challenge also ministered to women who and Los Angeles. The new centers across the USA varied were addicted to drugs. A home for women was established widely in their philosophies and approaches to addiction in Brooklyn in the early 1960s, and under the leadership of recovery. Some worked exclusively with young teens, while John and Elsie Benton it saw similar success for women to others took in an older population. experience God’s transformation in their lives. Many of these new Teen Challenge ministries were pio- neered by people who had read The Cross and the Switchblade National Exposure or had visited another Teen Challenge ministry. Beginning In the early 1960s, Dave Wilkerson teamed up with John in the 1960s, the drug epidemic swept across the country and and Elizabeth Sherrill of Guideposts magazine to write the around the world, and these pioneers answered the call. story behind Teen Challenge. With the publication of The In 1972 Frank Reynolds, who became the first national Cross and the Switchblade in 1963, Teen Challenge found leader, started building an official network of Teen Chal- itself in the national spotlight, deluged with pleas for help. lenge centers, which could access ministry resources from In the 45 years since this book was first published, it has the same central hub. been translated into more than 30 languages, and well over In 1977, Frank hired Dave Batty as the national curricu- 15 million copies have been printed. Tens of thousands of lum coordinator. Over the next 20 years, Dave wrote class- people have seen their lives change as a result of this book room materials to train the new at Teen Challenge

2008 AG HERITAGE 17 on a variety of practical topics — for example, “Love and Accepting Myself,” “Anger and Personal Rights,” “Attitudes,” “Temptation,” and “How Can I Know I am a Christian?” Today these discipleship training materials are used in Teen Challenge programs nationwide and around the world. Steve Hill was one of those who came to Teen Challenge a drug addict and left with a call to full-time ministry, serving first as an Assemblies of God world missionary, and then as the evangelist at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, .

National Recognition As Teen Challenge grew to become the nation’s largest privately funded drug recovery program, it garnered the attention of national leaders. President Ronald Reagan stat- President Ronald Reagan endorsed Teen Challenge. ed, “Not only does Teen Challenge help our young people He is pictured here with Dennis Griffi th (right), the deal with their substance abuse, but it also gives our kids executive director of Teen Challenge of Southern California. Dennis currently serves at the request of something to live for — a relationship with God, a healthy President George W. Bush on the White House Advisory self-esteem, and a direction in their lives that finally leads Commission on Drug-Free Communities. somewhere. I speak from more than 20 years of knowledge of the organization when I tell you that the Teen Challenge The specific challenges have changed enormously over program works.” the years, but Teen Challenge’s answer to them remains the President George W. Bush has also staunchly supported same. Teen Challenge leaders of the more than 200 centers Teen Challenge. In 2003, he appointed Dennis Griffith, in the USA recognize that preventing addiction and other life- executive director of Teen Challenge in Southern Califor- controlling problems is a process, and Christ alone holds the nia, to serve on the White House Advisory Commission on key to prevention and cure. This message of hope, from the Drug-Free Communities. very beginning, would not be confined to America alone. The Power of a Name Steve Hill

ver the years, Steve Hill lost spoken in love and respect made many friends to drugs. One them scatter.” Owas stabbed to death for Steve’s problems weren’t over, failing to pay off his supplier, two died though. He still faced felony charges while driving drunk, and another killed for selling drugs, and up to 25 years himself in jail. Steve knew it was only in jail. But with the help of a merciful a matter of time before he was on that judge, he was transferred to Outreach list, too. Ministries of Alabama, and from there When his father died, Steve got to Mid-America Teen Challenge at high on pills and stayed that way until Cape Girardeau, Missouri. the funeral was over. All the while, he After graduating from the program ignored his grieving family members. and from Twin Oaks Leadership “My heart was sealed,” he said later, “a heart of stone.” Academy in Texas, Steve and his wife Jeri worked as Teen All of that changed on October 25, 1975, when Steve got Challenge staff workers, then as youth pastors and evangelists, sick from heroin. As his body went into convulsions, he could helping to plant churches in Argentina, Spain, and Russia. feel death coming. It scared him more than anything else ever From 1995 to 2000, they helped lead the famous Brownsville had, and suddenly he wanted to live. Revival in Pensacola, Florida, which saw the gospel preached For three days he lay helpless in bed. Then his mother to more than 3 million people. invited a Lutheran minister to visit and tell him about Jesus. Since then, Steve has reached millions more through The sound of that name brought hope, and Steve began to stadium rallies, televised messages in 150 countries, and his shout it aloud — “Jesus! Jesus!” His convulsions stopped, and short autobiography, Stone Cold Heart. He currently pastors a sense of peace fl owed through him. Heartland Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas. The name of Jesus also helped keep him away from his old lifestyle. “Within weeks,” Steve recalled, “I was separated from Source: Stephen Hill, Stone Cold Heart, 4th ed. (Dallas, every drug pusher or user friend. It was as if the word ‘Jesus’ TX: Together in the Harvest Publications, 1995), 41, 46.

18 AG HERITAGE 2008 The second phase of Teen Challenge’s European minis- try began in 1971, when the Foltzes moved to Germany. A family donated their farm, and Howard and Pat established a residential center, similar to the Teen Challenge Training Center in Rehrersburg, Pennsylvania. For the addicts who came into the program, the Teen Challenge farm was a lifesaving success. At the same time, Howard traveled the continent, visiting churches and casting a long-term vision for the ministry. Two years later, there were more than fifty Teen Challenge centers and rehabili- tation farms in Europe from Norway to Italy. As Teen Challenge ministries reached out to drug addicts, they experienced the same kinds of miracles that President Gerald Ford (left) greets Don Wilkerson. had occurred in Don assisted his brother Dave in establishing the Teen Brooklyn. Often Challenge ministry in New York City. From 1995-2007 new converts devel- Don served as the executive director of Global Teen Challenge, assisting in establishing Teen Challenge oped into effective centers around the world. leaders, whose tes- timonies gained Spreading the Word national exposure From the moment it was published in 1963, Dave Wilker- in their countries. son’s dramatic memoir The Cross and the Switchblade became A lady living an international publishing phenomenon. At the same time, on the streets in Dave received invitations to speak around the world. The Prague, Czech messages he delivered in nations such as Canada, Holland, Republic, climbed Germany, , South , , and Thailand were into a dumpster Howard Foltz (left) served as an primarily evangelistic, intended to share the good news of one night to escape AG missionary to Europe and Jesus Christ. But many who attended these events, who had the cold. Cover- helped pioneer the ministry of read of Dave’s successes in Brooklyn, responded by starting ing herself with Teen Challenge in Eurasia. He is the same type of outreaches in their home countries. In Bra- papers, she found a pictured with Dieter Bahr (right), who pioneered the Teen Challenge zil, for example, dozens of Teen Challenge centers sprang up handwritten copy centers in Bitburg, Germany and in after Dave headlined a series of rallies in 1971. of The Cross and Luxembourg. Over the next three decades, as the total number of cen- the Switchblade in ters grew to more than 600, they would discover for them- her language inside the dumpster. Her heart was touched selves the importance of fellowship and regional organiza- by the story. A few days later, she came across a Teen tion which led to the formation of the international ministry Challenge center on the streets of Prague. She entered known today as Global Teen Challenge. the program, and God transformed her life. The third phase of Howard and Pat’s European mission Pioneers in Europe came in 1973, when they moved to Wiesbaden, Germany to In 1963, Howard and Pat Foltz were part of a team that establish the Eurasia Teen Challenge Training Center. Like pioneered the Teen Challenge center in Dallas, Texas. Sev- the staff training schools in the USA, the Wiesbaden center eral years later, Howard and Pat sensed God calling them into provided training for Teen Challenge graduates and staff mem- foreign missions, and they moved to Holland. Teen Chal- bers preparing for careers in ministry. The Training Center lenge’s first “test run” in Europe was a small coffeehouse in raised up workers who could serve in a variety of capacities, The Hague. Like the coffeehouses started by Ann Wilkerson and it gathered information on which Teen Challenge centers (mother of David Wilkerson) in Greenwich Village in New around the world needed leaders, and which countries were York City, it served free food and provided a safe atmosphere ready for pioneers to start a new ministry. of music and conversation with Christian volunteers. The Hol- land coffeehouse became a catalyst that jump-started dozens Eurasia Spreads Its Wings of similar ministries across the continent. Within two years, Eurasia Teen Challenge was so named because it included more than 30 Teen Challenge coffeehouses had sprung up in ministries from Europe and western Asia — as far as the Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland. , India, and Pakistan.

2008 AG HERITAGE 19 “Mom, I want you to bury me alive” Marina Makorin Marina and Roman on t age 16, out of curiosity, I took my fi rst their wedding day after injection of heroin,” states Marina. “I was graduating from Teen Aaddicted to heroin from that fi rst shot.” Challenge in Moscow. Marina was raised in Moscow, Russia, where Her husband also is a both her parents were doctors. Though she Teen Challenge graduate. completed high school and then college, drugs They have recently more and more became the master of her life. completed Bible school Finally in deep despair, only 22 years old, she in Ukraine and are called her mother and told her, “Buy a casket, put preparing for a life in full-time ministry. me in it and bury me alive. Then I will die and be free of this misery.” Fortunately her mom learned about Teen a call from God to full-time ministry. She recently Challenge and brought Marina to the center in graduated from Bible school and is looking to a Moscow. God transformed her life, and while future of ministry helping other young people to she was a student in the program, she received discover the real life she has found in Jesus.

One of Eurasia Teen Challenge’s core values from lenge programs are registered with the governments in the the start was to help Teen Challenge centers pioneer new Islamic nations they serve. ministries in other countries. After graduating from Bible Early on, Howard Foltz recognized the need for an inter- college and working with Teen Challenge ministries, João national body that could provide fellowship, support, and Martins became national director of Teen Challenge-Por- training for centers around the world. His early attempts to tugal in 1991. Currently he oversees five recovery cen- create an international Teen Challenge coalition fell through, ters, two re-entry houses, and 26 coffeehouses nationwide, however, in part because of disputes with the Assemblies and the ministry has helped plant Teen Challenge centers of God over corporate structure. in Macau (now part of China) and Brazil. Under Pastor Martins’s leadership, Teen Challenge-Portugal has also pio- A New Fellowship neered Teen Challenge ministries in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, At the annual Eurasia Teen Challenge conference in and Mozambique. 1995, leaders from around the world gathered to create the Teen Challenge in the United Kingdom was instru- Teen Challenge International Fellowship, an organization mental in starting centers in Bombay, India, and in Swa- that would include every Christian ministry that called itself ziland. Thousands of miles away, Australians Doug and “Teen Challenge.” Its goal was to start new recovery centers, Anna Boyle with Americans Dr. Marty and Rhonna Bas- foster communication between those that already existed, and sett founded the Teen Challenge center in Kazakhstan in provide staff training. At their first meeting, Don Wilkerson 1994, a ministry that now includes five recovery centers, was elected as the Fellowship’s executive director. a crisis center, and a school, serving more than 500 resi- Since 1995, Global Teen Challenge has assisted in start- dents. Americans Dr. Mark and Lynda Hausfeld started ing Teen Challenge centers in at least 43 more countries. Teen Challenge Centers in 1998 in Pakistan. Now there are Teen Challenge now has more than 600 ministries in 96 two men’s and one women’s centers in that nation. Chris countries on all six continents, making it one of the world’s and Linda Munford from the United Kingdom established largest drug recovery programs. Several hundred more Teen Challenge Kyrgyzstan in 2002. Americans Travis Christian drug recovery programs have opened around the and Raushaun Moran founded Teen Challenge Uzbekistan world, using the same basic approach of evangelism and in 2002, and that program has grown into three centers discipleship training for those caught in addiction. around the country. In 2007 Jerry Nance was elected as the new president The ever stronger bonds that Eurasia Teen Challenge of Global Teen Challenge. When he looks to the future, centers forged across national and cultural lines helped fos- Jerry says: “Drug addiction has always been a worldwide ter the concept of an international Teen Challenge organi- problem. But God loves to solve problems and make people zation. Meanwhile, hundreds of Teen Challenge centers whole. For the past 50 years, He has literally changed the were starting independently in other parts of the world, world through this ministry, and with His help, the next 50 but with little or no coordination. All of these Teen Chal- years will see even more miracles than the last.”7

20 AG HERITAGE 2008 David Batty, director of operations at Global Carson, George R. “Teen Challenge and the Development of Teen Challenge, served as the executive Social Concern Ministries in the Assemblies of God.” director of Teen Challenge in Brooklyn, Ph.D. dissertation, St. Louis University, 2002. NY from 1997-2007. Previously he served The Cross and the Switchblade. Directed by Don Murray. as the national curriculum coordinator for Worcester, PA: Vision Video, 2003; Gateway Films, Teen Challenge USA for 20 years. He and his wife Patty began their work with Teen c1970. Challenge as volunteers in 1967. Cruz, Nicky, with Jamie Buckingham. Run Baby Run. Gainesville, FL: Bridge-Logos, 2001, c1968. Davidson, Irwin and Richard Gehman. The Jury Is Still Out. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959. Ethan Campbell is assistant professor Dean, Jamie. “Stamped Out.” World Magazine, August 27, 2005. of English at The King’s College in New York City. He also serves on the board of An Evaluation of the Teen Challenge Treatment Program. directors at Teen Challenge in Brooklyn, NY. Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1978. Hess, Catherine. Research Summation: H.E.W. Study on Teen Challenge Training Center Rehrersburg, PA. Springfield, MO: Teen Challenge USA, 1976. Hill, Stephen. Stone Cold Heart, 4th ed. Dallas, TX: Notes Together in the Harvest Publications, 1995. The Jesus Factor. Directed by Kris Yeaworth. [Chester Springs, PA]: Valley Forge Films, 1976. 1 “Mass Murder of a Teen-age Gang in New York,” Life Magazine Manuel, David. The Jesus Factor. Plainfield, NJ: Logos, (Feb. 24, 1958): 30-31. 2 1977. David Wilkerson with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, The Cross “Mass Murder of a Teen-Age Gang in New York.” Life and the Switchblade (New York: Jove Special Sales Edition, 1993; Magazine (February 24, 1958): 30-31. Bernard Geis, 1962), 7. Multiple editions of The Cross and the Maynard, Roy and Marvin Olasky. “Governor Bush Backs Switchblade have been printed of this popular book since 1962. Teen Challenge.” World Magazine, July 29-Aug. 5, Citations here come from the paperback student edition. 1995. 3 Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade, 26. Mills, James. “Drug Addicts Part 2.” Life Magazine (March 4 See also Nicky Cruz with Jamie Buckingham, Run Baby Run 5, 1965): 102. (Gainesville, FL: Bridge-Logos, New. ed., 2001), which has Milne, Darla. Second Chance: The Israel Narvaez Story. continued to be a best seller since 1968. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1980. 5 See also George R. Carson, “Teen Challenge and the Development Olasky, Marvin. “Addicted to Bureaucracy.” Wall Street of Social Concern Ministries in the Assemblies of God” (Ph.D. Journal (August 15, 1995): A16. dissertation, St. Louis University, 2002). “Preaching the Monkey Off Their Backs.” Time Magazine (August 14, 1964): 43. 6 See also Frank Reynolds with Joan Kruger, Is There a God?: The Reynolds, Frank, with Joan Kruger. Is There a God? Lenexa, Life and Times of Frank Reynolds (Lenexa, KS: 3Cross Publishing, KS: 3CrossPublishing, 2006. 2006), which provides an insider’s perspective concerning the Sherrill, John and Elizabeth. “Too Strange to Be early years of Teen Challenge and Frank Reynolds’ role in it. 7 Coincidence” (two-part article). Guideposts, November David Batty, interview with Jerry Nance, 2007. & December 1961. Thompson, Howard. “Pat Boone Plays Preacher-Hero in ‘Cross and Switchblade.’ ” New York Times (June 8, Teen Challenge Bibliography 1972): 61. Thompson, Roger. Teen Challenge of Chattanooga Alumni As the Spirit Leads Them. CBS News, 1971. Used as Survey. Springfield, MO: Teen Challenge USA, 1994. archive footage in It Begins with One; Teen Challenge Wilkerson, David. Beyond the Cross and the Switchblade. International, 2000. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1974. Bicknese, Aaron Todd. The Teen Challenge Drug Treatment Wilkerson, David and Leonard Ravenhill. Twelve Angels from Program in Comparative Perspective. Ph.D. dissertation, Hell. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1965. Northwestern University, 1999. Wilkerson, David and Phyllis Murphy. The Little People. Old Bredesen, Harald. “Gang Preacher.” Christian Life (March Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1966. 1961): 22-26. Wilkerson, David, with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Bush, George W. “State of the Union Speech.” January 29, Cross and the Switchblade. New York: Jove Special 2003. Sales Edition, 1993; Bernard Geis, 1962.

2008 AG HERITAGE 21 Elvis Presley, 1955 COONFLICTEDNFLICTED The Religious Life of Elvis BBYY TTHEHE SPPIRITIRIT Presley By James R. Goff, Jr.

22 AG HERITAGE 2008 In lifelife andand in death,death, ElvisElvis PresleyPrP ese ley holdshollds a fascinationfaasscinatioon farfar beyondbeyoy nd thatthat of evenevven thethhe mostmost success-succcess- fulful singerssinggerrs and movie perspersonalities.onnalities. WoWorldwide,rldwide, tthirtyhirty yeyearsarrs afaftertet r his dedeath,ath, mmillionsillions upuponoon millions recognizerecogniize himhim by hhisisi ffirstirst name alalone,lone, tthehee mmentionentionn ooff whwhichhich coconjuresnjuurees uupp a susurfeitrfeit off ssight,ighht, sosound,unu d,d andand memory.memory. LessLess knownknoown isi thethe realreaal man,man, andand especiallyespecialll y thethhe religiousreliigig oous yearningsyearniinngs andand conflictsconfflil ccts thatthat alternatelyalternaately soothedsoothedd andand convictedconvictteded him.himm. EverEver enamoredenammooredd byby gospelgospeel music,music, PresleyPressley was likewiselikewiise influencedinfluuenced — andand perhapsperhaps hauntedhauntted — byby thethe religiousreeligious stricturesstricturese ofof hishis youth.youuth. ThisThis earlyearlyy religiousreligious trainingtrt aining waswas decidedlydecidedlyy evangelicalevanggele icall andand PentecostalPentecoc stall inin itsits orientation.orientation. Ultimately,Ultimately, it servedserveed as a religiousreligious umbrellaumbreella underundn err whichwhih ch thethe entertainerentere tainere soughtsouo ght refugerefuge inin timestimes of turmoil.turu moil.

here are a number of def- initions of having “made it big”; however, when someone has a “Reese’s Big Cup” named in his honorT (the candy maker’s recent ren- dition of the famous chocolate candy with a unique “Peanut Butter & Banana Crème” flavor), then by the standards of the economic and social world in which we live, one has indeed made it. So it is with Elvis Aaron Presley. But those nurtured in the Pente- costal tradition, and I suspect Assem- blies of God in particular, remain a bit more ambivalent about their most famous Sunday school prospect from the early 1950s. Evidence of this ambivalence, even among Presley’s most ardent fans, is inferred in Joe Baby Elvis with his parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, circa 1938. Moscheo’s recent offering, The Gospel Side of Elvis, a reflection on the gospel ahistorical proclivity. Nevertheless, I personally decided to study Elvis musician’s years of singing with and religious faith — the fact that people from the perspective of his religious interacting with the celebrated king believe and that those beliefs have his- background for a number of reasons. of rock-n-roll. Moscheo notes that, torical consequences — is a critical part For one, I grew up knowing that like wherever he trav- me Elvis els, in this country We were a religious family, going round together to had grown and outside of it, “ up attending the most frequent- sing at camp meetings and revivals. Since I was two a Pentecos- ly-asked question, years old, all I knew was gospel music. tal church. “especially by the ” And, like Christian folks in — Elvis Presley me, he knew the audience, is my the names of opinion of whether Elvis was a true of understanding our past. the gospel quartets and watched the Gos- believer. ‘Do you think Elvis was a For someone raised in the South in pel Singing Jubilee on Sunday morn- Christian?’ they want to know.”1 a Pentecostal subtext in the 1940s and ings. It was a perspective that we shared Gauging one’s religious commit- 1950s, it is especially pertinent. With- despite a generation of difference in age ment is always a tricky business. It out some calculation of how religion and a thousand miles in distance. We goes against the grain of Christian the- shaped the beliefs and mindset of such also were both Southern males, which ology at best while, at worst — for the an individual, it is simply impossible means that — at least since Wilbur historian at any rate — it is downright ever to understand, truly understand, Cash’s The Mind of the South, a good- out of bounds, evidence of one’s own that person and their life experience. ly number of historians have spilt a lot

2008 AG HERITAGE 23 of ink trying to under- go to church at least know which one stand us.2 they’re not going to,” it is clearly the To write history case that, long after Elvis stopped well requires an abil- attending, he knew that the church ity to understand, truly he was not attending was Memphis understand, that about First Assembly of God.5 which you write — to Elvis was certainly part of South- understand the cultural ern culture. And, as there is with the expectations of a par- region, there was much about him that ticular time and place, was likeable. Needless to say, he had a to understand the rami- gifted voice and a willingness to share fications of a particu- that gift with others. Also, he had a lar idea and event, to tender heart and was generous, giving understand both what away more than two hundred cars in was and what might his lifetime — sometimes to relative have been, what one strangers who happened by. Report- became and also what edly, he enjoyed seeing the look of joy one wanted to become. on their face when they learned the In this case then, it is remarkable news.6 Even more impres- significant to try and sive are the things Presley did for needy discover what Elvis people (such as $500 in cash given to a wanted to be, what Elvis; circa 1946 blind street person) without ever ask- he wished he might ing for or getting publicity.7 He also be, not just what he scored numerous points for adhering became. Exactly who was this to a time-honored Southern tradition: Part of getting to Pentecostal boy, raised in By all accounts, he was mannerly and the heart of this is polite to his elders. fully comprehending Assemblies of God churches, Yet there was a darker side: a vio- the picture of Elvis lent temper, self-doubt and depression, in Mr. Bill Haltom’s and how did his religious hedonism and excess, and a penchant 12th grade Sunday moorings inform his life? for drugs and self-destruction that led school class in the to his death at the age of forty-two. early 1950s in Mem- There also was searching: Not only phis First Assembly searching through the scriptures of of God at 1084 East Presley home in the nearby projects his boyhood in Assemblies of God McLemore Street.3 That Sunday known as Lauderdale Courts. churches but also searching through school experience and whatever last- Some years ago, back in 1999, I the Self-Realization movement, visits ing influence it might have had came interviewed Charlie Hodge, one of to Sri Daya Mata (aka Fay Wright) who from even deeper roots. Elvis’s stage men and close friends, ran the Self-Realization Park in Santa The connection was made in part and one thing he told me stuck in my Monica, California, near Elvis’s West because the Presleys had attended an mind. It was his phrasing in particu- Coast Beverly Hills home.8 Assemblies church in Tupelo, Missis- lar that caught my attention. As we Exactly who was this Pentecos- sippi, before moving to Memphis in talked about Presley’s interest in and tal boy, raised in Assemblies of God late 1948 and also because the Black- love for gospel music, Hodge said, churches, and how did his religious wood Brothers, one of the most promi- “Elvis was mostly Christian.” He then moorings inform his life? nent of the nation’s gospel quartets, caught himself and said, “Well, yes. also attended the church after moving He was a Christian.”4 Elvis’s Religious Roots to Memphis in 1950. The connection I’ve often wondered if perhaps he Just down the street from the two- with the church was also related to the was closer to the truth the first time. room shotgun house in which Elvis fact that First Assembly ran a bus min- Nevertheless to paraphrase John was raised in East Tupelo stood the istry every Sunday and the route used Shelton Reed in his observation that First Assembly of God on North Berry ran literally by the front door of the “even those Southerners who don’t Street. Elvis’s mom and dad attended

24 AG HERITAGE 2008 During the 1950s, Elvis attended First Assembly of God, 1084 E. McLemore in Memphis, where James Hamill served as pastor. there while they were dating and con- We were a religious family, going pened to be sidered it their church home after they round together to sing at camp meet- people who were married and set out to make a ings and revivals. Since I was two went from life together. years old, all I knew was gospel church to Gladys Presley made a point to take music. That music became such church. Elvis her young son to church. She later a part of my life it was as natural came more recalled that Elvis became particular- as dancing. A way to escape from regularly than ly enchanted with the choir, so much the problems. And my way of they did. He so that one Sunday morning, shortly release.10 Rev. James E. Hamill got tied in; before he turned three, he slipped from he belonged his mother’s lap and ran down to the After the move to Memphis, it to the Sunday School.”11 front where he began imitating the choir was Elvis, more so than his parents, In 1950, Presley’s attachment singers. Reverend Frank Smith, who who was attracted to Memphis First to Memphis First Assembly would served as pastor of the church during Assembly of God, perhaps because of have grown if for no other reason than most of Elvis’s boyhood, is sometimes the vibrant youth program. Young Pre- that the Blackwood Brothers, perhaps credited with helping the young Presley sley joined the Sunday school and par- the most successful group in South- learn guitar chords after Gladys Presley ticipated in the youth activities, but the ern gospel history, had moved from talked her son into getting a guitar for Presley family did not join Memphis Iowa to Memphis, in part to be closer his birthday rather than a rifle.9 First. Reverend James Hamill, long- to their home in northern Mississip- Elvis himself later remembered this time pastor of First Assembly, remem- pi. Stars of radio and early television, early period of his life as being critical to bered that the parents were not regular three group members attended Mem- his foundation, possibly his style, and cer- attendees, though Elvis was: “His par- phis First as did some of the members tainly his attraction to gospel music: ents came only sporadically; they hap- of the Stamps Quartet.

