CAMPMEETING

Kansas Campmeeting, ca 1968
Dennis Terry, Linda Weaver Terry.
Marilyn Terry Hudson

Camp meetings were a regular feature of many evangelical groups in the 19th and 20th century.  They began as evangelistic tools designed to bring people to a personal relationship with God.   Over the years they evolved and changed to suit the diverse groups found various corners of the world.

In looking at the North American experiences it is clear they adapted to the needs of several branches of Protestant Christianity.  In some traditions these meetings were along the lines of Bible institutes or teaching conferences with worship services highlighted by choirs and congregational singing.  They were often held in the retreats, resorts, and mountain or seaside centers of  New England.  Bible teachers from colleges, the great evangelists of the day, and the musicians of note were on hand. In other traditions, especially in the south and the west,  they were often fashioned along the line of a long series of lively revivals designed to insure salvation and inculcate a desire for more intense holy living. 

Some groups seemed to have equated rough conditions with more spirituality.  The comfortable pews of their home churches forgotten in the endurance of rough board seats.  The conditioned air, or even fanned air, was eschewed in favor of the open air (even in mid summer as temperatures soared into three digits).  The old brush arbor of 19th century meetings may have given way to a more solid roof and strong stable beams, but the saw dust was still there on the ground and the sides open to the wind, as well as the bugs and the rain.

Methodist Meeting ca 1811

In many ways these meetings were along the lines of a religious vacation. This in no way diminishes the spiritual aspect of the event but enhanced it. For rural people isolation was a normative aspect of their and getting together at sales and harvest events looked forward to by all.  This same isolation could be found among many evangelical, holiness, and Pentecostal groups as they spurned "worldly things" but may have also been spurned due to their race, poverty, education level, or culture. 

The camp meeting combined strong spiritual purpose with the opportunity to feel a little less isolated. Where instead of seeking out spiritually worldly entertainments (often forbidden to many adherents of these protestant groups) the people could enjoy safe social interactions, experience fellowship,  hear news of distant places and find temporary diversions from their normal working and religious life.  This served to provide a recreational element needed while supporting the moral values of the religious groups.  

For some traditions not having educational requirements, camp meetings became a place for the pastors and teachers to hear quality preaching, learn new things, and gain better - and more correct or orthodox - understanding of their movement's underlying theology.

Keith Drury has identified several reasons for the demise of the camp meeting. He cites larger churches, loss of  professional evangelists, greater difficulty of people to get away for the traditional week, increased government regulations, improved social standing among evangelical, holiness, and Pentecostal groups, but also some more theological issues, such as a diminished emphasis on "crisis theology":  "Camp meetings have always been about going to the altar, making a decision. Camp meetings were first about "getting saved" and later about "getting sanctified" or some combination of both crisis experiences. As more and more holiness people and pastors adopted a more gradual approach to both sanctification and conversion, the need for the higher pressure hard-sell altar call of the camp meeting diminished."  

This he couples with a "Lack of spiritual hunger":    "Do you know a lot of people so spiritually hungry that they will take their vacation from work and go stay at a camp meeting to hear preaching and teaching three times a day for two weeks straight? My granddad did. And he did it before he was saved! I don't see that much hunger around today. I see some short bursts of temporary hunger maybe for some fast-food spirituality. But not much hunger for a two-week banquet. Camp meetings fight this lack now more than ever. A good swimming pool might help, but... preaching?"

The camp meeting served a purpose as evangelistic tool, to bring spiritual community and fellowship,  to share quality preaching and teaching, and serve as a time of spiritual refreshment.  Many memories were made and the next season was eagerly looked for.  Times may change, people may change, but basic needs of evangelism, hearing the word, and finding new spiritual energy all remain.  It is hoped that present models serve their generation as well as the camp meeting served the needs of previous generations.

