November 21, 2024 · 4:41 pm

D. C. O. Opperman: Assemblies of God Pioneer and Educator

This Week in AG History — November 21, 1914

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG News, 21 November 2024

Ministerial education was one of the five reasons for the organization of the Assemblies of God (AG) in 1914, and one of the most prominent early AG educators was D.C.O. Opperman.

Daniel Charles Owen Opperman (1872-1926) was born near Goshen, Indiana. He was originally a member of the German Baptist Brethren or “Dunkards.” He grew up in a strict environment and was raised to be God-fearing. When his father died in 1887, Opperman was only 15. He worked on the family farm and assumed responsibility for his widowed mother, two brothers, and one sister.

With a hunger for learning, Opperman attended Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana, graduating in 1890. There he met Ella Syler, who later became his wife. He began teaching in public schools in the spring of 1892 at Elkhart, Indiana, and later in Illinois. He also furthered his education at a Brethren college in Mt. Morris, Illinois; Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois; and Illinois State Normal University, Normal, Illinois. His first wife, Ella, died in childbirth with his first son. He later married Hattie Allen, and they had five more children.

While a student at Moody Bible Institute, Opperman fell under the influence of evangelical healing evangelist John Alexander Dowie, who founded both a town (Zion City, Illinois) and a denomination (Christian Catholic Church). Opperman eventually directed Zion City’s education program. In 1902, he was ordained as a deacon in Dowie’s Chicago Auditorium.

In January 1905, Opperman caught a cold, which developed into tuberculosis. He moved to San Antonio, Texas, in March 1905 to seek a better climate for his health. There he spent time with a Zion elder named Lemuel C. Hall, who had a healing ministry and a church in the city. People prayed for Opperman, and God gave him partial deliverance from tuberculosis, though he could hardly speak above a whisper.

In March 1905, Opperman went to Houston to preach to a group of Zion believers, and that is when he met Charles F. Parham and a group of his Apostolic Faith workers. At that time, Parham was conducting a short-term Bible school in a large house at Rusk Avenue and Brazos Street in Houston.

Opperman then felt that God told him to begin street preaching. Opperman wrote in his diary, “On April 8, 1905, at about 7:30 p.m., I stepped onto Houston Street, near the Post Office, to herald the gospel of the Kingdom. God marvelously healed me, and gave me great joy in my ministry in the street.”

With all traces of tuberculosis gone and his health restored, Opperman returned to Zion City on April 22, 1905, and finished his term as principal of schools. He continued as principal that fall, but relinquished his duties and went back to San Antonio to evangelize.

Through the influence of Dowie and Parham, Opperman began preaching about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and many were baptized through his ministry, although he himself had not yet received. He was dignified and proper in his manners and had difficulty yielding to the working of the Holy Spirit. He wanted to have a true experience, and not one that was mere emotionalism. After much prayer, Opperman finally received the baptism in the Holy Spirit at Belton, Texas, on Jan. 13, 1908.

In July 1908, Opperman was appointed state director of Texas for the Apostolic Faith Movement, which was originally founded by Charles F. Parham. He began touring a number of Texas missions and also visited a camp meeting in Doxey, Oklahoma. He continued traveling and ministering in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee, before returning to Houston, Texas. During his travels, he began thinking of the need to hold short-term Bible schools in different parts of the country to train people in Bible and Pentecostal doctrines.

Beginning in 1909, Opperman began teaching a series of short-term Bible schools with hands-on practical training that each lasted for 30 to 90 days. The first school, held in Houston, was modeled after the one Parham held there three years earlier as shown by an announcement in Word and Work: “The Bible will be the only textbook. There will be only two requirements made to every student entering. First, he must learn the commands of Jesus. Second, he must obey them. It will be a faith school; there will be no charges for board, room or tuition.” Opperman also said that an evangelistic meeting would be conducted each night, and there would be street meetings and prison meetings, giving the students opportunity to practice the daily lessons learned in the school.

Opperman sought for a balance between education, prayer, and practical training. An advertisement for the school he held in Ottumwa, Iowa, stated: “The notion that preparation is nonessential is wrong. God has always had his ministers seasoned. No calling to which man is eligible needs such discipline, such preparation as that for one called to the gospel.”

At another school held in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Will Newman said that Opperman stressed the importance of spiritual guidance in all aspects of the ministry: “Everything is done by the direction of the Holy Ghost; nothing is undertaken without first waiting on Him to lead, guide, and instruct.”

Opperman’s short-term Bible schools were held in various places in the Midwest and the South, including Houston, Texas; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Joplin, Missouri; Annison, Alabama; Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Worth, Texas; Hot Springs, Arkansas; Ottumwa, Iowa; and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Some of those who are known to have attended these short-term Bible schools include Hugh Cadwalder, Mary Crouch Cadwalder, Roy Scott, John Crouch, Andrew Crouch, John Goben, Eugene Hastie, F.F. Bosworth, Elias Birdsall, W.B. McCafferty, W.B. Jessup, Ralph M. Riggs, Everett and Efton Wiley, Opal Stauffer Wiley, Harry Bowley, Willard Pope, Joe Rosselli, Forrest G. Barker, and Oscar Jones, each of whom made a lasting impact in the foundational years of the Assemblies of God.