2008 AG HERITAGE 25 During lunch the necessary adjustments when other breaks, fans would quartet members needed to switch come by WMPS and parts. Throughout his career, Presley watch the live radio sang lead — the only necessity for a show there in Memphis. soloist — but Southern gospel quar- The Blackwoods were tet members were required to switch Gladys Presley’s favor- off and take the melody or a different ite group. Apparently harmony part, oftentimes within the Elvis and Vernon Pres- same song.15 ley favored the States- The younger Hamill remembered men. As such the fam- another important story about Pres- ily mirrored thousands ley, interesting if for no other reason of Southern gospel than because it occurred after he had fans who, after the two become well-known as a rock n’ roll famous quartets teamed singer. The young Presley would up in 1951, engaged in occasionally still visit the church when a tenacious rivalry that his schedule allowed — but he would benefited the fortunes arrive late and sneak unobserved into of both groups.12 the balcony to hear the music and the The church services sermon. When the service ended, he at Memphis First were would always hang around to speak to unique for Pentecostals Rev. Hamill and would slip some con- only because it was a tribution, evidence of the newfound larger urban church. success, into his hand — sometimes Nonetheless, the Pente- a hundred, sometimes as much as five costal fire had not died. Elvis, from the movie, Fun In Acapulco, 1963. hundred dollars. Jim Hamill, son of Rev. Jim Hamill remembers his father James Hamill, remem- comparing that to another famous res- bers that his father once ident of the church who occasionally went seven Sundays in a row without the mission even provided a cache attended. That resident, the famous preaching because the music program of donated clothes from which Elvis Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried so inspired the congregation. As the could pick.14 Chicken fame, would march down the Spirit moved, the Rev. Hamill sim- And then there were the oft-quoted center aisle and take a seat near the ply “dismissed everyone to the prayer stories of Elvis wanting — but not get- front — completely dressed in white rooms.”13 Despite the minister’s often- ting — a job in the Songfellows, a local suit with his cane twirling.16 stated concerns about the lifestyle of quartet that Cecil Blackwood and Jim Presley’s connection with Memphis some gospel musicians, there was Hamill had organized. Presley some- First continued during the early years of an abundance of musical style in the times practiced with the quartet and his rise to superstardom. Rev. Hamill church — including solos, duets, choir also with another group that Hamill preached Gladys Presley’s funeral in selections, and quartet numbers. had put together as a student at nearby August 1958 and maintained for a time Elvis and some of his friends Memphis State University. some influence over the young Presley. would also occasionally slip into the Hamill was later accused of telling In a 1993 interview, he recalled Presley East Trigg Baptist Church in Mem- his buddy Presley that he couldn’t sing. coming by the church to visit at some phis, under the leadership of Rev. W. Hamill however vehemently denies this point, presumably in the 1960s, before Herbert Brewster, to hear the black today. Rather, the rap on the young returning to Hollywood. He confessed gospel choir (even though one of the Presley was that he could not sing har- to the preacher that he was not living as friends who went with Elvis to these mony. In a dilemma known all too he should and then, after a time of prayer services, Marty Lacker, was actually well to Southern gospel fans and sing- and repentance, noted that he often won- Jewish). Presley and his mom would ers, most of whom were trained either dered on stage what his efforts might do also sometimes attend the nearby Pop- by ear or through shape notes, Pres- if he put them to work for the Lord. lar Street Mission where Brother Den- ley simply could not hear his part well Hamill attempted to link Pres- son was the preacher. On occasion, enough to stay with it and then make ley with a minister friend in North

26 AG HERITAGE 2008 Hollywood but recalled that, to his entire article seemed to hinge mainly on accepted the National Jaycee Award knowledge, this connection, intended Presley’s penchant for gospel music first as one of the Top Ten Young Men in to provide spiritual guidance, never and foremost, it featured interviews with America for 1970. When the press took place. After this, his link with insiders, among them Reverend Hamill, interviewed the ten young men, report- Presley essentially ended. Part of the hinting strongly that Elvis might in the ers asked about their religious beliefs. problem may have been a relationship near future give up the glitter of fame The final news report would not have already strained after Hamill refused and fortune via rock-n-roll in order to been encouraging to most pastors to officiate at the July 1960 marriage pursue a strictly gospel path.19 across the country. of Vernon and Dee Presley, who was And, as Presley strayed from his The Memphis Commercial Appeal divorced with a living former husband. religious moorings, the background revealed that “six or seven of the men If so, the break would actually con- must indeed have had another impact, said they didn’t belong to a church

“They’ve set me up on a pedestal and I can’t get off of it. If I could go back and do it over, I would sing just gospel music.” — Elvis Presley firm the degree to which the younger as it would on any Southern boy raised and felt a certain hypocrisy about Presley had actually been reared in a in a spirit-filled church. It surely affect- organized religion.” But, speaking of typical 1950s Pentecostal environment. ed all the members of the celebrated their native son, the paper noted: “But However, given Elvis Presley’s concern “Million Dollar Quartet” — Carl Per- Elvis seemed to feel religion was very over the marriage, conducted less than kins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, important in his life . . . in the sense two years after the death of his mother, and Elvis Presley. Lewis, the one with that he had called on God many times it is more likely, as Reverend Hamill the strongest Pentecostal ties, was con- for strength . . . [and] that ‘God is a suspected, that Elvis simply fell under vinced the music they sang would send living presence in all of us.’”21 other influences and decided not to pur- them all to hell. The awards ceremony (ironically sue the spiritual connection in North Cash and Perkins were a bit more held in the same auditorium where Hollywood.17 open to the possibilities that rock n’ roll Elvis used to attend gospel concerts) might be just another musical phenom- featured one of the few speeches in A Pentecostal Impact? enon, but they were no less haunted by Presley’s public life. It was short and How much of the Pentecostal the religious strictures of their youth, eloquent, delivered with humility and church training remained with Elvis? particularly because they seemed to with a reference to the biblical King- Certainly some. Natalie Wood, herself have so much difficulty following the dom of God in our midst. raised Jewish, was struck when she straight and narrow. In his autobiog- dated Elvis in the late 1950s that he raphy, Cash recalled of Perkins: “We When I was a child, ladies and was so sincerely interested in God and shared a lot in the Christian values area, gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read the Bible. She had never met anyone too. Neither of us was walking the line comic books, and I was the hero of her age with such devoted interests. as Christians, but both of us clung to the comic book. I saw movies, and She believed it was related to Presley’s our beliefs. Carl had great faith, and I was the hero in the movie. So struggle to accept how fortunate he at his depths, when he was drunkest, every dream that I ever dreamed has was: “He felt he had been given this what he’d talk about was God and guilt come true a hundred times. These gift, this talent, by God. He didn’t — the same subjects I would bring up gentlemen over here, these are the take it for granted. He thought it was when I was in my worst shape.”20 The type who care, are dedicated. You something that he had to protect.”18 comment mirrors what those close to realize if it’s not possible that they Even the tabloids picked up on the Presley have said about his darkest might be building the kingdom, it’s young Southern boy’s religious incli- hours as well. not far-fetched from reality. I’d like nations. The December 1957 issue of One of the highlights for Presley to say that I learned very early in Modern Screen asked its readers, “Is in terms of speaking out and taking life that: “Without a song the day Elvis quitting for God?” Though the a stand was in January 1971 when he would never end/ Without a song a

2008 AG HERITAGE 27 man ain’t got a friend/ “he was a runaway boy — that he was Without a song the running away from God. We would road would never minister to him and he’d say, ‘I love bend/ Without a song God. I know God.’”26 . . .” So I keep singing He sometimes complained about a song. Good night. the position in which he found him- Thank you.22 self: “They’ve set me up on a pedestal and I can’t get off of it. If I could go Two years later, at back and do it over, I would sing just the press conference gospel music.”27 These conversations announcing the Janu- with the Rambos recall the recollec- ary 1973 Live Via Sat- tions of another friend and music asso- ellite performance from ciate. Felton Jarvis, Presley’s record Hawaii (a program that producer for RCA beginning in the shattered all previ- mid-1960s, could not forget one of the ous records by reach- last conversations with his friend, “I ing an estimated one remember Elvis telling me, ‘I’m just billion people world- so tired of being Elvis Presley.’”28 wide), Elvis was again Also telling was the limited rela- asked about religion. tionship that Presley built with the “Are you a religious independent charismatic evangelist person, Elvis?” The Rex Humbard of the Cathedral of answer: “It’s played a Elvis in Las Vegas, 1970. Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio. A regu- major role in my life, lar viewer of Humbard’s weekly tele- gospel music. I like it. vision broadcasts, Presley perhaps We often go into our suite and sing it had moved to Nashville. Early on took to the media evangelist as a logi- all night.” Then, a follow-up: “How he would actually sing something like cal replacement for his former associ- do you account for your success after “Peace in the Valley,” backed up by ates at Memphis First after superstar- seventeen years?” The answer, with members of the two host groups, the dom limited his ability to interact with a smile and a laugh: “A lot of pray- Statesmen and Blackwood Brothers. the local church. ing, sir.”23 After Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom In his autobiography, Humbard Throughout his life he maintained Parker, put a stop to the singing, Pre- recalled praying with Presley in friendships with gospel singers, the sley would just come out and take a between performances in Las Vegas strongest tending to be Pentecostal: bow. But he liked being there, listen- after he asked the evangelist and his James Blackwood, J. D. Sumner, and ing to the music and hobnobbing with wife to come backstage to talk with Dottie Rambo among them. Even his the gospel quartet singers.25 him. Humbard remembered that Pre- Baptist preacher friend, Hovie Lister, Somewhere around 1959, Elvis met sley cried and that the Spirit of God was sometimes described as a “Pente- the Rambos backstage at the National was present as they read the Bible costal Baptist.” Quartet Convention. A family group and prayed together. The minister James Blackwood remembered that mixed Southern gospel, country, also promised to say a special prayer being called out to Graceland to sing and contemporary gospel, the Rambos for Elvis on his next trip to the Holy gospel music not long after Elvis thrived in large part because of Dottie Land as he visited the site of the cru- returned from service in the Army. Rambo’s songwriting skills. Presley cifixion. This was just months before “Gospel music was his first love. He probably also watched them frequent- Presley died in August 1977. Signif- didn’t listen to anything but gospel ly after, in the late 1960s, they became icantly, Presley had apparently tried music. Nearly every night while he regulars on the Gospel Singing Jubilee to arrange for another meeting with was doing his tours, he’d call J. D. and syndicated television program. Dottie Humbard at his Graceland home but, the Stamps up to his suite to sing gos- and Buck Rambo remembered meeting due to scheduling conflicts, the meet- pel music. It was his first love.”24 frequently with Elvis when their paths ing never took place.29 Elvis would often appear backstage crossed in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Presley’s religious inclinations at the National Quartet Convention, They would always talk religion. Dot- clearly continued beyond his Sunday first in Memphis and then later when tie Rambo expressed an intuition that school experiences at 1084 McLemore.

28 AG HERITAGE 2008 Unfortunately, like a good Southern drug use with his religious convictions. It teaches that we are all a part of male, he nonetheless had little diffi- His response was direct, if disturbing: God, but we are , ourselves, in culty rationalizing his own self-indul- “He didn’t. Elvis didn’t consider him- a way. People who follow that think gent behavior. One of his old friends, self a drug addict. A drug addict was you can have this aura, like Christ, Lamar Fike, who spent his life living somebody who stuck a needle in his by being pure, like Mahatma Gandhi. and working for Presley, recalled when arm or snorted coke or did all the street In other words, you can’t believe that asked about the many women in Pres- drugs. He abhorred those people.” Christ was the only one. . . . Elvis ley’s life: “He had absolutely no guilt Another fellow Mafia member, was taken by it. But deep back in his and no trouble balancing his behavior Lamar Fike, added, “I don’t think that it mind, what he learned as a child in with his religious beliefs.”30 ever crossed his mind. Does the Bible the Assembly of God church stood

Presley’s religious inclinations clearly continued beyond his Sunday school experiences at 1084 McLemore. Unfortunately, like a good Southern male, he nonetheless had little diffi culty rationalizing his own self-indulgent behavior.

In the same vein, Elvis seems to tell you not to take Placidyl? Does it out more. He was thinking, “Who’s have been particularly adept at keeping say, ‘Thou shalt not pop a Seconal’? right and who’s wrong?” He got into his gospel music contacts and friends None of us had any guilt. Elvis had a turmoil about it, so he tried to com- from First Assembly separate from his his own religion.”33 Incredibly, the bine the religions. He’d say, “This other associates. Gene Burgess, an old members of Elvis’s inner circle none- new stuff sounds a little easier, so acquaintance from the Sunday school theless confessed that the celebrated maybe it’s right. After all, we’re all days at Memphis First remembered singer had, at least on one occasion, part of God.”36 being invited to Graceland only to be tried LSD, a fact confirmed in subse- left standing on the street corner with no quent memoirs.34 Yet, for those closest to him, it way inside. He later discovered from a Equally disturbing for Pentecostals was a haunting search that was never mutual friend that Elvis had rescinded is the widely-reported interest in and quite fulfilled. Another family mem- the invitation on the spur of the moment fascination with spiritualism. With his ber, Annie Cloyd Presley, believed her because he “felt embarrassed for any- tendency toward self introspection and famous relative felt guilty precisely one who had known him at church to experimentation possibly intensify- because he had been raised holiness see what was going on in his house.”31 ing as a direct result of his increased and was now doing things he knew Similarly, some of the members of drug use, the readings and philosophi- were wrong. For her, the solution could the celebrated Memphis Mafia, Presley’s cal discussions of alternate religious only have been found by staying close live-in bodyguards, later mused that the experiences ranged far and wide for to, rather than straying from, the moor- gospel music friends knew only one part someone with a background in Pen- ings of the past: “I feel like if Elvis of the Presley lifestyle. In reflecting on tecostalism.35 could have stayed in the church, even J. D. Sumner’s oft-recounted defense Close to home, his cousin, Billy though he sang these kind of songs, of Elvis, including the stories involv- Smith, who worked for Presley peri- he could have served God better and ing drug use, Marty Lacker noted, “The odically throughout the singer’s career, been a happier man. I’m not saying truth is, he was there when Elvis went was struck by the attraction to Self-Real- he was wrong in the way he lived; I’m on tour, and that was it. And even then, ization that was nurtured especially by saying he would have been a happier the two camps were separate.”32 Presley’s friendship with his hairdresser, man, because that was the way he had And in that separate camp, an Larry Geller. Smith’s recollection dem- been raised.”37 entirely different realm existed, one onstrates both the degree to which these His old friend Jim Hamill mirrored that rationalized the seductive temp- ideas were foreign to his cousin’s back- the opinion of Elvis’s young stepbroth- tations of stardom. In a 1995 publica- ground as well as the seductive power er, Rick Stanley (today an independent tion, Lacker remembered being asked that the message must have had for one Baptist evangelist), when he noted that how Elvis could have rationalized his in search of new spiritual answers. Elvis, always affected by his Chris-

2008 AG HERITAGE 29 tian background, devel- in the “Pelvis” phenomenon. In a oped the later interest July 1956 interview, Elvis himself in spiritualism books seemed to credit some unnamed as a way of searching. gospel singers from his early days Another gospel music at First Assembly, Tupelo: “There icon, Les Beasley of the were these singers, perfectly fine Florida Boys (whose singers, but nobody responded to Gospel Singing Jubi- them. Then there were these other lee show Elvis watched singers — the leader was a preacher religiously), cited the — and they cut up all over the place, drugs as the reason for jumping on the piano, movin’ ever’ the unusual religious which way. The audience liked interests.38 them. I guess I learned from them Rick Stanley, the singers.”43 stepbrother, himself a Likewise there is much to learn victim of drug depen- yet about the boy from Memphis, and dency during the years as we learn, there is invariably the he lived with Presley, opportunity to learn something about recalled much later ourselves along the way. Members of what he surely could Memphis First Assembly in the 1950s not have perceived at were certainly familiar with the bibli- the time: “Elvis was cal admonition from Proverbs 22:6 to not well schooled “Train up a child in the way he should enough to recognize the go: and when he is old, he will not central contradiction in depart from it.” In the case of Elvis, the spiritualists’ rein- it can be debated whether or not he terpretation of Christ’s lived long enough to be, in the mod- message.”39 Also, ern world at least, accurately termed perceptively, Stanley “old.” Even so, it is clear that, as he noted that “in spite of grew older, the decisions he made and his early exposure to the influences he sought took him far Christianity through the away from the training he received as lens of the Assemblies Elvis’s grave marker at the Graceland estate in a child in Assemblies of God church- Memphis, Tennessee. of God Church, Elvis es. On the other hand, neither did he knew very little about ever quite depart from it. the Christian faith.”40 the stories about where Elvis got his Elvis images used by permission, Elvis Presley On a lighter note, there was much “wiggle.” Some credited Reverend Enterprises, Inc. about Presley’s experience in church Smith from way back in Tupelo; other and in Christian circles that nonethe- historians have credited James “Big Dr. James R. Goff, Jr. is the I. G. Greer less directed his life and career. He Chief” Wetherington, the bass sing- Distinguished told Tony Brown, then the young pia- er for the Statesmen who did indeed Professor of History nist for J. D. Sumner and the Stamps have a habit of shaking his leg on up at Appalachian State and later the President of MCA tempo songs. Elvis oftentimes simply University in Boone, Records: “You gospel singers, man, said “I can’t help it” or “It’s just my North Carolina. He is researching a started this long hair. I lost three jobs way of expressing how I feel when I book-length manuscript on the trying to grow my hair like a gospel move around.” And, to country singer religious background and cultural singer. I used to look at J. D.’s hair Webb Pierce, a young Elvis confessed ramifications of the Elvis Presley when I was a kid and I’d say, man, that he moved because he was so ner- phenomenon and would appreciate that’s for me. And that orange suit J. vous and the motion kept him from any personal reflections that readers 42 might share of having interacted with D. used to wear. I said this has gotta fainting. Presley in an Assemblies of God 41 be for me. Gospel Music.” But, then again, maybe early expe- environment. Please send these In the same vein, there were also riences in church did play some part reflections to [email protected].

30 AG HERITAGE 2008 Notes

1 Joe Moscheo, The Gospel Side of Elvis (New 14 Nash, 32. See also Peter Guralnick, Other sources date the episode specifi cally York, et al.: Center Street, 2007), 13. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis to December 1976. See Richard Mann, 2 Wilbur J. Cash, The Mind of the South Presley (Boston, et al: Little, Brown, and Elvis (Van Nuys, California: Bible Voice, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1941). Company, 1994), 39, 75. Inc., 1977), 155-158 and Rick Stanley with Cash fi rst explored his interpretation 15 Hamill interview. Also told in Bob Paul Harold, Caught In A Trap (Dallas, et of the Southern male as the celebrated Terrell, “‘Three Chords and a Cloud of al.: Word Publishing, 1992), 141. “Man at the Center” in an article, also Dust’: The Jim Hamill Story,” Singing 30 Nash, 165. entitled “The Mind of the South,” in The News (February 1988): 24-25. On Elvis’s 31 Burgess, 26. American Mercury 18 (October 1929): relationship with the Songfellows, see 32 Nash, 528. Predictably, Sumner, while 185-192. Guralnick, Last Train, 67-69, 75-77, 503. not totally denying the stories of drug 3 16 Warren S. Grant, Celebrating 90 Hamill interview. abuse, argued that many of the drugs were Years: First Assembly of God, Memphis, 17 Wayne Warner, oral history interview consumed by the members of the Memphis Tennessee (Memphis: First Assembly of with Reverend James Hamill, Tape 2, Mafi a. See J. D. Sumner with Bob Terrell, God, 1997), 12. Experiences with Presley March 24, 1993, Flower Pentecostal Elvis: His Love for Gospel Music and J. in the Sunday school class are also related Heritage Center. In the interview, Hamill D. Sumner (Asheville, NC: Gospel Quartet in Gene Burgess, Sponsored By The Holy says this event happened “not long Music Company, 1991), 85-92. Spirit (New York, et al.: iUniverse, Inc., before he [Presley] died.” However, other 33 Nash, 336. 2005), 25-26. references in the conversation suggest that 34 On the LSD experiment, see Nash, 4 James Goff, Jr., personal interview with it actually occurred at least a decade or Elvis, 336-337; Jerry Schilling with Chuck Charlie Hodge, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, more earlier. Crisafulli, Me and a Guy Named Elvis: May 27, 1999. 18 Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske, My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley 5 John Shelton Reed, My Tears Spoiled My Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life (New York: Gotham Books, 2006), 137- Aim: And Other Refl ections on Southern and Death of Elvis Presley (New York: 139; Sonny West with Marshall Terrill, Culture (New York and San Diego: Harvest Dutton, 1997), 110. Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business Books, 1994), 141. 19 Claire Williams, “Is Elvis Quitting For (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2007), 167- 6 200 Cadillacs, directed by Dan Griffi n God?” Modern Screen (December 1957): 170; and Priscilla Beaulieu Presley with (Produced by 200 Cadillacs, Inc., distributed 58-59, 70-72. Sandra Harmon, Elvis and Me (New York: by Image Entertainment, 2002). 20 Johnny Cash with Patrick Carr, Cash: The G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1985), 213-214. Billy 7 Rose Clayton and Dick Heard, eds. Elvis Autobiography (New York: HarperCollins, Stanley also recounts at least one episode Up Close in the Words of Those Who Knew 1997), 96. Of the four, only Perkins did not involving cocaine. See Clayton and Heard, Him Best (Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc., have specifi c Pentecostal connections. Up Close, 269. 35 1994), 196. 21 Peter Guralnick, Careless Love: The On the shift, see Presley, Elvis and Me, 8 Alanna Nash with Billy Smith, Marty Unmaking of Elvis Presley (Boston, et 197-211. See also Larry Geller and Joel Lacker, and Lamar Fike, Elvis Aaron al.: Little, Brown, and Company, 1999), Spector, If I Can Dream: Elvis’ Own Story Presley: Revelations from the Memphis 428. (New York: Avon Books, 1989). Mafi a (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), 22 Ibid., 429. 36 Nash, 337-338. 337-339. 23 Jerry Hopkins, Elvis: The Final Years 37 Clayton and Heard, 321, 392. 9 Vince Staten, The Real Elvis: Good Old (New York: Berkley, 1981), 105. 38 Boy (Dayton, Ohio: Media Ventures, Inc., Hamill interview. Also James Goff, 24 James Goff, Jr., personal interview with 1978), 32-36. Jr., personal interview with Les Beasley, James Blackwood, Springfi eld, Arkansas, Greenville, South Carolina, August 12, 10 Mick Farren, comp. and Pearce August 3, 1996. 2005. Marchbank, ed., Elvis In His Own Words 25 Ibid. 39 (London: Omnibus Press, 1977), 29. Stanley, 98. 26 Buck Rambo and Bob Terrell, The Legacy 40 11 Staten, 47. Ibid., 179. of Buck and Dottie Rambo (Nashville: Star 12 41 J. D. Sumner with Bob Terrell, The Life On the teamwork of the two quartets in Song Publishing, 1992), 143. and Times of J. D. Sumner (Nashville: By the 1950s, see James R. Goff, Jr., Close 27 Ibid., 142. the Authors, 1994), 126. Harmony: A History of Southern Gospel 28 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Clayton and Heard, 326. 42 Staten, 95-99. See also Guralnick, Last Carolina Press, 2002), 171-174. 29 Rex Humbard, The Soul Winning Train, 47-48, 78. 13 James Goff, Jr., personal interview with Century: The Humbard Family Legacy . 43 Staten, 97. A variant of this quote from Jim Hamill, Greenville, South Carolina, . . One Hundred Years of Ministry (Dallas: Presley appears in Farren and Marchbank, August 12, 2005. Clarion Call Marketing, 2006), 190-193. Elvis, 29-30.

2008 AG HERITAGE 31 A group of young people, probably from Texas, singing hymns in 1915. A Short History of Congregational Song in the Assemblies of God By Bodie Gilbert

t has often been said that there are two books for the Christian — the Bible and the hymnal. The Bible is the all-authoritative revelation of God, and the hymnal is the collective response of Christians to God. For many years in the evangelical Iworld, the Bible and the hymnal, as a pair, were the dynamic duo of Christian devotion. While modern trends have de-emphasized the use of the hymnal or song- book, the rich history of Christian music and theology may be found on their pages.

