Fall - Dixon Pentecostal Research Center

A PUBLICATION
OF THE
HAL BERNARD
DIXON JR.PENTECOSTAL RESEARCH CENTER
‘ith evuy person, group or
orgmization comes a history No one just shows up
on the scene widlout a story to tell.
People’s historieslxovicle the lbunclation lor their presentancla contexl tbr
their fuIxre.
The rninistly of Mount Pam
Church of God in Atlanta, Georgia, is
no clifferenr. Mount Paran’s ministry,
ourreach and vision dir1 not begin on
Mount Pnran Road. Dating back to
1917, this current glohnl outreach is
the result of people who have wanted
to experience and express the fullness
of God in puriry and power.
Such a desire was the very hearlbeat of the Pentecostal m~vcn~c~~~
thar began around the turn ol the
twenrieth century. People were
searching for a purity of rcligion that
was free from creeds and cocks,
which they believed brought
segregation ancl disunity. They
also longed for a clemonscralion of the Holy Spirit’s power
as recorded in Acts. .This longing was the catalyst for two
of the most significant
streams of Penrecosralism: die
Azusa Street
revival of 1906
which Mount Paran is planted 1~~1
flowcrl into Arlonta.
The srconcl stream rushed in with a
Church of God cvangdist by the name
ul’ M.S. Imms. Lemons, a tcachct
born T~nwssec, was the clvcrsccr of
Georgia when he began n revival in
Atlnnln in July of 19 17. During rhis
time hc ldrided
Molr., who with
Micldlchr~~oks had lxcn conducting
Pcntccostal services in the Glenn Street
Mission.
On August 12, 191.7, the converts
ol‘ Lemons tentrevival and the mmlxx or Molt’s iiiissinn came togcthcr to
lorm Ihc hst Clmd~ of God in
AllNItil,
GC!Ol@il.
L~lllOllS
reporixcl tile
cstalhlmcnt ol‘the new cl-m~l~in the
Chu r-cl1
zrns
of AtlNlta
to do so. His
god fricncl, T. ,J. Micldlclxx~olis, also rcccivccl the Holy
Spirit Ixpism, nncl around
I.914 they began holding regulx church scrviccs in :I rcnterl
(!I’ God
Evllrl‘iyl:
WC hkavc;I lurgc church in
AtlmUa now, WC united the two
missions.. , They have rhcil
niectings at the corner d Whilchall ancl Trinity Streets. WC
apl~ointctl two clcacons, a clerk
and a treasurer, The work was
left in the hnnds of rhe blessccl
Holy G1.11x1
and l~rorllcr I-loh
and Midcllclxd~s, who have
lxxx faithlid lnborcrs and have
beengreatlyusedd God
in giving out His Word, the rcsulr of
which is a.goodly number of
lively, happy souls.’
Lemons and Holr had brought
together the two major streams of
Penlecostdism; they symbolized the
type of pastor-leader that would serve
this Atlanta congregation throughout
its history.
HISTORY AND HERITAGE 0 Page 2
Marks of Pentecost
One of the marks of Pentecostalism
has been the miracles, signs and wonders that characterize the movement as
Jesus Christ said in Mark 16 17,18.
Pentecostals have taken these words as
truth and have always believed in the
miracle-working power of God. The
fulfillment of Joel continues today in
the Pentecostal tradition.
God5 delivering hand wasevident
in the early life of the Mount Paran
church. Charles Holt experienced
tremendous miracles in the lives of his
family. His wife, Dora, was healed of
asthma duling one worship service,
HoIt’s daughter, Ruth, wrote to the
Evangel sharing her testimony of healing; she was twelve years old at the
Chnrles Halt in his tailor. shop in Atlanta
time.
God’s delivering hand was also clisI want to praise God for His
wonderful healing power. He has
played in the life of MS. Lemons.
healed me of double pneumonia.