The Authors of Mosaic Address Varied Topics

Mosaic: Papers in Honor of Noel Brooks (2012) features the academic and creative efforts of several individuals.  "Mosaic" is a collection of scholarly papers on a variety of topics in honor of a British born Wesleyan Pentecostal pastor, church leader, scholar, educator, and author. Brooks was deeply committed to the merging of faith and intellect and the role of scholarship in the  life of the person of faith. This collection honors that by setting in place a few modest pieces of what is hoped will be a larger work uniting many in common purpose. Authors submitted for inclusion in this volume include Dr. Chris Green (Pentecostal Theological Seminary); Professor Rev. Ken L. Young (Southwestern Christian University); Dr. Marvin J. Hudson, Pastor and Intensive Interim Ministry Specialist; Mrs. Irene Belyeu, Author (B.A.); Mrs. Marilyn A. Hudson, Author/Speaker (M.L.I.S.). This project was sponsored by The Friends of Noel Brooks.

Dr. Chris Green is on faculty at The Pentecostal Seminary in Kentucky. He is author of the book Toward a Pentecostal Theology of the Lord's Supper: Foretasting the Kingdom.  Dr Chris Green, is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Theology at Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN. Previously, he taught at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, and Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, OK, while holding adjunct positions at other schools in the Oklahoma City area. Dr Green and his wife, Julie, helped plant and pastor a church in Northwest Oklahoma City, in 2003. After stepping down from that role, they moved to Cleveland, TN to teach at the Seminary. Dr. Green completed his PhD in theology (Bangor University, Wales) and previously received a Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min.) from ORU. He also has a Master's degree in theology, and Church Leadership. They have two kids: Zoe, 7, and Clive, 4. He is author of Toward a Pentecostal Theology of the Lord's Supper: Foretasting the Kingdom (2012).  He addresses "In Word and Spirit: Critical and constructive  reflections on the theological method of Noel Brooks."

Irene Belyeu is author of Revelation in Context. In 1929, Irene Barbara Parris was born into a loving family near Shawnee, Oklahoma. Irene spent her childhood working in the fields and woods and walking to school and to church. She reveled in the beauty of nature in the earth and the sky. In 1950, she was married to Darrell Belyeu and had six children. Irene began an intensive study of the Book of Revelation to answer her children’s questions as well as her own. At the age of fifty-six, she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in linguistics from the University of Oklahoma and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. A volunteer tour with the Wycliffe Bible Translators gave her insight into translation and literacy. She applied her linguistic training to research on the Book of Revelation and, as a result, has published, Revelation in Context (2012). Her sermons are available at www.sermon.net/revelationincontext.  Belyeu explores the role of signs and wonders in "By Faith We Understand."

Rev. Kenneth L. Young is a Professor of Bible and Theology at Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma. He served also for fourteen years as the Dean of Adult Studies. Ken represents a fourth generation Pentecostal Holiness heritage. His father, maternal grandfather and great grandfather were ministers in the Pentecostal Holiness movement.  Ken holds ministerial credentials through the Upper South Carolina Conference of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Ken pastored two churches in South Carolina for a total of eight years while serving on the Conference World Missions Board and the Conference Evangelism Board.  He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Theology. Young explores evangelism and missions in "Investing in the City" and "Analysis of Pentecostal Mission Strategy."

Dr. Marvin J. Hudson, ordained minister, holds the D.Min. from Asbury Theological Seminary and the Master of Arts from Southern Nazarene University and a Master of Divinity from Phillips Theological Seminary.  He is certified as an Intentional Interim Ministry Specialist. He has taught Biblical languages, Theology, Biblical studies, and Leadership in several institutions.  He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the South Central Classics Association.  He examines the nature of spiritual gifts and ministry in "Ta Charismata Ta Meidzona."

Marilyn A. Hudson  is a professional in the fields of history, library and information having received degrees from the University of Oklahoma. Additionally she is an author, educator, professional storyteller, workshop leader and speaker. Her published works include Those Pesky Verses of Paul (2011) and Noel Brooks: a Life Shining and Burning (2011). She is a member of the Association of College and Research Libraries, the South Central Classics Association, and the Oklahoma Library Association.  She addresses "Prophetic Women" and "Publishing the Word-Shaping the Message: A Survey of publishing influences in one Pentecostal denomination, 1955 and 1965."

The book will soon be available in Kindle ebook format.

