Charles F. Parham (June 4, 1873 – January 29, 1929) was an American
preacher
A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...
and
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
. Together with
William J. Seymour, Parham was one of the two central figures in the development and early spread of American
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement . It was Parham who associated
glossolalia
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
with the
baptism in the Holy Spirit
In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doctr ...
, a theological connection crucial to the emergence of Pentecostalism as a distinct movement. Parham was the first preacher to articulate Pentecostalism's distinctive doctrine of evidential tongues, and to expand the movement.
Personal life
Parham, one of five sons of William and Ann Parham, was born in
Muscatine, Iowa
Muscatine ( ) is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,797 at the time of the 2020 census, an increase from 22,697 in 2000. The county seat of Muscatine County, it is located along the Mississippi River. The lo ...
, on June 4, 1873 and moved with his family to
Cheney, Kansas
Cheney is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,181.
History
Cheney was founded in August, 1883. It was named for Benjamin P. Cheney, stockholder of the Atchison, Topeka and ...
, by covered wagon in 1878. William Parham owned land, raised cattle, and eventually purchased a business in town. Parham's mother died in 1885. The next year his father married Harriet Miller, the daughter of a Methodist
circuit rider. Harriet was a devout Christian, and the Parhams opened their home for "religious activities".
[Blumhofer 1993, p. 44.] Charles married Sarah Thistlewaite, the daughter of a
Quaker. Their engagement was in summer of 1896,
and they were married December 31, 1896, in a Friends' ceremony.
Ministry
Early ministry
Parham began conducting his first religious services at the age of 15. In 1890, he enrolled at
Southwestern College in
Winfield, Kansas, a Methodist affiliated school. He attended until 1893 when he came to believe education would prevent him from ministering effectively. He then worked in the
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
as a supply pastor (he was never
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
).
[Blumhofer 1993, pp. 44-45.] Parham left the Methodist church in 1895 because he disagreed with its hierarchy. He complained that Methodist preachers "were not left to preach by direct inspiration".
Rejecting denominations, he established his own itinerant evangelistic ministry, which preached the ideas of the
Holiness movement and was well received by the people of Kansas.
[Blumhofer 1993, p. 45.]
Topeka, Kansas
Sometime after the birth of his son, Claude, in September 1897, both Parham and Claude fell ill. Attributing their subsequent recovery to divine intervention, Parham renounced all medical help and committed to preach
divine healing and prayer for the sick.
[Blumhofer 1993, p. 46.] In 1898, Parham moved his headquarters to
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...
, where he operated a
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
and an office. It was also in Topeka that he established the Bethel Healing Home and published the ''Apostolic Faith'' magazine. Parham operated on a "faith" basis. He did not receive
offerings during services, preferring to pray for God to provide for the ministry.
[Blumhofer 1993, p. 47.]
Parham, "deciding to know more fully the latest truths restored by the later day movements", took a sabbatical from his work at Topeka in 1900 and "visited various movements".
[Sarah Parham, p. 48.] While he saw and looked at other teachings and models as he visited the other works, most of his time was spent at Shiloh, the ministry of
Frank Sandford
Frank Weston Sandford (October 2, 1862 – March 4, 1948)Shirley Nelson, ''Fair Clear and Terrible: The Story of Shiloh, Maine'' (Latham, New York: British American Publishing, 1989), 27. A second edition (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016) includes r ...
in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
, and in an
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
religious campaign of Sandford's.
From Parham's later writings, it appears he incorporated some, but not all, of the ideas he observed into his view of Bible truths (which he later taught at his Bible schools).
In addition to having an impact on what he taught, it appears he picked up his Bible school model, and other approaches, from Sandford's work.
When he returned from this sabbatical, those left in charge of his healing home had taken over and, rather than fighting for control, Parham started
Bethel Bible College
Bethel Bible College or Bethel Gospel School was a Bible college founded in 1900 by Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas, United States. The school is credited with starting the Pentecostal movement due to a series of fasting days that ended in what w ...
at Topeka in October 1900. The school was modeled on Sandford's "Holy Ghost and Us Bible School", and Parham continued to operate on a faith basis, charging no tuition. He invited "all ministers and Christians who were willing to forsake all, sell what they had, give it away, and enter the school for study and prayer". About 40 people (including dependents) responded.
[ The only text book was the Bible, and the teacher was the ]Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
(with Parham as mouthpiece).[Blumhofer 1993, p. 50.]
