 |
International Pentecostal Holiness ChurchEvangelical Protestant |
|
|
|
Denomination History, Practices and Beliefs IntroductionThe International Pentecostal Holiness Church is a Pentecostal denomination that came out of the two major American Revivals Movements; the Holiness Revival and the Pentecostal Revival. Their fundamental faith is their belief in the power of God to redeem men and society to become dweller in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father. They believe Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit into the world as the agent of salvation. They believe it is this power that is available to anyone in order to empower, cleanse, save and heal. These are the concepts that gave the Pentecostal Holiness Church its beginning. The first World Conference of Pentecostal Holiness Churches met in Jerusalem, Israel in September 1990. There was a schism that came into the Pentecostal Holiness Church over divine healing and the use of medicine in 1920. There were some that believed Christians had the right to use medicine and use the aid of doctors, yet the majority believed Christians had to trust God for healing without the use of medicines and the use of doctors. Those believing in medicine and doctors withdrew from the Pentecostal Holiness Church and in 1921 formed the Congregational Holiness Church. The International Pentecostal Holiness Church has its international offices in Franklin Springs, Georgia. It is the home of the Emmanuel College and is located in Bethany, Oklahoma. The church is a charter member of the National Association of Evangelicals since 1943. They have been members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America, which is now called the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America since 1948. History The international Pentecostal Holiness Church originally came from the Fire Baptized Holiness Association in Iowa. It was a former Baptist preacher who organized the body of this denomination into the National Fire Baptized Holiness Church in August 1898. His name was Benjamin H. Irwin from Lincoln, Nebraska. A Methodist Holiness evangelist in North Carolina, Abner Blackmon Crumpler founded the Pentecostal Holiness in 1897. This congregation was the first church to carry the Pentecostal Holiness Church name and was formed in Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1898. Abner Crumpler was the minister of the Holiness church when Gaston B. Cashwell preached his Pentecost experience. Gaston B. Cashwell was a Methodist minister that joined the Pentecostal Holiness Church in 1903. Cashwell was part of the 1906 Azusa Street Mission. He received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the evidence of speaking in tongues. Abner Crumpler accepted the speaking in tongues but he did not agree that it was the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Eventually Abner Crumpler left the church. The church had an annual conference and added an article to the statement of faith recognizing that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the Pentecostal Baptism of the Holy Ghost in November 1908. This also was the beginning of the merger of the Pentecostal Holiness Church with the Fire Baptized Holiness Church. The merger occurred January 30, 1911 in North Carolina. Charles Fox Parham was a Holiness Evangelist who began his ministry as a Methodist preacher in Topeka, Kansas, and a teacher at the Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Several of his students had experienced glossolalia, the speaking in other languages, after several hours of studying the Bible and praying. It was Charles Fox Parham who called "glossolalia" the "speaking in tongues" and stated it was the proof that someone had been baptized with the Holy Ghost according to Bible evidence. This was contrary to most of the Holiness believers who believed that someone was baptized with the Holy Spirit upon them being sanctified. Charles Parham started teaching there were three works of grace that were available to Christians which were sanctification, salvation and the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the Bible evidence of speaking in other tongues. Charles Fox Parham relocated to Houston Texas and taught at Bryan Hall and held classes on repentance, conviction, sanctification, healing and the Holy Spirit mission, as well as prophecies and study of the Book of Revelation. The first student of Charles fox Parham who was baptized in the Holy Spirit accompanied by the speaking in tongues was Agnes Ozman in 1901. The Fire Baptized Holiness Church merged with the Pentecostal Holiness Church in 1911. The greatest influence to the Pentecostal movement was the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 in Los Angeles, California. The Azusa Street Revival was led by William Joseph Seymour, an African American Holiness Evangelist. This Azusa Street Revival spread around the world as the Holiness people received the Pentecostal Baptism with the Holy Ghost with the apostolic sign of speaking with other tongues, an answer to their prayers that the Pentecostal Holiness receive an outpouring from the Holy Ghost. Belief The International Pentecostal Holiness Church believes in the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. They believe the fire from the Holy Ghost is available by a definite act of faith and offered to a fully cleansed believer. They believe the evidence of the reception of the Holy Ghost is the speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. They believe in the Trinity, the deity, the virgin birth, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the personal imminent pre-millennial second coming of Christ, and the future rewards and the punishments after the final judgment. They believe divine healing was a part of the atonement of Christ and believe God has given the gift of medicine to mankind as well as divine healing. The International Pentecostal Holiness Church believes in three church ordinances, water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the feet washing of the saints. They also believe in the nine gifts of the Spirit. They believe the Holy Communion should be observed quarterly and that it is a divine ordinance. The International Pentecostal Holiness Church believes in the justification by faith and in the entire sanctification of the faithful. |
|
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation: About the Author
Joanne B. Holstein is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Philosophy student of Liberty University, and a Homeschool parent and child advocate. She is well-known as a counsleor to Christian faithful who are struggling with tremendous burden in these difficult times. She is a leading authority on the history of development of the Christian churches and the practices and beliefs of world religions and cults. |
|
|