"My Introduction to the P.H. Church" - Part 1

Velma Cochren Terry (1915-1999)- Narrative of her introduction to the Pentecostal Holiness Church of Kansas ca 1955
See article this blog,  "Poets of Pentecostalism", for more on this woman.

"My Introduction to the Pentecostal Holiness church" Part 2

"My Introduction to the Pentecostal Holiness Church" Prt 3

A personal narrative of Velma Dora Cochren Terry 1915-1999.

PAPERS IN HONOR OF NOEL BROOKS

A mosaic is a design created by many smaller pieces all uniting  in common purpose to convey the artistic image of the creator.  Only as one steps back to see the whole design does the meaning become clear.

"Mosaic"  is a collection of scholarly papers on a variety of topics in honor of a British born Wesleyan Pentecostal pastor, church leader, scholar, educator, and author.   Brooks was deeply committed to the merging of faith and intellect.  This collection honors that  by setting in place a few modest pieces of what is hoped will be a larger work uniting many in common purpose.  

Authors selected for inclusion in this volume include Dr. Chris Green (Pentecostal Theological Seminary); Professor Rev. Ken L. Young (Southwestern Christian University);  Dr. Marvin J. Hudson, Pastor and Intensive Interim Ministry Specialist; Mrs. Irene Belyeu, Author (B.A.); Mrs. Marilyn A. Hudson, Author (M.L.I.S.).

This project is sponsored by The Friends of Noel Brooks. All proceeds go to charity and may be ordered here.

IPHC BISHOP CARPENTER PASSES AWAY

IPHC Bishop Ron Carpenter Sr. stepped down from his role as general leader of the IPHC this last summer due to complications from cancer.   He passed away late Sept. 20, 2012 in South Carolina.  Read more about this leader and view a tribute video here.

Recognized as a skilled leader, academic, and visionary he was also known for his extreme kindness, courtesy, and passion.  He held an abiding devotion for the cause of his denomination, and for the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements, but more importantly for his Christ.

“REPORT ACCEPTED AND CHARACTER PASSED”

Some Ordained and Licensed Women from the years 1929 - 1939  in the Kansas and Oklahoma Conferences  of the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

 

Compiled By

 Marilyn A. Hudson, with Alicia Hutson ,  April 2006

 

The year was 1965 in Wellington, Kansas, in the home of the pastor of the local Pentecostal Holiness Church.  The guest evangelist, Mary E. Ford, was a woman just easing out of middle age wearing a cream colored chiffon blouse, a sturdy brown woolen skirt, with fading hair escaping from its once tidy bun.  Her wide pleasant face was a roller coaster of expressions from intense concentration to hearty laughter. 

 

Sitting at the parsonage piano, a sturdy black upright, she is surrounded by the daughters of the pastor and a friend of theirs who often came to visit.  The visitor entertains them playing snappy standards from the forties and crooning tunes from the fifties.  She responded to the news that the oldest girl was taking business courses by encouraging her to keep her chin up and not let the men bully her.  She recounted with great hilarity a time when an employer had tried to bull her and all laughed at the impossibility the image presented. 

 

To all of those gathered around the piano that afternoon she shared her love of God, her courage, her experience, and her sense of fun.  To each and every one there she encouraged them to “press on” in their faith and to get a good education[1].

“Report Accepted....Character Passed....”

The Holiness and Pentecostal movements were unique episodes of American religious history but shared a common thread in a willingness to accept women as instruments of ministry[2].  From the earliest days in both movements women responded to God with a desire to preach the gospel with as much enthusiasm as their male counterparts. As some elements of both merged to form the Pentecostal movement, the invigorating dynamic of a life that sought to live in the fullest relationship with God was not one that would accept limitations easily.[3]

An examination of the official registers of membership for the Oklahoma and Kansas Conferences of the Pentecostal Holiness Church for the years 1929-1939 reveals some interesting insights, identifies some pioneer women, and provides a context for further discussion about the historic role of women within the Pentecostal tradition.