D.C.O. Opperman was one of the five signers who risked their ministries by signing the “Call to Hot Springs,” which led to the organization of the Assemblies of God in April 1914. The signers were M.M. Pinson, A.P. Collins, H.A. Goss, D.C.O. Opperman, and E.N. Bell. Opperman conducted one of his short-term Bible schools from January to April in the Opera House in Hot Springs, Arkansas, just prior to the founding convention. Opperman also served as assistant general chairman of the AG from 1914 to 1915.

Sadly, Opperman was killed in a car accident in Baldwin Park, California, on Sept. 5, 1926, when he was on his way to a Sunday night service where he was preaching. The car he was riding in collided with the Southern Pacific Sunset Limited train. In addition to Opperman, six other people were killed. Opperman was only 54 at the time of the accident.

Not only did D.C.O. Opperman influence a number of early leaders in the Assemblies of God who attended his short-term Bible schools, but the educational model of his schools also paved the way for permanent Bible schools, correspondence schools, and district schools of ministry in the Assemblies of God.

Read about D.C.O. Opperman’s “Ottumwa Bible School,” on page 3 of the Nov. 21, 1914, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Gospel Work Among the Jews,” by Mrs. Alice Riggs

• “How Much Belongs to God?” by W.F. Carothers

• “Questions and Answers,” by E.N. Bell

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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November 15, 2024 · 9:48 am

110 Years Ago: The Second General Council and the Story Behind the Assemblies of God’s Commitment to Missions

This Week in AG History — November 14, 1914

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 14 November 2024

One hundred and ten years ago, hundreds of Assemblies of God pastors, evangelists, and missionaries traveled to Chicago to attend the second General Council. Held Nov. 15-29, 1914, at the Stone Church, this meeting’s stated purpose was “to lay a firm foundation upon which to build the Assemblies of God.”

The Assemblies of God had been organized just seven months earlier in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The young Fellowship grew quickly as existing independent ministers joined its ranks. They appreciated the vision for fellowship, accountability, and structure, while maintaining the autonomy of the local congregation. This growth caused founding chairman E.N. Bell to call for a second meeting, in order to make urgent decisions about the future of the new organization.

The Stone Church, one of the largest Pentecostal congregations in America, could easily accommodate the expected 1,000 participants. Delegates to the meeting made several important structural changes. They decided to move the headquarters from Findlay, Ohio, to St. Louis, Missouri, which would provide a more central location in a larger city. Delegates voted to expand the number of executive presbyters from 12 to 16, making the leadership more representative of the constituency. New leadership was also elected and Gospel Publishing House was authorized to expand its operations.

But the most far-reaching decision at the second General Council was one that was not on the original agenda. Assemblies of God leaders planned to take a missionary offering at the conclusion of the General Council. They had written articles encouraging people to bring money to give to missions. But the pastor of the Stone Church decided that the final offering should instead go to his own church, to help defray expenses related to hosting the council. Assemblies of God leaders, although frustrated with this turn of events, did not oppose the pastor’s request. Instead, they decided to issue a strongly-worded resolution in which they committed the Assemblies of God, from that point forward, to the cause of world evangelization. L.C. Hall drafted the resolution, which read:

“As a Council, we hereby express our gratitude to God for His great blessing upon the Movement in the past. We are grateful to Him for the results attending this forward Movement and we commit ourselves and the Movement to Him for the greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen. We pledge our hearty cooperation, prayers, and help to this end.”

This iconic resolution, unanimously adopted by the delegates, has been widely quoted as illustrating how support for missions is part of the DNA of the Assemblies of God.

There is more to the story. In the spring of 1915, something shocking was discovered about the Stone Church pastor, R.L. Erickson, who had refused to let the offering go to missions. The May 29, 1915, issue of the Weekly Evangel alerted readers that Erickson had been removed from the ministerial list due to moral failure. In a lengthy article, E.N. Bell detailed how Erickson’s “greed” was evidence of poor moral character, which also manifested itself in other harmful ways in his life and ministry. In Bell’s estimation, Erickson’s greed led him to take the offering meant for missions, which led to the adoption of the strong statement in support of missions. What Satan meant for harm, Bell wrote, God could turn into good. And 110 years later, the Assemblies of God remains committed to “the greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen.”

Read the Nov. 14, 1914, issue of the Christian Evangel, which published the minutes from the first General Council and encouraged readers to attend the second General Council.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Work in Africa and Egypt,” by Frank M. Moll

• “The Unanswered Prayer,” by Harry Morse

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Also read E.N. Bell’s article, “The Great Outlook,” in which he details the events surrounding the adoption of the resolution regarding missions, on pages 3 and 4 of the May 29, 1915, issue of the Weekly Evangel.

Pentecostal Evangel, Christian Evangel, and Weekly Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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November 7, 2024 · 12:27 pm

A. B. Simpson, the “Fourfold Gospel,” and the Assemblies of God

This Week in AG History — November 6, 1960

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 07 November 2024

Although Albert Benjamin (A.B.) Simpson (1843-1919) never joined the Pentecostal movement, few people had greater influence on early Pentecostalism. His concept of a Fourfold Gospel (or Full Gospel) and his emphasis on global evangelism provided the basis for much of the early theology and missiology of the Assemblies of God.

Simpson was born on Prince Edward Island in Canada and converted to Christ in a Presbyterian revival in 1859. He later pastored Presbyterian churches in Canada and, at age 30, accepted the pastorate of the Chestnut Street Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky.