While Lemons was preaching the tent
All of us take the Lord for our
revival, a woman attended the meethealer. Your little sister in Christ,
ings although her husband disapRuth Halt’
proved. She would come home from
Grace, another daughter of Charles
the meetings and suffer because of his
Holt, had a highly publicized healing.
ill temper. One night he told her that if
At the age of fourteen months she was
she ever went back to the revival, he
diagnosed with double curvature of
would kill her and the minister.
the spine. Holt prayed daily for Grace
The woman stayed away one
to be healed. One clay 1-101~
placed his
evening, but returned the following
daughter on his knee and passed his
night. Her husband recruited two of his
hand over her spine. The McChm!
li-iends, and when the service was over,
Newqqer Syndicate reported the story: they followecl Lemons with the intent
It was like passing the hand over
of carrying out the murderous threat,
a row of marbles. He saysthat he
Lemons was staying in a tailor shop
prayed the prayer of his faith and
at the time, most likely the shop of
begged that God woulcl give him
Charles Holt. He did not see the three
a sign. Suddenly he felt a vibramen following him with railroad ties in
tion in his fingers, which comtheir hands, but it did not matter; they
municated itself like electricity to
did not attack him. Lemons went into
his entire body, and he felt the
the shop, said his evening prayers and
crooked part of his baby’s spine
went to bed. He never knew anything
give way under his touch. Laughwas afoot.
ing and clying at the same time
The next night when Lemons gave
he called his wife in joyful
the altar call, someone began screamtones! “Dora, our baby is going to
ing outside the tent. Le’mons looked up
get well!” From that day on her
and saw the woman’s husband running
improvement was rapid. People
into the tent where he fell at the altar,
came from far and near to see the
gave his life to the Lord and was slain
in
the Spirit.
result of this wonderful healing.”
Once the service ended, Lemons
and Holt began talking to the man. He
told them about his plan to kill Lemons
and his inability to cany it out. Accorcling to Judy Cripps, granddaughter of
Lemons, the man explained this way:
As I and my two friends were
coming after you, there were two
men in very bright shining
clothes walking on either side of
you. As we started toward you,
they looked at us and we fell
down. So we came here tonight
to wait again for you, but then
I heard you preach ancl I knew
I had to give my life to the Lord.”
Neither sickness nor persecution
was going to stop Gocl or His people.
There was work to be clone; God was
confirming His kingdom purpose for
this small band of believers.
Another confirming sign of God’s
presence has been the revelation of His
divine will through the gifts of the
Spirit. The following message was
given during the Mount Paran years,
when in 1972, the pastor, Dr. Paul L.
Walker, was invited to visit servicemen’s centers and bases in Vietnam.
On Sunday morning prior to his
departure, the elclers were called forward to anoint him and send him off
with prayer, A message in tongues
came forth to the church, and the associate pastor, Dr. M.G. McLuhan, gave
the interpretation from which the following is excerpted:
Behold.. .saith the Spirit. Lift up
thine eyes and look unto the harvest field. For behold I extend
thy outreach around the world.. .
to those who have never heard,
and I send my messenger as your
-See MOUNT PARAN, puge 5
....Q..............
........I..............,...,.................................
Mark L. WaZheu,M.A.,
is the senior Pustor of
Mount Paran North
Church 01God in Marietta, Georgia,
HISTORY AND HERITAGE * Pqge 3
he strength or the Church of
Gocl lies unmisLal~nl~ly in the
millistry
meeting the Church of God was
prcscnwl; scven~y-live unikcl
with them, my wife aii~l I among
he n~udxc In December of the
same year I rcccivccl Llic Iq~tism
with the I-101.~Ghost. I at once lost
all interest in my l~usincss. My
wife 1x1~1
attcnclccl a meeting at
Alion, Tcnn., with Brothct
Lemons alltl 0LhelS in Chillj$,
anti
Lhr
lrccivucl
her call Lo go in the
work. I also reccivecl the call after
rccciving the Holy Glivst. We sold
all our possessions and were
liccnscd to preach. ’
ol 11x local cllLudl
from which lcuclcrs have come 1.0
expand the ministry ancl growth of the
movemenl. One such couple was SJ.
and Annie Heath, charter members of
rhe Mount Paran Church of Gocl..’
Natives of Georgia, Snmucl Jnckson
Heath (1.867-I.931.) and Annie Julia
Baldwin (18751933) first met in
1894. The two were married the following year and lxgan their lift
together as devout Methodists. Shortly
nkr the turn CA-the cent.uly, Jack was
l~omotcd to a prominent position in
the telegraph business l3Lil WJS lilrcetl
to end his service clue lo ill health.