32 AG HERITAGE 2008 The distinctive testimony of the songbooks were available from John Truth and Power with 175 selections, Assemblies of God is reflected in its T. Benson, Thoro Harris, and others. using shaped notes, was compiled by hymnody. The music of the Assemblies However, Songs of Pentecostal Fellow- R. E. Winsett, but published by GPH. of God is like a dialect of a greater lan- Songs of Light and Life, with 165 songs guage — the language of worship was also advertised in 1926 and to God. This dialect — 1927, but no copies of our heritage — is a this songbook have great one. been located. This survey of Assemblies of God Period of hymnody in the Unit- Growth (1930s- ed States considers the 1940s) following questions: During the 1930s what was sung; how and 1940s, the Gospel was it sung; and why was Publishing House made it sung. Though volumes significant efforts to pro- could be written about this vide churches with bet- broad and interesting topic, ter musical materials in this article briefly explores Three popular songbooks — order to meet the needs of Assemblies of God hymnals Assembly Songs, Songs of Pentecostal the growing denomination. and songbooks and how they Power, and Songs of Praise. The economic downturn of contributed to the life of our the Great Depression and churches and our heritage of congre- ship was the first work that drew con- the stresses of World War II seemed to gational song. gregations to a more denominationally add greater conviction to the songs of the unified repertoire. Assemblies of God. As the years pro- Our First Congregational Songs of Pentecostal Fellowship was a gressed, the GPH Book Catalog added Songbook (1924) collaborative effort that was first born in many new musical publications, includ- “They are Here — The New Song the hearts of early ministers and layper- ing songbooks for soloists and ensembles Books For the Assemblies of God … Lets sons and then voiced officially at the 1923 desiring to offer “special music” for their all Sing from the Same Book.”1 So reads General Council. Delegates adopted a congregations. Volumes on song lead- the full-page announcement resolution to commission a ing, church piano method, and stories of in the August 23, 1924 issue special committee to work Christian hymns and hymn writers also of the Pentecostal Evangel. with the Gospel Publish- appeared for sale. A greater emphasis This was the long-awaited ing House (GPH) to create was given to music in worship through declaration, a call to unified a new, distinctly Pentecos- these years. worship that heralded a new tal songbook.2 The result- Spiritual Songs (1930) with its 261 day for Assemblies of God ing songbook contained selections was the second official song- music ministries through 233 selections that included book.3 Built upon the same vision as the first denominational- many new and familiar gos- Songs of Pentecostal Fellowship, Spiri- ly-authorized songbook, pel songs, some traditional tual Songs appears to have been a better Songs of Pentecostal Fel- Protestant hymns, and a few organized and thoughtful effort. lowship (1924). Until that special solo, duet, and choral In a 1930 article in the Pentecos- time, local assemblies used numbers. This was the first tal Evangel, the book’s editor, Arthur various songbooks obtained attempt to produce a song- Graves, described the vision for Spiri- Songs of Pentecostal from numerous compil- book carrying the message tual Songs: “a songbook which would Fellowship (1924) ers and publishers. Early and witness of the Assem- combine the best songs sung throughout issues of the Pentecostal Evangel show blies of God. Songs of Pentecostal Fel- Christendom, with the best Full Gospel that multiple songbooks produced by R. lowship established a foundation on songs.”4 Greater emphasis was given E. Winsett were sold by the Gospel Pub- which later denominational songbooks to songs that celebrated the Pentecostal lishing House and provided some sense were modeled. doctrines of salvation, divine healing, of musical uniformity in the Fellowship During the late 1920s two other song- the second coming, and the baptism in during its formative years. Additional books were made available. Songs of the Holy Spirit. An abridged version

2008 AG HERITAGE 33 of Spiritual Songs was produced under GPH musical publications. By far the The most popular successor to Songs the title Evangel Songs (1931) with 104 largest congregational songbook pub- of Praise was a songbook titled Assem- selections and served as a less expensive lished by GPH, it included 703 sections. bly Songs (1948). The familiar adver- option for use in camp meetings, revival More traditional features such as respon- tisement was revised: “For the Church services, Sunday schools, and smaller sive readings, the Apostles’ Creed, the that Wants the Best...Assembly Songs.”9 churches. Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Command- In comparison to Songs of Praise, this Several years later, Songs of Praise ments were included — a first for Assem- book is found to be much the same (1935), a larger collection of 328 selec- blies of God congregational materials. in content but with some new gospel

In 1956, an announcement was made of the creation of the Music Division at the Gospel Publishing House. It was an exciting day for the music ministries of the Assemblies of God. tions, was published. The work was sosongs and traditional hymns, described as “a new songbook con-n- 3312 total selections. taining your favorite songs, bothth NeNew to this song- old and new.”5 This popu-u book were the lar songbook remained added selec- in print through the tions under 1940s as the premier the “Children’s congregational song Songs” heading resource for the Assem- and a new catego- blies of God, with a full-page ry of selections for advertisement boasting: “For “Youth.” Also, new the church that wants the best … selections are found Songs of Praise.”6 It also should be under the “Solos and Spe- noted that Songs of Praise was the first cial Music” category. Heri- GPH publication to include the beloved Glorious Gospel Hymns tage readers may recall the hymn “Amazing Grace.” is the first songbook published songbook’s more modern logo Other songbooks made an appear- by the Gospel Publishing House that and outside cover with a distinc- ance. Revival Choruses (1935), com- may be adequately defined as a “hym- tively youthful script font title encircled piled by Benjamin A. Baur, offered 160 nal” as features were organized more by by a flowing musical staff, cloth bound new and familiar congregational choruses doctrinal and ceremonial emphasis with in blue with emblem stamped in gold. and served as a companion to the other headings such as “Baptism,” “Healing,” books. Gospel Choruses (1937), also “Communion,” and “Invitation.” The Golden Years (1950s) compiled by Bauer, provided churches Still, Glorious Gospel Hymns did not The 1950s were significant years with a second volume of 101 fresh cho- originate in Pentecostal circles. It was of development for the denomination. ruses. Heart Melodies (1939) offered 65 a reprint of the Church of the Nazarene Growth in all areas of the Fellowship was songs for “old time Pentecostal Camp hymnal of the day, originally produced apparent as the American lifestyle was Meeting rallies” and a sprinkling of some by Haldor Lillenas and published by invigorated by prosperity and an overall “snappy choruses.”7 Full Gospel Songs the Nazarene Publishing House. As the spirit of gratefulness. With the introduc- (1941) contained 251 songs, “a sparkling hymnal was more expensive in cost and tion of the G.I. Bill, more of our constitu- selection of the choicest gospel songs,” more traditional in fashion than other ency attained a college-level education. and highlighted new material by “the GPH songbooks, it may have been con- A growing involvement with the National popular song writer, Haldor Lillenas,” sidered less desirable by many Assem- Association of Evangelicals was also a an active Church of the Nazarene church blies of God congregations. Even so, source of strength. With the blessings musician of the day.8 the appearance of this hymnal suggests of financial resources, stronger educa- Glorious Gospel Hymns (1946) was the desire by some during those years tion, and ecumenical cooperation, the a significant departure from previous for a more traditional form. music ministries of the Assemblies of

34 AG HERITAGE 2008 great creativity and administrative devel- meaningful and bring greater blessing opment for the denomination. to those who use them when they real- Anderson’s most notable work was ize that the selections are related to the publication of the next major song- Scripture.”11 As an added feature, the book, Melodies of Praise (1957). With companion orchestrations for Melo- 341 selections, it was the first GPH dies of Praise were compatible with songbook to be published in many selections found both round note and shaped in Evangelistic Melodies note editions, as previous and Gospel Melodies, GPH books were only indicating Anderson’s offered in round notes.10 thoughtful organization Gospel songs were still and foresight. the main fare with some Melody Choruses added traditional hymns (1963) was a companion as well. Another signifi- chorus book, printed for cant feature of Melodies of use alongside the congre- Praise was its 210 instru- gational songbook. Of its Edwin P. Anderson, former music editor mental orchestrations, 164 titles, five are marked available in separate volumes. For by asterisks with the note “entire song God flourished. Naturally, the Gospel the first time, church instrumentalists available in sheet music from the Gospel Publishing House grew to accommodate could participate in the accompani- Publishing House.” Encouraging the the needs of the growing churches and ment of song services with the aid use of choruses in worship, Anderson’s denominational ministries. of properly transposed notation. The foreword offers some suggested guid- In 1956, an announcement was made congregational songbook was well ance to the local church: “Due to the of the creation of the Music Division at received and became a bestseller for fact that people love to sing choruses, the Gospel Publishing House. It was the Music Division. a ‘Chorus Time,’ consisting of five or an exciting day for the music ministries Other congregational singing ten minutes during a service could prove of the Assemblies of materials were later very enjoyable.”12 God as Edwin “Eddie” released. Revival Anderson accepted the Melodies (1958), with Our First Congregational leadership of this new 100 songs, was a cho- Hymnal (1969) division. Under Ander- rus book suitable for In 1967 Edwin Anderson resigned son’s direction, the Fel- camp meetings, dis- his post as music editor to return to the lowship experienced a trict councils, revivals evangelistic field, and the next chapter strong period of musi- and similar gatherings. of musical development unfolded as cal development. Evangelistic Melodies plans were set for the first congrega- Many significant (1959) also served as tional hymnal to originate from within advances were to the a smaller option for the Fellowship. Under the leadership credit of Anderson, camp meetings and of newly-appointed editor Dorothy such as a choral anthem revivals. With its 70 Kirschke, a committee was formed series, vocal solo and selections, it replaced of the top Assemblies of God musical ensemble collections, other small songbooks leaders to develop a new hymnal. A instrumental arrangements, and many previously offered. Gospel Melodies liturgical order reminiscent of mainline other resources. Anderson also under- (1961), similar to Melodies of Praise, churches was not the goal. Instead, they stood the need for education and fellow- served as a more condensed volume strove to provide a more refined musi- ship among church musicians, as plans containing fewer entries, 255 in all. cal resource with songs and hymns to were made to create a Music Minister’s The most distinctive quality of Gospel better fit with our maturing doctrinal Bureau and a National Music Confer- Melodies was the citation of Scripture statement of theology and ceremonial ence. It was during this period that we passages printed beneath the titles of celebrations. see the titles “Music Director” and “Min- each song. This feature received spe- Hymns of Glorious Praise was ister of Music” first being more widely cial mention in Anderson’s foreword: released in 1969. The work contained used in our churches. This was a time of “We believe that the songs will be more 504 selections, each categorized under

2008 AG HERITAGE 35 “lifeless tradition,” most appreciated es. Let Everybody Sing (1975) offered the efforts of the Gospel Publishing 154 selections and was the first GPH House and loyally supported the hym- publication to include chord symbols nal in sales.13 for guitars and rhythm instruments. The spiral-bound Choruses and Scrip- The Transitional Years ture Songs (1982) and its 206 selections (1970s-1980s) also included chord symbols. These After Dorothy Kirschke’s tenure works may be viewed as an appeal to as music editor, the institution under- the younger generation as chord sym- went a period of change. Funding bols and folk-like Scripture songs were for the Music Division of the Gospel definitive phenomena of the period. Publishing House was transferred to the newly-established National Music The Call for Moderation Department under the Division of (1990s-present) Church Ministries. With this realign- Responding to the Assemblies of ment, departmental duties were better God’s mission to be an evangelistic peo- administrated in cooperation with the ple, musical tastes continued to evolve Dorothy Kirschke, former music editor other executive offices of the Assem- through the final decades of the twen- blies of God National Headquarters. tieth century. Many churches sought the headings “Worship,” “The God- Lawrence B. Larsen was appointed “seeker-sensitive” music, which often head,” “The Lord Jesus Christ,” “The in 1971 to serve as the department’s included more contemporary musical Holy Spirit,” “Divine Healing,” “Sec- first secretary. styles. With the advent of overhead pro- ond Coming of Christ,” “Heaven,” “The During the 1970s, the face of jection and the ever-growing repertoire Word of God,” “The Church,” “The church music began to experience of songs, singing from the hymnal soon Gospel,” “Evangelism,” “Missions,” great change. American society was became a tradition of the past in many “Christian Life,” and “Special Occa- undergoing some radical transforma- congregations. In a very rapid fash- sion” such as water baptism, infant tions and the Church was not far from ion, the pendulum had swung from the dedication, and others. The “Solos its cultural effects. It was during these right to the left, leaving many seasoned and Special Music” heading and its years that folk and popular musical church leaders concerned over the state repertoire, commonly found in former styles were introduced in many church- of church music. books, was discarded. Though a large es and new models were considered Lawrence Larsen’s final project margin of gospel for music ministry. as National Music Secretary was the songs were retained, Rhythm bands and preparation of a new hymnal for the many more standard amplified instruments Assemblies of God.14 Almost twenty hymns were includ- were introduced years had passed since the release of ed than in previous to the Fellowship. Hymns of Glorious Praise. With this songbooks. Corpo- Many congregations project, a new vision was set forth to rate Scripture read- desired a more youth- offer the Fellowship a more balanced ings, fifty-seven ful sound. As Assem- approach to congregational singing. A in all, were also blies of God churches steering committee was formed with included and orga- turned to other pub- various subcommittees, and with great nized under similar lishers for musical planning and forethought the innova- subject headings. resources, GPH pro- tive work began. A collection of duced fewer music The final product, Sing His Praise orchestrations was publications. (1991), continues to serve our congre- arranged for each Under Larsen’s gations to this day. For the first time hymn number, and leadership, at least in Assemblies of God history, the three arrangements were four major works styles — traditional hymn, gospel song considered more ornate in style than were released. Three of these were and chorus, and praise and worship the former orchestrations of Melo- chorus books. Sing Unto the Lord song — were all found together in a dies of Praise. Though some scoffed (1973), with 65 songs, was a nice blend single denominational hymnal. at the new hymnal as a move toward of traditional hymns and gospel chorus- The new hymnal was well construct-

36 AG HERITAGE 2008 ed. The 588 selections are arranged will bless us today, but also what will latest trends are now the forms most under the same category headings as bless us tomorrow. In my judgment, widely embraced. the former hymnal, observing our Pen- the hymnal is unsurpassed for that part tecostal doctrines and celebrations. The of our musical heritage.” The Future of Church Music body of hymns is followed by a sec- But over the past two decades, the It is a true joy to remember our tion of sixty-nine Scripture readings, modern worship song has become musical heritage. We remember the

“I believe it’s time for our churches to take a look at their music. Let’s not use just what will bless us today, but also what will bless us tomorrow. In my judgment, the hymnal is unsurpassed for that part of our musical heritage.” — Richard Champion also with headings similar to the former the norm in most Assemblies of God past to celebrate God’s faithfulness and hymnal. Unlike Hymns of Glorious churches. Though the Gospel Publish- His creative hand at work through the Praise, with readings meant for corpo- ing House still offers its denomination lives of our forefathers and foremoth- rate unison, the Scripture readings of the standard hymnals, musical tastes ers. We also take time to look back on the newer volume are printed former years to learn from them. to accommodate a responsive The wise innovator understands that gesture — the worship leader the wheel may be improved upon reading a line of text and the but needs not to be reinvented. The congregation speaking sections best progressive action is that which indicated by a bold font. is built upon a foundation of proper Another interesting feature historical understanding. of the hymnal is its references to As we progress into this new hymn tune names and the poetic chapter of history, may we be mind- meter. Tunes that appear in dif- ful of educating and investing in our ferent keys are cross-referenced. future leaders, teaching them of our As a companion to the hymnal, musical heritage. We must endeavor Sing His Praise Orchestrations to endow the passion of our Pente- (1993) offers many unique fea- costal calling and the beauty of its tures, including choral obbligatos, per- and ministerial philosophies more often distinctiveness to insure the effective- cussion and rhythm arrangements, and have given favor to the newest emerg- ness of our future church musicians and a full conductor’s score. Arrangements ing styles in Christian music. music ministers. Also, our future senior are considered more accessible than in Many churches find themselves pastors and church leaders need to be the previous volume. somewhere in the middle, attempting taught the importance of a strong music In spite of the hymnal’s moderate to honor our heritage and embrace the ministry and what “a strong music min- approach and varied content, it was contemporary culture. While hymnals istry” truly is. not known just how the project would still occupy many sanctuary pew racks, Strong education, Pentecostal be received. Church leaders voiced the book itself is rarely put to use in commitment, and pastoral collabora- greatest concern for the younger gen- many churches today. Though Assem- tion will be the key to navigating the erations and their lost heritage of hym- blies of God worship is still identified uncharted waters of our church music’s nody. In a timely editorial published by Spirit-filled conviction and passion future. May the elder generations be in the September 6, 1992, Pentecostal in singing, the new millennium seems ever prayerful for our developing lead- Evangel, Richard Champion shared a to be progressing in a new stylistic ers and their duty to carry on our mes- word of admonition: “I believe it’s direction. As both the vernacular gos- sage through song. time for our churches to take a look pel songs and the cultivated traditional As for the congregational song of at their music. Let’s not use just what hymns are abandoned, the newest and the Fellowship, may we continue to

2008 AG HERITAGE 37 Minutes of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1923, 60. 3 Earlier scholarship identifi ed this publication as the Assemblies of God’s fi rst songbook. See William Menzies, Anointed to Serve: The Story of the Assemblies of God (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1971), 350. 4 Arthur H. Graves, “The Story of Our New Pentecostal Songbook,” Pentecostal Evangel (March 22, 1930), 9. 5 “Songs of Praise,” item description, Book Catalog for the Gospel Publishing House (1935-1936), 67. 6 “For the Church that Wants the Best,” full-page advertisement, Catalog for the Gospel Publishing House (1943-1944), back inside cover. 7 “Heart Melodies,” item description, General Catalog for the Gospel Publishing House (1939-1940), 118. 8 “Full Gospel Songs,” item description, General Catalog for the Gospel Publishing House (1942-1943), 155. 9 “For the Church that Wants the Best,” full-page advertisement, General Catalog L. B. Larsen (left), secretary of the Music Department, talks with visitors at the for the Gospel Publishing House (1948- music booth at the Council on Spiritual Life in Minneapolis in 1972. 1949), back inside cover.

We have quite a history as a Pentecostal people — a singing and worshiping people. May this beautiful dialect, our heritage, continue on for the glory of God! mold it and share it with Scriptural 10 Early songbooks produced by R. E. integrity and Spirit-filled conviction. Bodie Gilbert is a Winsett and other individuals featured graduate student May our song continue to inspire as shaped notes and were printed by the pursuing the Master Gospel Publishing House, but these were it remains an ever strong tool of wor- of Music in Church not produced exclusively by or for the ship and adoration, teaching us right Music Studies at Assemblies of God. doctrine and displaying the character Baylor University. He 11 “Foreword” from Gospel Melodies of our God. May our song forever be also serves as adjunct instructor of music (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel Publishing an authentic expression of our prom- at Southwestern Assemblies of God House, 1961), ii. ise in the Name of Jesus Christ and University. He is a member of First 12 Melody Choruses (Springfi eld, MO: the empowerment of His precious Holy Assembly of God, Comanche, Texas, Gospel Publishing House, 1963), ii. Spirit. We have quite a history as a where his father serves as pastor. 13 Darrel Keith Johnson, “A Study of Pentecostal people — a singing and Present-Day Music Practices in the worshiping people. And a promising Notes Assemblies of God,” master’s thesis. future awaits us as our inheritance as (University of Southern California, 1972), we remain faithful to the call. May this 1 “They are Here,” advertisement, Pentecostal 61-62. beautiful dialect, our heritage, continue Evangel (August 23, 1924), 16. 14 Bodie Gilbert, oral history interview with on for the glory of God! 2 “New Song Book Authorized,” Combined Lawrence B. Larsen, June 19, 2007.

38 AG HERITAGE 2008 in-hand with Pastor Alcantara for 15 Rosendo Alcantara: years as he worked among Filipinos and helped to start churches in the sur- Still Ministering at 106 By Glenn W. Gohr rounding areas. In late 1980, Dr. James Maroc- osendo Alcantara, the oldest After preaching a sermon at Beth- co, son of Dan and Esther, asked the minister in the US Assemblies el Temple, Los Angeles, he received Alcantaras if they would consider head- of God, turned 106 on February enough money through a love offer- ing up a ministry to Filipinos at First 27Rth. Until recently, he was teaching ing to pay for his fare to the Philip- Assembly of God in Maui (now King’s a weekly Bible study and preaching pines. He witnessed to his parents and Cathedral), even though Rosendo was at King’s Cathedral, Kahului, Hawaii, others in his hometown, and he began almost 80 years old. They gladly agreed where he is associate pastor emeritus evangelizing and planting churches in and were able to make arrangements under Dr. James Marocco. to come in January of 1982, staying 7 Remembered as one of the pioneers months until their visas expired. They of the AG in the Philippines and as the returned in March of 1983 and have founder of the AG Filipino ministry in been ministering in Maui ever since. Kahului, his zeal for God and his con- Hawaii District Superintendent tinued faithfulness are an example to George Nagato says of Alcantara, “You emulate. He says the secret for his long were born into the Kingdom of God at life are three things: prayer, the Word age 20, and since then you have opened of God, and a healthy diet.1 churches, led Bible Schools, and estab- Born in Aringay, La Union, Philip- Rosendo Alcantara (left) and lished fellowships both in the Philip- pines, Alcantara moved to the United Presentacion, his wife of 62 years. pines and Hawaii. We commend you States at the age of twenty and found various places. When the Philippines for your passion in building His King- work in San Jose, California. He was in District Council of the AG was formed dom around the world. To this day, you an accident that left him pinned beneath in 1940, Alcantara received ordination touch many lives with whom you con- his car, and in desperation he called and became assistant superintendent. nect as you minister at King’s Cathedral on God to deliver him.2 Within a few During World War II, he worked under Pastor James Marocco.”6 seconds, a carload of men stopped and with the late Rudy Esperanza and other Heritage wishes Reverend Rosendo freed him. They took him to a nearby Filipinos to hold the believers together, Alcantara a blessed happy birthday as hospital where emergency surgery was although gospel work was risky. Alcan- he celebrates 106 years of life and more needed, and he saw firsthand how God tara borrowed money from a wealthy than 86 years of ministry. answers prayer. Dr. Manznilla and used it to buy food After his release from the hospital, and milk for people in the internment he stayed with some friends at nearby camp. Three times a week he would Glenn W. Gohr is reference archivist Sunnyvale to recuperate. He was invit- risk his life to bring food. A Japanese and copy editor for the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. ed to a Pentecostal church, and the third guard almost shot him when he showed night he attended, he saw a vision of up one day with milk goats. But when Christ clothed in white. Immediately he he discovered he was a preacher, the Notes realized he was a sinner and needed sal- guard let him continue.5 Other times 1 Jennifer McClure, “105-Year-Old vation. He began crying out to God, and were just as dangerous. Filipino Pastor Still Visits Pulpit,” Today’s he told the people about his vision. They On October 28, 1945, Rosendo Pentecostal Evangel, July 8, 2007, 6. led him to the altar where he accepted sal- Alcantara married Presentacion Tade- 2 Trinidad E. Seleky, “Six Filipinos and vation. A couple weeks later he received na, a member of his church at Dingras. One American: Pioneers of the Assemblies the baptism in the Holy Spirit.3 In 1948, the Alcantaras took charge of of God in the Philippines,” Asian Journal of Later he moved to Los Angeles, and a Bible school in Santa Catalina, Ilo- Pentecostal Studies 4:1 (2001): 124-125. with a zeal to serve God, he became con- cos Sur. They stayed until 1953, when 3 Ibid., 125. vinced that God had called him to preach. they joined Lester Sumrall in Manila, 4 Ibid. He enrolled in correspondence courses taking charge of a Filipino congrega- 5 Rosendo Alcantara, “Surviving the War and was granted an exhorter’s license tion, which grew and became strong. in the Philippines,” Assemblies of God from the Southern California-Arizona In 1965, Dan and Esther Marocco Heritage 11:4 (Winter 1991-92): 6. District of the AG. He began preaching became missionary pastors at Bethel 6 George Nagato, congratulations letter to to Filipinos in Southern California.4 Temple in Manila. They worked hand- Rosendo Alcantara, January 2008.