The title stems from a reoccurring statement recorded in the 1929 year book.  As the conference business would progress the ministers present would offer their reports (how many sermons preached, miles traveled, etc.) and at the conclusion there would be a motion of “report accepted and character passed.”    It is a fitting testimony to the role of these women and their unique place in the history of the American church and the Pentecostal tradition that without question each one was accepted.

Description of the Project

A brief survey of records contained in the “Year Book of the Pentecostal Holiness Church” for the years 1929 to 1939 was conducted.  Names of obviously female ordained and licensed women were recorded and their number compared with the total list of individuals.  One limitation may be that some additional persons on the lists may also be female and the use of initials in their names may conceal that fact. Also, there is margin of error because of a few names that can be either a man or a woman’s name and some women did marry changing their name.  However, women, according to the most common format employed, were most often listed with the title of “Mrs.” followed by their husband’s name, or their first names if a young woman or “spinster”.   The scope of this study was to collect numbers of active female ministers, compile a list of names,  and identify early women ministers, so no attempt has been made to gain broad or detailed biographical information on all of them.

History

The Pentecostal movement of the 20^th century is generally considered to have  begun in1901.  Agnes Ozman is believed to be the first person to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. She was a student in Charles Parham’s school in Topeka, Kansas in January of 1901.  An African-American student there, William Seymour carried the message west to Los Angeles and from a mission located on Azusa Street the experience  spread across the country.

From its inception the movement seemed to epitomize an equality of persons that was unique for the time period.  Service to God and blessings of the Holy Spirit (“the anointing”) became the litmus test of value over issues of gender or even race.[4]  

Pauline writings that for the Christian community existing as one in Christ there was to be no longer “male or female” or “slave and free” (Galatians 3: 28-29), now took on liberating meanings as leadership in the new Pentecostal movement featured both women and persons of color.[5]   The dynamic nature of the experience, and the resulting sense of urgency in proclaiming the gospel, convinced many that indeed the time of the Biblical “latter rains” had come.  Citing the prophet Joel in the Old Testament , “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and daughters will prophesy...” (Joel 2:29-32), few in the movement felt they could place limitations on who ministered.[6]

Ordained and Licensed Women, Kansas and Oklahoma, 1929 and 1939.[7]

The following women were identified from the rolls of those who served as formally recognized ministers.  With some exceptions, most had been admitted to the conference within the same decade.   Most were assigned a local church; some assisted their husbands in the work, while some served as evangelists. On a administrative level, although they were frequently serving on conference committees of the more traditional women’s areas such as “Memoirs” ( a record of those who had died the preceding year) and “Public Morals”, they were also in leadership roles dealing with issues of publication, missions, and resolutions (i.e., 1939 in Kansas Mary E. Ford served on the Committee on Resolutions and later would be conference secretary-treasurer[8]). Some would in coming years be in key leadership roles on state levels and at least one went on to be published in the national publication, The Pentecostal Holiness Advocate.[9]

^{Attempts to identify the earliest women licensed or ordained in these regions is challenging due to the fact that the records from that time period are incomplete or are not clear as to gender.   From information located, however, there are several women who were ordained within a few years of Oklahoma’s 1907 statehood.  Mrs. Dolly York of Oklahoma was admitted to the ministry roll of the Oklahoma Conference in 1910 and Willa J. Short in 1911.  In the Kansas Conference Annie E. Carmack was admitted in 1913.  The earliest male counterpart was O.C. Wilkins  admitted in 1910.} [10]

Kansas (24):

Barnes, Emma

Beal, Estella

Brownback, Nellie

Carmack, Annie E.

Downing, Annie M.

Filbert, Estella

Eslin, Lavonia

Ford, Mary E.

Hall, Alline

Hill, Edith

Hoel, Olive

Kaminska, Lucinda

Orr, Lizzie

Pinkston, Mrs. J.P.

Roth, Berthe

Shannon, Mary Katherine Butterfield Davis (1916)[11]

Shively, Ora B.

Spotts, Ruby

Sprogue, Mrs. E.H.