They then moved to Atlanta where
Jack found work as a contractor, ancl
there the Heaths built a home with
moclern conveniences. They felt as il‘
they hacl “rcachccl the height of [their/
aspirations. I’.’ Then in I.917 the Mcnths
experienced a raclicnl change in their
spiritual life, gave up all their malerial
possessions in obcclicnce to the Holy
Spirit’s call, ant1 clevorecl their livos to
the ministry, as Reverend Heath relaks
in his autobiography:
In 19 17 a Holiness lent was
placed at the rear of our home in
Atlanta ancl services concluctecl by
MS. Lemons, a Church of Gocl
~x~~c~~L we ~tt~~d~~l the first
service, ancl for five weeks we sdclam missecl a sewice. July 26~11,
during this meeting, my wife
received the baptism with the
Holy Ghost. At the close of this
Bishop S.J. I-Ica~h rcccivccl his I‘irst
crcclentials in the Church 01’Goal as an
evangelist on January 1‘I , ‘I9 1H, rind
Mrs. &mic Heath receivccl ministerial
license on Scptcml~cr 1.8, 19 19. This
17usl,ancl-nncl-wife team hcgan llicil
first cvnngelistic trip on July I, 1.91.8,
and ccmluctcrl services in Soud~ Georgin.
Tlirc~uj$i
their clrorLs lbc Church
of Gocl was cstalnlisliecl in Offerman,
Georgia, following a clifficull stmg&--their workers clescnccl them,
shots were lid into Lhc meeting place,
and their lives wcrc threatened at gunpoint. Yet bccausc ol their smcll‘aslness, a strong church was organizecl in
Offerman that later served as a camp
meeting site for the Church ,of Gocl in
South Georgia.,’ One of those canvertccl to Pentecostalism during this time
was Earl I? Paulk, Sr., who later
became assistant general overseer of
the Church of God.
Brother Heath was known as a man
of deep thought: and as an effective
conimunica~or ol’ end-rime lxol~l~q
Gcncrd Overseer S.W Lalimer noted
that Brother I-lcath was a “polished
Christian gentleman” and “one of the
read men in 11x COW&
. .well
versa1 in Scripture [who] always stoocl
bcsl
l’or the doctrine of the Church of God
~~ucoml~risi~i~l~“~l Brother Heath’s
intcgrily earnccl him respect in the
rlciiomination ancl enabled him lo
serve the Church d God in various
gcncral chu~h positions while still
serving as evangelisl, ancl l~~s1or,~
When Brorhcr Heath was appointccl OVE~SCCI’
of Mississippi in 1929, hc
movccl to the village of ML~~~~INOW~I.
Morgantown had been the birthplace
of the Church nTGod in South Mississippi in 19l.5. There hc served as pastor d the two local congregations,
Morgantown ancl Mount Sinai. 1-k was
malting plans to retire in Morgantown
following Lhc 1931 General Assembly
when he passed away on Fcbruaty 2,
1.931.,after a brief illness. Reverend E.J.
Boehmer cond~~tecl the funeral with
burial in the Morgantown Cemetery?
IUowing Brother Heath’s tleath,
SisterHeath served.as pastor of both
Morgantown ancl Mount Sinai cl~~nd~es
,unLil another pastor could be secrureclat
the General Asscml$ Thereafter, Sister
He& continued Lo resicle in Morgan...,,.,.,,.........,...,,..,..,,,,..,,...,.,..,..
. ...*.,,..1....1,..,1..........
HISTORY AND HERITAGE *
Page 4
town while traveling throughout the
country as an evangelist and camp
meeting speaker. With no children of
her own, she was often accompanied
by young Mava Morgan, who later
became a noted evangelist and pastor
hersell as well as the wife of Reverend
Joseph L. McCoy”
Although Brother and Sister Heath
were known for their uncompromising
support of the Church of God, they
also displayed respect for other Christian groups, which inclucled taking
part in the social activities of the cornmunities where they lived and promoting education, especially among youth.
This attitude enabled them to establish
fellowship with the Reverend R.R.
Walker, a Baptist minister and high
school principal living in Morgantown.
