Little George Hensley, who had left snake-handling when it proved dangerous to his health (during one of his absences on evangelism, a neighbor had made a pass at Hensleys wife, who had rejected the advance on grounds that her husband was still living, which the neighbor then attempted to remedy), who had then left his faithful wife and had gone from drinking poison to drinking home-made whisky, was eventually convicted for selling moonshine. On the chain gang he was a well-behaved prisoner ukntil he escaped to Cleveland, Ohio. There he remarried and restarted his ministry. He and his family moved to Kentucky and he began handling snakes again. He kept traveling, getting divorced and remarried (three more wives after the first one).
In 1922, A.J. Tomlinson, who had been permanent general overseer of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) for eight years, was removed from the denomination. He took 2,000 members with him.
On 1 January 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson dedicated Angelus Temple, which held 5,300 worshippers. The ceremonies included hundreds of colorfully-clothed gypsies (who called her their queen), many prominent Protestant preachers, and thousands of adoring fans.
Aimee Semple McPherson founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (ICFG). Early in its history, the ICFG said that 37% of their ministers were women.
Also in 1923, A.J. Tomlinson formed the Tomlinson Church of God, later renamed The Church of God in Prophecy. Furthermore, a major division took place in Balls Latin District Council of the Assenblies of God. Ball had been committed to establishing indigenous churches, but his headstrong and paternalistic attitudes toward Mexicans led to a major split. That year, the physically imposing Francisco Olazabal, who worked with Ball, left the AG because The gringos have control. Known as the Mighty Aztec, he founded the Latin American Council of Christian Churches. His powerful evangelistic-healing crusades swept through the barrios of Los Angeles, El Paso, Chicago, New York and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Ball and the Latin District Council kept planting churches throughout the US. Ball and Alice Luce published books, set up Bible colleges in California and Texas, and aggressively recruited and trained their spiritual successors (their movement now numbers 290,000 Latino constituents and 1,700 churches).
In 1924, at the Annual Convention of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, a group of ministers withdrew and formed another organization with the favorable consent of the presbytery and ministry of the PAW. In this group were William Booth Clibborn, Howard Goss, A.D. Gurley, Andrew Urshan, and others. They called for a convention to be held in Jackson, Tennessee February 17-27, 1925. The new organization would be called The Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ.
That same year, Aimee Semple McPherson launched a church-owned radio station, and the next year her Bible college. She was a major citizen: Angelus Temple won prizes in Rose Bowl competitions, and the Temple itself became a tourist attraction. Her sermons were well-advertized and illustrated. Parades, uniforms, catchy music, award-winning bands and programs for all ages launched the first of the megachurches. Big programs to feed the hungry and respond to natural disasters gained good will. During midnight forays into Denvers red-light districts, she promised Denvers outcasts a bright future if they would be true to themselves (her ministry was already starting to emphasize self). She embraced Winnipegs prostitutes with assurance that she loved them and they had hope in Christ. In San Franciscos Barbaby Coast, she walked into a dive, sat down at the piano, and got the crowds attention by playing Jesus, Lover of My Soul. Popular demand rapidly overwhelmed her. People stood in line for hours. A 24-hour prayer room began. But some people complained that Minnie Kennedy (Aimees mother) controlled too many of the finances, and that Aimees theology wasnt really Pentecostal.
During 17-27 February 1925, the ACJC (the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ) met as scheduled and decided instead to call the new organization the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance.
That same year, in an unrelated development, Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf.
The next year, seeing what was coming, John Logie Baird invented television.
Also in 1926, the storm broke on Aimee Semple McPherson. On 26 May, she disappeared. That night, Minnie Kennedy appeared in her place, and only at the end of the service said that Aimee had gone for a swim, failed to return, and was presumed drowned. Sister is gone. We know she is with Jesus.
For days, Los Angeles talked of little else. Thousands wandered Ocean Park Beath where shed last been seen. Police devised crowd control contingency plans. On 20 June an elaborate memorial service was held.
Three days later, Aimee reappeared in Douglas, Arizona, saying shed escaped from kidnappers. Crowds that had mourned her loss prepared a lavish welcome. 150,000 people lined the route from the train stations to Angelus Temple. Some law officials challenged her kidnapping story, but in December the district attorney admitted he had no case against her. Meanwhile, on her daily radio show, she presented herself as victom of kidnappers, or a corrupt law enforcement system, of the press, and of a hostile clergy.
In 1926, the former ACJC, now named Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance, met at St. Louis and changed its name back (apparently having little else to do than change names back and forth) only to find out that W.H. Whittington had already chartered another group under that name. So the general board meet in St. Paul, Minnesota, and repealed the St. Louis resolution in order to retain the PMA name, which they used until 1932.