During his ministry in Kentucky, he began emphasizing simple worship that would appeal to common people. His church struggled to embrace his burden for wider evangelistic outreach and in 1880 he moved to New York City, where he established an independent ministry to immigrants and the unchurched called The Gospel Tabernacle.

Soon after arriving in New York, he became involved with the Keswick movement, a stream within the broader Holiness movement that encouraged Christians to seek a deeper spiritual life. He began preaching that “the baptism of the Spirit” would be accompanied by a power for service to the world along with a cleansing from man’s sinful nature.

In 1882, he began the publication of a missionary journal, The Gospel in All Lands, and started holding training classes to reach “the neglected peoples of the world with the neglected resources of the church.”

In 1887, he formed two organizations: The Christian Alliance (to promote domestic missions) and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance (to promote foreign missions). In 1897, he merged these organizations to form the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), a network of ministers and churches that sought to promote the deeper Christian life and mobilize consecrated Christians for mission work.

To further the purposes of the CMA, Simpson started the Missionary Training Institute (MTI, later Nyack College, and most recently, Alliance University) in New York. MTI, the first Bible institute of its kind in America, taught the Fourfold Gospel: Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. As the disciples were trained by Jesus for three years, so Simpson’s Bible institute model was also a three-year program of intense spiritual development and practical training for Christian service. Students called MTI, “Simpson’s matchbox,” reflecting his longing for them to be set on fire for the Lord’s work.

At the turn of the 20th century, many Alliance members began adopting Pentecostal beliefs after experiencing the gift of tongues and other spiritual manifestations at Alliance meetings. Simpson was supportive of their experience, but would not accept the teaching that speaking in tongues was the initial physical evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit. The eventual position of the Christian Missionary Alliance became “seek not, forbid not” on the matter of speaking in tongues.

Many Alliance members who did accept this experience as evidence of Spirit baptism later contributed to the early formation of the Assemblies of God. Among them were Daniel W. Kerr, J. Roswell and Alice Reynolds Flower, Carrie Judd Montgomery, Noel Perkin, John W. Welch, Frank M. Boyd, W.I. Evans, Victor Plymire, and A.G. Ward. More than 40 early Assemblies of God missionaries had been trained by Simpson.

With so many early leaders coming from a CMA background, Simpson’s teachings would be reflected in Assemblies of God beliefs. Faith healing, premillennialism, the importance of a Bible institute program for ministry training, and a vision for missions were all core convictions these leaders developed in their time with the Alliance.

From Simpson’s writings and teachings, the Assemblies of God also developed much of its ecclesiology, and many of its early hymns were his compositions. Like the CMA, the Assemblies of God did not see itself as a formal denomination but as an organization for the promotion of missionary endeavors. The official publication of the Assemblies of God, The Pentecostal Evangel, published more than 100 of his articles, including one in the Nov. 6, 1960, issue, encouraging readers to “pray for the impossible.”

A.B. Simpson died in 1919 and he and his wife, Margaret, are buried at the Nyack College Cemetery in New York. While Simpson never claimed to have experienced the gift of tongues, he did remain open to ecstatic experiences in the Holy Spirit, once describing in his journal that “the Spirit came with a baptism of holy laughter for an hour or more and I am waiting for all He has yet to give and manifest.”

Read Simpson’s article on prayer on page 31 of the Nov. 6, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Deliverance is Not Enough,” by Donald Gee

• “Wanted: A Burden for Souls,” by Burton W. Pierce

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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November 1, 2024 · 7:30 am

Joseph Wannenmacher’s Healing: How a Musically Gifted Immigrant became an Assemblies of God Pioneer in Milwaukee

This Week in AG History — October 29, 1949

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 31 October 2024

As a young man, Joseph P. Wannenmacher (1895-1989) was a rising star in the Milwaukee musical scene. But a miraculous healing in a small storefront mission in 1917 forever changed his life, and he went on to become a well-loved Assemblies of God pioneer pastor. He shared his powerful testimony in the Oct. 29, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Like many other Milwaukee residents, Wannenmacher was an immigrant. He was born in Buzias, Hungary, to a family that was ethnically German and Hungarian. The Wannenmachers moved to Milwaukee in 1903, but his father was unable to adapt to American ways so they returned to Hungary after 10 months. In 1909, they returned to Milwaukee to stay.

From an early age, music helped define Joseph Wannenmacher’s life. In Hungary, he was surrounded by some of the nation’s best musicians and became a noted violinist. In Milwaukee, at age 18 he organized and conducted the Hungarian Royal Gypsy Orchestra (named after a similar group in his homeland), which performed at many of the region’s top entertainment venues.

Wannenmacher seemed to have it all. He could afford fashionable clothing, a gold watch, and diamond-studded jewelry. But underneath his successful veneer, Wannenmacher was haunted by his own human frailties.

Wannenmacher knew that he was dying a slow, painful death. His flesh would swell, develop blisters, and rot. Doctors diagnosed his condition as bone consumption. His sister had already died of the same malady. Anger boiled up in Wannenmacher as he grappled with the unfairness of life. He developed a sharp temper and, try as he might, he could not find peace.

Wannenmacher was raised in a devout Catholic home, so he turned to his faith to help him deal with his physical pain and bitterness. He frequently attended church and offered penance, but these practices did not seem to help.

He then turned to Luther’s German translation of the Bible, which someone had given to him, and began reading it voraciously. In its pages he discovered things he had never heard before. He read about Christ’s second coming, salvation by faith, and Christ’s power to heal. Perhaps most importantly, he learned that God is love. Up until that point, he had conceived of God as “Someone away up there with a long beard and a big club just waiting to beat me up.” But then, at age 18, he began to discover the gospel for himself.