Prior to starting his Bible school, Parham had heard of at least one individual in Sandford's work who spoke in tongues and had reprinted the incident in his paper. He had also come to the conclusion that there was more to a full baptism than others acknowledged at the time. By the end of 1900, Parham had led his students at Bethel Bible School through his understanding that there had to be a further experience with God, but had not specifically pointed them to speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
. While Parham's account indicates that when classes were finished at the end of December, he left his students for a few days, asking them to study the Bible to determine what evidence was present when the early church received the Holy Spirit, this is not clear from the other accounts. The students had several days of prayer and worship, and held a New Year's Eve watchnight service
A watchnight service (also called Watchnight Mass) is a late-night Christian church service. In many different Christian traditions, such as those of Moravians, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, Adventists and Reformed Christ ...
at Bethel (December 31, 1900). The next evening (January 1, 1901) they also held a worship service, and it was that evening that Agnes Ozman
Agnes Ozman (1870–1937) was a student at Charles Fox Parham's Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Ozman was considered as the first to speak in tongues in the pentecostal revival when she was 30 years old in 1901 (Cook 2008). However, ...
felt impressed to ask to be prayed for to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Immediately after being prayed for, she began to speak in what they referred to as "in tongues", speaking in what was believed to be a known language.
Christian Faith Movement
Parham's controversial beliefs and aggressive style made finding support for his school difficult; the local press ridiculed Parham's Bible school calling it "the Tower of Babel", and many of his former students called him a fake. By April 1901, Parham's ministry had dissolved. It was not until 1903 that his fortunes improved when he preached on Christ's healing power at El Dorado Springs, Missouri
El Dorado Springs is the largest city in Cedar County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,493 at the 2020 census. The name is commonly shortened to El Dorado or El Do.
Geography
El Dorado Springs is located at (37.870872, -94.021024 ...
, a popular health resort. Mary Arthur, wife of a prominent citizen of Galena, Kansas
Galena is a city in Cherokee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,761.
History
Although the railroad was built through the territory of Galena in 1871, the community did not start until the di ...
, claimed she had been healed under Parham's ministry. She and her husband invited Parham to preach his message in Galena, which he did through the winter of 1903-1904 in a warehouse seating hundreds. In January, the Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...
, ''News Herald'' reported that 1,000 had been healed and 800 had claimed conversion. In the small mining towns of southwest Missouri and southeastern Kansas, Parham developed a strong following that would form the backbone of his movement for the rest of his life.[Blumhofer 1993, p. 53.]
Out of the Galena meetings, Parham gathered a group of young coworkers who would travel from town to town in "bands" proclaiming the "apostolic faith". Unlike other preachers with a holiness-oriented message, Parham encouraged his followers to dress stylishly so as to show the attractiveness of the Christian life. It was at this time in 1904 that the first frame church built specifically as a Pentecostal assembly was constructed in Keelville, Kansas. Other "apostolic faith assemblies" (Parham disliked designating local Christian bodies as "churches") were begun in the Galena area.[Blumhofer 1993, p. 54.] Parham's movement soon spread throughout Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
During 1906 Parham began working on a number of fronts. In Houston, Parham's ministry included conducting a Bible school around 1906. Several African Americans were influenced heavily by Parham's ministry there, including William J. Seymour.[Blumhofer 1993, p. 55.] Both Parham and Seymour preached to Houston's African Americans, and Parham had planned to send Seymour out to preach to the black communities throughout Texas. In September he also ventured to Zion, IL, in an effort to win over the adherents of the discredited John Alexander Dowie
John Alexander Dowie (25 May 18479 March 1907) was a Scottish-Australian minister known as an evangelist and faith healer. He began his career as a conventional minister in South Australia. After becoming an evangelist and faith healer, he im ...
, although he left for good after the municipal water tower collapsed and destroyed his preaching tent. For about a year he had a following of several hundred "Parhamites", eventually led by John G Lake. In 1906, Parham sent Lucy Farrow
Lucy F. Farrow (1851–1911) was an African American holiness pastor who was instrumental in the early foundations of Pentecostalism. She was the first African American person to be recorded as having spoken in tongues, after attending the meeti ...
(a black woman who was cook at his Houston school, who had received "the Spirit's Baptism" and felt "a burden for Los Angeles"), to Los Angeles, California, along with funds, and a few months later sent Seymour to join Farrow in the work in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, with funds from the school. Seymour's work in Los Angeles would eventually develop into the Azusa Street Revival
The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. O ...
, which is considered by many as the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement. Seymour requested and received a license as a minister of Parham's Apostolic Faith Movement, and he initially considered his work in Los Angeles under Parham's authority.[Blumhofer 1993, p. 55.] However, Seymour soon broke with Parham over his harsh criticism of the emotional worship at Asuza Street and the intermingling of whites and blacks in the services.[Gary B. McGee]
"Tongues, The Bible Evidence: The Revival Legacy of Charles F. Parham"
,
Enrichment Journal
'.