Meanwhile, another group of ministers met in Houston, Texas, and formed an organization focused in the Southern USA and called themselves Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ. When they wanted to incorporate, they, too, found that name already taken, so they then chose Emmanuels Church in Jesus Christ as their name.
In January 1927, Aimee started another evangelistic tour. She still had many fans, but press coverage changed. She had, many people thought, lost her innocence. Images of feminine naivete and purity no longer fit. She appealed to fewer people, and became more Pentecostal. The Temple faithful began to quarrel, and the press turned these into media events. She lent her name to several business schemes that failed. She was often ill. A disastrous third marriage lasted less than two years. Some good will remain, since the Angelus Commissary still provided food, clothing and other necessities to needy families.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic alone in his Spirit of St. Louis.
In October of that year, the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ, headquartered in St. Louis, and Emmanuels Church in Jesus Christ met in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and voted to merge, which finally happened a year later in a convention in Port Arthur, Texas. The merged group used the name Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ (ACJC). This group contained Oliver Fauss, W.H. Lyon, Ben Pemberton, G.C. Stroud, Andrew Urshan, and W.H. Whittington.
In 1928, Mary Rumsey opened the first Pentecostal missions to Korea and Japan. When the Depression hit, she added a Free Dining Hall to her other good works, and supplied over 80,000 meals in its first two months of operation.
In the 1930s, because of the Pentecostals free enthusiasm, some other people suspected them of mental illness and even had one Azusa leader arrested and tried before a lunacy commission. The judge dismissed the charges, saying that if he sent this man to an asylum, half the Azusa community would have to go, too.
In 1931 at Columbus, Ohio, a conference was held which let to the merger of the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, formalized in November 1931, in St. Louis. They used the new name, Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ (PAJC).
In October 20-30, 1932, at Little Rock, Arkansas, the PMA changed its name to the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated (PCI). One minister in this organization was Harry Morse, who ran a Bible college in Oakland, California, where the Holy Spirit had been mightily in evidence for years. The PCI adopted a form of local church government and a standard district government. They changed the name to show that churches, not only ministers, could be affiliated.
By 1936, 20% of all ordained ministers in the Assemblies of God were women.
In 1937, the Mighty Aztec, Francisco Olazabal, who had worked fourteen years in founding a Latino organization, died in an automobile accident. His movement had 50,000 constituents and 150 churches.
By the 1940s, Little George Hensley had captured the attention of national media and local lawmakers, who outlawed his snake-handling practice. But Hensley and his followers continued to obey Gods law, not mans law, and were continued to be arrested. Said Hensley: Its the rulers every time. Its the rulers that persecutes the people....But Ive handled em all my life--been bit four hundred times til Im speckled all over like a guinea hen....Ill handle em even if they put me on the road gang again! Just you wait! Now its handlin serpent thats again the law, but after a while itll be against the law to talk in tongues, and then theyll go after the Bible itself!
In 1941, Rudolf Bultmann questioned Biblical history in his New Testament and Mythology.
In 1943 American Pentecostal churches were accepted as charter members in the National Association of Evangelicals. The Assemblies of God blocked the Oneness Pentecostals from being accepted
In September 1944. Aimee Semple McPherson, who had been ill but also barnstorming, felt well enough to address 10,000 people in Oakland Auditorium. The next morning, her son Rolf found her unconcious in her room. Shortly before noon, she died of kidney failure and the effects of a mixture of prescription drugs shed been talking. She was fifty-three.
In 26 September-1 October 1944 general conference in St. Louis, the PAJC invited the PCI to discuss merger. During October 24-31, 1944, at their own general conference in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the PCI passed the merger resolution. The committee to meet and consider merger included O.F. Fauss, S.R. Hanby and W.T.Witherspoon from the PAJC, and Howard Goss, B.H.Hite and Oscar Vouga from the PCI. All of this received little notice, the Pentecostal worlds attention being riveted to Aimee Semple McPhersons birthday, which took place on 9 October 1944, her fifty-fourth birthday. The day before, 50,000 people had filed past her coffin.
The committee to merge the PAJC and PCI met 30 January 1945, revised their papers, and met again 13-15 March 1945, presenting their papers to a joint meeting of presbyters 17-20 April 1945 in St. Louis. Then both organizations met simultaneously 20-25 September 1945. The PAJC met at White Way Tabernacle, pastored by Walter S. Guinn. At night, both organizations met in Kiel Auditoroium, where the PCI (the larger organization) also had its day meetings. The PAJC heard the suggested revisions of their manual, with no objection, until the question of a new name came up. The three names presented were: United Pentecostal Church, United Apostolic Church and United Church of Jesus Christ. They voted for apostolic, but with this footnote: However, be it understood that this recommendation in no way means a block to the merger of the two organizations.