2008 AG HERITAGE 39 Known and Yet

Pandita Ramabai CorneliaCorn Jones Unknown RobertsonRo Women of Color and the Assemblies of God

By Jessica Faye Carter taught Sanskrit, the language in which referred to as such.3 Ramabai began classical Hindu works are written. She holding meetings related to women’s he history of ethnical- also became adept in the languages of rights, with word of her abilities even ly diverse women in the Marathi, Kanarese, Hindustani, and reaching as far as England.4 Assemblies of God is Bengali.2 Ramabai was first exposed to Chris- unique, rich, and lengthy, Through tragedy (Ramabai lost tianity in India,5 though she converted yet it remains largely both parents to illness) and famine, to Christianity and was baptized in Eng- Tunknown to many Assemblies of God Ramabai eventually came to Calcutta, land.6 Ramabai’s contributions to global adherents. Starting before the formal where a group of Hindu scholars were Christianity and to Pentecostalism are inception of the Assemblies of God astonished at her knowledge. They quite significant. She was a champion in 1914, and continuing through the allowed her to be called Pandita, which of women’s rights, campaigning exten- mid-twentieth century into the pres- means “learned,” and at the time she sively against child-brides and speaking ent day Assemblies of God, women of was the only woman allowed to be against her society’s terrible treatment color have provided a significant influ- of widows. Part of Ramabai’s work for ence on the Fellowship in a variety of Indian women included the establish- ways. They have served as evangelists ment of the Mukti Mission in 1889 — and preachers, pastors and teachers, mukti means salvation7 — as a place sectional and district presbyters, mis- for young widows to come who were sionaries, and as an overseas general being abused by their families. In addi- superintendent. tion to her activities with women, she added Hebrew and Greek to her cache Pandita Ramabai of languages, eventually translating the Pandita Ramabai, an Indian educator Bible into Marathi. and missionary, was born in about 1858 Minnie Abrams, a missionary, had to Ananta Shastri, a Sanskrit scholar, come to India from Minneapolis, Min- and Lakshmibai, her mother. Ramabai nesota two years earlier in 1887, and was born a member of the Brahmin she was very concerned for the plight (priestly) caste, and her upbringing was Pandita Ramabai (left center) with some of Indian women.8 In 1899, while members of her staff. Her daughter, unusual in that her father believed in Manoramabai (sitting at right of her preaching itinerantly in India, Minnie the education of women, unlike many mother); Minnie Abrams (front, center); Abrams “felt directed of the Lord” of his day.1 As a result, Ramabai was and Mr. Gadre (front, right). to work at the Mukti Mission, and

40 AG HERITAGE 2008 Aimee Garcia Cortese Maria de Fatima MariaMariia KhaleelKhalleel W. Gomes

Ramabaibi accepted dh her offer. ff 9 RamabaiRbi servedd as pastor of a church in Hous- to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and and Abrams worked together, and even- ton, Texas.14 During her tenure as pas- laid hands on them. One of those for tually a significant Pentecostal revival tor, in 1905, William Seymour attend- whom she prayed was Howard Goss. began in Southern India. ed her church and heard her speak in Goss had been baptized in the Holy As Abrams held meetings in the tongues. Harvey Cox, in Fire from Spirit prior to the camp meeting, but United States to support the Mukti Mis- Heaven, notes that had been unable to speak in tongues sion, she made important connections since his initial experience.17 By his with the North American Pentecostal [Seymour] heard a woman pray own account, after Farrow laid hands movement, aloud in a language, or in what on him he was able to speak in tongues and recruit- seemed to be a language, that no one “any time [he] yielded to the Spirit of ed women there could understand. Seymour God.”18 Goss, along with E. N. Bell baptized in was touched to the core.… After and others, hosted a conference in Hot the Spirit the meeting he asked Lucy Farrow, Springs, Arkansas in 1914; out of this to join in the woman who had spoken in the conference, the Assemblies of God was the evange- strange tongue, more about her established. listic work. remarkable gift.15 Among the Cornelia Jones Robertson Minnie Abrams (right) women who Farrow was well-acquainted with Cornelia Jones Robertson was an sitting next to Jivubai, an joined her Charles Parham and his wife Sarah, African-American woman pioneer in Indian woman. were Edith and she worked as a governess in their the Assemblies of God. She was active Baugh, Blanche Cunningham, Lil- home. She is said to have introduced in the Azusa Street revival,19 and she lian Doll, Minnie Houck, “Miss Bris- Parham and Seymour. Eventually was one of the first African-Americans tol,” and “Miss Dempster.”10 Ramabai Farrow went on to be ordained by the Assemblies of God, referred to these women as the “Phil- to Los Angeles receiving her credentials in its Northern lipus Class,” because the women where she minis- California-Nevada district in 1923.20 were like Philip’s daughters in Acts. tered and became Robertson was active and well-known 21:9.11 Other women from the US later part of the 1906 in Pentecostal circles, and was known to joined their efforts, and several of these outpouring of be a “close associate” of prominent Pen- women eventually ministered with or God’s Spirit. tecostal evangelists Maria Woodworth- joined the Assemblies of God.12 Farrow re- Etter and Aimee Semple McPherson.21 turned to Houston Howard Goss at a She pastored a church in Oakland, Cali- Lucy Farrow in 1906 to preach camp meeting in fornia and was the founder and pastor of Lucy Farrow, an African-Ameri- at a camp meet- 1912. He began the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church and speaking in tongues 16 can woman, was the niece of the abo- ing, where she after Lucy Farrow House of Prayer located in San Francisco, litionist Frederick Douglass,13 and she prayed for people prayed for him. California for over 30 years. Robertson

2008 AG HERITAGE 41 also engaged in US missions, starting a licensed with the Assemblies of God in ro was going to be very difficult, mission in the Barbary Coast area.22 1951, then ordained in 1964 by the Wes- because it was then an island with One of the most important aspects leyan Methodist Church of Puerto Rico. virtually no technological advance- of her enduring legacy is found in her She transferred back into the Assemblies ment, widespread illnesses, and very grandson, Robert Harrison. As a young of God and served as a missionary-evan- little food. She was not anxious to go man, Harrison was influenced heav- gelist among Spanish-speaking people and minister there, but eventually she ily by the faith of his mother, Leona in the US and abroad. She was also the and her husband followed God’s call. (Schaeffer) Harrison, and Robertson, first woman chaplain for the New York For seven years they ministered there, his grandmother.23 After his gradua- State Department of Corrections.32 only moving to Timor during politi- tion from Bethany Bible College, he Her vision for the church was as cal unrest.37 One major initiative that applied for credentials in the same dis- an active part of a vibrant Christian they oversaw involved the provision of trict where his grandmother held cre- community, including community biblical teaching cassettes and cassette dentials, but he was refused.24 After centers and gymnasiums for youth.33 players to illiterate local pastors. This being recruited by Billy Graham for his To that end, Cortese founded Cross- ministry helped many budding Chris- crusade team, Harrison’s ordination by roads Tabernacle and The Boden Cen- tian leaders learn Christian doctrine, the Assemblies of God was approved in ter for the Performing Arts. Both are and it strengthened many churches in 1962.25 His ordination was a watershed in the Bronx area near real crossroads the geographic region.38 event and marked a departure from the — the Hutchinson River Parkway and In 1990, José Gomes died, but prior Assemblies of God’s official position Cross Bronx Expressway — and are to his death he felt the Lord directing as of 1939, which refused to grant fur- impacting people at the crossroads in him to appoint Maria as superintendent ther ordinations to African-Americans their lives. of East Timor, then part of Indonesia.39 at the national level, though in prac- When East Timor gained independence tice some districts continued to issue Maria de Fatima W. Gomes in 2002, Maria became the general district-level credentials.26 Harrison’s Maria de Fatima W. Gomes is of East superintendent of the Assemblies of ordination eventually led to the offi- Indian and Portuguese descent and cur- God in East Timor. It is possible that cial condemnation of racial, ethnic, and rently serves as the general superinten- she is the only female to have served other forms of discrimination by the dent of the Assem- as the leader of one Assemblies of God in 1965.27 blies of God in East of the national fel- Timor.34 East Timor lowships within the Aimee Garcia Cortese is a country located Assemblies of God. Aimee Garcia Cortese is the found- in Southeast Asia, She continues serv- er and pastor emeritus of Crossroads and includes the ing in this role and Tabernacle, and of The Boden Center eastern half of the lives in East Timor. for the Performing Arts, both located island of Timor. Despite her con- in New York City. Cortese was born in Gomes was siderable hardship 1929 in the Puerto Rican barrio of the born in Indone- and personal chal- South Bronx in New York City,28 but sia in 1928. As lenges, she has Maria Gomes (right) shares a her ministry has spanned many differ- a young woman relaxed moment with a pastor’s wife. remained faithful to ent nations and people groups. Cortese she was hostile to her commission from was raised in a loving religious family, Christianity and rejected the faith, God. Today the fruit of the Gomes’ and by the age of 15 expressed her call- even throwing Christians out of her ministry has appeared for all to see. ing to ministry to her pastor, Manuel house! But the grace of God prevailed. The island of Auturo is known by the López.29 In 1968 several pastors began to pray locals as “Assemblies of God island” Her pastor did not believe that for her, and she eventually received because 5,768 out of the 7,000 people women should preach, but allowed Christ as her Lord.35 Later that year on the island (82 percent) are adher- her to do so because of her incessant she and her late husband (José Gomes) ents to the Christian faith through the requests. However, because she had began their ministry on the island of Assemblies of God.40 received no ministry training, her first Auturo, a small island situated north attempt at preaching was disastrous.30 of East Timor.36 Auturo, though physi- Maria Khaleel Afterwards, López began helping her cally separated from Timor, is politi- Maria Khaleel is a widely respect- learn the Bible to prepare for minis- cally situated in the Dili district of ed pastor and former presbyter in the try.31 Over time, Cortese was involved East Timor. Assemblies of God Peninsular Florida in many different ministry roles, being Gomes knew the ministry in Autu- district. Khaleel, who is of multicultural

42 AG HERITAGE 2008 descent, is the founder and senior pastor diverse women in the Assemblies of 12 Ibid. of New Life Assembly of God, a size- God for those continuing in leadership 13 Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early able congregation in Pembroke Pines, today. Though obstacles to women Pentecostals and American Culture Florida. She graduated from South- in ministry persist — especially for (Boston, MA: Press, eastern College of the Assemblies of women of color — the dedication, 2001), 149. God in 1986, and she was ordained in resilience, and perseverance of these 14 Harvey Cox, Fire From Heaven: The 1998. Since starting the church, Khaleel women have set an example of ser- Rise of Pentecostal and the earned a master of divinity degree from vice to God for fellow Christians and Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First the Assemblies of God Theological for leaders throughout the Assemblies Century (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, Seminary (2002), and she served as a of God. 1995), 49. presbyter in the Peninsular Florida Dis- 15 Ibid. trict from 1998-2006 — the first woman Jessica Faye Carter 16 Ethel E. Goss, The Winds of God to hold such a position in that district. is a master of divinity (Hazelwood, MO: Word Afl ame Press, New Life has 700 members, with candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary 1977), 98. 30 nationalities being represented in and is an intern with 17 Ibid., 99. the congregation. A whopping 80 per- Nassau Christian 18 Center (Assembly of Ibid. cent are first-time converts to Christi- 19 anity. Even more remarkable is that God) in Princeton, Glenn W. Gohr, “For Such a Time each year, approximately 35 percent New Jersey. She is a graduate of as This: The Story of Evangelist Bob Spelman College and holds a J.D. and Harrison,” Assemblies of God Heritage of the congregants move away from an M.B.A. from Duke University, where the Pembroke Pines area, so that the she served as editor-in-chief of the 24:3 (Fall 2004): 6. 20 city effectively serves as a “gateway” Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. McGee, People of the Spirit, 362; Glenn to many entering the US. Some who Jessica is the author of Double W. Gohr, “Cornelia Jones Robertson: A Outsiders: How Women of Color Can Friend of the Needy,” SpiritLed Woman leave the Pembroke Pines area return Succeed in Corporate America (JIST to their homelands; others move on to Works, 2007). 7:1 (August/September 2004): 58. various locations within the US. 21 Gohr, “For Such a Time as This,” 6. Therefore to maintain a stable 22 Ibid. membership size, the church has to Notes 23 Ibid. win about 245 people to Christ each 24 Ibid., 7. year — and this is a challenge they 1 Helen S. Dyer, Pandita Ramabai: The 25 McGee, People of the Spirit, 362. have met. Since its inception in 1992, Story of Her Life (New York, NY: Fleming 26 Ibid. New Life has led over 5,000 people H. Revell, 1900), 13-14. 27 Ibid., 363; General Council Minutes, to Christ. 2 Ibid., 14-15. 1965, 60-61. Khaleel’s ethnic heritage is almost 3 Ibid., 27. 28 Virginia Sánchez Korrol, “In Search of as ethnically diverse as that of her con- 4 Ibid. Unconventional Women: Histories of Puerto gregation. Her mother is Cuban (of 5 “Pandita Ramabai,” Glimpses, No. 133 Rican Women in Religious Vocations before Spanish and French ancestry), and her (Worcester, PA: Christian History Institute, Mid-Century,” The Oral History Review father is Lebanese. Even more interest- 2007). 16:2 (Autumn 1988): 47-63. ing is that her parents met in Jamaica, 6 “Pandita Ramabai: Her Life in India and 29 Ibid., 60-61. West Indies where she was also born, Lessons to Be Drawn From It,” The New 30 Ibid. though most of her upbringing occurred York Times, Saturday Review of Books 31 Ibid., 61. in Oklahoma. Khaleel’s exposure to 32 myriad cultures and people groups and Art (March 23, 1901): BR20. Ibid. 7 Gary B. McGee, People of the Spirit: 33 Ibid., 62. uniquely suits her to lead such an effec- 34 tive multicultural congregation. The Assemblies of God (Springfi eld, MO: Katy Attanasi, “Prepared Through Gospel Publishing House, 2004), 73. Hardship,” Pentecostal Evangel 4522 (Jan. 8 Conclusion Ibid. 7, 2001): 20. 35 Women of color have made sub- 9 Ibid. Ibid., 20-21. stantial contributions to the Assemblies 10 Gary B. McGee, “Baptism of the Holy 36 Ibid. of God, and they will continue to play Ghost and Fire! The Revival Legacy of 37 Ibid., 22. an important role in its future ministry. Minnie F. Abrams,” Enrichment 3:3 38 Ibid. The pioneers have laid the groundwork (Summer 1998): 86. 39 Ibid. for the ministry efforts of ethnically 11 Ibid. 40 Ibid., 20.

2008 AG HERITAGE 43 prophetic attitude (meaning an openness to women preachers and leadership over men) toward women in ministry that has been shaped by the degree of institutional acculturation, education, and cultural ori- LIBERATED entation to US values and gender roles. As the cultural orientation of Hispanic Pentecostalism has changed, so too has and EMPOWERED: its attitude towards women in ministry. The Beginnings The Uphill History of Hispanic The practice of ordaining women in the Latin districts of the Assemblies Assemblies of God Women of God is an outgrowth of the larger Assemblies of God fellowship’s posi- tion on women in ministry. The Assem- in Ministry, 1915-1950 blies of God takes a prophetic view of women in ministry and has always By Gastón Espinosa allowed women to be ordained to the ministry, although Edith Blumhofer has noted some of the limitations that women have faced nonetheless.4 here is a small but growing Assemblies of God was founded in Hot The founder of the Latin Ameri- body of literature on the Springs, Arkansas in 1914, the Latin can District Council, Henry C. Ball, important roles of Anglo- districts took a very different trajectory adopted this prophetic view of women American and Black Pen- concerning the role of women in the in ministry when he began his work in tecostal women, but less is ordained ministry in the twentieth cen- south Texas. On July 4, 1915, he intro- Tknown about the history and contribu- tury than did the parent organization. duced nine Mexicans to the baptism in tions that Hispanic women have made While the Assemblies of God has the Holy Spirit in Ricardo, Texas.5 This to Pentecostalism. Furthermore, the lit- licensed or ordained Hispanic women event gave birth to what later became tle that has been written on Hispanic to serve as evangelists, missionaries, the Latin American District Council of women in religion has tended to focus and pastors since at least 1916, it never the Assemblies of God in the US.6 on Catholicism or mainline Protestant- witnessed the kind of Golden Age of The first Assemblies of God women ism with a few notable exceptions. women in ministry that Charles Bar- to effectively minister among Hispanics Women did play an important role foot and Gerald Sheppard describe in in the origins and development of the their germinal article, “Prophetic vs. Hispanic Pentecostal movement, which Priestly Religion: The Changing Role is the largest segment of Hispanic Prot- of Women Clergy in Classical Pente- estantism today. The Hispanic Churches costal Churches.”2 in American Public Life national survey The history of Hispanic women in in 2003 found that 23 percent of all US ministry is long but checkered. Hispanic Hispanics self-identified as Protestant women have faced an uphill struggle. or “other Christian” and that 64 percent Pentecostal women have practiced a of these Hispanic Protestants in the US kind of paradoxical domesticity where- are Pentecostal or charismatic.1 by they are exhorted to be end-times This article examines the origins prophetesses3 in the public sphere and and early history of Hispanic Pentecos- devoted mothers and good wives in the H. C. and Sunshine (Marshall) Ball, pioneers in Hispanic ministry. tal clergywomen in the Assemblies of private sphere. God. The study suggests that although Despite the seemingly paradoxical in the United States were Anglo-Ameri- the Latin districts of the Assemblies lives they lead, Pentecostal women are, cans. Alice E. Luce, Sunshine Marshall of God trace their roots to a meet- by their own accounts, “liberated.” In (later the wife of H. C. Ball), Florence ing in South Texas in 1915, only one general, the Trinitarian Hispanic Pen- Murcutt, Carrie Judd Montgomery, and year after the General Council of the tecostal movement has adopted a more many others ministered to Hispanics in

44 AG HERITAGE 2008 Seventh annual convention of Latin-American Pentecostal workers meeting in San Jose, California in 1923. Some of those attending included H. C. Ball (back row, far left), Alice Luce (2nd row, far right), Juan Lugo, Domingo Cruz, Luis Caraballo, S. Nevarez, George Blaisdell, and L. Rodriguez. the US Southwest, Texas, , and San Antonio and began to help Ball ern California and was reportedly under- Puerto Rico from 1912 to the 1940s. The with his evangelistic work among the mining their work. most important Anglo-American woman Mexicans living in South Texas. Despite the difficulties she faced to pioneer the work among Hispanics in Luce pioneered the Latin District as a pioneer Anglo-American woman the US was Alice E. Luce. A former Brit- Council work in Los Angeles in 1918 ministering in Mexican Los Angeles, ish Anglican missionary to India, Luce where she rented a hall in the Mexican Luce conducted open-air evangelistic was converted to Pentecos- Plaza District in Los Ange- services and Bible studies, prayed for talism in India and later felt les, where Rosa and Abun- the sick, organized testimonials, taught called to minister to Span- dio López of Azusa Street Sunday school, and led door-to-door ish speakers in Mexico revival fame had preached evangelism and tract ministries. Luce and the United States. twelve years earlier. Luce represents one of the clearest examples In 1915, Luce and her began conducting evange- of a prophetic woman in ministry in friend Sunshine Marshall listic services along with early Pentecostalism. met Henry C. Ball in south a Jewish convert named Texas and were ordained Florence Murcutt. Their Pioneers to the ministry. They, like work was difficult, not only Alice Luce, Sunshine Marshall Ball, were interested in because Mexicans followed Ball (Mrs. H. C.), and other Anglo- ministering to Mexicans Alice E. Luce, a former the seasonal harvests, but American women like Aimee Semple missionary to India, and had planned to set ministered among also because the Oneness McPherson (who held credentials at up a Pentecostal work in Hispanics in Mexico, group, Asamblea Apos- one time in the Assemblies of God) Monterrey, Mexico. After Texas, and Southern tólica de la Fe en Cristo served as role models for Latina Pen- the bloody Mexican Revo- California. She Jesús (Apostolic Assem- tecostal women in ministry. Although established what is lution (1911-1917) drove now Latin American bly of the Faith in Christ they laid a foundation for women’s pro- them back across the US Bible Institute in La Jesus, Inc.), had already phetic ministry, the number of Hispanic border, they returned to Puente, California. established itself in south- women that have followed their exam-

2008 AG HERITAGE 45 ple has been, until recently, relatively another pioneer evangelist, Francis- small. Despite their small numbers ca D. Blaisdell (ca. 1885-1941), who and in contrast to the Barfoot/Shep- worked in Arizona and northern Mex- herd thesis7 of a Golden Age of women ico. The Mexican American Blaisdell in the early Pentecostal ministry, the began preaching the Pentecostal mes- documentary evidence indicates that sage in Mexico in 1915 and was later there have always been ordained His- ordained an Assemblies of God mis- panic women actively ministering in sionary-evangelist by Ball and Juan the Assemblies of God. Lugo in 1923. She, along with her The first Latina we know for certain Anglo-American husband, Rev. George who was ordained by the Assemblies of Blaisdell, pioneered evangelistic work God was Dionicia Feliciano. She and along the Arizona-Mexican border in her husband Solomon were ordained Douglas, Arizona, and Nacozari, Sono- in California in July 1916. She went ra, Mexico. Demetrio and Nellie (Treviño) Bazán on to help pioneer the Assemblies of in 1920. Around 1922, Francisca helped God work in California, Puerto Rico, organize the first women’s group in and the Dominican Republic. She was Enviados de Dios, wrote regular arti- Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico.10 She is joined in her evangelistic work in Puer- cles for La Luz Apostólica (a publica- important not only because she was to Rico by Isabel Lugo, who herself tion started by H. C. Ball in 1916 which one of the first evangelists to pioneer was ordained in 1920.8 later became the official publication of the Pentecostal work in the US and Isabel and Juan Lugo and Solomon the Latin American District Council), Mexico, but also because she pastored and Dianicia Feliciano pioneered the composed poetry, and raised ten chil- churches in Douglas, Arizona; Agua Assemblies of God work in Puer- dren. She herself planted three church- Prieta, Sonora, Mexico (1932-1933, to Rico in 1916. Ball, Marshall and es in Texas and New Mexico during 1938-1939); and El Paso, Texas (1933- Luce’s work with Rodolfo Orozco in her 75-year ministry. While she was 1935). In these churches, she preached the American Southwest, Texas, and allowed to exercise her prophetic min- to 40-80 Mexican parishioners every northern Mexico in 1915, resulted in istry on a regular basis, she was also Sunday morning and evening and two

While there have always been strong female voices within the Hispanic Assemblies of God, they have faced an uphill calling and have often been assigned small, remote, or what some might see as marginal ministries. the ordination of a number of Mexi- expected to submit to her husband’s or three times a week. Along with her can American women such as Nellie spiritual authority at home. regular work in Arizona and Mexico, Bazán, Francisca Blaisdell, Chonita As at the Azusa Street revival itself, she conducted evangelistic tours, often Morgan Howard, Nativadad Neva- women’s roles in the Hispanic Assem- by horseback, throughout northern rez, and others. Most of these women blies were somewhat paradoxical — Mexico and the US Southwest.11 worked alongside their husbands and women were exhorted to exercise their Like Francisca Blaisdell, Concep- served as copastors. prophetic gifts9 in the public sphere but ción (Chonita) Morgan Howard (1898- Manuelita (Nellie) Treviño Bazán submit to their husband’s authority in 1983) was a Mexican American whose (1898-1995) was one of the first Mexi- the private sphere of the home. Early father was an Anglo-American and can American women to be ordained to Hispanic Pentecostals did not believe whose mother was a Mexican.12 Choni- the Pentecostal ministry in the United the point of the prophetic gifts was to ta was converted to Pentecostalism in States. Like many other husband-wife erase gender distinctions, but rather to 1913 in the small mining town of San teams, both she and her husband were empower men and women for Chris- José de las Playitas, Sonora, Mexico. ordained together in 1920. She minis- tian service in the end-time drama in She was a pioneer Latina Pentecostal tered along with her husband Demetrio which they found themselves actors. evangelist, pastor, and women’s leader in Texas, New Mexico, and , This kind of paradoxical domesticity in the US and Mexico. Not long after where she regularly preached from the has remained the norm for many His- her conversion and baptism in the Holy pulpit at least 30 times a year and con- panic Pentecostal women throughout Spirit in 1913, she felt called to the ducted door-to-door evangelistic work. the twentieth century. ministry and traveled the dusty evan- She also wrote her own autobiography, Nellie Bazán was soon joined by gelistic trail on horseback in northern