His commitment to racial segregation and his support of British Israelism
British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is the British nationalist, pseudoarchaeological, pseudohistorical and pseudoreligious belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendant ...
have often led people to consider him as a racist. However, some have noted that Parham was the first to reach across racial lines to African Americans and Mexican Americans and included them in the young Pentecostal movement. He preached in black churches and invited Lucy Farrow
Lucy F. Farrow (1851–1911) was an African American holiness pastor who was instrumental in the early foundations of Pentecostalism. She was the first African American person to be recorded as having spoken in tongues, after attending the meeti ...
, the black woman he sent to Los Angeles, to preach at the Houston "Apostolic Faith Movement" Camp Meeting in August 1906, at which he and W. Fay Carrothers were in charge. This incident is recounted by eyewitness Howard A. Goss in his wife's book, ''The Winds of God,'' in which he states: "Fresh from the revival in Los Angeles, Sister Lucy Farrow
Lucy F. Farrow (1851–1911) was an African American holiness pastor who was instrumental in the early foundations of Pentecostalism. She was the first African American person to be recorded as having spoken in tongues, after attending the meeti ...
returned to attend this Camp Meeting. Although a Negro, she was received as a messenger from the Lord to us, even in the deep south of Texas."[Eddie L. Hyatt (Fall 2004)]
"Across the Lines: Charles Parham's Contribution to the Inter-Racial Character of Early Pentecostalism"
''Pneuma Review''. Nonetheless, Parham was a sympathizer for the Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
and even preached for them.
Scandal and decline of influence
Another blow to his influence in the young Pentecostal movement were allegations of sexual misconduct in fall 1906. This was followed by his arrest in 1907 in San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
on a charge of "the commission of an unnatural offense," along with a 22-year-old co-defendant, J.J. Jourdan. Parham repeatedly denied being a practicing homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, but coverage was picked up by the press. Finally, the District Attorney decided to drop the case. Parham and his supporters insisted that the charges had been false, and were part of an attempt by Wilbur Voliva to frame him.[Tony Cauchi]
Charles Fox Parham
, Revival-library.org, United Kingdom, 2004 Parham had previously stopped preaching at Voliva's ''Zion City'' church in order to set up his ''Apostolic Faith Movement''. However, Parham's opponents used the episode to discredit both Parham and his religious movement. Posters with a supposed confession by Parham of sodomy were distributed to towns where he was preaching, years after the case against him was dropped. Parham was never able to recover from the stigma that had attached itself to his ministry, and his influence waned.
In addition there were allegations of financial irregularity and of doctrinal aberrations. In the aftermath of these events his large support base in Zion descended into a Salem-like frenzy of insanity, eventually killing three of their members in brutal exorcisms. Members of the group, who included John G Lake and Fred Bosworth, were forced to flee from Illinois, and scattered across America. As the focus of the movement moved from Parham to Seymour, Parham became resentful. His attacks on emerging leaders coupled with the allegations alienated him from much of the movement that he began. He became "an embarrassment" to a new movement which was trying to establish its credibility.[
]
Death
As a boy, Parham had contracted a severe rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...
which damaged his heart and contributed to his poor health. At one time he almost died. Parham recovered to an active preaching life, strongly believing that God was his healer. While he recovered from the rheumatic fever, it appears the disease probably weakened his heart muscles and was a contributing factor to his later heart problems and early death. By 1927 early symptoms of heart problems were beginning to appear, and by the fall and summer of 1928, after returning from a trip to Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
(which had been a lifetime desire), Parham's health began to further deteriorate.
In early January 1929, Parham took a long car ride with two friends to Temple, Texas
Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the U.S. census, and is one of the two principal cities in Bell County.
Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in t ...
, where he was to be presenting his pictures of Palestine. On January 5, he collapsed while showing his slides. When his wife arrived, she found out that his heart was bad, and he was unable to eat. Against his wishes (he wanted to continue his preaching tour), his family brought him home to Baxter Springs, Kansas
Baxter Springs is a city in Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, and located along Spring River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,888.
History
For thousands of years, indigenous peoples had lived along the waterwa ...
, where he died on the afternoon of January 29, 1929.
Beliefs
Parham's beliefs developed over time. Several factors influenced his theological ideas. He preferred to work out doctrinal ideas in private meditation, he believed the Holy Spirit communicated with him directly, and he rejected established religious authority. He focused on "salvation by faith; healing by faith; laying on of hands and prayer; sanctification by faith; coming (premillennial) of Christ; the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, which seals the bride and bestows the gifts".[Blumhofer 1993, p. 46.]
Initial evidence
His most important theological contributions were his beliefs about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. There were Christians groups speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
and teaching an experience of Spirit baptism before 1901, like for example, in 17th century, the Camisards
Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...
and the Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
.