The Heaths invited him to fill the pulpit at the Morgantown church and
were instrumental in leading him and
his wife, Leedie, into the Church of
God, greatly enriching the Church of
God as Reverend Walker is believed to
have been its first minister with a fouryenr college degree [A.B.] . After uniting
with the denomination, R.R. Walker
was appointed principal of the high
school at Bible Training School.‘”
Sister Annie Heath, who pioneered
the first statewide youth ministry in
Mississippi for the Young People’s
Endeavor, was also an anointed
pianist. She was often called upon ta
play for camp meetings, conventions
and the General Assemblies. Sister
Heath co-wrote at least three songs
with Reverend MS. Lemons that were
published in Church of God songbooks. Their most noted song, “Heaven’s Bells Are Ringing,” was written
shortly after the organization of the
Church of God in Atlanta and published in the first Church of God
songhook, TeEanWitlzJoyy.ll Sister
Heath also spoke frequently at the
General Assembly where she exhorted
the delegates to support Christian
training and the orphanage.12
Annie Heath was scheduled to teach
piano at Bible Training School beginning in October 1933.” However, just
before leaving Morgantown to accept
her position in Cleveland, Tennessee,
Sister Heath traveled to Montgomery,
Alabama, to conduct a camp meeting.
During this meeting she passed away
on September 15, 1933, and thus, was
never able to invest her musical rninistly in the lives of the young men and
women at B.T.S.“’
The story of Jack and Annie Heath
reveals the importance of local church
ministry. From the thriving Mount
Paran Church of God in Atlanta to the
150~member congregation in rural
Morgantown, Mississippi, the Pentecostal message has been promoted
through the invaluable minisny of people such as the Heaths. Today there is a
continuing need for members of the
local congregation to arise as witnesses
in building the kingdom of God and
the Church of God. Undoubtedly, the
prayer of many believers would agree
with that of Reverend EE Fritz when
HISTORY AND HERITAGE* Pczge5
Almzo Gann replaced ‘HoIt as the
pastor in 1.920. A year later the church
l~urchasecl properly on Sixth Street,
and built a while frame building that
included two S~mclay s&w1 rooms.
The church moved in 1921. and
becmc the Sixth Street Church of
God. Pastor Gann conducted a revival
in June of 1925 in which over one
hundrecl were saved and filled with the
Holy Spirit. Six pasl3rs served the congregation during its nineteen years at
Sixth Street (1921-1940).
Then in 1940 under the direction
of Pastor I-I.L. Whittington, the churcll
built a new building on Hcnzl~hill
Avenue and became the I-lcmphill
Awnuc Church of God. The I-Icml~l~ill
Awiue ministry spanned tweii tyseven years, which incluclcd four cliffcrcnt pastors.
Dr. Paul I-. V/dicer lxcamc
I-Icmpliilk paskv in lc)60. Wilh the
move to Mounr Paran Road in 1.907,
the II~C WAS officially ~11mg~~l t0
he penned of the Heaths, “May the
good Lord give us many more like mldiers of the cr~ss.“‘~
NOTES
7 Brother Heath servccl on the Council ol
Seventy(1921.-27), as SuprcmcJusticc on
the Court 01Judges (1927-28), on the
Council ol’ Twclvc, Exccutivc Comn~ii.tcc
and ExecutiveCouncil (I927-Zc)), mtl as
overseer ol’Alal-~ama(I 927-28) and Nississippi (1.929-1931.).
I1 E.J. Bochmcr, ‘Another Mighty Soldier 01
God Has Passed On to Nis Great Reward,”
Chllrrh of GodEvun,q!l,Pcbrllary 14, 1931, 1.
q Mary GenevaMolgnn, interview by author,
March 25, I997, Morgantown, Mississippi,
Louis F. Morgm Collection.
I” R.R Walker, Mv ?.~slil,lol?v’(Clc\rclancl,
Tcnn.: Church or God PublishQ House,
lc)42), 5, I.1-14; Durm M. Palmcrtrcc,
“Forn1er
GCllmll
Secrc~~ly-?‘l‘casulcr
Ml~Llllt
klKUI
cbLUd1
01 &Cl.
oVU
th?
ycurs elcvcn lx~sL”rshave served the
local church--lium the first rented
lkilitics to Mount Paran and its
claugh tcr cl~~ml~, Mount Parnn North.