At the PCI convention, the vote to merge was far larger than the necessary two-third majority, and a motion was presented to make it unanimous, which was also done. Ethel Goss said of the PCI meetings, Whatever questions of adjustment arose, they were quickly, easily and sweetly settled to the pleasure of all.
The general boards had three or four meetings, again arguing only over the name. Some said the name Pentecostal should not be used, because of the scorn in which many people held it. Others said that the word apostolic was also discredited by some people. Someone pointed out that the two terms were practically synonymous, and the name United Pentecostal Church was agreed upon. Now the two organizations met as one. The first officials were: Howard Goss of the PCI as superintendent and W.T.Witherspoon of the PAJC as assistant superintendent, Stanley Chambers as general secretary-treasurer, and Wynn T. Stairs as missionary secretary. A few ministers still living were present, including Nathaniel Urshan. Ellis Scism attended as a district superintendent of the PCI.
In the joint meetings at night, each evening a former PCI and a former PAJC minister preached. The spirit of division melted away as Gods united people worshipped together. In 1945 also, the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This and the merger were unrelated developments.
After World War II, Pentecostals increasingly aligned with non-Spirit filled evangelicals, who emphasized male leadership. This led to a reduction in the number of Spirit-filled women prominent in Pentecost.
In 1948, healing crusades began under William Branham and Oral Roberts. Ellis Scism, as district superintendent of the Northwest District of the UPC, was asked to meet with William Branham, who was a UPC ministers, but William Branham would not make a clear statement of faith indicating continuing belief in Jesus name baptism. This cost him the confidence of the UPC ministers, and led to him leaving. He later fell into the false doctrine of serpent seed. (More on this is available in E.L. and S.K. Scisms book, Northwest Passage.)
Around 1950, 18% of the ministers in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) were women. However, during the 1950s, Pentecostals, like Americans generally, were anxious about the possible collapse of the home, so the stay-at-home mom became a powerful symbol, says David Roebuch, director of the Hal Bernard Dixon Pentecostal Research Center in Cleveland, Tennessee in Christian History, Issue 58, p. 39. The result: today the woman pastor or preacher is a rare exception in Pentecostal circles.
On 24 July 1955, Little George Hensley was bitten once too often. Like so many times before, he refused medical treatment. The following morning, he was dead. Officials, showing complete misunderstanding of Hensleys faith, called his death suicide.
In 1922, A.J. Tomlinson, who had been permanent general overseer of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) for eight years, was removed from the denomination. He took 2,000 members with him.
On 1 January 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson dedicated Angelus Temple, which held 5,300 worshippers. The ceremonies included hundreds of colorfully-clothed gypsies (who called her their queen), many prominent Protestant preachers, and thousands of adoring fans.
Aimee Semple McPherson founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (ICFG). Early in its history, the ICFG said that 37% of their ministers were women.
Also in 1923, A.J. Tomlinson formed the Tomlinson Church of God, later renamed The Church of God in Prophecy. Furthermore, a major division took place in Balls Latin District Council of the Assenblies of God. Ball had been committed to establishing indigenous churches, but his headstrong and paternalistic attitudes toward Mexicans led to a major split. That year, the physically imposing Francisco Olazabal, who worked with Ball, left the AG because The gringos have control. Known as the Mighty Aztec, he founded the Latin American Council of Christian Churches. His powerful evangelistic-healing crusades swept through the barrios of Los Angeles, El Paso, Chicago, New York and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Ball and the Latin District Council kept planting churches throughout the US. Ball and Alice Luce published books, set up Bible colleges in California and Texas, and aggressively recruited and trained their spiritual successors (their movement now numbers 290,000 Latino constituents and 1,700 churches).
In 1924, at the Annual Convention of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, a group of ministers withdrew and formed another organization with the favorable consent of the presbytery and ministry of the PAW. In this group were William Booth Clibborn, Howard Goss, A.D. Gurley, Andrew Urshan, and others. They called for a convention to be held in Jackson, Tennessee February 17-27, 1925. The new organization would be called The Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ.