Thiele, Hellen

Taylor, Beulah

Trader, Marietta

Ward, Linna (later Rogers)

Wassom, Della

Wedeking, Nettie

Oklahoma (107):

Adair, Gertrude

Allen, Reba

Anderson, Mrs Lillian

Atchley, Mrs. Sarah

Barger, Rosa (1927)

Beall, Estella

Bell, Eva

Bennett, Maggie

Bland or Blond, Vella Cleta

Booking, Viola

Brandstandt, Mrs. N.C

Brooks, Mrs. Eva.

Brown, Irene

Buchanan, Stella

Bullard, Beulah

Byus, Hazel

Campbell, Mrs. J.A. (1913)

Caldwell, Juanita

Carlton, Bell

Carmack, Annie

Carter, Carrie

Chilcoat,Fae or Eula

Clarke, Neva (1925)

Classen, Clara

Coley, Beatrice

Cooper, Nora

Cothran, Mrs. L.V.

Darrow, Mrs. C.L. (Smith)

Dooley, Mrs. Ed

Fowler, Mrs. S.S.

Frantz, Edna

Gaither, Mrs. S.E.

Glenn, Evelyn

Haley, Inez

Hallam, Mrs. Urchie

Hamilton, Naomi

Hampton, Mrs.  H.W.

Hatfield,  Mittie

Hargis, Lucile

Hill, Mrs. O.M.

Hope, Grace

Housdon, Minnie

Hurt, Mrs. Margarett

Hutto, Amana

Iley, Mrs. J.H.

Isbell, Mrs. Ruth

Jones, Margaret (1925)

Keener, Mrs. Lillie

King, Sadie

Landers, Essie D. (1926)

Laymon, Elsie

Lily, Mrs. L.V.

Little, Mrs. N.W.

Kern, Anna

Manning, Opal V.

Martin, Mrs. L.B. (1929)

McCully, Gladys

McGraw, Mrs. D.

Meeks, Mrytle

Mitchusson, Minnie

Moore, Ruth

Moore, Vestal

Muse, Mrs. Dan T.

Nance, Bertha

Pierce, Mrs. Idell

Peters, Mrs. L.A. (1919)

Pinkston, Mrs. Anna

Pool, Mrs. T.W.

Poteet, Vera

Price, Miss Chessie

Revell, Mrs. Emma

Roberson or Robertson, Mrs. J.W.     

Roberts, Pearl Mrs.

Rooms, Mrs. Myrtle

Rose, Martha

Ross, Mrs. Melvin

Scaggs, Chessie

Schockly, Mrs. Tinnie

Short, Willa

Smith, Mrs. C.L.(Maggie?) (1913)

Sparks, Mrs. E. W.

Spence, Mrs. H.N.

Stamphill, Myrtle

Stone, Myrtle

Steele, Edith

Stephens, Viola 

Stratton, Laura

Sutton, Anna

Taylor, Emma

Taylor, Ellen

Thornton, Margaret 

Townsend, Elsie

VanBrunt, Mrs. Dorothy

Varec, Iva

Wassom, Mrs. Della

Watt, Linnie

Weaver, Mrs. C.M (1929)

Wedel, Ello Lous

Wicks, Mildred

Wilbourn, Leeta

Williams, Mrs. W.A. (1913)

Wilkerson, Lucy.

Wilson, Clara (1929)

Wilson, Alice

Wilson, Mollie (1925)

Wright, Mrs. L.E.

York, Dolly (1910)

York, Mrs. W.C.

Summary

A survey of the conference rolls for the regions of Oklahoma and Kansas for the years 1929 to 1939 reveal that women played a significant role and were a definitive presence. The number of women who were formally recognized as being ordained, licensed or doing the work of an evangelist is impressive considering the overall size of the regions they served. The women who were leaders in ministry at an early time period in the conferences of Oklahoma and Kansas are identified adding to the rich history emerging of women in the Pentecostal movement.