In the midst of this spiritual awakening, Wannenmacher’s health was weakening. He could barely hold his violin bow in his hand, and the pain was almost unbearable. Then one morning in 1917 he heard about a group of German-speaking Pentecostals who prayed for the sick. The next service was scheduled for that afternoon, and Wannenmacher made a beeline for it. He wrote, “It was a dilapidated place, but the sweet presence of God was there.”

The small band of believers had been fasting and praying that God would send someone who was in need of salvation and healing. The service was unlike anything Wannenmacher had ever seen before. He watched the people get on their knees and cry out to God. Their outpouring of genuine faith moved Joseph’s heart.

The pastor, Hugo Ulrich, preached that sinners could be saved simply by trusting in Christ. It seemed too good to be true, Wannenmacher thought. Faith then came into his heart, and he started laughing for joy. The pastor thought Wannenmacher was mocking him, but Wannenmacher didn’t care. At the end of the service, Wannenmacher came forward to the altar and experienced a powerful encounter with God.

Wannenmacher described his time at the altar: “the power of God just struck me and shook for fully half an hour…the more His Spirit operated through my bones, through my muscles, through my being, the hotter I became. The more God’s power surged through me, the more I perspired. The Lord simply operated on that poor, diseased body of mine.”

He described this experience as being in the “operating room” of God. Later in the service, as he knelt at the altar rail in silent prayer, it seemed like heaven came down. He recalled, “As I waited there in God’s presence … [God’s] hands went down my body from head to toe, and every spirit of infirmity had to go. I got up, and I was a new man.”

A few days later, Wannenmacher was baptized in the Holy Spirit. He soon launched into gospel ministry and shared his testimony wherever he went. He played his violin and sang gospel songs during the lunch hour at the Harley Davidson plant, where he sometimes worked. He testified about his healing in hospitals, street corners, and other places. Everywhere he went, he prayed with people, and many accepted Christ and were healed. Wannenmacher’s family jokingly referred to his violin as the “healing violin,” because numerous people experienced healing as he played songs such as “The Heavenly City.”

In 1921 he married Helen Innes and started Full Gospel Church in Milwaukee. He went on to found six additional daughter churches in the area. He also served as the first superintendent of the Hungarian Branch of the Assemblies of God, which was organized in 1944 for Hungarian immigrants to America. After pastoring Full Gospel Church (renamed Calvary Assembly of God in 1944) for 39 years, he retired in 1960.

Throughout his ministry, Wannenmacher emphasized the importance of the Word of God. In his Pentecostal Evangel article, Wannenmacher compared reading the Bible to the mastery of music. “You have to practice and play music over and over again before you have mastered it,” he wrote, “and you have to apply yourself to those wonderful teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, too, in order to make them yours.”

While Joseph Wannenmacher went to be with the Lord in 1989, his legacy lives on in the churches he founded and in the people whose lives he touched. Calvary AG is continuing to reach people in the Milwaukee area and was renamed Honey Creek Church in 2015. Joseph and Helen’s three children, John, Philip, and Lois (Graber), were involved in Assemblies of God ministries. Philip served as pastor of Central Assembly of God (Springfield, Missouri) from 1970 to 1995. Philip’s daughter, Beth Carroll, serves as director of Human Resources at the Assemblies of God national office. On the floor just above Beth’s office, Joseph’s “healing violin” is on display in the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center museum.

Joseph Wannenmacher’s story reminds believers that history never really disappears. People, events, and themes from the past tend to resurface in the present, but it often takes discernment to see them. God radically transformed Joseph Wannenmacher’s heart and healed his body, and the world has never been the same.

Read Joseph P. Wannenmacher’s article, “When God’s Love Came In,” on pages 2-3 and 11-13 of the Oct. 29, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Life’s Supreme Objective,” by D.M. Carlson

• “Ministering to the Needy,” by J.H. Boyce

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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October 25, 2024 · 3:14 pm

Howard and Edith Osgood: Pioneer Assemblies of God Missionaries to China

This Week in AG History — October 22, 1949

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG News, 24 October 2024

As pioneer missionaries to China, Howard and Edith Osgood faced many hardships and dangers. Both had a strong Christian heritage which helped to prepare them for a long career in Assemblies of God missionary service.

Howard Coit Osgood (1899-1992) was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. His father, Charles B. Osgood, a fourth-generation preacher, was a traveling evangelist with the Christian Church. Howard’s great-grandfather went to Burma with Adoniram Judson as a missionary printer. Howard grew up learning about missionary work because an uncle, Dr. Elliott I. Osgood, had been a missionary-doctor in China.

Attending the Christian Church in his youth, Osgood was saved at the age of 7. By the age of 13, he felt a calling to become a minister. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in Cotner College at Bethany, Nebraska, in the fall of 1918. The next year he transferred to Hiram College in Ohio where he received a B.A. degree in Bible in 1923.

About this time, Osgood became acquainted with George Waggoner, who invited him to attend a missionary convention at the Pentecostal Church in Cleveland, Ohio (now First Assembly, Lyndhurst, Ohio), in 1920. Missionaries Harry and Helen Waggoner and Victor and Grace Plymire were the speakers, and J. Narver Gortner was the pastor. Soon after this, Osgood was baptized in the Holy Spirit and had a vision in which he received a call to go to China as a missionary. In the vision he saw a great light and great throngs of Chinese people. The Lord spoke to him, “I am sending you to roll back the canvas, so that the light of my gospel may reach them.”