That same year, Aimee Semple McPherson launched a church-owned radio station, and the next year her Bible college. She was a major citizen: Angelus Temple won prizes in Rose Bowl competitions, and the Temple itself became a tourist attraction. Her sermons were well-advertized and illustrated. Parades, uniforms, catchy music, award-winning bands and programs for all ages launched the first of the megachurches. Big programs to feed the hungry and respond to natural disasters gained good will. During midnight forays into Denvers red-light districts, she promised Denvers outcasts a bright future if they would be true to themselves (her ministry was already starting to emphasize self). She embraced Winnipegs prostitutes with assurance that she loved them and they had hope in Christ. In San Franciscos Barbaby Coast, she walked into a dive, sat down at the piano, and got the crowds attention by playing Jesus, Lover of My Soul. Popular demand rapidly overwhelmed her. People stood in line for hours. A 24-hour prayer room began. But some people complained that Minnie Kennedy (Aimees mother) controlled too many of the finances, and that Aimees theology wasnt really Pentecostal.
During 17-27 February 1925, the ACJC (the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ) met as scheduled and decided instead to call the new organization the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance.
That same year, in an unrelated development, Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf.
The next year, seeing what was coming, John Logie Baird invented television.
Also in 1926, the storm broke on Aimee Semple McPherson. On 26 May, she disappeared. That night, Minnie Kennedy appeared in her place, and only at the end of the service said that Aimee had gone for a swim, failed to return, and was presumed drowned. Sister is gone. We know she is with Jesus.
For days, Los Angeles talked of little else. Thousands wandered Ocean Park Beath where shed last been seen. Police devised crowd control contingency plans. On 20 June an elaborate memorial service was held.
Three days later, Aimee reappeared in Douglas, Arizona, saying shed escaped from kidnappers. Crowds that had mourned her loss prepared a lavish welcome. 150,000 people lined the route from the train stations to Angelus Temple. Some law officials challenged her kidnapping story, but in December the district attorney admitted he had no case against her. Meanwhile, on her daily radio show, she presented herself as victom of kidnappers, or a corrupt law enforcement system, of the press, and of a hostile clergy.
In 1926, the former ACJC, now named Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance, met at St. Louis and changed its name back (apparently having little else to do than change names back and forth) only to find out that W.H. Whittington had already chartered another group under that name. So the general board meet in St. Paul, Minnesota, and repealed the St. Louis resolution in order to retain the PMA name, which they used until 1932.
Meanwhile, another group of ministers met in Houston, Texas, and formed an organization focused in the Southern USA and called themselves Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ. When they wanted to incorporate, they, too, found that name already taken, so they then chose Emmanuels Church in Jesus Christ as their name.
In January 1927, Aimee started another evangelistic tour. She still had many fans, but press coverage changed. She had, many people thought, lost her innocence. Images of feminine naivete and purity no longer fit. She appealed to fewer people, and became more Pentecostal. The Temple faithful began to quarrel, and the press turned these into media events. She lent her name to several business schemes that failed. She was often ill. A disastrous third marriage lasted less than two years. Some good will remain, since the Angelus Commissary still provided food, clothing and other necessities to needy families.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic alone in his Spirit of St. Louis.
In October of that year, the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ, headquartered in St. Louis, and Emmanuels Church in Jesus Christ met in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and voted to merge, which finally happened a year later in a convention in Port Arthur, Texas. The merged group used the name Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ (ACJC). This group contained Oliver Fauss, W.H. Lyon, Ben Pemberton, G.C. Stroud, Andrew Urshan, and W.H. Whittington.
In 1928, Mary Rumsey opened the first Pentecostal missions to Korea and Japan. When the Depression hit, she added a Free Dining Hall to her other good works, and supplied over 80,000 meals in its first two months of operation.
In the 1930s, because of the Pentecostals free enthusiasm, some other people suspected them of mental illness and even had one Azusa leader arrested and tried before a lunacy commission. The judge dismissed the charges, saying that if he sent this man to an asylum, half the Azusa community would have to go, too.
In 1931 at Columbus, Ohio, a conference was held which let to the merger of the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, formalized in November 1931, in St. Louis. They used the new name, Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ (PAJC).
In October 20-30, 1932, at Little Rock, Arkansas, the PMA changed its name to the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated (PCI). One minister in this organization was Harry Morse, who ran a Bible college in Oakland, California, where the Holy Spirit had been mightily in evidence for years. The PCI adopted a form of local church government and a standard district government. They changed the name to show that churches, not only ministers, could be affiliated.
By 1936, 20% of all ordained ministers in the Assemblies of God were women.
In 1937, the Mighty Aztec, Francisco Olazabal, who had worked fourteen years in founding a Latino organization, died in an automobile accident. His movement had 50,000 constituents and 150 churches.