However, Parham was the first to identify tongues as the "Bible evidence" of Spirit baptism. It is not clear when he began to preach the need for such an experience, but it is clear that he did by 1900.
Initially, he understood the experience to have eschatological
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...
significance—it "sealed the bride" for the "marriage supper of the Lamb".[Blumhofer 1993, p. 46.] The bride of Christ consisted of 144,000 people taken from the church who would escape the horrors of the tribulation
In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation ( grc, θλῖψις μεγάλη, thlîpsis megálē) is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end.
At Revelation 7:14, "the Great Tri ...
. It was Parham's desire for assurance that he would be included in the rapture
The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...
that led him to search for uniform evidence of Spirit baptism.
Later, Parham would emphasize speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
and evangelism, defining the purpose of Spirit baptism as an "enduement with power for service".[Blumhofer 1993, p. 50.] Parham believed that the tongues spoken by the baptized were actual human languages, eliminating the need for missionaries to learn foreign languages and thus aiding in the spread of the gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
.[Blumhofer 1993, p. 52.] Some of Parham's followers even traveled to foreign countries in hopes of using glossolalia to communicate with the locals without learning the local languages. But after consistent failed attempts at xenoglossia
Xenoglossy (), also written xenoglossia () and sometimes also known as xenolalia, is the supposedly paranormal phenomenon in which a person is allegedly able to speak, write or understand a foreign language that they could not have acquired by n ...
"many of Parham's followers became disillusioned and left the movement."
Other beliefs
Parham believed in annihilationism
In Christianity, annihilationism (also known as extinctionism or destructionism) is the belief that after the Last Judgment, all unsaved human beings, all fallen angels (all of the damned) and Satan himself will be totally destroyed so as to no ...
—that the wicked are not eternally tormented in hell but are destroyed. According to this belief, immortality is conditional, and only those who receive Christ as Lord and Savior will live eternally. He stated in 1902, "Orthodoxy would cast this entire company into an eternal burning hell; but our God is a God of love and justice, and the flames will reach those only who are utterly reprobate".[Blumhofer 1993, p. 45.] He also believed in British Israelism
British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is the British nationalist, pseudoarchaeological, pseudohistorical and pseudoreligious belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendant ...
, an ideology maintaining that the Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
peoples were among the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ash ...
.[Blumhofer 1993, p. 47.] In addition, Parham subscribed to rather unorthodox views on creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
* Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
* Creationism, the belief tha ...
. He believed God took two days to create humans—non-whites on the sixth day and whites on the eighth. Parham also supported Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
and the struggle for a Jewish homeland
A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish history, religion, and culture. The Jewish aspiration to return to Zion, generally associated with divine redemption, has suffused Jewish religious thought since the destruction ...
, lecturing on the subject often.
Oneness Pentecostals would agree with Parham's belief that Spirit baptized (with the evidence of an unknown tongue) Christians would be taken in the rapture. But his teachings on British Israelism and the annihilation of the wicked were vehemently rejected.[
]
Legacy
Parham originated the doctrine of initial evidence—that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidenced by speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
.[ It was this doctrine that made Pentecostalism distinct from other holiness Christian groups that spoke in tongues or believed in an experience subsequent to salvation and sanctification. In a move criticized by Parham,][ his Apostolic Faith Movement merged with other Pentecostal groups in 1914 to form the .][Creech, Joe (1996). "Visions of Glory: The Place of the Azusa Street Revival in Pentecostal History". ''Church History'' 65, no. 3. Pages 415—417.] Today, the worldwide Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
is the largest Pentecostal denomination. In 1916, the fourth general council of Assemblies of God met in St. Louis, MO to decide on the mode of baptism they would use. All Apostolic Faith Movement ministers were baptized in Jesus' name by Charles F. Parham including Howard Goss, First Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International. After a vote, out of approximately 430 ministers, 133 were asked to leave because the majority ruled they would maintain the Catholic Trinitarian formula of baptism as the official baptism of the Assemblies of God. This move formally sparked the creation of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, which would eventually create the United Pentecostal Church International and the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
* Goff, James R., Jr. ''Fields White Unto Harvest: Charles F. Parham and the Missionary Origins of Pentecostalism'' (1989), the standard scholarly biography
Primary sources
*Charles F. Parham, ''A Voice Crying in the Wilderness'' (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1902)
*Charles F. Parham, ''The Everlasting Gospel'' (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1911)
*''Selected Sermons of the Late Charles F. Parham'', ed Sarah E. Parham (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1941)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parham, Charles Fox
American Christian Zionists
American Pentecostals
American evangelicals
Holiness movement
Pentecostal theologians
People from Cherokee County, Kansas
People from Muscatine, Iowa
Southwestern College (Kansas)
1873 births
1929 deaths