Osgood became ordained with the Assemblies of God on May 19, 1927. That fall he enrolled in Bethel Bible Training School in Newark, New Jersey, and also taught music at the school. He met his wife, Edith Belle Lockwood (1901-1997), at Bethel Pentecostal Assembly, which was connected with the school.

Edith was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Frank Lockwood, was a skilled accountant, a gospel singer, and an earnest Christian. He died of a heart attack when she was only 4 years old. Her mother, Cora Lockwood, raised Edith and her older brother and sister in the Methodist Church.

Cora experienced a marvelous healing from heart trouble as a young woman and had been a Methodist evangelist before her marriage. She also became interested in the Pentecostal message and was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1906. Soon after this, Cora joined the Bethel Pentecostal Assembly at Newark, New Jersey. Edith grew up in that church and was saved and later baptized in the Spirit in 1912 at a camp meeting in Long Hill, Connecticut.

When she was baptized in the Spirit, it is reported that Edith spoke in a Chinese dialect, according to a former missionary to China who was present. She felt a calling to missionary work in China. In 1924 she began working with missionary Allen A. Swift and assisted in a Pentecostal orphanage in Kochiu, Yunnan Province.

In 1927, Edith returned to the United States and became acquainted with Howard Osgood, who was attending her home congregation. They were married at Bethel Pentecostal Assembly on June 8, 1929. On Dec. 4, 1929, along with several other Assemblies of God missionaries, they boarded the S.S. Tenyo Maru and left San Francisco to minister in China and the Tibetan people.

During their first term of missionary work, they established a church in the interior along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Their second term was spent in Kunming where another church and a missionary home were established.

When the Japanese-Chinese War broke out in July 1937, the church in Kunming and the Osgoods’ home were destroyed. War finally forced their return to the United States in 1942. The following year, Howard headed the music department at Central Bible Institute in Springfield, Missouri.

In 1945, Howard Osgood was elected field secretary for China. He later was appointed the first field secretary for the Far East in 1949, a position he held for six years.

Over the course of their missionary service, the Osgoods trained national workers in various fields in the Far East, served on the faculties of Ecclesia Bible Institute in Hong Kong, Bethel Bible Institute in Manila, and Bible schools in Tokyo and Taipei. Howard was twice editor of the Missionary Challenge, published by the Assemblies of God Foreign Missions Department.

From 1957 to 1958, Howard served as book editor for the Merchandise Sales division of the Gospel Publishing House. In 1959 the Osgoods returned to the mission field and started a new church, Glad Tidings Assembly in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. They also established Malaysia Bible Institute in Kuala Lumpur. Howard was principal of the school, and Edith was one of the teachers, as well as the dean of students.

The Osgoods retired from active missionary work in 1965. In later years Howard served as the director of music at Northeast Bible Institute in Green Lane, Pennsylvania (now University of Valley Forge). He also taught piano at Southeastern Bible College (now Southeastern University). From 1968-1972 he was coordinator of music at First Assembly of God in Lakeland, Florida. The Osgoods stayed active in that congregation as Howard taught an adult Sunday School class of 300 people, and Edith assisted in Women’s Ministries and as church treasurer.

The couple moved to Springfield, Missouri, in 1983, where they regularly ministered in music at Maranatha Village and at the Springfield Chinese Church.

Howard also composed a number of songs, including “The Church of Christ,” which was published in Songs of Praise, and “Touch Him and Be Made Whole,” which appeared in the Melodies of Praise hymnal. In collaboration with Matthew Lee, a coworker in the Far East, he translated 300 hymns into Chinese, which were published as a hymnal called Salvation Songs in 1952. Osgood published several books including Five Steps Into Christ, The Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Fire, and God’s Gift of Power.

With a long missionary career, Howard and Edith Osgood shared the gospel with Chinese people in Hong Kong, mainland China, the Philippines, and in Malaysia over a span of 36 years. They endured trials and setbacks, including losing their home and church during World War II. Still, they faithfully continued ministering to the Chinese people and others through missionary work and teaching, music, and writing.

Read, “Encounter With Robbers,” by Howard C. Osgood, on page 10 of the Oct. 22, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Principle and Practice of Faith,” by Edgar W. Bethany

• “Healing from Heaven,” by Ernest S. Williams

• “The Call to the Cross,” by Jessie Penn-Lewis

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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October 17, 2024 · 4:35 pm

T. B. Barratt: From English Methodist to Norwegian Pentecostal Pioneer

This Week in AG History — October 20, 1957

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 17 October 2024

Thomas Ball Barratt (1862-1940), born to a Methodist family in England, became the most prominent Pentecostal pioneer in Norway. Barratt was recognized at a young age for being a gifted writer, artist, and composer of music. He could have succeeded in numerous professions. But following a life-changing encounter with God, the young Barratt dedicated his life to sharing the gospel.

When Barratt was four years old, his parents immigrated to Norway, where his father worked as a miner. At age 11, Barratt’s parents sent him back to England to attend a Methodist school, where he committed his life to God during a revival. After he moved back to Norway at age 16, he became a member of Stavanger Temperance Society and became a joyful advocate of heartfelt faith and godly living.