By the 1940s, Little George Hensley had captured the attention of national media and local lawmakers, who outlawed his snake-handling practice. But Hensley and his followers continued to obey Gods law, not mans law, and were continued to be arrested. Said Hensley: Its the rulers every time. Its the rulers that persecutes the people....But Ive handled em all my life--been bit four hundred times til Im speckled all over like a guinea hen....Ill handle em even if they put me on the road gang again! Just you wait! Now its handlin serpent thats again the law, but after a while itll be against the law to talk in tongues, and then theyll go after the Bible itself!
In 1941, Rudolf Bultmann questioned Biblical history in his New Testament and Mythology.
In 1943 American Pentecostal churches were accepted as charter members in the National Association of Evangelicals. The Assemblies of God blocked the Oneness Pentecostals from being accepted
In September 1944. Aimee Semple McPherson, who had been ill but also barnstorming, felt well enough to address 10,000 people in Oakland Auditorium. The next morning, her son Rolf found her unconcious in her room. Shortly before noon, she died of kidney failure and the effects of a mixture of prescription drugs shed been talking. She was fifty-three.
In 26 September-1 October 1944 general conference in St. Louis, the PAJC invited the PCI to discuss merger. During October 24-31, 1944, at their own general conference in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the PCI passed the merger resolution. The committee to meet and consider merger included O.F. Fauss, S.R. Hanby and W.T.Witherspoon from the PAJC, and Howard Goss, B.H.Hite and Oscar Vouga from the PCI. All of this received little notice, the Pentecostal worlds attention being riveted to Aimee Semple McPhersons birthday, which took place on 9 October 1944, her fifty-fourth birthday. The day before, 50,000 people had filed past her coffin.
The committee to merge the PAJC and PCI met 30 January 1945, revised their papers, and met again 13-15 March 1945, presenting their papers to a joint meeting of presbyters 17-20 April 1945 in St. Louis. Then both organizations met simultaneously 20-25 September 1945. The PAJC met at White Way Tabernacle, pastored by Walter S. Guinn. At night, both organizations met in Kiel Auditoroium, where the PCI (the larger organization) also had its day meetings. The PAJC heard the suggested revisions of their manual, with no objection, until the question of a new name came up. The three names presented were: United Pentecostal Church, United Apostolic Church and United Church of Jesus Christ. They voted for apostolic, but with this footnote: However, be it understood that this recommendation in no way means a block to the merger of the two organizations.
At the PCI convention, the vote to merge was far larger than the necessary two-third majority, and a motion was presented to make it unanimous, which was also done. Ethel Goss said of the PCI meetings, Whatever questions of adjustment arose, they were quickly, easily and sweetly settled to the pleasure of all.
The general boards had three or four meetings, again arguing only over the name. Some said the name Pentecostal should not be used, because of the scorn in which many people held it. Others said that the word apostolic was also discredited by some people. Someone pointed out that the two terms were practically synonymous, and the name United Pentecostal Church was agreed upon. Now the two organizations met as one. The first officials were: Howard Goss of the PCI as superintendent and W.T.Witherspoon of the PAJC as assistant superintendent, Stanley Chambers as general secretary-treasurer, and Wynn T. Stairs as missionary secretary. A few ministers still living were present, including Nathaniel Urshan. Ellis Scism attended as a district superintendent of the PCI.
In the joint meetings at night, each evening a former PCI and a former PAJC minister preached. The spirit of division melted away as Gods united people worshipped together. In 1945 also, the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This and the merger were unrelated developments.
After World War II, Pentecostals increasingly aligned with non-Spirit filled evangelicals, who emphasized male leadership. This led to a reduction in the number of Spirit-filled women prominent in Pentecost.
In 1948, healing crusades began under William Branham and Oral Roberts. Ellis Scism, as district superintendent of the Northwest District of the UPC, was asked to meet with William Branham, who was a UPC ministers, but William Branham would not make a clear statement of faith indicating continuing belief in Jesus name baptism. This cost him the confidence of the UPC ministers, and led to him leaving. He later fell into the false doctrine of serpent seed. (More on this is available in E.L. and S.K. Scisms book, Northwest Passage.)
Around 1950, 18% of the ministers in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) were women. However, during the 1950s, Pentecostals, like Americans generally, were anxious about the possible collapse of the home, so the stay-at-home mom became a powerful symbol, says David Roebuch, director of the Hal Bernard Dixon Pentecostal Research Center in Cleveland, Tennessee in Christian History, Issue 58, p. 39. The result: today the woman pastor or preacher is a rare exception in Pentecostal circles.
On 24 July 1955, Little George Hensley was bitten once too often. Like so many times before, he refused medical treatment. The following morning, he was dead. Officials, showing complete misunderstanding of Hensleys faith, called his death suicide.