;111d
Spouse Cclcbrate Golden Anniversary,”
Church (!fGod Evcq$, August 8, 1%6, 4;
and Chlllrh $G~K~Bilk TnlinillgSrhoc~l,
1933-34CutLLlq~,
8.
Pastoral Tapestry
During the first three years of its
existence, under rhe pastoral lendcrship of Charles I-Iolt, the Church of
God congregation inovecl to three dirI3 Church 0fGod BibleT’rztininSS&KI~, 193%
ferenl
rental faciliries to l~ai~lle the
1933 Cutal”g, 4, 6,14.
growth.
Pasror Molt cliccl in 1.920 of a
I” S.W. Latimer, “Death Notices,” Church of
ruptured.
appendix, but not before
God Eva,@, December 16, 1933, 13.
” P..F Fritz 1“Introduction,” in Heath, Lije c~tzd starting a fkcl to build the first chul-cl1
Writings, 4.
building.
HISTORY AND HERITAGE 0 Page 6
Looking back over the history of
the church, Martha I-Iolt Godwin,
daughter of Charles Iloll, described
the different pastors and their ministries as a tapestry. She reflected that
they all made a contribution to the
successof the ministry “YOLI can see
the hand of Gocl at work in all of
them.‘lh
Ruth Blackwell, longtime member
of Mount Paran, echoed the same sentiments. She stated that some pastors
excelled in teaching the Bible, others
in running church programs, others in
promoting music, and still others in
appealing to young people. The bottom line to her, however, was that
“God’s hand was in all of it.“7
That is the key: God’s hand in all
of it.
NOTES
’ “Faith Heals Twisted Back of Little Girl,”
McClure Nebvspq7erSyndicute,July 10,
1919, Bl.
* Judy Cripps, interview with Mark Walker,
November l&1997; transcript, archives
files, Mount Paran Church of God.
’ Dr. Paul L. Walker, “Where Is the World
and Who Arc the Missionaries!” Sunclay
I
morning sermon, Mo~mt Paran Church of
God, November 1.2, 1972, Mount Paran
Tape Library, Atlanta, Gn.
” Martha Holt Godwin, interview with Sue
Duvall, March 8, 1984; cassette, Ruth Holt
Collections, Ruth Holt Library, Mount
Paran Church of God.
’ Godwin interview.
CHURCH OF GOD
:
i
i
I
......d...,...........
*................+.
Name
i
Address
1 City
I
State
Zip
’ M.S. Lemons, “Reports,”Church alCud
Evnngel, September 1, 1917,4.
* Ruth Holt, “At.lanta, Ga.,” Evangel, March
20, 1920,2.
;
1
MAIL TO: Hal Bernard Dixon Jr. Pentecostal Research Center,
FA98
260 1 lth Street, NE, Cleveland, Tennessee, 37311.
1-1-1111-11-11111-1---------
;
!
A
he expansion of Christianity, as
it is recounted in the New Tcstament and church history, wns
achieved by whnl has been cdlcrl lhc:
mother-church or seed-churd~ pr0Ceclure, a principle from LllC ll3tLlK
Of all
growth. It is a law of nalulc that cnch
generation dispenses sccclsby which
its own life is assured. The early
Church of God followccl that principle
instinctively-and
still follows it today
Ckut of one church other churches
were born, until there was a ramily of
congregations, each strong and productive in reaching lhe world with the
message of Christ.
The purpose was not to b~~ilcl a
great organization, but to reach others
with the good news of Christ and the
Holy Spirit. The motivation was as
pure as the cause was holy. The principle required a great degree Or
sclllessness ancl sharing, qualities hat direct,ccl everything the church did. It meant
giving up members 0rits own rddin
order to give lice to others.