46 AG HERITAGE 2008 Mexico and Arizona preaching the Pen- ican women in the US served as a preted as genuine gestures of gender tecostal message. source of inspiration to Pentecostal and racial inclusivity, they can also be She eventually traveled to Cali- women in Mexico. Ana Sanders was interpreted as a safe way to theoreti- fornia where she came under the one of the first women to pioneer the cally include women that would never influence of George and Carrie Judd Assemblies of God work in Mexico be a real threat to the male leadership Montgomery, who had attended the City in 1921. She dedicated the rest of the Assemblies of God because they Azusa Street revival in of her life pioneering the could never garner the nationwide sup- 1907 and were responsible work in Mexico. By 1928, port needed to be elected or make any for bringing the Pentecos- her prophetic work along serious structural changes. tal work to Sonora. Under with that of Chonita How- their influence, she began ard, Francisca Blaisdell, Theological Education evangelistic work in the US and others inspired Mexi- Women in the Assemblies of God around 1915. In 1919, she can women like Srita Cruz have not only been allowed to exercise met and married a young Arenas, Catarina García, their preaching and leadership roles in Anglo-American Pentecos- Juana Medellín, and Raquel the credentialed ministry, they have tal preacher named Lloyd Carrie Judd Ruesga to go into the minis- also been able to receive ministerial Howard, who was pastor- Montgomery try. Together, these women theological training traditionally closed ing a small group of Mexicans in the helped pioneer the Assemblies of God to them in all Catholic and Orthodox border town of Pirtleville, Arizona. work in Mexico. and many Protestant denominations in In 1928, the Assemblies of God rec- the US prior to the 1950s. The theo- ognized her evangelistic work and Acceptance logical and ministerial training that ordained her as an evangelist to the Despite the fact that Hispanic women received at the two Latin Amer- Mexicans living along the Arizona- women have been ordained in the ican Bible institutes,14 as well as other Mexican border. Assemblies of God since at least 1916, Bible schools operated by the Assem- In addition to her pastoral and evan- prior to World War II it was uncommon blies of God, has opened many other- gelistic work, she served as the sec- for a single Hispanic woman to pastor wise closed doors to the ministry with ond president (after Sunshine Mar- her own church or even be ordained to opportunities to teach at these same shall Ball) of the Concilio Misionero the pastoral ministry. More often than institutes and to write for Spanish- Femenil (Women’s Missionary Coun- not, women were licensed rather than language periodicals such as La Luz cil) from 1941 to 1962. Chonita con- ordained and served alongside their Apostolica and The Word. ducted pioneer evangelistic work in husbands, as interim pastors, or as pas- The Assemblies of God Bible insti- California, Arizona, New Mexico, and tors of small congregations or missions, tutes have provided Hispanic women Sonora, Mexico, from 1915 to 1968. often in rural or marginal areas. While an alternative professional route to the From 1966 to 1968, she pastored Betel other Hispanic women were ordained normal option of mothering by giv- Asamblea de Dios in Douglas, Arizona. from 1916 to the 1970s in low num- ing them the opportunity to acquire Her fifty-three year pioneer ministry bers, there was a sharp increase in the theological training and nurture and touched the lives of thousands of His- number of ordained women in the His- to eventually exercise their prophetic panic women and helped establish the panic Assemblies of God beginning gifts alongside men. While the career Assemblies of God work on both sides in the early 1980s. The exact reason options after graduation were limit- of the US-Mexican border. for this shift is unclear. There is little ed, they nonetheless exercised a cer- Although most of the women during doubt, however, that the progressive tain level of agency that would have the early period were credentialed as tendency of a new generation of lead- been otherwise unavailable to them in evangelists, there were cases of His- ers like Jesse Miranda has much to do the Asamblea Apostólica (Apostolic panic women actually ordained as pas- with this trend. Assembly) or in most other Protestant tors. Nativadad Nevarez, for example, Congruent with Edith Blumhofer’s denominations prior to the 1950s. was ordained a “pastor” in 1937 in Los findings,13 while the Latin districts in While some used their Bible Angeles, where she served as copastor the Assemblies of God have officially school training to exercise their gifts of the famous Aposento Alto church. ordained women for most of the twen- of evangelism and pastoring, the María Inostroza was ordained in the tieth century, ministry opportunities majority of women who attended early 1930s and pastored churches in were limited. Women who did pastor Bible school became copastors, Chris- the 1940s and 1950s. churches often did so in small churches tian educators, and lay leaders in the The pioneer evangelistic work of or missions where men were unwilling church. Regardless of whether or not Mexican American and Anglo-Amer- to go. While these moves can be inter- they used their Bible training, the

2008 AG HERITAGE 47 fact that women could and did receive Margaret Lamberts Bendroth and Vir- 3 Prophetess in this context refers to a the same training for the ministry as ginia Lieson Brereton, eds. (Urbana and woman preacher in a leadership position. men allowed women to nurture their Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 4 Edith L. Blumhofer, “The Role of Women prophetic gifts despite the problems they 2002), 25-48. in the Assemblies of God,” Assemblies of encountered in the Latin districts. God Heritage (Winter 1987-88): 13-17. 5 Victor De Leon, The Silent Pentecostals: Conclusion A Biographical History of the Pentecostal Gastón Espinosa, Movement Among the Hispanics in the This investigation into the early Ph.D., is assistant years of Hispanic Pentecostal women professor of philosophy Twentieth Century (Taylors, SC: Faith in ministry has only scratched the and religious studies Printing Company, 1979), 43. 6 surface of an important chapter in at Claremont The Latin American District Council the story of Pentecostal clergywom- McKenna College, of the Assemblies of God, offi cially Claremont, California. recognized as a district in 1925, has grown en. While there have always been Inquiries may be sent strong female voices within the His- so large that it now has been divided into to [email protected] eight separate districts: Central Latin panic Assemblies of God, they have American District, Gulf Latin American faced an uphill calling and have often District, Midwest Latin American District, been assigned small, remote, or what Northern Pacifi c Latin American District, some might see as marginal minis- Puerto Rico District, Southeastern Spanish tries that men were less interested in Notes District, Southern Pacifi c Latin American pioneering. Despite this fact, Hispan- District, and Spanish Eastern District. ic women have generally stayed the 1 Gastón Espinosa, Virgilio Elizondo, 7 Barfoot and Sheppard, 2-17. course and continue to quietly and and Jesse Miranda, Hispanic Churches 8 Dionicia Feliciano, ministerial fi le; skillfully negotiate their own min- in American Public Life: Summary of Gastón Espinosa, “‘Your Daughters Shall istries and space in the Pentecostal Findings (Notre Dame, IN: Institute Prophesy,’” 35; David Ramos Torres, movement by practicing a kind of a for Latino Studies, University of Notre Historia de la Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal, paradoxical domesticity. Dame, 2003), 16. For trends and the M.I. (Rio Piedras, PR: Editorial Pentecostal, Hispanic Pentecostal women heart- history of Latino Pentecostalism see: 1992), 46. ily believed (and still believe) that the Gastón Espinosa, “The Pentecostalization 9 Prophetic in this context, as well as in the message of repentance, forgiveness, of Latin American and US Latino rest of this article, refers to the concept of Christianity,” PNEUMA: The Journal of and a born-again, Spirit-filled relation- women preachers in leadership positions the Society for Pentecostal Studies 26:2 ship with Jesus Christ constitute true (including leadership over men). (Fall 2004): 262-292; Gastón Espinosa, 10 liberation. Far from being “doormats” De Leon, 144-145. “Ordinary Prophet: William J. Seymour, 11 suffering from a false consciousness, Race Relations, and the Azusa Street Ibid. 12 early Pentecostal women believed they Revival,” in The Azusa Street Revival and Ibid., 146-148; Chonita Morgan found real freedom despite the prob- Its Legacy, Harold D. Hunter and Cecil M. Howard, ministerial fi le; For more on lems they faced. If we take seriously Robeck, Jr., eds. (Cleveland, TN: Pathway Latinas in ministry see Gastón Espinosa, how most of these Hispanic Pentecostal Press, 2006), 1-41; Gastón Espinosa, “Nellie Bázan,” “Francisca Blaisdell,” women perceived themselves, then they “‘The Holy Ghost Is Here on Earth’: The “Aimee García Cortese,” “Juanita García were by their own account “liberated” Latino Contributions to the Azusa Street Peraza,” “Chonita Morgan Howard,” and “Leoncia Rosseau Rosado” in New and “empowered.” Although there were Revival,” Enrichment 11:2 (Spring 2006): International Dictionary of Pentecostal clear limitations to their “freedom in 118-125; and Gastón Espinosa, “Brown Moses: Francisco Olazábal and Mexican and Charismatic Movements, Stanley M. Christ,” their stories nonetheless chal- American Pentecostal Healing in the Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas, eds. lenge conventional interpretations of Borderlands,” in Gastón Espinosa and Rev. and expanded ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: women and religion, historical agency, Mario T. García, eds., Mexican American Zondervan, 2002), 368, 432, 562-563, 659, and what it means to be a truly liber- Religions: Spirituality, Activism, and 907-908, and 1029. ated woman. Culture (Durham, NC: Duke University 13 Blumhofer, 13-17. Press, 2008), 263-295, forthcoming 14 Many of the Hispanic women who For additional information, see the essay. trained for ministry attended one of two author’s article, “‘Your Daughters Shall 2 Charles H. Barfoot and Gerald T. Assemblies of God schools named Latin Prophesy’: A History of Women in Min- Sheppard, “Prophetic vs. Priestly Religion: American Bible Institute (LABI). One istry in the Latino Pentecostal Move- The Changing Role of Women Clergy is in La Puente, California, and one is in ment in the United States,” in Women in Pentecostal Churches,” Review of San Antonio, Texas. Both schools were and Twentieth-Century Protestantism, Religious Research 22 (1980): 2-17. established in 1926.

48 AG HERITAGE 2008 FPHC NEWS free access to the FPHC’s significant online resource library, including:

• Over 200,000 pages of digitized,

▼ Pentecostal indexed periodicals (including the Research Goes Pentecostal Evangel, Assemblies Web 2.0 of God Heritage, and other early publications); On February 15, 2007, the Flower • Over 60,000 entries in the FPHC’s New Flower Pentecostal Heritage Pentecostal Heritage Center launched Center website: www.iFPHC.org catalog to its archives; and its upgraded website, www.iFPHC. • Over 17,000 digitized photographs. org, which employs the latest popular Pavia, project manager for the web- technologies to share the stories of the site upgrade, explained, “Using popular For those unable to visit the FPHC in pioneers and innovative ministries that content aggregators is less costly than Springfield, Missouri, copies of materials shaped the Assemblies of God and the developing one’s own technologies. It in the FPHC’s vault may be ordered by broader Pentecostal movement. The also means that the FPHC will con- using the FPHC’s online shopping cart. FPHC’s online research center, already tinue to be on the cutting edge, and it According to Director Darrin Rod- the world’s largest Pentecostal history places the FPHC squarely in the center gers, “Few traditional archives have website, has added many web 2.0 fea- of where the next generation is already been able to jump the digital divide and tures. For instance, web surfers will getting its information.” to place their resources into the flow find streaming videos of Lillian Trash- The FPHC’s online research center, of this information age. It is our goal er, a photo slideshow of the Azusa which debuted in 2000, has become — not only with this website, but in all Street revival, and other audiovisual an essential reference tool for many that we do as archivists and historians experiences that they can paste into church leaders, educators, students, — to make the wisdom and experiences their own church website, blog, or pastors, and other researchers. The of different ages and cultures accessible PowerPoint lecture or sermon. upgraded website continues to offer to people today.” The FPHC also has a presence in the blogosphere through its two new blogs: the iFPHC blog and iFPHC Seen in Print. The iFPHC blog is the interac- tive news hub of the FPHC, designed to inform and foster community. iFPHC Seen in Print aims to make accessible information about books written by or about Christians within the Pentecostal and charismatic traditions. The FPHC accomplished this using inexpensive or free social net- working tools, such as YouTube, Flickr, Odeo, Digg, Wordpress, and other folksonomic services. Brett

▼ 2007 Acquisitions The FPHC was honored to have a delegation from the in Memphis, TN, among its many guests in 2007. Pictured here are The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Cen- Sister Magnolia Tolbert, FPHC Director Darrin Rodgers, COGIC National ter acquired numerous books, booklets, Archivist Dr. Odie Tolbert, and Mother Mary P. Patterson, widow of former tracts, photographs, audio and visual Presiding Bishop J. O. Patterson. recordings, artifacts, and other exciting historical treasures from donors in 2007. Among the highlights were donations of God (Findlay, OH); First Christian God (Eureka Springs, AR); and First from several congregations with recent Assembly (Cincinnati, OH); Stone Church Assembly of God (Memphis, TN). centennial celebrations: First Assembly (Palos Heights, IL); First Assembly of Continued on page 66

2008 AG HERITAGE 49 The Assemblies of God and the Long Journey toward Racial Reconciliation

By Darrin J. Rodgers

ew could recall a more electrifying moment at a General Council. “Assemblies of God get ready, get ready, get ready,” an impassioned Zollie Smith said moments after the announcement of his election as the new executive director of US Missions. “We F together are going to invade America and we are going to go into the cities and the highways and byways and take back what the devil has taken away.” Ministers and delegates present at the 2007 General Council in Indianapolis, joined by thousands of online viewers, could sense that they were witnessing a historic event. With his election, Smith became the first African-American to serve as a national executive of the US Assemblies of God.1 Ten years earlier, in 1997, John Bueno had become the first non-Anglo to serve as an executive.2 The elections of Bueno and Smith reflect the changing face of the Fellowship — which is becoming more racially diverse — but it also underscores that it took 93 years to get to this point. Zollie Smith

This article analyzes the historical 3) cultural (one culture is privileged The culture, language, and attitudes of roots of racial unity and disunity in over another).3 the white founders were privileged. The early Pentecostalism and in the Assem- period from 1939 to 1962 demonstrated blies of God. Because the concept of The history of the inclusion of racial both cultural and institutional racism. racism carries varied connotations, it is minorities in the Assemblies of God In 1939, the denomination created a helpful to first differentiate between its can be broken down into four time peri- national policy that denied ordination various forms. Church of God in Christ ods. During each period the official to African-Americans. This structural historian Leonard Lovett has identified actions of the denomination demon- discrimination persisted until 1962, three forms of racism: strated certain attitudes toward racial when the policy was overturned. minorities. The period from 1914 to Cultural racism still existed during 1) individual (personal belief in the 1939 was marked by cultural racism. the period from 1962 to 1997. Although superiority of one race over another); The Assemblies of God was formed official actions at the national level no 2) institutional (structural discrimi- as a largely-white organization where longer reflected racial discrimination, nation to achieve racist goals); and non-Anglos were present as a minority. there was still a seeming preference

50 AG HERITAGE 2008 for whites that created a glass ceiling. God in Christ, brought his choir from We’ve Come This Far is available While racial segregation was not pre- Memphis to sing. Mason, preaching in from AGTS scribed, the leadership remained over- an evening service, graciously asked (417-268-1055) whelmingly white. In 1997, the Assem- God to bless the newly-formed Gen- blies of God modified its governance eral Council of the Assemblies of God. ation. The vol- structure to purposely include represen- Chairman E. N. Bell, reporting on the ume notes that tatives of its non-Anglo constituency. service, identified Mason as “a real the Assemblies Because the glass ceiling had been bro- prophet of God.”6 of God — like ken, the period from 1997 to the pres- Ministers of other races soon joined many predom- ent could be described as not exhibiting the ranks of the General Council. In inantly-white any form of racism, at least in official 1915, the Assemblies of God issued Pentecostal actions at the national level. credentials to its first black minister denominations — Ellsworth S. Thomas, a pastor in — “has experienced some challenges in Interracial Origins Binghamton, New York.7 That same acknowledging its multicultural roots,” The Azusa Street revival (1906- year, Henry C. Ball, a former Method- as well as its “years of ambiguity about 1909), which was one of the focal points ist cleric, received credentials with the the inclusion of African-Americans in of the emerging Pentecostal movement, Assemblies of God and proceeded to its ministerial ranks.”10 became widely known for its interra- pioneer a Hispanic Assemblies of God cial character. One hundred years ago, congregation in Kingsville, Texas. Ball William Seymour and Martin both friends and foes of the revival rec- proved to be an energetic evangelist and, Luther King, Jr. ognized that the racial reconciliation in 1918, he organized the first conven- We’ve Come This Far juxtaposes the practiced at the Azusa Street mission tion of Spanish-speaking pastors (the lives of two notable twentieth-century and promoted by its African-Ameri- Latin American Conference, renamed American religious leaders — William can leader, William J. Seymour, had the Latin American District in 1925).8 J. Seymour and Martin Luther King, Jr. become a lightning rod, if not a defin- Assemblies of God ministers and — while reflecting on the lessons that can ing mark of the revival. Azusa partici- churches from additional ethnic and be drawn from them concerning African- pant Frank Bartleman famously exulted language groups followed suit, organiz- American preaching and leadership. The that at Azusa Street “the ‘color line’ was ing numerous ethnic or language-based book also features a selection of histori- washed away in the blood.”4 conventions — named districts, branch- cal materials — including an account of Critics of the Azusa Street revival es, and fellowships. Today, most of the Assemblies of God minister Robert Har- seemed most appalled by its interracial growth in the US Assemblies of God is rison (whose successful ministry with mixing. Alma White, a fundamentalist occurring among its Hispanic, Korean, Billy Graham led to the overturn of a leader, spared no fire in her invective African-American, and other non-Anglo policy denying ordination to African- against the fledgling Pentecostal move- churches, as well as in congregations in Americans) and a history of the struggle ment. She seethed that it was “very which no one culture is dominant. to overcome racism within the Apostolic fitting that the devil should choose a The history of racial unity and divi- Faith Mission of South Africa. colored man (Seymour) to launch out sion within the Pentecostal movement Three essays, authored by David the ‘Tongues’ movement … There is was addressed in a recently-published D. Daniels, III, Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, no other race through which the Drag- book: We’ve Come This Far: Reflec- and Lois E. Olena, are of particular on could work more effectually than tions on the Pentecostal Tradition and value in understanding the historical through the colored race.”5 Azusa Street Racial Reconciliation (Assemblies of roots of racial unity and division in the became a symbol for racial reconcilia- God Theological Seminary, 2007), edit- early Pentecostal movement and in the tion — an ideal that Pentecostals have ed by Byron Klaus. This volume raises Assemblies of God. Daniels, a leading experienced difficulty living up to. important questions about the Assem- Church of God in Christ historian, and The Assemblies of God was orga- blies of God’s mixed record on race. 9 Robeck, the foremost authority on the nized in 1914 by about 300 pastors, We’ve Come This Far contains the Azusa Street revival, explored possible evangelists, and missionaries. Most, proceedings of a 2006 lecture series lessons from the leadership legacies of if not all, of these founding men and at the Assemblies of God Theological Seymour and King. women were white. However, at least Seminary that encouraged reflection On the surface, Seymour and King one featured group was African-Ameri- about the “missed opportunities and might not appear to have much in com- can. Charles H. Mason, the respected unfulfilled potential” for the Assemblies mon. Seymour was a leader in the bishop of the largely-black Church of of God to be an agent of racial reconcili- early Pentecostal movement, which

2008 AG HERITAGE 51 the leaders of the modern Civil Rights Robert Harrison movement — which occurred fifty years William Seymour, in an apparent after the Azusa Street revival.11 concession to human frailty, felt that he Robeck noted that Seymour dem- had to conform to the racial structures onstrated leadership through becom- of his day in order to survive in the ing a vulnerable servant. He enumer- short-term. It should not be surprising, ated three ways in which Seymour did then, that the Assemblies of God also this. First, Seymour brought together a struggled with racial issues. Olena doc- gifted, multiracial staff and did not try umented this struggle through the lens to make the revival a one-man show. of Robert Harrison, one of the most Second, Seymour opened his pulpit to prominent African-American Assem- anyone who had a word to give, which blies of God ministers.16 empowered a variety of voices within Born in 1918 in San Francisco, Cal- the young Pentecostal movement. ifornia, Harrison had a strong Assem- Third, Seymour acknowledged his per- blies of God pedigree. His grandmoth- sonal debt to Charles Parham, the man er, Cornelia Jones Robertson, was an William J. Seymour who taught him about the “Apostolic Azusa Street participant and, in 1923, Faith.” This acknowledgement was at she became one of the earliest African- in its infancy was known for its other- great personal cost to Seymour, as Par- Americans ordained by the Assemblies worldliness, while King helped to lead ham later condemned Seymour, in part of God. Upon Harrison’s 1951 gradua- the modern Civil Rights movement, for his interracial vision.12 tion from Bethany Bible College — an with its protest politics, campaigns The Azusa Street mission has Assemblies of God school in northern for desegregation, and non-violent become a symbol for racial reconcil- California — he applied for credentials active resistance. Indeed, some Afri- iation. It can be tempting to hold up with the Northern California-Nevada can-American veterans of the Civil the Azusa Street revival as an ideal, District, but his request was denied on Rights movement viewed Pentecostal but actual events are usually messier the basis of his race.17 churches with suspicion, contending than later ideological interpretations of Harrison’s rejection came in the that their preoccupation with spiritual them. Most people do not realize that midst of a lengthy soul-searching matters precluded them from correct- Seymour, in 1914, led the mission to odyssey concerning the place of Afri- ing social injustices. limit leadership roles at Azusa Street can-Americans in the Assemblies of The African-American Pentecos- and its daughter congregations to God. In the first tal community did lend support to the “people of Color.” Whites were several decades Civil Rights struggle, although the still allowed to attend the mis- of the Fellow- degree to which it did so is debatable. sion — just not participate in mis- ship, no nation- Notably, King’s final sermon — shortly sion business. This compromise, al policy existed before his assassination in 1968 — was according to Robeck, was to keep regarding race in delivered at Mason Temple in Mem- the “peace” on an interim basis, the credentialing phis, Tennessee. Mason Temple is the since racial fighting in society had process. Some mother church of the Church of God found its way into the Azusa Street districts issued in Christ, which is the largest African- mission as well.13 credentials to American Pentecostal denomination in Others have pointed to ear- African-Ameri- the world. lier racial conflict at the Azusa Robert Harrison cans; others did David Daniels, significantly, identi- Street mission. Several histori- not. However, fied King as a successor to Seymour’s ans of Hispanic Pentecostalism have concern that an African-American interracial vision. Daniels lauded documented Seymour’s expulsion of credentialed in one district would then Seymour for “erasing the boundaries a Mexican contingent from the Azusa move into a district that did not accept between black and white, challenging Street mission in about 1909 or 1910, African-Americans caused the General white supremacy as a cultural phenom- suggesting possible racial motives.14 Presbytery to consider the issue. In enon through a new racial formation as Robeck, however, convincingly argued 1939, the body voted to: well as interracial and multicultural wor- that Seymour was simply disciplining a ship.” He also cautioned against anach- disorderly faction. It just so happened express disapproval of the ordaining ronistically measuring Seymour against that they were Mexican.15 of colored men to the ministry and

52 AG HERITAGE 2008 recommend that when those of the ministry team. The Assemblies of God Weeks, in his unpublished history of colored race apply for ministerial wanted to fully embrace Harrison as its the Church of God in Christ, wrote, recognition, license to preach only own, so then-General Superintendent “I want to make it perfectly clear, that be granted to them with instructions Thomas F. Zimmerman helped to push in the archives of the Assemblies of that they operate within the bounds through a change in official policy.23 God or from any other materials I gath- of the District in which they are Olena noted that Harrison’s ordeal was ered, there is no licensed, and if they desire ordina- “a sad and shameful chapter of Pente- sign of personal tion, refer them to the colored orga- costal history.”24 racism found in nizations.18 the founders of Race and AG Origins the Assemblies This decision seemed to allow the One of the most controversial and of God.”28 licensure, but not ordination, of Afri- poorly understood aspects of race in What was can-Americans. In practice, howev- Assemblies of God history concerns the motivation, er, districts interpreted and applied the relationship of the Church of if not racism, this policy as each saw fit. Harrison’s God in Christ to the founding of the for the founding application for a ministerial license Assemblies of God. Some claim that of the Assem- was denied in 1951. However, one the Assemblies of God split from the blies of God? C. H. Mason year later, another African-American Church of God in Christ, undoubtedly The founders minister, Bruce Gibson, was re-instat- due to racism. Two scholars recently gave a five-fold purpose for calling the ed as an ordained minister in the New explored this issue and came to differ- first General Council: unity, conserva- York-New Jersey District. He had been ing conclusions. tion of the work, provision for mission- ordained by the Northwest District in Joe Newman, in his provocative aries, a legal charter for the churches, 1933 before leaving in 1937 to work new book Race and the Assemblies of and creation of a “general Bible Train- with an African-American group. In God, charged that “racial separation … ing School with a literary department 1957, a new district superintendent in was apparently the dominant factor in for our people.”29 Hjalmeby noted the Northern California-Nevada Dis- the creation of the Assemblies of God that the driving force behind the first trict apologized to Harrison for his past church.”25 His argument was twofold: General Council was not racism, but mistreatment and issued Harrison cre- 1) many founders of the Assemblies of the desire for organization and unity. dentials as a licensed minister.19 God left the largely African-American He noted that most early Pentecostals As civil rights activists agitated Church of God in Christ; and 2) their were very loosely-organized and did for equal rights and as racial tensions departure was racially motivated.26 not feel strong ties to any over-arch- increased in the post-war years, Assem- Erik Hjalmeby disagreed with the ing organization. This was why, when blies of God leaders found themselves assertion that the Assemblies of God the Assemblies of God was formed, torn between competing social visions was formed for racist reasons. For his its leaders saw themselves as bringing for America.20 While some national master’s thesis at Baylor University, together independent local congrega- leaders, such as Ralph Riggs, were Hjalmeby studied the racial rheto- tions under one umbrella.30 eager to open the door to African- ric surrounding the formation of the Newman’s argument assumed that Americans to minister in the Assem- Assemblies of God and concluded that the founders of the Assemblies of blies of God, this idea was met with the majority of founders of the Assem- God were members of Mason’s orga- opposition in the South.21 Because of blies of God “were by no means guilty nization: “Many members of the new these tensions, the leadership of the of racial hatred, at least not overtly.”27 organization possessed ministerial cre- Assemblies of God decided to prevent Perhaps the most powerful evidence that dentials issued by C. H. Mason, Afri- a split in the Fellowship by delaying racial separation was not the motiva- can-American leader of the Church ordination of African-Americans until it tion for the organization of the Assem- of God in Christ. At Hot Springs, the became more acceptable in society.22 blies of God is that Bishop Mason was white ministers ended their official It was not until 1962 that the invited to preach at the first General relationship with Mason and accepted denomination finally began issuing Council and that he gave his blessing new credentials with the Assemblies of ordinations without regard to race. to the organization of the Assemblies God.”31 Newman is not alone in his This institutional paralysis on the of God. It is quite remarkable, given claim. Conventional wisdom holds that issue of race came to an end in part the location and era, that Mason and the Assemblies of God was formed, in because Harrison landed a high-vis- the founders of the Assemblies of God part, by ministers who left Mason’s ibility position on the Billy Graham crossed the color line. Indeed, Donald Church of God in Christ.32