When Barratt returned to Norway, he initially began working as his father’s assistant. However, Barratt’s artistic abilities opened other doors. He studied under Norway’s greatest composer, Edvard Grieg, and under noted artist Olaf Dahl. By age 17, he began preaching in Methodist churches. He became an ordained Methodist deacon (1889) and elder (1891) and pastored several churches.

With a deep interest in spiritual things, Barratt became a prominent proponent of revival in Norway. Through the Oslo City Mission, which he founded in 1902, and its periodical, Byposten, Barratt encouraged people to draw close to God.

In 1906, Barratt traveled to America to raise funds for the Oslo City Mission. Although he failed to raise much money, he returned to Norway with something else that would change the trajectory of his ministry. Barratt had heard testimonies about the emerging Pentecostal revival at the interracial Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, and his heart grew hungry for a deeper experience of God. Just before going back to Norway, he stopped at the Holiness Mission in New York City, where some of the gospel workers had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. These newly baptized Pentecostals prayed with Barratt. He spent an extended period of time seeking God at the altar. He spent an extended period of time seeking God at the altar. After he “emptied” his soul of self, he received the Pentecostal experience with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

Upon his return to Norway, Barratt began promoting the Pentecostal message. He endured criticism by those who mocked the reported emotionalism of the Azusa Street Mission. The Methodist Church revoked his ministerial credentials, and his mission and newspaper were given to his assistant. Barratt had to start over, building up his ministry from scratch. Despite these impediments, Barratt kept his focus on the gospel and not on his critics. Crowds thronged to hear Barratt wherever he went. He founded the Filadelfia Church in Oslo, which grew to about 2,000 members. Pentecostal churches were soon organized across the nation. Under the leadership of Barratt, the Pentecostal movement in Norway became the second largest Protestant church in Norway, second only to the Lutheran church. Barratt’s influence also spread to North America, where he traveled on occasion and preached in English to American and Canadian audiences.

The story of T.B. Barratt is a reminder of the global scope of the Pentecostal movement. Barratt, an Englishman raised in Norway, identified with the Pentecostal revival during a visit to the United States. Barratt’s testimony also demonstrates that early Pentecostals prioritized the spiritual life. Barratt modeled heartful, joyful faith, which he lived out in a godly lifestyle. From his earliest days of ministry as a Methodist to his latter years as a Pentecostal statesman, he consistently emphasized the importance of deep faith. Barratt was willing to take risks to follow God’s will. And because he did, the religious landscape in Norway has never been the same.

The Pentecostal Evangel featured the story of Thomas Ball Barratt in 1957, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Pentecostalism in Norway. Read the article, “Norway’s Pentecostal Jubilee,” on page 20 of the Oct. 20, 1957, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Athirst for God,” by A.M. Alber

• “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” by James A. Stewart

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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October 10, 2024 · 11:03 am

Opening the Iron Curtain: Bob and Bonnie Mackish and Pentecostal Missions in Eastern Europe

This Week in AG History — October 11, 1970

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 12 September 2024

In the Oct. 11, 1970, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, David Robert (Bob) Mackish (1928-2003) reported to the Locarno, Switzerland, missionary conference that “encouraging progress is being made in the Pentecostal churches in Eastern European countries.” Bob and Bonnie Mackish had no idea just how true their report was or that the next years of their ministry would lay a foundation for a work of God that no one at the 1970 convention could have begun to anticipate.

Mackish’s family had roots in Eastern Europe. His father was born near Minsk, White Russia (now Belarus), and his mother near Warsaw, Poland. Their families immigrated to the United States and Mackish was born in Kansas. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior in 1953 after a brief stint in the U.S. Army and married Bonnie Cornelius in 1955. The following year they both receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit and sensed a call to ministry.

Mackish moved his family, which soon numbered four, to Springfield, Missouri, to attend Central Bible Institute (now Evangel University). He received his ordination with the Assemblies of God in 1962 and began pastoring churches in Kansas. Each time they had a guest missionary fill the pulpit, both Bob and Bonnie felt God was calling them to join the effort for world evangelization. Because of his background, Mackish desired to reach the people of Eastern Europe.

The Mackish family received missionary appointment with the Assemblies of God in 1968, as the “representative” to Eastern Europe — giving them the opportunity to serve as a liaison between the American Assemblies of God and churches in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. Resident visas were not allowed in any of these countries, so the Mackishes settled in Vienna, Austria.

When they made short-term visits into their assigned countries, they were required to receive government permission to address meetings and were limited in the number of times they could meet with groups. Much of their ministry took place one-on-one, building relationships with believers and other church leaders. From the beginning, Mackish was very careful to work within government regulations.

In 1971, President Nixon prompted a trade agreement with the Soviet Union that opened new doors for ministry. Presses were set up in Moscow to print Bibles that were inscribed, “Printed on a State Press of the Soviet Union.” Mackish donated the first $1,000 to the effort to print these Bibles that could be transported anywhere in the Soviet Union without fear of confiscation or arrest.

In 1974, on a trip into Romania, Mackish was invited to a dinner with a member of the Department of Religion. The man asked Mackish bluntly, “Why are you here?” Earnestly, Bob Mackish replied, “The Assemblies of God is here to help. We are not interested in politics, but only in the spiritual well-being of the Romanian people.” The official was impressed with him and gave permission for an Assemblies of God presence in Romania, allowing Mackish to channel funds and supplies to Romanian churches.