In the 1930s I was witness to, and
part of, that principle in. action. In fkt
it was my introduction to the Church
of God-and the Pcntecosral mcssagc
itself. It began in the early 19OOs,
before I was born, when early ministers of the Ch~irch orGod
in Tennessee
established a congregation in Atlanta,
Georgia. That congregation proved to
be a model of the biblical principle of
growth. First, it had to attain its own
maturity, with sufficient strength to
reproduce itself. From its base 011
Sixth Street in the northwestern section of Atlanta, it began to conduct
worship services in other parts of the
city. Just as the first tree sprouts begin
from the seeds that drop near its base
and then spread outward into a copse,
or even a forest, the Atlanta church
began I.0 replicate its4l in missions
and Sunclny schools in lcrtilc sections
of tlic city Thure were sufficient worlccrs and lay ministers in the congrejilllion rOr
SLICK0utreitd~.
In Ic)31, one’ such minister, GorCl011 II. Wdson, lX$iUl il revival mccling in the community of Rivcrsirlc, on
the outskirts ofAtlanta. Ik ml his
wil’e, Lub Calrlwell Watson, ercctcd a
gospel tent on the main strcci ol’ the
rural villngc, tight milts hy strccku
from At l:uita’s rlowntc1wn. Al, that time
the coIllInLmity---linc)wn as a “rough
scckn” oTAtlanta, and with no
cl~urrl~c~-~;~s ccrtninly in IIUXI
d the
gcq~cl ol’ Christ. When the Watsniis
hcgan their meetings, they WCI’Csubjeclccl to much opposition and ricliculc
from citizens and cl~urchcs in ncighboring villnjics. People in ho vicinity
wcrc‘ warned by their ]~astors not to go
11car the ICllL.
The p”‘“cllill~
was
clcnouncctl as heretical, and canards
were circulated about tliosc conducting scrviccs. As often 1za171~21is
in such
cases, that c~pposition scrvctl mainly to
publicize the cvnngclistic cnclcavor.
I, at age scvcnken, w;is one of
those who wciit to the tent meeting
out Or
curiosity arousccl by the opposition. What 1 discovered was totally clilrivet liomwtlntI was told-~ saw
sincerity and compassion in Luiscl fislz
persons who really cared lb people. I
was impressed by the ministry 0rthe
Walsons, the music of their son,
Edwin, and his wife, Dorcas I-Ii&s
Watson. My conversion to Christ did
not occur at the meeting, but the process was begun there,
(I was alone on a streetcar on May
I., 1939, when I gave my heart to the
Lord. Riversicle was my home church,
and I would become the first full-time
minister to go out from it.)
The vigor and fertility of the mother church were rellcctcd in its Riverside cs~u~cacli. I;iky or more ministers
cnmc from that congrqation and have
been usecl Or
God in rr&y parts d the
world. Among them wcrc E.l-I. Miles,
Doyle King, Keith Ivestcr, Johnny
Owens (an cffectivf missions promoter
who was responsible for about a bundrcd missions outposts), Jim 0.
McClain (executive missions director),
I3.J.Moffctt (I-lomc for Children clirectar), Ollic I-Ian% (missionary to I-Ioncluras), Harold and Lucille Turner
(missionaries I.0 India), I;rnnl&n Corm
(missionary to Jalnaica), and I-Iugo
Hammond (U.S. Navy chaplain).
Nccdlcss 1.0say that I am happy to be
C)llC
01‘
SLlCll a group.
This single example illustrates what
was practiced throughout the Church
of God. Mother congregations had to
give ~111
smc 01their inost vnluable
illId
pdllC~i\~~
coiistitucnls in 0rtlcr LO
carry the gospel to other comniunitics,
states and countries. Morcovcr, they
had to help support their outreaches
until they had strength enough to
stancl illOTlC-Xld
hen
drop
&xl
Or
their own.
The mother-church principle that
wasused to spread the Christian bit11 in
the First and Twcnticrh Centuries was
in such accord with the lsasic laws 01
reproduction and faith that it will, prcclictably, remain an effective practice in
the century and millennium to come.
..........111....111.............................~........~.......*.........
Charles M? Corm,
Litt.D., is LIE @icid
histclriun or tlx Church
oJGod und is author q\
Like a Mighty Army:
A History of the Church
of God, 1.886-1995, &Jirzilivc &ion
(CIevcland, Tim.: Puthwuy Press,1996)).
HISTORY AND HERITAGE * Page 8
FROM THE DIRECTOR
n almost every respect we can be
proud of the legacy of our first
General Assembly in 1906. The
modest endeavors of those twenty-one
delegates have expanded into the
worldwide outreach of the Church of
God today And many concerns
expressed during that meeting remain
critical to our contemporary ministries.