The survey also raises many questions worthy of additional consideration and research.  For example, how does the central region compare to the more populated areas of the south, home base of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, at the same time?  How consistent are the percentages of women to men in successive decades, and if there is a decline can a cause be identified?[12] Who were the earliest women in the denomination as a whole to be recognized as clergy?   How were women “called” to service in the early days and in what ways did their fellow ministers mentor them?  What impact, if any, did the formation of the national “Women’s Auxiliary” in the nineteen forties and the latter “Women’s Ministries” have on the number of women going into ministry?  What were the nature and content of their sermons? And finally, how successful were they in what they did?

---

^[1]  The first pastor of the author was the Rev. Sallie Mae Flippin, Wellington Pentecostal Holiness Church, Kansas (1960). Her second  pastors were  Evelyn and Bill Thompson,  Wellington.  As a teenager she had the opportunity to spend time with Mary E. Ford (who is listed in the study) when she was a guest in the home of the Rev. Hoyle Baker.

^[2]Lee, Joyce and Glenn Gohr.  “Women in the Pentecostal Movement” Women in Ministry, Assembly of God U.S.A. accessed at http://womeninministry.ag.org/history/index.cfm on 4/18/2006. Provides a good chronology of notable women leaders and photos of many of them.

^[3]Benvenuti, Sheri R. “Pentecostal Women in Ministry: Where Do We Go From Here?” Cyberjournal for Pentecostal Charsimatic Research. Accessed at http:www.pctii.org/cyberj/cyberj1/ben.html on 4/18/2006.

^[4]Blumhofer, Edith, The Assemblies of God: A Popular History (Springfield: Gospel Publishing House, 1985) 137.

^[5] Hudson, Marilyn A., “In Christ: An Exploration of the Egalitarianism of Galations”, unpublished paper, Southwestern College of Christian Ministries, 1989.

^[6]Charles H. Barfoot and Gerald T. Sheppard, “Prophetic vs. Priestly Religion: The Changing Role of Women Clergy in Classical Pentecostal Churches, “ Review of Religious Research, 22:1 (September)4.

^[7] Year Book of the Annual Conferences of the Pentecostal Holiness Church; Also Missionary Facts and Figures, 1929.  Franklin Springs, Georgia: Publishing House of the P.H.C.; Year Book of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, 1939. Franklin Springs, Georgia: Publishing House of the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

^[8] Pentecostal Holiness Advocate, Sept, 12, 1946, cover photo shows her with a group of Kansas Conference leaders hading a check to Oral Roberts for new Southwestern School in Oklahoma.

^[9] Wilson, Alice. “The Lion, The Greyhound and the He-goat”, The Pentecostal Holiness Advocate, (Feb.1, 1945) 5.    She is listed as an evangelist of the Oklahoma Conference.; also Feb.22, 1945, a poem “As Soon As Funds Are Available”, pg. 3                                           

^[10] Year Book of the Annual Conference..., the 1930 issue reads for O.C. Wilkins  “1909", but the next and all subsequent years read “1910".

^[11] “Sister A.I. Shannon, Pioneer Holiness Preacher Passes”, East Oklahoma Conference News, ( March 1944) 8 and the  Kansas register in the Minutes of the Annual Conference of the Pentecostal Holiness Church., 1931.

^[12] Some clues emerge early, G.H. Montgomery writing in the Advocate artle “Do We Need A Seminary?”said “Who is going to be in charge of this seminary? ...These men (and they will have to be men, or I am through with the whole idea right now;” (Feb.15, 1945)2. [emphasis in the original].

New Book Looks at the Lord's Supper

Toward a Pentecostal Theology of the Lord's Supper: Foretasting the Kingdom.  Dr. Chris E.W. Green.

In this state of the art study, Pentecostal theologian Chris E.W. Green offers the most extensive investigation of the Lord's Supper in the Pentecostal tradition to date. Beginning with a comprehensive survey of previous literature devoted to the topic, Green next engages in a detailed examination of the early Pentecostal periodical literature in both the Wesleyan-Pentecostal and Finished Work streams of the movement in order to determine early Pentecostal attitudes toward, beliefs about, and practices of the sacraments in general and the Lord's Supper in particular. 

Drawing on the results of this engagement, the author seeks to contribute to a biblical theology of the Supper by reading three specific biblical texts utilizing a Pentecostal reading strategy. In his final major chapter Green constructs a Pentecostal theology of the Lord's Supper that builds upon the results of his study to that point, crafting a theology that is informed by both academic and practical discussion and concerns. 