2008 AG HERITAGE 53 However, a closer examination of later became founding members of the 1911 until its leaders helped to form the facts suggests a more complex story. Assemblies of God. It is significant that the Assemblies of God in 1914. This There is little, if any, evidence known these white ministers from the Deep second group, largely white, will be to exist that suggests that Mason and South were open to attending a black referred to as the [white] Church of the founders of the Assemblies of God church in their search for spiritual truth. God in Christ in this article. were once part of the same organization. Wacker has noted that there was a great The [white] Church of God in Christ Instead, they were members of different deal of unselfconscious racial mixing was one of several groups that contrib- organizations both using the same name. at the personal level among the first uted to the formation of the Assemblies However, recent scholarship indicates generation of Pentecostals.35 of God. Most members were located that there may have been an informal This interracial character of early in the South and initially consisted of relationship between the two groups. Pentecostalism was most prominent at ministers who held credentials with the personal level. In the beginning, Parham’s Apostolic Faith Movement. Pre-organization Pentecostals of many stripes had infor- Sometime after mid-1907, a group of Early Pentecostals existed in a bewil- mal, undefined relationships with each ministers left Parham to form their own dering variety of loosely-organized other. When Pentecostals set out to cre- organization. In late 1910 or 1911, this groups. Pentecostal historian Grant ate institutions, then real differences — group began identifying itself as the Wacker portrayed early Pentecostals as cultures, organizational expectations, Church of God in Christ, apparently “mavericks at heart, careless of tradition, and otherwise — made it difficult for with the permission of Mason.37 The willing to drop old allegiances at the first believers from different racial back- latter’s organization was recognized by hint of strain.”33 Most were deeply sus- grounds to find common ground. Rac- southern railroads and the use of this picious of organization, instead gather- ism, of course, was always a factor, but name allowed clergy to receive dis- ing in independent congregations with the roots of racial disunity were more counted railroad fares.38 impermanent meeting places, support- complex than racism alone. Another group of white ministers, ing what some might call fly-by-night In the early years of the Pentecos- primarily from Alabama and Mississippi evangelists and missionaries, and con- tal movement, many of the different and led by Rodgers, also began using the stantly evaluating new claims of restored congregations or associations went by name Church of God in Christ in 1912 apostolic doctrines and practices. When the same name. Following the exam- or 1913. The group previously went ministers or congregations did form ple of Charles Parham, several promi- under the name Church of God. While alliances, they usually had little, if any, nent early groups went by the name its history is sketchy, this group seems structure or authority. Apostolic Faith, including William to have entered into an association with Early Pentecostalism’s freewheel- Seymour’s Azusa Street mission and the [white] Church of God in Christ and ing character and lack of organiza- Florence Crawford’s denomination ultimately its leaders joined the newly- tion brought about a greater exchange in Portland, Oregon. Historian Glenn formed Assemblies of God.39 of ideas and people between groups Gohr noted that, by 1909, a number of Mason’s organization and the [white] that, in a more structured environment, former Parham followers began to call Church of God in Christ shared a name might not have occurred. While “Jim themselves “Pentecostal” in order to — apparently for the purpose of satisfy- Crow” laws in many states required distinguish themselves from Parham. ing the Clergy Bureau’s requirements organizations to be segregated, the lack Then, in the early 1910s increasing for discounted railway fares. Otherwise, of denominational structures made it numbers began to identify their church- the only known evidence of organiza- much easier for people of different es by names found in scripture, such tional connections between the two races to rub shoulders. as Assembly of God, Church of God, groups comes from unpublished cor- For instance, Mack M. Pinson and Church of God in Christ.36 respondence and notes from J. Roswell reported that he and H. G. Rodgers Flower,40 who was never affiliated with heard white evangelist G. B. Cashwell Churches of God in Christ the [white] Church of God in Christ. In in Memphis in early 1907. After Cash- Charles H. Mason led one of the the early 1950s, Flower corresponded well left town, they visited Mason’s largest and oldest Pentecostal groups, a with a number of the early leaders in the congregation, where they witnessed a largely African-American body called Assemblies of God in an attempt to col- number of people receive the baptism the Church of God in Christ. Another lect and verify historical information for in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. group, led by Howard A. Goss, Dan- a prospective history of the Assemblies That night, Pinson and Rodgers prayed iel C. O. Opperman, L. C. Hall, and of God that he never did write. in their hotel room and spoke in tongues others, was also known as the Church According to Flower’s unpublished for the first time.34 Pinson and Rodgers of God in Christ from late 1910 or notes for a 1950 Central Bible Insti-

54 AG HERITAGE 2008 tute class, Goss supplied the following and does not demonstrate any ongo- these connections were significant in information from his diaries: ing organizational connection between any way, it is strange that no evidence Mason and Goss. can be found, other than one contested In the latter part of 1907, H. A. Goss The reliability of Goss’s accounts, statement made forty years after the had gone to Arkansas where he met cited by Flower, is questionable. fact. Additional research is required to Elder C. H. Mason, the General According to Flower, Goss claimed that corroborate Flower’s statement. Overseer of the Newly organized the information he gave to Flower came What was the nature of the relation- Church of God in Christ. Brother from his diaries. However, Goss’s dia- ship between Mason and the [white] Goss accepted the courtesies of that ries do not seem to corroborate Flow- Church of God in Christ? While the

The interracial vision noted by Azusa Street participant Frank Bartleman — where “the ‘color line’ was washed away in the blood” — was never fully realized, whether at Azusa Street, in the Assemblies of God, or in the Church of God in Christ.

organization and was issued creden- er’s account.44 Flower’s unpublished answer to that question is unclear, it tials, which were recognized by the materials were a work-in-progress; does seem apparent that they existed southern railroads. With the consent they contained his correspondence as separate organizations.46 The [white] of Elder Mason, a white organiza- and notes about many conflicting and Church of God in Christ issued its own tion was formed, using the name uncorroborated historical accounts. The credentials and elected its own officers. “Church of God in Christ” and cre- file containing Flower’s letter to Pin- Daniel C. O. Opperman, who orches- dentials were issued to E. N. Bell son, quoted above, also includes the trated and directed a number of short- and a few other ministers.41 following response from Pinson, which term Bible schools in the South and undercuts Goss’s claim: Midwest, was a member of the Clergy Flower repeated this account in cor- Reference Committee for this group, respondence with Mack M. Pinson: As to Goss going to Mason, the col- and he issued credentials to his stu- ored preacher, head of the Church dents to affiliate them with the [white] H. A. Goss did keep a diary and I have of God in Christ, I don’t know about Church of God in Christ.47 gleaned quite a number of facts from that, but I do know that Arkansas Wayne Warner, former director him. He received the baptism under and other Southern States have a of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Chas. F. Parham in 1903. In the latter “Jim Crow” law that colored and Center, noted in a 1994 article that part of 1907 he visited Elder Mason whites can’t work under the same he reviewed many of the nearly 100 of the Churches of God in Christ and charter. If that was done, the whites’ credentials on file from those who received credentials from the negro Church of God in Christ was not turned in their [white] Church of God body. He obtained from Elder Mason legal because they would have to in Christ credentials when they applied permission to issue papers using that have a charter of their own.45 for a transfer to the Assemblies of God name “Churches of God in Christ” — and Mason’s name or organization for the white work in Texas.42 If the reliability of Goss’s account is appeared on none of them. Likewise, questionable, so is Pinson’s. The con- extant publications — including Word Historians who claim that the flict between Goss and Pinson is a ques- and Witness, edited by E. N. Bell, and [white] Church of God in Christ was tion of fact, and it may be possible to The Whole Truth, edited by Charles organizationally connected with Mason determine who was correct. Records of H. Mason — do not give any indica- generally cite these two accounts by the railroad Clergy Bureau, which have tion of an organizational relationship.48 Flower.43 No other evidence of an orga- not yet been located, might possibly Despite Newman’s claim, not a sin- nizational link between Mason and provide documentation of a relation- gle credential has been found issued the [white] Church of God in Christ ship. If Goss or other [white] Church of by Mason to any Assemblies of God is known to exist. Flower’s account God in Christ leaders were ordained by founder.49 only refers to the initial formation of Mason or were otherwise organically In order to distinguish it from the [white] Church of God in Christ connected with Mason’s group, and if Mason’s organization, in recent decades

2008 AG HERITAGE 55 scholars have referred to the group Movement,” which was the group’s of God in Christ to obtain discounted led by Goss, Bell, and others as the previous name. railway fares; and 3) Mason’s invitation “Church of God in Christ (white)”50 or While the [white] Church of God to speak at the first General Council. as the “Church of God in Christ and in in Christ was a separate organization Assuming that these facts are true Unity with the Apostolic Faith Move- from Mason’s group, recent scholar- (the first two have been contested by ment.”51 The term “Church of God in ship has emphasized that an informal scholars), then Daniels probably was Christ (white)” may cause people to or loose relationship may have exist- correct in his conclusion that a relation- incorrectly assume that only whites ed between them. Church of God in ship between Mason and the [white] belonged to the organization. Its 1914 Christ historian David Daniels offered Church of God in Christ existed. At min- ministerial roster listed approximately an intriguing explanation for the exis- imum, Mason’s invitation to speak at the 350 people — including many whose tence of multiple groups with the name General Council demonstrated that the race is unknown — and at least two, Church of God in Christ. He posited founders of the Assemblies of God and Isaac S. Neeley and his wife, Mattie, that Mason had an interracial vision Mason were not strangers — they knew were black.52 and attempted to create a “network of and respected each other. However, the The terms “Churches of God in fellowships” which included several nature of this relationship is not known Christ” and “Church of God in Christ white groups.53 Mason’s core group or documented.54 and in Unity with the Apostolic Faith — which published The Whole Truth Daniels identified several other white Movement” both appeared on the orga- and issued credentials with Mason’s groups with stronger and historically- nization’s ordination certificates. It is signature — was predominantly Afri- verifiable ties to Mason, including ones doubtful that the lengthier, cumber- can-American. led by Memphis minister L. P. Adams some term was regularly used by its Daniels included the group led by and by William B. Holt. Many of these ministers. The phrase “and in Unity Goss and Bell in his list of white groups ministers and churches — which existed with the Apostolic Faith Movement” loosely associated with Mason. He in various white branches and church- most likely served the dual purpose based this on three pieces of evidence: es — ultimately left Mason’s organiza- of distinguishing the group from other 1) Flower’s account citing Goss’s claim tion, and some joined the Assemblies of organizations with the name “Church that Mason ordained him and permitted God.55 These departures occurred years of God in Christ” while continuing to the use of the name Church of God in after the 1914 General Council, how- identify it with the “Apostolic Faith Christ; 2) the use of the name Church ever, and had nothing to do with the formation of the Assemblies of God. Building upon Daniels’ First Black AG Missionaries identification of a “network saac S. and Martha “Mattie” Neeley as missionaries on November 30, 1913. of fellowships,” Church were the fi rst African-Americans to serve They served as missionaries to Liberia, of God in Christ historian as Assemblies of God missionaries. then returned to the United States in 1919 Elton Weaver contended IThey originally were ordained by L. C. and attended the 1919 General Council at that Mason would not have Hall with the [white] Church of God in Christ Stone Church in Chicago. While they did approved the use of the name not receive Assemblies of God credentials until 1920, this delay was probably because Church of God in Christ they were on the mission fi eld. While on the by another group unless fi eld, they received support from Assemblies that group was in relation- of God congregations, and The Latter Rain ship with him. According Evangel, published by Stone Church, printed to Weaver, “Bishop Mason many of their letters. The Neeleys received credentials as evangelists from the Illinois said Church of God in Christ District in 1920, endorsed by Hardy Mitchell, was the name God gave him the pastor of Stone Church. They served and throughout Mason’s as evangelists and pastors in the United life he never gave that name States until 1923, when they prepared to away. Mason believed if he return to Liberia as missionaries. Isaac died on December 8, 1923, just before their relinquished the name he departure. Mattie sailed back to Africa alone would break the covenant he Isaac (top center) and Martha Neeley in 1924 and was in charge of Bethel Home made with God.” However, (bottom right) with a group of in Cape Palmas, Liberia. She returned from Weaver acknowledged that it missionaries at the 1923 General Council. the fi eld in 1930. may be difficult to find evi-

56 AG HERITAGE 2008 Compare these sample ordination certifi cates from the two groups. One signed by C. H. Mason (on the left) and one signed by Howard Goss and others (on the right). dence of links between the two groups, formed the Assemblies of God and The task of finding such evidence is explaining that those who crossed the Mason’s Church of God in Christ. Ithiel difficult because the Church of God in color line had to be very discreet.56 Clemmons suggested that whites would Christ does not have an archival reposi- Weaver stated that to focus on a have become “restive” if they could tory, so significant materials document- split in 1914 is to miss the significance not “assume the prevailing leadership ing the denomination’s history either of the relationship between Mason and role.”59 There were real differences in have not been preserved or are located the [white] Church of God in Christ. culture, social backgrounds, missiol- in private collections. Hopefully, future It would have been a miracle that the ogy, organizational expectations, and researchers will take up the challenge founders of the Church of God in Christ — significantly — theology. Mason’s to better document the heritage of the and the Assemblies of God crossed the group held to the Wesleyan belief in a Church of God in Christ — and to color line in the first place.57 separate crisis experience of sanctifica- establish a Church of God in Christ Weaver’s analysis may help explain tion, while the [white] Church of God archival collection. Then, perhaps, the the relationship of Mason to the groups in Christ was dominated by those fol- question of Mason’s relationship to the led by Adams and Holt. Indeed, signif- lowing the Reformed “finished work” [white] Church of God in Christ can be icant evidence exists that Adams and position, viewing sanctification as a answered to everyone’s satisfaction. Holt were organizationally connected lifelong process. to Mason. However, whether this theory Very little, if any, evidence has been Addressing Racial Disunity will be widely accepted as explaining the found that demonstrates an organic While it may be accurate to state possible relationship between Mason and connection between Mason’s organi- that founding members of the Assem- the earlier group led by Goss, Bell, and zation and the [white] Church of God blies of God did not leave Mason’s others will depend on whether additional in Christ. The leaders of the [white] organization in 1914, it would be supporting evidence can be found. Church of God in Christ did have great incorrect to conclude that there were One might ask why the founders of respect for Bishop Mason, but this rela- no racial implications to the first Gen- the Assemblies of God, in 1914, did tionship seems to have been informal. eral Council. To the contrary — the not instead seek to join with Mason Still, it is possible that additional infor- formation of the largely-white Assem- and make his interracial vision a real- mation might exist that would shed blies of God, in some ways, affirmed ity.58 Numerous factors, in addition to light on the nature of the relationship and institutionalized the divisions along the unfortunate reality of Jim Crow between Mason and the founders of racial lines that had long been appar- laws and racism, separated those who the Assemblies of God. ent in most sectors of the movement,

2008 AG HERITAGE 57 mirroring the prevalent structures Interracial Origins of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel in society. Many Church of God in Christ brethren still express he offi cial magazine of the later, selected a masthead that remains Assemblies of God was ahead relevant 95 years later: “The simplicity pain over what they perceive to of its time long before it prefi xed of the Gospel, In the bonds of peace, have been a church split birthed Tits title with “Today’s” in 2002. The unity of the Spirit, Till we all come to by racism. Instead of dismissing The fi rst issue, published in Plainfi eld, the unity of the faith.” Their call to unity this pain as not based in historical on July 19, 1913 as the Christian implicitly recognized that their readers fact because an actual organiza- Evangel, featured interracial content. did not yet have “unity of the faith” — that Three articles were either by or about G. disagreement existed on some matters. In tional split did not occur, Assem- T. Haywood, the African-American pastor the meantime, they affi rmed blies of God members would do of the largest Pentecostal congregation that believers should aim for well to reexamine their own his- in Indianapolis. Founding publishers J. “unity of the Spirit.” tory to discover the true roots of Roswell and Alice Reynolds Flower, who The fi rst issue of the racial disunity. became leaders in the newly-formed Assemblies of God less than one year Christian Evangel and The Assemblies of God has a G. T. Haywood. mixed record on racial reconcilia- tion. It is heir to an interracial ideal that dates back to the Azusa Street revival. However, Assemblies of God members have been subject to the same cultural confusion and prejudices that have afflicted those in the society around them. For instance, there have been those in the Assemblies of God who the Assemblies of God. The student, in October 1994 when representatives held views that, today, would be deemed from Alabama, reported that in his of the Assemblies of God, the Church racist. W. F. Carothers, a Texas leader experience the Assemblies of God was of God in Christ, and other denomina- in Parham’s Apostolic Faith Move- “narrow and bigoted,” was completely tions gathered in Memphis for the final ment who later joined the Assemblies white, had a terrible record on civil meeting of the Pentecostal Fellowship of God, for example, argued that God rights, and had some members who of North America. used racial hatred to correct the “unnat- belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. At the previous year’s meeting, rep- ural, unheard of condition” of racial Robeck was stunned and responded resentatives of white denominations mixing.60 In 1915, the Weekly Evan- that things must be quite different in the apologized for the decades of prejudice gel published an article by Carothers South than in the West, where he was that kept white and black Pentecostal in which he defended segregation. At reared. His experience underscored not churches apart. The Pentecostal Fel- the same time, Carothers paradoxically only the regional differences that exist- lowship of North America, which from claimed that he and other Pentecos- ed in the Assemblies of God regarding its inception in 1948 had only white tals in the South “have not the slightest race, but also the late date during which member denominations, disbanded and prejudice or lack of divine love for the these attitudes were felt.63 a new racially inclusive organization, colored people.”61 The 1989 General Council adopted a Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of Later, the debate in the 1940s and resolution opposing “the sin of racism in North America, was formed. 1950s on the “Colored Question” — any form,” calling for repentance from The emotional 1994 meeting fea- whether to ordain African-Americans anyone who may have participated in rac- tured a series of scholarly papers — generated conflict. In 1955, the Gen- ism “through personal thought or action, addressing the history of racism in eral Presbytery records on the debate or through church and social structures” the Pentecostal movement and was were expunged.62 In some regions, the or through inaction, and resolving to followed by confessions of sin and an Assemblies of God gained a reputation work against racism and to seek recon- impromptu footwashing service. Don- for racial bigotry. ciliation.64 However, structures were not ald Evans, an Assemblies of God pas- Cecil Robeck, recalled that, upon implemented to carry out this resolu- tor from Tampa, Florida, washed the his arrival in 1970 as a student at Full- tion, so it had little real effect. feet of Bishop Ithiel Clemmons of the er Theological Seminary in Pasadena, A mile marker for racial reconcili- Church of God in Christ. This was fol- California, a fellow student labeled ation among Pentecostals — dubbed lowed by Bishop Charles Blake of the him a racist because he belonged to the “Memphis Miracle” — occurred Church of God in Christ approaching

58 AG HERITAGE 2008 General Superintendent Thomas Trask felt called to be a reconciler, a vocation best of the Azusa model from coast to and asking to wash his feet.65 inspired by the passage of the 1995 race coast. Temple predicted, “It’s just the Many leaders in the Assemblies of resolution, by Trask’s words that fol- beginning of something greater, for we God, on the heels of the Memphis Mir- lowed, and by the ministry of the late shall see God’s glory together.”71 acle, experienced a heightened sense Church of God in Christ Bishop Gil- The interracial vision noted by Azusa of urgency for racial reconciliation. bert E. Patterson.69 This vision is not Street participant Frank Bartleman — The 1995 General Council resolved simply an adaption to contemporary where “the ‘color line’ was washed to encourage the “inclusion of black multi-cultural values, it is an extension away in the blood” — was never fully brothers and sisters throughout every of the Great Commission and of the realized, whether at Azusa Street, in the aspect of the Assemblies of God.”66 church’s own heritage of ministering Assemblies of God, or in the Church of In response, Trask appointed a to those in its diverse community. God in Christ.72 Zollie Smith’s recent committee to study the possibility of First Christian Assembly in Cincin- election as the first African-American changing the General Presbytery and nati is not alone. The Assemblies of executive is evidence that the Assem- Executive Presbytery “so as to more God has made great strides toward the blies of God is making progress toward accurately reflect the composition in full inclusion of all races and ethnici- the fulfillment of this vision. According language and culture of our Fellow- ties in its ministries at all levels. Today, to Smith, interracial unity is a witness ship itself.” the Assemblies of God has twelve lan- of God’s redemption: In 1997, the General Council voted guage districts. In addition, eighteen to include representatives from the eth- ethnic fellowships, which were without The race issue has and continues to nic fellowships in the General Presby- representation just ten years ago, now be a long-standing barrier that Satan tery and to expand the Executive Pres- have one or more seats on the General — the real enemy of humankind bytery to include a representative from Presbytery. — has used to divide and distract the ethnic fellowships.67 Spencer Jones, Since membership follows lead- us. Recounting our history of racial African-American pastor of Southside ership, it is no accident that, in 2006, division challenges us to respond Tabernacle in Chicago, served as the 35% of US Assemblies of God adher- to the prayer of Jesus on behalf of first ethnic Executive Presbyter. Zol- ents were non-Anglo. Of the 2.8 million His church, that we would become lie Smith followed Jones and served US adherents, nearly one million were “ONE” so that the world would know until his 2007 election as director of ethnic minorities. In 2006, 500 Assem- that God sent Him to redeem it. We US Missions. blies of God congregations had no single must continue to expose Satan and his Today, the challenge for Pentecos- ethnic majority; they were multi-ethnic racist schemes that divide us and to tals is to carry out this mandate for expressions of heaven on earth.70 persuade our brothers to instead focus racial reconciliation. Real differences Scott Temple, National Director of on the blood of Jesus that unites us.73 in cultures and histories often make it Intercultural Ministries for US Mis- easiest for people to fellowship with sions, believes these changes were Will this interracial vision be ful- those who have similar backgrounds. God-ordained. Temple explained, filled by the next generation within One local church that is making “Clearly the Spirit has been speak- the Assemblies of God? Only history strides to minister to all of God’s chil- ing to our churches, and as the Spirit will tell. dren is historic First Christian Assem- convicts the scripture directs. It is not bly in Cincinnati, Ohio. The congre- political correctness but the ‘word of Darrin J. Rodgers, gation, which celebrated its centennial reconciliation’ that instructs our faith M.A., J.D., is director in 2006, has a bold vision: “to be a and inspires our practice.” of the Flower racially reconciled and generationally How should churches respond to Pentecostal Heritage rich, life-giving church, thriving in the complicity with racism in the past? Center and editor of heart of the city.” Its published histo- According to Temple, “It is the ‘min- Heritage magazine. He is author of ry traces its colorful heritage, from its istry of reconciliation’ that anoints us to Northern Harvest (a origins as an affiliate of Scottish-born come to terms with the past in the light history of Pentecostalism in North faith healer John Alexander Dowie, to of the present for the sake of the future. Dakota) and numerous articles in its ministry to European immigrants in Despite dark moments in the past, the books and journals. His research the 1920s and 1930s, to the many mis- present is bright and the future brighter.” interests include Pentecostal origins, ethnic aspects of Pentecostalism’s sionaries it has sent out, to its present He noted that Assemblies of God pas- development, and the intersection of 68 multi-ethnic make-up. tors, ministries, and US missionaries are Christianity and culture. He may be The church’s pastor, Chris Beard, proactively finding ways to replicate the contacted by email: [email protected]