Worship wasvital. That first
Assembly encouraged every member
to participate in regular worship at the
Lords table and dul-ing the washing of
the saint’s feet. Obeying the Word ancl
preserving the unity of the body of
Christ were central reasons for participation in these services.
The Assembly also emphasized
prayer meetings, family worship and
the Sunday school. They encouraged
every local church to hold a weekly
prayer meeting-preferably
under the
direction of someone who felt led by
the Holy Spirit, but under a selected
leader if such feelings were not evident. Prayer was too important to
leave to individual feelings.
The delegates also urged daily family worship. They viewed such worship
as an opportunity to instill in children
lessons regarding God and God’s Word.
Teaching children to reverence the
Word and the house of worship were
primary reasons for Sunday school. The
Assembly also considered Sunday school
essential for a moral community as well
as a potential means of church planting.
Evangelism was vital to those early
delegates. Tears punctuated the reports
of their previous evangelistic efforts
and their consecration to the ripened
fields and open doors of the coming
year. The delegates committed to press
into every open door with greater zeal
and energy than ever before.
That first Assembly also recognized
the importance of living a holy life.
Decades before American culture recognized the perils of tobacco, and in a
region where tobacco was an integral
part of economic survival, they courageously stood against the use of tobacco. In this farsighted stand, the Assembly cited the offensivenessof tobacco as
well as the physical impairmenr it might
cause. They related the use of tobacco
to drunkenness and labeled it a bad
influence upon youth. Further, the
Assembly noted that money spent on
tobacco could better be used for clothing the poor, spreading the gospel and
improving their own homes. Most
importantly, the delegates at that first
Assembly believed that the use of tobacco was contrary to Scripture, and they
co~~lcl not imagine Christ using it under
any circumstances. More than anything
else they wanted to be like Jesus.
In other business, the Assembly recommended the orclerly transfer of
members from one local church to
another and an annual Assembly for
“closer union ancl fellowship orthe
churches.” Today we continue to benefit
from our biennial General Assemblies.
Conversely, we continue to suffer
because of their failure to carry out
their recommendation that every local
church should “make and preserve
records of all church proceedings.” nor
this recommendation they cited the
Acts of the Apostles as biblical etidence of this practice,
On this point, the local churches
comprising that first Assembly failed, If
they did make such records, they failed
to preserve them. Because they failed to
preserve their recorcls, there is little that
we know about those first congregations. For example, we do not know
about their membership, their Sunday
schools or their succession of PilSlOrS.
WC have every reason to bclicve that
God wasat work among the congregations at that first Assembly in 1906. We
have cvely reasonto believe that ~hcyministered lo and evangelized +cir conimunities. But because they failed to preserve
their rccorcls,much d their story is lost.
May God help us not to t&l in the sxnc
way,so that aslong as the Lord rarries, our
children and grandchilclren will know the
mighty works of Gocl among us.
CHURCH OF GOD
i§tory
an
eritage
Volume 2 * Num.ber 2
Fall 1%X3
OJGadHistory arzdI-Icrilcr~e
is published in Ihe interest of the
Church of God mave~ne~~t.
The Ha1
Bernard Dixon Jr. PentecostalResearch
Center collectsand preservesChurch
al’ God, Pentecostalancl Charismatic
clocumenls,recordsand literal.ure.
cllu~cll
STAFF
David G. Roelmck, Editor
Ellen R.French,AssociateEditor
Wade I-I. Phill.iPs, AssociateEditor
l%nces Arringcon.,Consultant
Larry R. McQueen, Archivist
Janie Hand, ResearchAssistant
FrancesMcCall, Indexer
Jeremy Yoder, Photo Restoration
BobFisher, ‘Designer
BOARD ‘OF CONTJXOL
Donald M. Walker, Chair
Paul Conn
Paul L. Walker
260 I.lth Street,NE
Cleveland, Tennessee37311
Phow: 423-61.4-8576
FAX: 423-614-8555
dixoll_resea~cll~loeuniversity.edu
leeunlversity.edu/W)raly/dixon/clixon.her