11/30/10

Scriptural Holiness by Noel Brooks . Marilyn A. Hudson, MLIS

The British born Rev. Noel Brooks (1914-2006) wrote Scriptural Holiness in 1967 (Franklin Springs, Georgia: Advocate Press (now LifeSprings).  It quickly gained a beloved place as a well written, theologically sound, and spiritually enthused look at the nature of Holiness.  As a man born into a home life enthused with a strong holiness ethos, part of church groups (Wesleyan Methodist,  Elim Pentecostal Alliance, The Bible-Pattern Church) who valued greatly the Wesleyan holiness teachings, and who was a member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, Brooks celebrated the idea of holiness.  As a scholar and an experience church leader, he also was a call for balance and biblically sound exegesis of the topic.  Today, this work stands as a classic on the subject and still a guide through the complex issue of holiness for the believer.  Crucial to his thesis was the concept that scriptual holiness teaches that holiness is given to the believer as a gift by God and nothing a believer does can manifest holiness. The believer can merely manifest the life changes made by that gift.

Stephen Jeffreys: The Beloved Evangelist

In Britain there were three members of a family who all dedicated their lives to evangelizing the lost and bringing hope to lives.  They were Welsh born brothers Stephen and George Jeffreys and Stephen's son Edward Jeffreys. They were the Billy Grahams of their day, vast crowds filled halls across the British Isles and they began one of the first Pentecostal church groups in Great Britain with the Elim Pentecosal Alliance in 1914.

HISTORIC EARLY FEMALE MINISTER

Mary Ford was a long time minister in the Kansas Conference of the Pentecostal Holiness Church.  She served as pastor and evangelist through the 1940-1960's.  In the early 1950's she was serving also on the Conference Board as Secretary-Treasurer. In the early 1950's with the second volume of The Pentecostal Message she was the first and only woman listed in either volume.  Her sermon was titled "Obedience."  Hubert T. Spence in the preface to the first volume wrote: "...you hold in your hands a volume that is truly representative of the ministry and message of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, one unit of this great Pentecostal Latter Rain Movement which cannot any longer be ignored, but must be reckoned with." (1950).  In the preface to the second Volume, C. H. Williams noted: " These messages ring true to the fundementals of Scriptural theology and echo the "knowso" experiences of the authors."

11/28/10

British Pentecostal Holiness College

The following is an exerpt from an upcoming biography of Noel Brooks and is used by permission of the author, Marilyn A. Hudson:
While serving as both a conference superintendent and pastor of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Bristol, Brooks was involved with the establishment of a Bible College. In early 1960, the British Bible College was located in the city of Bristol.[1] A ‘prospectus’ for the college located the school at 24 Sydenham Road, Cotham, Bristol.  The board of education consisted of Noel Brooks, William Sherrard, R.J. Shackford, Charles Hopla, and Howard Wallis.  The faculty was Noel Brooks, Lawrence J. Harding, and Ian Davis.  Nora Brooks and Iris Harding rounded out the personnel as matron and secretary respectively.[2] 


[1] Many titles from their library collection now reside in the Noel Brooks Collection in the SCU Library, Bethany, Oklahoma.
[2] “The Bristol Bible College of the Pentecostal Holiness Church – prospectus.”  Brochure with images; Noel Brooks Collection, Southwestern Christian University archives.

11/21/10

A NEW LOOK AT THE BIBLE'S TEACHING ABOUT WOMEN


Addressing the apparently limited role of women in the church, Hudson, strips away centuries of assumptions and "copycat" commentary to examine the Gospels and some troubling verses in their historical context and in relation to the actions of Christ. "With her stroke of a pen and sharp grasp of scripture, history, and gender differences, this writer compels both men and women to re-examine ancient texts in a quest to arrive at the truth."-- Dr. Terry Tramel, Dean of the Graduate School, Southwestern Christian University.

11/3/10

FOOTHILLS BIBLE INSTITUTE, WINFIELD, ALBERTA


Many aspects of modern Pentecostalism are still to be uncovered and the challenge for historians will be to begin to gather and collect more recent history before it disappears.

In 1945 in Chilliwick, British Columbia began the Pacific Bible Institute which operated through 1950. In 1957 the dream was resurrected by Rev. Haug and by 1960 Foothills Bible Institute opened with Walter Gamble serving as president. In 1971 in Ontario the Christianview Bible College began with Noel Brooks as the president. In 1976 Foothills Bible Institute and Christianview amalgamated moving to Aisla Craig, Ontario where it remained until closing in the late 1980's.
[Image by M. Hudson 2007]

CANADIAN BIBLE COLLEGE HAD WOMAN PRESIDENT

Emma Crouch graduated from Southwestern Pentecostal Holiness College in Oklahoma City and went to Canada in 1964 where she was on the faculty of the Foothills Bible Institute in Winfield, Alberta. She was an ordained minister with the Pentecostal Holiness Church of Canada. She was on staff at Foothills for eleven years and for the last three (1973-1975) served as the Institute’s president. When Foothills and Christianview Bible College combined in 1975, she went to the newly relocated Christianview Bible College as a faculty member as well.


Her focus was Christian Education teaching Theology, Sunday School Organization, VBS, Youth Leadership. She also served as the General Christian Education President for the PHCC, and a field consultant for Scripture Press of Canada. She was a member of the General Board of Administration for the PHCC.


Writing in 1978 in the Christianview Bible College annual she expressed her desire for all the current and potential students: "May I challenge you to take advantage of your schooling as Mary sat Jesus' feet. As you sit here, God desires to pour out his abundance on you. He desires to open your mind to receive the treasures of the truth."


Volumes from her personal library have recently added to the collection of Southwestern Christian University, especially in the areas of pyschology, philosophy, and Pentecostalism.


Emma Crouch may be one of the earliest women in leadership in an educational institution related to North American Pentecostalism.



Sources:

Yearbooks for Foothills Bible Institute and Christianview Bible College. IPHC Archives and Records Center.

SCU Archives