2008 AG HERITAGE 59 Notes of Modern-Day Pentecost, ed. Vinson Synan NY: Cambria Press, 2007). 1 Smith served as president of the National (Plainfi eld, NJ: Logos International, 1980 10 Byron Klaus, ed., We’ve Come This Far: Black Fellowship of the Assemblies of God [reprint of How Pentecostal Came to Los Refl ections on the Pentecostal Tradition and (1998-2007). He also served the New Jersey Angeles, 1925]), 54. Racial Reconciliation (Springfi eld, MO: District Council as assistant superintendent 5 Alma White, Demons and Tongues Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, (1998-2005) and then as executive secretary (Bound Brook, NJ: The Pentecostal Union, 2007), back cover. (2005-2007). The 2003 General Council 1910), 77-78. 11 David Daniels, “The Color of Charismatic expanded the number of executives on the 6 “Hot Springs Assembly; God’s Glory Present,” Leadership,” in We’ve Come This Far, 86. Board of Administration to include the Word and Witness 10:4 (April 20, 1914): 1. One 12 Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., “The Leadership executive directors of US Missions and World participant at the Hot Springs meeting recalled Legacy of William J. Seymour,” in We’ve Missions in addition to General Superintendent, that Mason “brought a glorious message” and Come This Far, 51-55. Assistant General Superintendent, General that “there were a number of colored folks 13 Ibid., 62-65. Secretary, and General Treasurer. In 2007, present at this meeting.” Walter J. Higgins, 14 Manuel Gaxiola, La Serpiente y La Paloma: the name of this executive body was changed as told to Dalton E. Webber, Pioneering in Historia, Teología y Análisis de la Iglesia from Board of Administration to Executive Pentecost: My Experiences of 46 Years in the Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesús (1914- Leadership Team. Assemblies of God, Minutes Ministry (Bostonia, CA: s.n., 1958), 42. Church 1994) (1970, Mexico City, Mexico: Libros of the 2007 General Council, Resolution 2. of God in Christ historian Ithiel Clemmons PYROS, 2nd Edition Revised and Corrected, 2 John Bueno, who has served as the wrote, “[Mason] preached on Thursday night, 1994), 117; Daniel Ramirez, “Borderland executive director of World Missions illustrating the wonders of God by holding up Praxis: The Immigration Experience in since 1997, became the fi rst non-Anglo to an unusually shaped sweet potato. He sang his Latino Pentecostal Churches,” Journal of the serve as an executive. Bueno wrote: “I am spontaneous, improvisation of spiritual songs American Academy of Religion 67:3 (1999): Hispanic because my father [Theodore] that Daniel Payne in 1879 called ‘corn-fi eld 573-596; Gast n Espinosa, “‘The Holy Ghost was of Spanish origin. My father was a ditties.’ With him were the ‘Saints Industrial,’ is Here on Earth’: The Latino Contributions to full-blooded Spaniard, even though he was singers from Lexington, Mississippi. Mason the Azusa Street Revival,” Enrichment 11:2 born in Colorado. His parents both were bid the white leaders a warm farewell and (Spring 2006): 122. of Spanish descent and lived in Trinidad, gave them leave to void their Church of God in 15 Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., “What Was William which was an old Spanish enclave that Christ credentials in order to switch to those of J. Seymour’s Relationship to the Mexicans at for years did not intermarry with Anglos. their new denomination.” Ithiel C. Clemmons, Azusa Street?” forthcoming article. However, my father did, and so I am a Bishop C. H. Mason and the Roots of the 16 Lois E. Olena, “I’m Sorry, My Brother,” in hybrid. I am Hispanic in the sense that I am Church of God in Christ (Bakersfi eld, CA: We’ve Come This Far, 130-152. of Spanish origin and that my father was a Pneuma Life Publishing, 1996), 71. 17 Glenn Gohr, “For Such a Time as This: The full-blooded Spaniard. I am half Anglo in 7 Ellsworth S. Thomas, ministerial fi le, Story of Evangelist Bob Harrison,” Assemblies that he married an Anglo woman, and so FPHC. of God Heritage 24:3 (Fall 2004): 6. it has diluted a bit the Spanish blood. In 8 Gary B. McGee, “Pioneers of Pentecost: 18 Minutes of the General Presbytery, 1939, general terms, I would say that I am the Alice E. Luce and Henry C. Ball,” Assemblies 2. fi rst non-Anglo executive to serve the US of God Heritage 5:2 (Summer 1985): 12-14. 19 Olena, 130-132; Gohr, “For Such a Time as Assemblies of God. Another interesting 9 Other studies of the Assemblies of God This: The Story of Evangelist Bob Harrison,” note is that I am the fi rst executive in the and race include: Howard N. Kenyon, “An 6. history of the Assemblies of God whose Analysis of Ethical Issues in the History of 20 Olena, 142-147. last name ends in ‘o.’ This may not be the Assemblies of God,” Ph.D. Dissertation, 21 Kenyon, 88. signifi cant except that it includes a lot of Baylor University, 1988; Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., 22 Olena, 142-147. other Latin ethnicities that generally are not “The Past: Historical Roots of Racial Unity 23 Ibid., 147-148. considered in this grouping. I’m speaking and Division in American Pentecostalism,” 24 Ibid., 150-151. of Italians, Portuguese, Spanish, and others. paper delivered at the “Memphis Miracle,” 25 Joe Newman, Race and the Assemblies of Many of the Italian people in our nation October 17-19, 1994, Memphis, TN, published God Church: The Journey from Azusa Street have lauded the fact that at last there was in Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic to the “Miracle of Memphis” (Youngstown, someone in the executive offi ce whose last Research 14 (May 2005) ; NY: Cambria Press, 2007), 87. Newman’s name ended in ‘o.’” John Bueno, email to Howard N. Kenyon, “Black Ministers in the book is based on his 2005 dissertation at the Darrin Rodgers, 25 January 2008. Assemblies of God,” Assemblies of God University of Memphis. 3 Lovett cited James M. Jones, Prejudice Heritage 7:1 (Spring 1987): 10-13, 20; Wayne 26 Ibid. and Racism (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Warner, “A Call for Love, Tolerance, and 27 Erik J. Hjalmeby, “A Rhetorical History Publishing Co., 1972). Leonard Lovett, Cooperation,” Assemblies of God Heritage of Race Relations in the Early Pentecostal “The Present: The Problem of Racism in 14:3 (Fall 1994): 3-4, 31; Erik J. Hjalmeby, Movement, 1906-1916,” M.A. Thesis, Baylor the Contemporary Pentecostal Movement,” “A Rhetorical History of Race Relations in University, 2007, 123. Hjalmeby’s thesis may paper delivered at the “Memphis Miracle,” the Early Pentecostal Movement, 1906-1916,” be downloaded from the following website: October 17-19, 1994, Memphis, TN, published M.A. Thesis, Baylor University, 2007; Joe https://beardocs.baylor.edu in Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic Newman, Race and the Assemblies of God 28 Donald Weeks, “History of the Church of Research 14 (May 2005) . Church: The Journey from Azusa Street to God in Christ,” (Oakland, CA: unpublished 4 Frank Bartleman, Azusa Street: The Roots the “Miracle of Memphis” (Youngstown, paper, 1989), cited in Clemmons, 187.

60 AG HERITAGE 2008 29 Word and Witness 9:12 (Dec 20, 1913): 1. History of the Modern Pentecostal Movement Assemblies of God (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel 30 Hjalmeby, 122-142. (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel Publishing House, Publishing House, 2004), 110-111. 31 Newman, 8. 1961), 80; Mario G. Hoover, “Origin and 52 Word and Witness 9:12 (December 20, 32 Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Structural Development of the Assemblies 1913): 4. Movement in the United States (Grand Rapids, of God,” M.A. Thesis, Southwest Missouri 53 David Daniels, “Charles Harrison MI: Eerdmans, 1971), 150, 169; Anthea State University, Springfi eld, MO, 1968, 18; Mason: The Interracial Impulse of Early Butler, “Walls of Division: Racism’s Role in Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Pentecostalism,” in Portraits of a Generation: Pentecostal History,” paper presented to the Movement in the United States, 150-151; Edith Early Pentecostal Leaders (Fayetteville, AR: Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting at Blumhofer, The Assemblies of God: A Chapter University of Arkansas Press, 2002), 264. Wheaton College, November 10-12, 1994; and in the Story of American Pentecostalism [vol. 54 David Daniels, conversation with Darrin Robeck, “The Leadership Legacy of William 1] (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel Publishing House, Rodgers, 9 January 2008. J. Seymour,” 61; among others. 1989), 132. 55 Daniels, “Charles Harrison Mason,” 264- 33 Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early 44 The Pentecostal Historical Center 270. Pentecostals and American Culture (Hazelwood, MO), the archives of the United 56 Elton Weaver, email to Darrin Rodgers, 8 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Pentecostal Church, holds Goss’s diaries. The January 2008. 2001), 28. diaries consist of brief notations in a daily 57 Ibid. See also: Elton Hal Weaver, “‘Mark 34 Gary Don McElhany, “The South Afl ame: calendar detailing where Goss traveled and the Perfect Man’: The Rise of Bishop C. H. A History of the Assemblies of God in the signifi cant people with whom he met. The Mason and the Church of God in Christ,” Ph.D. Gulf Region, 1901-1940,” Ph.D. dissertation, FPHC holds photocopies and notes from dissertation, University of Memphis, 2007. Mississippi State University, 1996, 96. portions of those diaries. Robin Johnston of 58 For a perceptive study concerning the missed 35 Wacker, 227. the Pentecostal Historical Center reviewed the opportunities for racial reconciliation caused 36 Glenn Gohr, “The Assemblies of God: A diaries and did not fi nd any mention of Mason. by the organization of the Assemblies of God, Good Name,” Assemblies of God Heritage He noted that he visited several “colored” see: Danielle M. Poulson, “Split or No Split, 14:3 (Fall 1994): 11-14, 30. churches, but did not mention the names of Is that the Question?: An Investigation into 37 Ibid., 30. Ordination certifi cates under the the pastors. He also visited L. P. Adams, a the Relationship between the Church of God name Apostolic Faith Movement continued white Memphis pastor affi liated with Mason, in Christ and the Assemblies of God Prior to to be issued to members of this group as late on three occasions from 1910 to 1912. Goss’s 1914,” paper prepared for the Assemblies of as December 1910, and the earliest known diaries do not seem to corroborate Flower’s God Theological Seminary, 2007. certifi cates including the name Church of God account, which stated that Goss met with and 59 Clemmons, 70-71. in Christ date from March 25, 1911 (issued to was credentialed by Mason in late 1907. Goss’s 60 Apostolic Faith (Houston, TX) (March Frank and Agnes Crouch). group did not begin issuing credentials under 1906): 12. 38 Word and Witness 8:10 (Dec 20, 1912): 1. the name Church of God in Christ until late 61 W. F. Carothers, “Attitude of Pentecostal 39 McElhany, 115. While most historical 1910 or 1911. Whites to the Colored Brethren in the South,” accounts trace the origins of the whites’ use 45 Mack M. Pinson, to J. Roswell Flower, 10 Weekly Evangel 103 (August 14, 1915): 2. of the name Church of God in Christ to Goss’ January 1951. Pinson fi le, FPHC. 62 Olena, 133-134. One year later, General group, Cordas C. Burnett claimed that the 46 Klaude Kendrick wrote that “no association Superintendent Ralph Riggs wrote: “You Church of God in Christ designation was fi rst existed between the two bodies” other than will recall that this matter [segregation vs. taken by Rodgers’ group in 1911. He wrote Mason’s granting of permission to use the integration] was discussed at length at the that later there was a merger between Rodgers’ Church of God in Christ name. Kendrick, Oklahoma City meeting. At that time we organization and Goss’s group. Burnett’s 80. retreated entirely and expunged all of our sources are unknown. Cordas C. Burnett, 47 Glenn Gohr, “Short-term Bible Schools: actions from the minutes. We could not afford “Forty Years Ago,” Pentecostal Evangel 2081 D. C. O. Opperman and Early Ministerial to go on record as favoring integration, neither (March 28, 1954): 12-13; Cordas C. Burnett, Training,” Assemblies of God Heritage 10:4 did we want it to be known that we were in Early History of ... the Assemblies of God (Winter 1990-1991): 10. favor of segregation. That was an expedient (Springfi eld, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 48 Warner, “A Call for Love, Tolerance, and dodging of the issue. But the matter, however, 1959), 7. Cooperation,” 31. A thorough study of the will not be this easily downed. It is clamoring 40 Flower’s correspondence and notes are [white] Church of God in Christ remains to for solution. Even the churches are going to be on fi le at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage be done. challenged concerning their attitude.” Ralph Center. 49 Flower claimed Goss, Bell, and “a few other M. Riggs, to E. L. Newby, 12 September 1956, 41 J. Roswell Flower, “History of the ministers” were credentialed by Mason. See Blacks/Race Relations fi le, FPHC. Assemblies of God,” (duplicated paper Flower, “History of the Assemblies of God.” 63 Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., “The Past: Historical prepared for instructional purposes at Central However, Goss’s credentials on fi le at the FPHC Roots of Racial Unity and Division in Bible Institute, Springfi eld, MO, [1950], 17. are with the [white] Church of God in Christ American Pentecostalism,” Cyberjournal for 42 J. Roswell Flower, to Mack M. Pinson, 4 and do not include Mason’s signature. Pentecostal-Charismatic Research 14 (May January 1950. Pinson fi le, FPHC. 50 Wayne E. Warner, “Church of God in Christ 2005) 43 Carl Brumback, Suddenly from Heaven: A (white),” in New International Dictionary 64 Assemblies of God, Minutes of the 1989 History of the Assemblies of God (Springfi eld, of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements General Council, 117-118. MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1961), 154; (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 537. 65 Vinson Synan, “Memphis 1994: Miracle Klaude Kendrick, The Promise Fulfi lled: A 51 Gary B. McGee, People of the Spirit: The Continued on page 66

2008 AG HERITAGE 61 HEROES OF THE FAITH

despite the fact that Assemblies of God constituents at the time were predominantly “conscientious objec- tors” opposed to par- ticipation in the war. When he first heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he heard a divine voice say, “You will be in it.” So when he embarked for Europe with his unit on the Queen Elizabeth in February 1944, he left his wife and his five- month-old son, Ken- neth, responding to the call of country, but more so to the call of God. Stan Berg (center, with mustache and holding child) with other chaplains and Jewish children in Belgium, 1944. The children, who had been in hiding during the Nazi occupation, were enjoying I write this article their fi rst time in public. just days following the burial of my father, R. Stanley Berg R. Stanley Berg (July 8, 1916-October 27, Military Chaplain and Pastor of Glad Tidings 2007). In his youth, he Tabernacle, New York City sensed God’s call on his life and attended Central Bible Institute, graduat- By Robert Berg Hitler’s plans for world domination. ing in 1937. He pastored churches in Here he joyfully holds the fruit of their Virginia, North Carolina, and Mary- his was my father’s favorite labor: a young life rescued from the land, and married another CBI grad- picture from World War II. Not Nazi “final solution” of extermina- uate, Joybelle Sternall, in 1941. And Tbecause he is sporting the mus- tion of the Jews. Another of his favor- though he was buried with military tache that distinguished his time in the ite memories is the Chanukah service honors, and his gravestone will note European theater. But it portrays what in 1944 that he and others arranged for his reception of the bronze star for car- the war was about. Stan Berg’s unit had Jewish soldiers in a synagogue that the rying American and German wounded landed on Utah Beach in Normandy Germans had left intact to store engines from battle fire, his identity was not some weeks after D-Day in 1944, and for their fighter planes. ultimately the Army but the Church. had fought its way through northern Such moments were relatively rare. In 1948, after the death of Robert France. The picture shows him in the Being a chaplain in a combat setting in Brown, pastor of the influential Glad middle of a number of American army World War II meant dealing with death Tidings Tabernacle in New York City, chaplains at a gathering for displaced on a daily basis. He occasionally con- his wife and copastor, Marie Brown, Jewish children at Notre Dame church ducted mass burials and ran for cover asked my father — her nephew — to in Namur, Belgium. when services were interrupted by come north to assist her. Sensing God’s The child in his arms represent- shelling, but regularly counseled with direction once again, he brought his ed tangibly the reason why he and soldiers who feared that they would young family to the vastly different his American comrades were risking not see the next day. world of urban New York. Stan Berg their lives far from their own homes My dad was there because he felt devoted the next 45 years to that con- and families. They were there to defeat it was where God wanted him. This gregation, succeeded Marie Brown at

62 AG HERITAGE 2008 her death in 1971, and served as pastor meetings in her home, and news of until his retirement in 1992. Elder Lucy Smith God’s healing power was spread by He served until retirement as the of Chicago word of mouth. founding chairman and president of After meeting for several years Teen Challenge in New York, helping in her apartment, she established All David Wilkerson soon after he first By Glenn W. Gohr Nations Pentecostal Church in the came in 1958 to minister to youth 1930s, located at 518 E. Oakwood involved in gang violence. “Brother lder Lucy Smith pioneered an Boulevard. The church was built with Dave” is but one of many men and independent Pentecostal work in offerings from people who barely had women in the New York area over the EChicago which gained national enough to live on. It became a mis- course of four and half decades who recognition through her could testify to how Stanley Berg radio preaching, divine encouraged and helped them when healing services, and her they came to him with an idea about large-scale efforts to feed how to advance the kingdom of God. and clothe the needy in My dad also served the Assemblies of the Chicago area. God as presbyter of the New York City Born in Oglethorpe Section from its creation in 1959, and County, Georgia in 1870, as a general presbyter representing the Lucy Smith was reared in New York District. the Baptist faith. She mar- A few years ago, his nephew Jamie ried and moved to Athens, Bilton helped him to compile his mem- Georgia. Then in 1910, oirs. He chose the title, Called, Cho- her husband deserted her. sen, Faithful. These words will also She and her 11 children be engraved on his gravestone, since left Athens and moved to they best reflect his lifelong commit- Chicago, where she found ment to the Lord’s work. He spoke of work as a dressmaker to being on “the front lines” whether as support her large family. a chaplain in France or as a pastor in She soon became a Manhattan. And I think he finished his member of the historic Elder Lucy Smith “tour of duty” anticipating the words Olivet Baptist Church on from his Lord, “Well done, good and Chicago’s South side, and for a time sion church that earned a reputation faithful servant.” attended the less prestigious Ebene- for feeding and clothing the needy in zer Baptist Church. Neither church the Chicago area. brought her satisfaction, so she made Lucy is listed in Black Women and Robert Berg is the 1 youngest of the three her way to the Stone Church [Assem- Religion and was featured in the Janu- 2 children of Stanley blies of God], a predominantly white ary 1950 edition of Ebony magazine. and Joy Berg. He Pentecostal fellowship there. While Through the years, the church was has a Ph.D in Biblical attending this church, she received the well attended. By 1950, the church Studies and is baptism in the Holy Spirit in 1914. boasted 3,000 members. Elder Lucy presently the Director of LifeWorks: The She continued attending the Stone Smith gained national recognition as an Center for Leadership & Life Calling Church for two more years until she evangelist and faith healer, and for the at Evangel University and has taught received a calling to divine healing min- last 25 years of her life, she preached in Evangel’s Department of Theology istry. She reports that the Lord showed each Sunday over station WGES in Chi- since 1989. her a vision of a huge tent and a multi- cago, reaching an estimated 100,000 tude of people in need of healing. listeners with “The Glorious Church Those interested in obtaining In 1916, she launched a faith heal- of the Air” radio program. a copy of Called, Chosen, Faithful ing ministry in a room of her apart- Elder Smith preached a positive should contact Joy Berg at 1250 E. ment. She started her ministry by giv- message of faith and hope to counter Rockhill, Springfield, MO 65804. ing advice to friends and neighbors. the pain and suffering felt by many of $12.00 postpaid to US addresses. They soon began attending the prayer the parishioners. Worship was upbeat

2008 AG HERITAGE 63 HEROES OF THE FAITH and uplifting. The services were typi- Thomas Paino, Jr. accepted the pastorate of a small store- cally emotional, sparked by shouting, front church in East Chicago, Indiana rolling, and speaking in tongues. She Indianapolis Pastor at a salary of $20.00 a week. emphasized salvation and healing. By and Missions Leader For the next twelve years Tom and 1950, it was claimed that 200,000 had Lois ministered at churches in East Chi- been cured through her healing touch. By Troy D. Paino cago; St. James, Minnesota; Covington, Lucy’s daughter, Rev. Ardella Indiana; and Evansville, Indiana before Smith, succeeded her mother as pas- moving back to Indianapolis in 1956 to tor of the church in 1948, while Lucy homas Paino, Jr., was born July copastor the West Side Gospel Taber- became pastor emeritus. Lucy Smith 15, 1924 to Pentecostal parents nacle with his parents. By this time the passed away in her Chicago home on Twho traveled throughout the Painos had three children, Thomas III June 18, 1952, at the age of 82. Midwest preaching brush arbor meet- (1946), Susan (1948), and Tim (1952). According to an obituary in the ings. In 1933 they settled down to pas- Not long after arriving in Indianapolis, Tri-State Defender (Memphis, TN), tor the struggling Woodworth-Etter the couple had two more sons: Tracy 50,000 people came to pay tribute to Tabernacle (later (1960) and Troy Lucy Smith upon her passing.3 Anoth- renamed the West (1962). er report says about 100,000 people Side Gospel Tab- After inviting attended.4 Rev. Frederick Fisher of ernacle) in India- his brother-in-law Boston, delivered the napolis, Indiana. and sister, Harold eulogy, along with Rev. George Garner Paino, the third and Edwina Dun- of Los Angeles. She most certainly of nine children, can, to join them left an indelible mark on the Pente- felt called into the in Indianapolis, costal movement and on the world at ministry at the age Paino identified large, through her long service as an of six. Inheriting a growing need evangelist, faith healer, radio preacher, a stubborn deter- in the city to min- and pastor of All Nations Pentecostal mination from his ister to and care Church in Chicago. Italian immigrant for the elderly. father and a strong Lois and Thomas Paino, Jr. Paino envisioned Glenn W. Gohr is since of purpose building a conva- reference archivist from his diminutive and charismatic lescent center that would serve both the and copy editor mother, Paino never wavered from physical and spiritual needs of an aging for the Flower Pentecostal Heritage his vision of a life in service to the population. Toward this end, he found Center. Lord. Despite not feeling called to be donors willing to take leaps of faith to a missionary, as a young man Paino construct a 187-bed facility, Lakeview developed a heart for missions work. Manor, that opened in 1968. A year Unsure of how he would fulfill Jesus later the West Side Gospel Tabernacle Notes Christ’s “great commission,” Paino in (renamed Lakeview Temple) relocated 1941 went off to Central Bible Insti- to a new building constructed on land 1 Marilyn Richardson, Black Women and tute (CBI) in Springfield, Missouri with adjacent to the nursing home. Religion: A Bibliography (Boston: G. K. his older brother, Paul, to prepare for Through a series of miraculous gifts Hall & Co., 1980). the ministry. from near strangers, fortuitous busi- 2 “Faith Healer: Chicago’s Lucy Smith Barely seventeen when he left for ness alliances, and the financial acu- Claims to Have Cured 200,000 by Spiritual Springfield, Paino graduated from CBI men of its young administrator, Tom Healing,” Ebony (January 1950), 6. and married his sweetheart, Lois, in Tyson, Lakeview Manor by the mid- 3 “50,000 Pay Last Tribute to Elder Lucy 1944 before turning twenty. He made 1970s became one of the most suc- Smith in Chicago,” Tri-State Defender, 5 plans to move to Goose Creek, Texas to cessful nursing homes in the greater July 1952. serve as a youth pastor. However, just Indianapolis area. 4 Wallace D. Best, Passionately Human, days before his wedding, the congrega- Remaining true to his commit- No Less Divine: Religion and Culture in tion contacted him and informed him ment, Paino began to lead his church Black Chicago, 1915-1952 (Princeton, NJ: that the church could no longer afford in annual fundraising campaigns for Princeton University Press, 2005), 182. their services. The newlyweds instead missions. By the late-1980s the church

64 AG HERITAGE 2008 raised approximately $1 million annu- help of a very successful businessman, ing nationals to spread the gospel. ally for Assemblies of God missions. Roy Prock, Paino began networking to Since starting ActioNow, Paino has In addition, with the support of the gather names of individuals similarly helped raise over $12 million for Bible board of directors, he began directing committed to missions. schools, seminaries, medical facilities an increasing portion of Lakeview In 1995, however, his life took and churches in over twenty countries. Manor’s proceeds toward missions a sudden turn when his eldest son, If the money Paino raised for missions work. The journey began modestly in Tommy, was diagnosed with Amyo- as a pastor of Lakeview Christian Cen- the 1970s with Lakeview Temple (later trophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, com- ter is included, he has raised over $25 renamed Lakeview Christian Center) monly known as Lou Gehrig’s Dis- million to support the spread of the raising money to build a new church ease), a progressive neurodegenerative gospel around the world. in Nassau, Bahamas. disease that attacks brain cells and the At the age of 83, Thomas Paino, Jr. Before long, however, Paino moti- spinal cord. The very successful found- is still going strong, traveling around vated his congregation to follow ing pastor of Northview Christian Life the world, identifying projects, and rais- Christ’s command to “go ye unto all in Carmel, Indiana, Tommy ultimately ing money for missions. As an octo- the world and preach the Gospel to died from ALS on January 5, 1999. genarian, he remains single-minded in every creature.” From the mid-1970s Faced with the horrific debilitation purpose and boundless in energy. As until his retirement from fifty years of of his son, Paino devoted much of these he will tell anyone he meets, his call pastoring in 1994, Lakeview Christian years to the care of Tommy. However, demands nothing less. Center had grown to over 2,000 attend- even the pain of watching Tommy die ees and had committed roughly $14 never caused him to waver from his call. Troy D. Paino, the million to eighty different missions He continued to travel the world, listen son of Thomas Paino, projects around the world. to the needs of missionaries and nation- Jr., graduated from Never one to rest on his accom- als, and find new donors willing to sup- Evangel University plishments, Paino at age seventy port the cause. In fact, if anything, this (1985) and earned his J.D. from Indiana believed God had called him to devote experience caused a very driven man to University School of the remainder of his life to spread- work even harder toward the fulfillment Law — Indianapolis ing the good news of Jesus Christ to of the great commission. (1988). He worked as a trial lawyer the world. He formed Action 2000 By the turn of the century, Paino before returning to school to earn (renamed ActioNow in 1998), a non- committed all of his time and efforts his M.A. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) in American Studies from Michigan profit organization devoted to raising toward raising money for high-impact State University. Paino serves as private money for specific Assemblies tactical missions projects throughout dean of the College of Liberal Arts at of God missions projects. With the the world with an emphasis on train- Winona State University (Minnesota).