In this bold monograph, Green invites those within the tradition and beyond to intentional dialogue with regard to this most important Christian practice. The work is available at CPT Press or online here.

Chris E.W. Green (PhD, Bangor University, Wales; DMin, Oral Roberts University) is Assistant Professor of Theology at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN USA.

Dr. Green is a vital and exciting new voice in Pentecostalism merging strong faith with excellent scholarship.

New Titles in Pentecostal Studies

Available on Amazon.
Toward a Pentecostal Ecclesiology: The Church and the Fivefold Gospel.

The editor of this volume, John Christopher Thomas (PhD, University of Sheffield) is the Clarence J. Abbott Professor of Biblical Studies at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN USA, and is Director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at Bangor University in Bangor, Wales, UK.  Publication Date: September 24, 2010, CPT Press

"This monograph is based upon presentations given at a conference on Pentecostal Ecclesiology that convened on 28-29 June 2010 at Bangor University in North Wales, UK. After a short introduction (John Christopher Thomas) and an extended treatment of the role of the Fivefold Gospel in the doing of Pentecostal Theology (Kenneth J. Archer), two chapters each are devoted to the Pentecostal Church as Redeemed Community (Wynand de Kock, Darío Andres López Rodríguez), Sanctified Community (Daniel Castelo, Matthias Wenk), Empowered Community (Simon Chan, Daniela Augustine), Healing Community (Kimberly E. Alexander, Opoku Onyinah), and Eschatological Community (Peter Althouse, Frank D. Macchia), with three formal responses following (Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Robert Pope, William K. Kay). Global in composition, the contributors to this volume represent six continents and diversity of gender, race, nationality, denominational affiliation, and academic discipline. Their creative theological presentations and the constructive engagements that they elicit not only make a significant contribution to this topic, but also provide a model for future global Pentecostal theological construction. This ground-breaking monograph is destined to shape future discussions of Pentecostal Ecclesiology as well as the broader field of Pentecostal Theology."

Dr. Joseph E. Campbell (1903)

Dr. Joseph Enoch Campbell, author, world evangelist, professor, held the first earned Doctoral Degree in The Pentecostal Holiness Church. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1903.

An active evangelist, revivalist, and pastor, he held a long time interest in missions. He founded the Laymens Missionary Foundation. He went from America to Hong Kong where he established a school, college, and church.  His assistant in some of the Asian endeavors was the Rev.V.M.Seaber,PhD.

The Wing Kwong School, College and Church was established and part of it bears his name: The Joe E. Campbell Auditorium. His dream was to spread the Gospel, in sermon and printed Word, and send ministers behind the Communist Wall. 

Today Wing Wong is one of the largest P.H. Churches in the World.  He authored many books, including the first book version  in 1949 of the "History of The Pentecostal Holiness Church."

Rev. Oral Roberts was influenced, as many others were by Dr. Campbell's book "The Whole Gospel for The Whole Man."   There is a monument to his memory on the campus of Emmanuel College, Franklin Springs, Ga.

His other titles include:

• Do not seek for tongues!
• "Pappy" Just Passing through.
• What to believe and why.
• Can a man live above sin?

60 Years of Service

"Celebrating 60 Years of Ministry in India" features the work of the IPHC missionaires, The Howards.  For more than a century the message of faith, hope, and salvation has been shared in India by people of Holiness and Pentecostal spirit.  National leaders have arisen in response and carry on the work with skill, passion, and dedication to excellence.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Education

While exploring the charges of anti-intellectualism one is confronted by the ministry of John Wesley, whose call to holy living gave birth to much of the revival efforts which launched the holiness movement. W.B. Fitzgerald , writing in The Roots of Methodism (1903) noted that John Wesley condemned the misuses of the educational institutions of his day - filled with gaming, drinking, and sloth -  he still "sought to bring the purest literature and finest scholarly genius within reach of the multitudes" and reminds that "Methodism was born in a university" (pg. 61-62).