In 1984, God began opening more doors into Eastern Europe. Western speakers, like Billy Graham and David Wilkerson, were allowed to hold meetings. The Hungarian government approved the opening of a Teen Challenge Center and, in 1986, Mackish was named area director for all of Eastern Europe. Sadly, in 1989, Bonnie Mackish died from cancer, only a few months before the eyes of the world turned toward Eastern Europe.

Still in mourning, Bob breathlessly watched the news coming out of the Soviet Union in 1989. Communism was crumbling and, suddenly, doors to Eastern European nations — and to their churches — were flung wide open to the Western world. Mackish quickly boarded the first available flight from Austria to Romania in January 1990. When he arrived just days after dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was killed, the church rented a 950-seat auditorium for public evangelistic meetings. It was like a dream for Bob Mackish to stand in that building packed with Romanian people freely sharing the gospel, without fear of government suppression.

When he arrived in the city of Irkutsk, Russia, the believers rented out the auditorium previously used by the Communist party. Before the meeting, someone hung a “Jesus is Lord” banner over the bust of Vladimir Lenin. The next morning a picture of the banner-covered statue appeared on the front page of the morning paper with no pushback from the government. It was truly a miraculous moment in history.

In September 1990, Mackish met with Russian government officials. They told him, “We have been carefully observing you for more than 10 years. You are one of the few people who have come here and done what you said you would do.” Mackish was granted a resident visa, making him the first Pentecostal missionary to live and work in the country since 1930.

In 1996, Mackish returned to the United States for retirement. However, even in these latter years he continued to make trips into Russia to train and encourage believers. When he passed away in 2003, letters poured in from the former Soviet Union recalling his far-reaching influence. Bob and Bonnie Mackish could never have imagined the breadth behind their 1970 report: “Encouraging progress is being made in the Pentecostal churches in Eastern European countries.” Surely God set before them “an open door.”

Read the report on the Locarno missionary convention on page 8 of the Oct. 11, 1970, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Brandmarks of a Christian,” by Noel Perkin

• “Prayer Broke the Barrier,” by Maude Johnson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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October 4, 2024 · 3:16 pm

Chi Alpha: The College Ministry Birthed with a Vision for Student-Led Spiritual Renewal

This Week in AG History — October 2, 1955

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 03 October 2024

College campuses birthed many of the world’s great Christian revival and reform movements. This fact was not lost on J. Calvin Holsinger, who pioneered Chi Alpha, the Assemblies of God ministry to college students.

In a Pentecostal Evangel article published nearly 70 years ago, Holsinger recounted how Martin Luther, a professor at Wittenberg University, helped to spark the 16th century Protestant Reformation. He also noted that the great Methodist revival of the 18th and 19th centuries began when John Wesley, an Oxford University professor, gathered students for prayer and Bible study. The students in this “Holy Club,” as it came to be called, helped to spread revival across England and, ultimately, around the world.

Even the 20th century Pentecostal movement, Holsinger observed, had origins on a college campus. When students at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, gathered in 1900 to study the Book of Acts, they experienced a profound spiritual outpouring that helped to birth the worldwide Pentecostal movement.

Why should the Assemblies of God support ministries to college students? To Holsinger, the answer to this question was obvious: history shows that students led many of the greatest revival movements. He asked, “It has been true in the past; why not today?”

Holsinger, at the time, was a professor at Central Bible Institute in Springfield, Missouri, and served as campus adviser for the National Christ’s Ambassadors Department, which was the youth organization of the Assemblies of God. He also led a college ministry at Southwest Missouri State College (now Missouri State University), one of a handful of AG campus ministries at non-Assemblies of God schools around the nation.

In 1953, Holsinger began developing plans for a national AG campus ministry at non-Assemblies of God schools. He developed manuals that defined the new organization’s purpose and mission, and he conceived a name — Chi Alpha. In 1955, the fledgling national campus ministry featured three services to college students: a Campus Ambassador magazine offered free to all Assemblies of God college students; local chapters on college campuses; and college chaplains.

By 2024, Chi Alpha had grown to 277 active chapters on campuses in the United States, served by over 1,400 affiliated staff. Chi Alpha is now the fourth-largest evangelical campus organization in the United States, after Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ), and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Read the article by J. Calvin Holsinger, “A Campus Witness,” on pages 17 and 20 of the Oct. 2, 1955, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Witnessing of the Acts 1:8 Variety,” by Robert L. Brandt

• “Witch Doctor Saved!” by John L. Franklin.

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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September 26, 2024 · 4:15 pm

Warren McPherson: Versatile Assemblies of God Leader and Author

This Week in AG History — September 28, 1958

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG News, 26 September 2024

Warren Forrest McPherson (1925-2017) had a long and storied ministry in the Assemblies of God. He is remembered as a pastor, AG servicemen’s representative, secretary of the Kansas district, promotions coordinator for the AG Youth Department, and director of Public Relations.

McPherson was born Aug. 6, 1925, to Sam and Jessie (Kephart) McPherson in Wellston, Oklahoma, where he grew up and graduated from Wellston High School in 1943. He was converted to Christ in the Wellston Assembly of God. A year later he received a call to the ministry during a National Youth Conference at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri.

In August 1943, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and served as a crewmember of a B-24 Liberator bomber. He flew 30 bombing raids over Nazi Europe. He was awarded the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, as well as many other military honors. In later years he wrote The Wild Blue Yonder, a book about his wartime experiences.