Glenda Morrow She has been and he also has taught in Assem- known to be a per- blies of God colleges. Central Bible College son devoted to high The seed of Glenda’s desire to Music Professor standards of detail teach college students was sown and excellence in in her childhood. Her family was teaching, and she very hospitable to CBC students. By Jane and Jim Harris has inspired many Her mother would prepare home- music pastors and cooked meals on Sundays and lenda Winkle-Morrow, associ- musicians who have invite students into their home ate professor of music at Cen- studied at CBC, to share food and fellowship with Gtral Bible College (CBC), was some of whom have Glenda Morrow their family. given the special honor of professor gone on to post- After beginning piano stud- emeritus this fall, having faithfully graduate work. Many Heritage readers ies at the age of 4, Glenda started as completed 43 years of teaching music will be familiar with one of her students, church pianist at age 7. She has been at this institution. She has taught lon- Mark Thallander. Thallander served as pianist, organist, and choir director in ger than any other teacher in the his- the organist at the Crystal Cathedral in local churches and has played piano tory of CBC. Garden Grove, California for 17 years, concerts in various states. In addition to

2008 AG HERITAGE 65 HEROES OF THE FAITH her piano performance abilities, Glenda growing into becoming the best trained throughout the world. In the history of writes and arranges music for children persons that they could be. our Fellowship, she is among the elite and piano and piano/organ duets. Prior One student shared these com- fraternity of Assemblies of God edu- to teaching at CBC she taught vocal ments: “I had Glenda for eight semes- cators who have taught more than 40 and instrumental music in Missouri ters of piano. This lady is a phenomenal years in one institution. In order to high- public schools. musician—the undervalued jewel of light the great contribution of this faith- Glenda received the Lynn Farrar the CBC music department. There’s ful servant to CBC, the keyboard lab in Memorial Award as outstanding senior no questioning her talent or her abil- the Zimmerman Building on campus is music major at Missouri State Univer- ity. If it’s printed, she can play it. If it’s going to be named in her honor. sity where she received her B.S. in edu- recorded, she can figure it out. If you cation. She also received a master’s are a music major and you don’t get to Jane Harris degree in music at Northwestern Uni- know her, you’re missing out.” is assistant professor versity. She holds the extremely high For many years Glenda was a mem- of music at qualification of being a National Certi- ber of the Hymn Society of the United CBC, and fied Teacher of Music with the Music States and Canada (an interdenomina- her husband Teachers National Association. tional organization of church musi- Jim Harris, Glenda has attended many semi- cians and theologians). She presented Ph.D., is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. nars, workshops, lectures, and meetings a showcase (along with Paul Cope, for- He works as a Christian counselor relating to piano pedagogy and music mer music professor and music depart- at Eaglecrest Counseling Center in education, and she has taken postgradu- ment chair at CBC) of the Gospel Pub- Springfield, Missouri. ate classes in Austria as well as many lishing House hymnal, Sing His Praise, in the US. Her desire was always to at the national Hymn Society Confer- Readers who know of other AG edu- keep up-to-date with the latest infor- ence in Washington, DC. cators who have served at one institu- mation in her field of teaching and to Glenda Morrow has been an exam- tion of higher education for at least 40 be a model of lifelong learning so that ple of Pentecostal scholarship across years are encouraged to contact the her students would have the privilege of denominations and in secular contexts Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

FPHC News (continued from page 49) promises to throw new light upon an Reconciliation (continued from page 61) era of Kuhlman’s life that heretofore Numerous individuals also donat- has been sparsely documented. and Mandate,” Reconciliation 1 (Summer ed historical materials, including home A numerically small but historical- 1998): 14-16, 18. 66 missionary Berneice (Mrs. Burl) Rog- ly significant denomination, the Inter- Assemblies of God, Minutes of the 1995 ers; Pentecostal Assemblies of New- national Pentecostal Church of Christ, General Council, 72-74. 67 foundland historian Burton Janes; deposited its archival collection at the Assemblies of God, Minutes of the 1997 General Council, 23-28. missionary and educator Barbara Cava- Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. Its 68 First Christian Assembly, Celebrating 100 ness; Bulgarian Pentecostal scholar minutes and publications, including The Years: 1906-2006 History and Rememberance Dony Donev; the family of mission- Bridegroom’s Messenger, are essential Book (Cincinnati, OH: First Christian ary Margaret Carlow; Mildred (Mrs. sources for understanding early Pente- Assembly, 2006). C. T.) Beem; and others. costalism. Important collections repre- 69 Chris Beard, email to Darrin Rodgers, 3 Frequent donor Patricia Pickard senting other Pentecostal denomina- January 2008. deposited, among other things, three tions — including Bund Freikirchlicher 70 Scott Temple, email to Darrin Rodgers, 11 unique and significant notebooks that Pfingstgemeinden (the organization in January 2008. Temple is National Director contain well over 1,000 carefully-re- Germany which works with the AG); of Intercultural Ministries for US Missions, corded pages of typescripts taken from Church of God (Cleveland, TN); Church General Council liaison to 18 ethnic/language shorthand notes during Kathryn Kuhl- of God in Christ; Church of God Jeru- fellowship groups, and was a coauthor of the man’s meetings in Pittsburgh (1949- salem Acres; Church of God Mountain 1995 race resolution. 1952), detailing Kuhlman’s unvarnished Assembly; Church of Our Lord Jesus 71 Ibid. thoughts on theology, social issues, poli- Christ of the Apostolic Faith; and the 72 Bartleman, 54. tics, ethics, and spirituality. This major Congregational Holiness Church — also 73 Zollie Smith, email to Darrin Rodgers, 2 find, unexamined by the scholarly world, were deposited in 2007. January 2008.

66 AG HERITAGE 2008 Resources Heritage in 6 Volumes (1981-2006) Heritage Volumes 1-6 6 Vol. Set (1981-2006) 750492 $160.00 Individual Volumes iFPHC.org Volume 6 (2004-2006) 750491 $ 35.00 HERITAGE MAGAZINE Volume 5 (2002-2003) 750478 $ 35.00 Volume 4 (1998-2001) 750444 $ 35.00 Volume 3 (1995-1997) 750156 $ 35.00 In Assemblies of God Volume 2 (1990-1994) 750427 $ 35.00 Volume 1 (1981-1989) 750426 $ 35.00 Volumes 5-6 (not pictured above) are Heritage you can read spiral bound. about the pioneers, Assemblies of God Heritage churches and innovative (1981-2006) CD-ROM This CD collection of Heritage allows users to ministries that helped perform full-text searches while retaining the form who we are today. original layout. This product requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Its colorful pages, which AGH (1981-2006) CD-ROM 750480 $ 20.00 capture the lively stories of our Pentecostal past, Heritage Annual Edition will inspire and evoke Order extra copies of the 2008 edition for family and memories. We have been friends. Features inspiring stories of Charles S. Price, Teen Challenge, Elvis, and others. On orders of fi ve publishing Heritage since or more, $5 each. 1981. It’s never too late Heritage Annual 2008 750280 $ 8.00 to catch up on the past!

Evangelist Charles S. Price 2008

• Teen Challenge • Congregational Music • Racial Reconciliation Volume 28 • Religious Life of Elvis • Women in Ministry Plus Other Features Back issues are available individually, in bound volumes, on CD-ROM, and HISTORY IN THE MAKING VIDEO by downloading them from the FPHC website. Here is just what you need to introduce the Assemblies of God to your Sunday School classes, youth groups, and others interested in learning more about our church. Not only does this video capture the exciting ways in which the Holy Spirit moved in our history, it also shows how God is moving in the church today and gives a glimpse of our bright hope for the future. History Video VHS 750195 $19.95 Visit our Heritage Help us Share the Story of the Assemblies of God by donating magazine website materials from your life and ministry www.iFPHC.org/Heritage The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center is actively seeking the following materials related to your ministry and the worldwide Use our search engine Pentecostal movement: › • Magazines • Sermons • Photographs to fi nd articles • Diaries • Interviews • Scrapbooks • Books • Audiovisual Resources • Memorabilia Download articles for free • Newsletters • Correspondence • College Yearbooks › • Tracts • Congregational Histories • Other Materials Order back issues Your contribution might be just what we need › to fi ll gaps in one of our many collections. › Order Heritage Products Toll Free: 877.840.5200 2008 AG HERITAGE 67 Pentecostal Evangel The Pentecostal Evangel has always played an important role in the Assemblies of God. Through its many articles it iFPHC.org offers teaching on doctrinal issues, inspiring testimonies, and aids in documenting church growth and missionary DIGITAL PRODUCTS efforts. Whatever the research topic, the Pentecostal Evangel is one of the best places to look for theological Save space on your issues and ministry trends in the Assemblies of God. PE (1913-1969) 1 DVD+R 750486 $ 99.95 bookshelf. Save time PE (1913-1949) 10 CD-ROMs 750418 $ 139.00 by doing text searches. General Council Minutes and Reports Save money by not having The General Council Minutes and Reports are a valuable to buy originals. FPHC’s resource for those interested in learning how the Assemblies of God handled debates on core doctrinal products are designed for issues, challenges in world missions, the establishment of national ministries, and scores of other ministry your convenience. As all and congregational concerns. All of this and more is of our digital products use documented in the minutes and reports from the General the widely-used fi le format Council. GCMR (1914-1999) CD-ROM 750439 $ 20.00 of Adobe Acrobat PDF, you can focus on learning Additional Publications on CD-ROM

history and not on a new Latter Rain Evangel (1908-1939) 2 CD-ROMs 750417 $ 30.00 program. Each of our Word and Witness (1912-1915) and products contains 1000s of The Pentecost (1908-1910) CD-ROM 750419 $ 15.00

pages of research material La Luz Apostólica (1965-1973) y on text-searchable CD- El Evangelio Pentecostal (1972-1992) CD-ROM 750446 $ 15.00

ROMs and DVD+Rs. Recommended Our most comprehensive AG collection with over 40,000 pages You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher to use FPHC digital products. AssembliesAss of God Publications: Pre-WWIIPre FPHC digital products MoveMov beyond the traditional starting places are Windows and Mac compatible. for rresearch. With this DVD+R you gain accessacce to over 40,000 pages of books, tratracts,c national and local periodicals, aandnd adult and youth Christian education materials.mat Featured core resources include ththee Pentecostal Evangel (1913-1939) and GeneralGen Council Minutes and Reports (1914- 1939),193 as well as The Apostolic Faith (Azusa SStreettre newspaper) and other periodicals thathatt predate the Assemblies of God. As a bonbonus this product includes 10 MP3 audio intinterviewse of those who were either active in mministry or eyewitnesses to major events aandnd personalities in the early years. If you DISCLAIMERDISCLAIMER aarere looking for a broad-based collection of FlowerFlower Pentecostal HeritaHeritagege CenterCenter digitaldigital products primary source materials for understanding are copies of materials held in its archiarchives. es The FPHC collection, as well as these products, may contain missing the formational years of the Assemblies of or damaged pages and poor quality typeface. Every God, look no further. reasonable attempt was made to complete these collections and to use the best available copies in the creation of these AGP1 (1906-1939) DVD+R 750487 $ 39.95 products.

www.ifphc.org/products 68 AG HERITAGE 2008 50,000+50 page collection of periodicals Recommended and books on one DVD+R Healing Evangelists This DVD contains the periodicals and books of fi ve well-known healing evangelists that made a signifi cant impact on the early Pentecostal movement. They include John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907), Aimee Semple McPherson (1890- 1944), Carrie Judd Montgomery (1858-1946), Charles S. Price (1887-1947), and Maria Woodworth- Etter (1844-1924). With a total count of over 50,000 pages, this DVD offers a wealth of resource material for those interested in healing ministries and the early Pentecostal movement. Healing (1881-1957) DVD+R 750488 $ 49.95

AlsoAl AAvailableil bl SSeparatelyt on CD-ROM Theology and Local Church Ministry Leaves of Healing HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS LH (1894-1906) 6 CD-ROMs 750441 $100.00 Golden Grain GG (1926-1957) 2 CD-ROMs 750436 $ 30.00 Triumphs of Faith TF (1881-1946) 2 CD-ROMs 750433 $ 30.00 Notice: These three periodicals are available for a much lower cost as part of the Healing Evangelists DVD featured above. Early Periodicals Confi dence Confi dence was an early British Pentecostal periodical edited by A. A. Boddy, an Anglican rector who was PARACLETE ADVANCE PULPIT baptized in the Spirit in 1907. Sermons and reports 123 given at the conferences and revivals held at Boddy's parish were recorded in the pages of . Confi dence Paraclete (1967-1995) is a journal concerning C (1908-1926) CD-ROM 750420 $ 20.00 the person and work of the Holy Spirit that was 1published by the Assemblies of God. Its pages Word and Work contain dialogue and discussion of some of the hottest Samuel G. Otis published Word and Work to promote theological issues of the times. Pentecostal meetings and churches in the New England area, including meetings with Maria Woodworth-Etter, CD-ROM 750435 $ 20.00 Aimee Semple McPherson, and Smith Wigglesworth. The issues are fi lled with sermons, articles, and news Advance magazine (1965-95) played an important items pertaining to the early Pentecostal movement. role in the ongoing education of church leaders. WW (1899-1940) CD-ROM 750434 $ 20.00 2 It featured articles on the work of the Holy Spirit, sermon ideas, and how-to articles related to local church ministry. Academic Resource 2 CD-ROMs 750465 $ 40.00 Society for Pentecostal Studies Papers Pulpit (1958-65), the predecessor of Advance, These papers were presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Pentecostal Studies from 1982- was the fi rst Assemblies of God periodical created 2004. They consist of cutting edge scholarship on 3 specifi cally to address practical theology and Pentecostalism in areas such as Biblical Studies, History, leadership issues faced by pastors. Missions & Intercultural Studies, Philosophy, Practical CD-ROM 750464 $ 15.00 Theology/Christian Formation, Religion & Culture, and Theology. Advance and Pulpit Set SPS (1982-2004) CD-ROM 750490 $ 99.95 3 CD-ROMs 750466 $ 45.00

Toll Free: 877.840.5200 2008 AG HERITAGE 69 Early Years The interviews in this collection focus on the early years of the Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal iFPHC.org movement. Various pastors, evangelists, and leaders ORAL HISTORY refl ect on memories of the Azusa Street revival, the founding convention of the Assemblies of God in 1914, and evangelizing in the early years of our history. Alice The Flower Pentecostal Reynolds Flower, Joseph Wannenmacher, C. M. Ward, and Ernest Williams are among the many personalities Heritage Center’s that can be found on this MP3-CD. oral history program EY MP3-CD 750430 $ 20.00 is designed to capture

the stories of the people whose lives Missionary Recollections were intertwined with This collection of missionary oral history interviews is a sample of 16 hours of interviews the Assemblies of drawn from the Flower Pentecostal Heritage God. The program Center’s rich collection. You can learn more about the background history and be able to was started over understand fi rsthand some of the hardships, dangers, joys and sorrows of several of our key 25 years ago, and missionaries on foreign fi elds from places like FPHC now has a Africa,A India, China and . collection of over 600 Missionary interviews on this MP3-CD: Hugh and Betty Baker, H. C. Ball, Ada Bolton interviews ranging Bard, Eva Bloom, Murray N. Brown, Sr., John H. Burgess, Alfred and Elizabeth Cawston, Charles from 30 minutes to 8 Greenaway, Melvin L. Hodges, J. Philip Hogan, Maynard L. Ketcham, Howard C. Osgood, Everett hours. Interviews are L. Phillips, Harriet Williams Schoonmaker, Anna available on cassette Stafsholt, Esther Harvey, Loren O. Triplett, Jr., Arthur Berg, Louise Jeter Walker, Anna Tomaseck, Valborg tape, RealAudio fi le, Frandsen, Adele Flower Dalton, Grace Walther and audio CD, videotape, Marjorie Brown. MR MP3-CD 750431 $ 20.00 or as part of an MP3-CD collection. Home Missions Here is a 28-hour oral history collection focusing on Visit our oral Assemblies of God home missions in interviews with 14 men and women whose ministry turf included prisons, history website the Kentucky Mountains, Alaska, Native American reservations, Teen Challenge centers, and other needy areas. You’ll hear the actual voices of Ann Ahlf, David www.iFPHC.org/oralhistory Hogan, Andrew Maracle, Paul Markstrom, Lula Morton, Frank Reynolds, Curtis Ringness, and seven others. Listen to free podcasts HM MP3-CD 750437 $ 20.00 › of interviews Local Church Ministry Use Archive Advanced Today it is impossible to sit down and chat with Bond › Bowman, James Hamill, Mary Ramsey Woodbury, and Search to fi nd interviews other early 20th century Pentecostal pastors. But it is possible to go with the interviewers and listen in on more Order individual than 10 hours of rare conversations with 12 leaders › — representing ministries from coast to coast and interviews border to border. You’ll hear for the fi rst time on MP3-CD how they were able to help build the Kingdom through Order interview their important roles within the Assemblies of God. LCM MP3-CD 750474 $ 20.00 › collections on MP3-CDs

www.ifphc.org/products 70 AG HERITAGE 2008 heard around the world questions of life, and on Revivaltime – the hear the Revivaltime iFPHC.org Assemblies of God choir performing your REVIVALTIME radio program. Through favorite songs. our Revivaltime Who can forget C. M. products, you can listen Ward, Dan Betzer, and to C. M. Ward’s warmth the Revivaltime choir? For and wit once again as forty years, their voices were he tackled the diffi cult

Revivaltime Favorites 21 songs selected from radio broadcasts and Revivaltime choir albums from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. RTF CD 750473 $ 14.95 C. M. Ward Songs on this CD: Blessed Assurance Let Us Praise the Arise, My Soul, Arise Written in Red Almighty I’ve Just Seen Jesus Symphony of Praise In the Name of the Lord Moving Up to Gloryland You are My Hiding Place Name Above All Names The Holy City Look for Me Around the In One Accord The Lord’s Prayer Throne Yes, He Did Yes, It is Mine My Life is in You, Lord Rise and Be Healed I Will Bless the Lord He Came to Me He is Jehovah

Clearance Sale — While Supplies Last

Revivaltime Classics Revivaltime Revivaltime Collection of 14 classic sermons Reenactment 2005 Reenactment 2003 by C. M. Ward with introductions Songs and a sermon from the Held in conjunction with the and interviews by Dan Betzer, 2005 Denver, Colorado General 2003 Washington, D.C. General his successor. Council. Council.

Revivaltime Classics Revivaltime Reenactment Revivaltime Reenactment 7 CD Set 750463 $59.95 CD 750484 $14.95 $6.95 Tape 750469 $9.95 $4.95 Revivaltime Classics Revivaltime Reenactment Revivaltime Reenactment 7 Tape Set 750455 $39.95 Tape 750485 $9.95 $4.95 DVD 750472 $24.95 $11.95 Revivaltime Reenactment Revivaltime Classics Revivaltime Reenactment VHS 750471 $19.95 $9.95 1 MP3-CD 750470 $29.95 DVD 750482 $24.95 $11.95 Revivaltime Reenactment VHS 750483 $19.95 $9.95

Toll Free: 877.840.5200 2008 AG HERITAGE 71 Make a Difference! Help the FPHC to share the story of the

o you ever wonder what the Assemblies of God will be like in years to come? You’re not alone. That is why the Flower Pentecostal DHeritage Center aims to preserve and promote the heritage and distinct testimony of the Assemblies of God. Do you remember C. M. Ward, Dan Betzer, ❷ Donating your used books and the Revivaltime choir? Was your life changed by a pastor, evangelist, missionary, church, or Direct your used books back into ministry by donat- ing them to the Assemblies of God Used Book Clear- Teen Challenge center? God uses people, places inghouse. and events to change the course of history — for The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center has always individuals and for entire nations. accepted donations of archival materials, including books, We in the Assemblies of God have a tremen- but sometimes people offer collections of books outside dous heritage! You and I know this, but many of the FPHC’s collecting interests. Now, in conjunction with the libraries of AGTS, Central Bible College, and people have not had the opportunity to learn from Evangel University, the FPHC is able to accept donations the wisdom of those who came before. of personal libraries for the benefit of AG ministries. The archives or library which directs a donation to the Clear- There are four ways that you can help us to inghouse shall have first choice of materials from that preserve and share our Pentecostal heritage with donation. Remaining books will be made available by the next generation: 4WRD Resource Distributors to missionaries, overseas Bible schools, individuals outside the US, and stateside Entrusting us with materials from non-profit organizations. ❶ your life and ministry While all materials are accepted, the following are of particular interest:

The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center is actively seeking 1) Anything related to the Assemblies of God or the the following materials related to your ministry and the world- broader Pentecostal and charismatic movements, wide Pentecostal movement: including books, tracts, pamphlets, magazines, unpublished manuscripts, audio recordings, video • Magazines • Sermons • Photographs recordings, correspondence, scrapbooks, local church • Diaries • Interviews • Scrapbooks histories, and artifacts. • Books • Audiovisual Resources • Memorabilia 2) Any books religious in nature (including theology, • Newsletters • Correspondence • College church history, missions, biographies, commentar- ies, etc.). • Tracts • Congregational Histories Yearbooks 3) Any academic books (in general, books with numer- ous footnotes or endnotes, or those published by Your contribution might be just what we need to fill gaps university presses). in one of our many collections.

72 AG HERITAGE 2008 Contributing to the FPHC ❹ endowment Assemblies of God You may wish to consider making a financial contribution to the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center endowment to help ensure the long-term future of this ministry of remembrance. You can give needed support for the Flower Pentecostal Heri- tage Center by making a gift of cash or property or simply by including the following words in your will:

I give, devise, and bequeath to the Assemblies of God Foun- dation, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802 (insert amount being given here) to be used to support the ministry of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Bequests are free of estate tax, and can substantially reduce the amount of your assets claimed by the govern- ment. A bequest can be a specific dollar amount, a specific Supporting the Wayne Warner piece of property, a percentage of an estate, or all or part of Research Fellowship the residue of an estate. You can also name the Flower Pen- ❸ tecostal Heritage Center as a contingency beneficiary in the event someone named in your will is no longer living. Wayne Warner, former director of the Flower Pentecos- It is recommended that an attorney help in drafting or tal Heritage Center (1980-2005), is a familiar name across amending a will. Please contact the Assemblies of God Foun- the Assemblies of God. Under his leadership, the Center dation (www.agfoundation.com) for additional information became a leading Christian archives and developed one by phone at (800) 253-5544. of the largest and most accessible collections of Pentecos- tal historical materials in the world. He was the founding editor of Assemblies of God Heritage and has authored or compiled eleven books and countless articles. Please contact me if you would like to dis- In October 2006, the leadership of the Assemblies cuss how you can help us to preserve and share of God established the Wayne Warner Research Fellow- our Pentecostal heritage with future generations. ship, an endowed program designed to encourage faculty, Thank you for your dedication to God and to the independent researchers, and students to use and publish Assemblies of God! from the Center’s rich holdings. The program will award research and travel grants to a limited number of research- ers each year whose research concerning Assemblies of God history is likely to be published and to benefit our Fellowship. Darrin J. Rodgers, M.A., J.D. Have you been encouraged by Wayne’s email: [email protected] writings or friendship? Do you appreciate our Assemblies of God heritage? By making a financial contribution to the Warner Fellow- Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center ship, you will honor Wayne’s significant con- 1445 N. Boonville Ave. tribution to the preservation and understand- Springfield, MO 65802 USA ing of Assemblies of God history, and you will encourage scholarship in the field of Pentecostal history. phone: (417) 862-2781 • (877) 840-5200 (toll free) web: www.iFPHC.org

2008 AG HERITAGE 73 1445 N. Boonville Avenue Springfi eld, Missouri 65802-1894

Above: Advertisement for a Price campaign in Seattle, Washington, 1926.

Left: A sample cover of Charles Price’s Golden Grain magazine.

Charles S. Price campaign at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, held September- October 1932.

iFPHC.org