After the war, McPherson attended Central Bible College and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at CBC he was a member of the Revivaltime Choir and also sang in a male quartet called the Mission-Aires. After graduation, the AG National Youth Department asked the quartet to travel for a year, appearing in rallies and conventions in 43 states, raising funds for Speed the Light. McPherson also earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Drury University and did graduate work at the University of Missouri.

On March 29, 1952, he and Betty Lou Robberson were united in marriage. They were married more than 65 years. She was a wonderful support to him in his many ministry roles.

McPherson was ordained to the ministry on May 1, 1952. He pastored churches in Stamford, Connecticut; Newport, Rhode Island; Akron, Ohio; Parsons, Kansas; and Wichita, Kansas. He served at the Assemblies of God National Office for over 10 years as the servicemen’s representative while also serving as promotions coordinator for the AG Youth Department for eight of those years, eight years as the director of Public Relations, and two years as the national chaplains representative. For nearly six years he served on the staff of the Rex Humbard Television Ministries out of Akron, Ohio, and traveled worldwide with the Humbard family in ministry.

Owen Carr was appointed as director of the National Youth Department in 1961. While there was much he didn’t know about the administrative tasks of the job, he had a lot of new ideas, which is what was needed at the time. As far as the inner workings of the department, Carr relied heavily on the knowledge and support of McPherson, who knew everything about the department and had already worked in the Youth Department for seven years at that point. Carr couldn’t have directed the department without McPherson’s help. McPherson told him about reports that were due, and how to complete them, as well as much other needed information.

Carr said, “Warren McPherson is one of the greatest men I have ever met. Any man who would do for someone, what Warren did for me, stands head and shoulders above the crowd, and I was blessed to have Warren as my friend.” Carr said that McPherson helped in the founding of Teen Bible Quiz and Teen Talent (Fine Arts).

During his ministry, McPherson also served as the New England district youth director, Kansas district administrative assistant, Kansas district presbyter, Kansas district secretary/treasurer, a General Council presbyter, and other official capacities. He spoke at many national conventions, youth camps, and servicemen’s retreats, traveling to 48 states and 30 foreign countries. He also published articles in the Pentecostal Evangel, C.A. Herald, C.A. Guide, Pulpit, Advance, and the Sunday School Counselor. No matter what task or job lay before him, McPherson was eager to do the Lord’s bidding, which led him into many avenues of ministry.

Read, “Co-laborers for Men in Uniform,” by Warren McPherson, on page 19 of the Sept. 28, 1958, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Loneliness of Sin,” by C.M. Ward

• “Commencement Exercises Behind Prison Walls,” by Chaplain Thomas M. Petty

• “Beware of Soul Erosion,” by Elva M. Johnson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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September 19, 2024 · 12:17 pm

Genoal Wright, Despite Polio and Paraplegia, Planted an Assemblies of God Church in Arkansas in 1959

This Week in AG History — September 18, 1960

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 19 September 2024

When Genoal Wright (1932-1976) contracted polio in 1954, his future suddenly seemed uncertain. He pastored the small Assembly of God in Traskwood, Arkansas, and he was dating a young lady named Velma. But polio reduced him to dependence on an iron lung, and he lost the use of his legs.

While laying in the hospital, connected to the iron lung, the young minister made a promise to the Lord: “If God would let me survive, I will continue to preach, even if it had to be from a wheel chair.” Wright was soon able to breathe on his own, although his legs remained paralyzed. Wright kept his promise, and he continued to pastor with the aid of a wheelchair. Furthermore, the love that Velma and Genoal shared proved stronger than the polio, and they married in 1955.

Wright accepted the pastorate of the Oak Grove Assembly of God in Malvern, Arkansas, where his strong preaching made an impact on the community. His lack of legs barely slowed Wright down. He preached and visited church members across the community.

The Wrights enjoyed their ministry in Malvern, but Genoal felt restless. Ever since he was called into the ministry at age 17, he had wanted to pioneer a church. When two families began attending church from Jones Mill, a rural community 12 miles away, he saw an opportunity to fulfill his dream. He began holding Friday prayer meetings in Jones Mill, and several people there accepted Christ.

Wright began to pray about the possibility of resigning his church to minister full time in Jones Mill. Such a move did not seem to make sense. He would have to start the church from scratch, with minimal financial support and few parishioners. As a paraplegic, he had few options to support his family. Staying at Oak Grove with a nice pastoral salary seemed the wiser move. But the more he prayed, the more the Lord impressed on his heart that he needed to go to Jones Mill. He believed that, if God was calling him, God would also supply the financial need.

In 1959, the Wrights took the plunge, resigned the Oak Grove pastorate, and started the Shorewood Hills Assembly of God in Jones Mill. Seven people attended the first service in June 1959. Within four months, about 15 people had made the congregation their home. The church continued to grow and, in 1966, dedicated a new building. Wright served as pastor until his death in 1976.

Genoal Wright did not allow polio and paraplegia to derail his life and ministry. In an era when Americans with disabilities had relatively few accommodations, Wright demonstrated that God can empower a paraplegic to be an effective minister and church planter.

The Sept. 18, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel featured Genoal Wright’s story. Read the article by Ruth Lyon, “Polio Victim Pioneers Church,” on page 18.

Also featured in this issue:

• “God Has No Grandsons,” by David J. DuPlessis

• “Educated to Serve,” by C.M. Ward

• “He Walked with God,” by George Holmes

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: https://ifphc.org/

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