CHAPTER V

CONFLICT OVER HOLINESS ASSOCIATIONS 1880 TO 1895

     The formation of an independent holiness church at Centralia, Missouri, in 1883 marked the final step in the progressive development of that organization from the status of an association to an ecclesiastical body.  The majority of holiness leaders, however, openly opposed this action and branded the Centralia group as fanatics or "comeouters."  Since the 1867 inception of the interdenominational holiness movement, its proponents always opposed any move toward sectarianism and instructed their followers to maintain strict loyalty to the established churches.¹

     Nevertheless, as early as 1869, Dr. Lore, editor of an official Methodist periodical, Northern Christian Advocate, voiced apprehension concerning the quasi-ecclesiastical nature of the National Camp Meeting Association.  He asserted:

The first [National] held at Vineland, New Jersey, was held under the auspices of a Presiding Elder.  The second and third [Nationals] were held without any such nominal connection, taking an entirely independent character.  It was an assembly of principally Methodists and Methodist ministers.  So while it is known as a Methodist meeting and the public holds the Church responsible for it, she has nothing officially or authoritatively to do with it.²

Such statements of concern by Methodist leaders were not uncommon during the 1870s and 1880s.

     Church leaders watched in dismay as the members of the National Camp Meeting Association spread their sphere of influence from coast to coast.  By March, 1884, the National Association held at least fifty-four summer camps.  Ministers and lay members alike returned home from these gatherings to spread the doctrine of Christian perfection.  To further their cause these advocates established holiness prayer bands, holiness associations on both the state and county levels, holiness periodicals, and holiness schools.  Such a preoccupation over the second blessing progressively aroused bitter opposition from all levels of the official church.³

     Bishop Thomas Bowman expressed this while addressing a group of young Methodist ministers at the 1883 New England Annual Conference.  He referred to the subject of holiness as a "darkness that repels out people."  Bowman continued:

It becomes my duty to guard you against making too much of a speciality...there are some of our people who are constantly talking and entirely too much on the question of entire sanctification...one holiness man left his wife and took his hired girl and traveled around the country.  He was crazed on this doctrine.⁴

      William McDonald, editor of The Christian Witness, responded to the accusation of the bishop by stating:

We have known ministers who professed only justification to be guilty of just such acts, but we have never known their acts to be attributed to their being crazed by too much justification, nor have we heard of our bishops warning the ministers on that account, to be careful and not make justification a speciality,...  We have observed in the Episcopal addresses of late years, what we are unable to account for; viz., where one word of warning has been given against the incoming tide of 'formalism,' ten have been uttered against 'fanaticism'--fanaticism  as the result of Holiness.  Our only danger, it would seem is in having too much holiness.⁵

     This was not the first time, however, Bowman attacked the advocates of perfect love.  A full five years earlier at Salina, Kansas, while delivering his Episcopal address to the Kansas Annual Conference, the bishop alluded to the same incident where a minister became crazed supposedly by holiness.  Bowman asserted that wherever such men "have worked they have succeeded in greatly injuring the churches and have driven good Christians from their places of Worship."  The editor of  The Daily reported that the "plainness of Bowman could not be misconstrued" and he characterized the discourse as "very sensible, practical advice to the ministry."⁶

     Another attack appeared the New York Christian Advocate which was the largest and most influential Methodist publication in America.  Here Rev. Thomas J. Wheat, a presiding elder from Brookfield, Missouri, stated that the leaders of the holiness movement in the states of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas were all or nearly so, zealous advocates of "comeoutism."  He further accused:

For the last ten years in some of these States the Holiness Associations have been a standing menace to the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As associations they have been, and are today, religious anarchists.  By conversation and address they denounce the Church, and publicly and privately slander our preachers...  These evils are not local but general in these States.  'The baptism of common sense' has never reached them in these parts.⁷

      Another controversy erupted as early as 1879 over comments published in the Advocate of Christian Holiness  concerning the character of Bishop Edward R. Amer.  The bishop, recently deceased, was according to Editor McDonald, "a man seemingly void of human sympathy, and almost entirely destitute of feelings of mercy."  He concluded that Ames was the "most merciless man that ever occupied the Episcopal chair in our Church."  In response the editor of the Northwestern Christian Advocate characterized these remarks as "sour, unjust, and disgraceful."  In a second article McDonald chided the editor of the Northwestern Advocate when he states, "Bishop Ames was a 'religious man,' even as religious as our brother of the Northwestern we have no reason to doubt."⁸

     Such rhetorical remarks only fueled the controversy between the advocates of Christian perfection and the church.  Editorials that derided the spiritual condition of established Methodism and its nominal members continued to appear in the holiness press.  Abusive clerical politics, lack of temperance, attendance at improper amusements, and "worldly" dress became the main overt issues of the 1880s.⁹  Other factors influenced more the ideological direction of the church such as the Darwin theory of evolution and higher or Biblical criticism.  As early as June, 1883, official tolerance for these teachings was revealed through the columns of an official Methodist publication, Central Christian Advocate.  Here Rev. D. Curry described the theory of evolution as a "universal law...and as representing the Bible in matters of science it belongs to an infantile period of the history of the growth of human knowledge and its methods of thought in all such matters are especially unscientific."  The holiness people rejected these theories as attacking the basic infallibility of the Bible.  Nevertheless, these teachings continued to gain acceptance in the church press and at Methodist seminaries.  The graduates of such institutions, over time, filled local pastorates where they showed little concern for propagating early Wesleyan theology.¹⁰

     Individuals who voiced open sentiments against these trends often were brought before local committees of examination.  For example, one such champion of primitive Wesleyan morality attacked the practice of church "fairs, auctioneering, and guessing for cakes," which he asserted was a "species of gambling."  For this supposed inappropriate attack this holiness advocate was ordered by his local church examining board and the local minister to either recant his statements publicly or withdraw from the church.  The leaders of the National movement advised such individuals not to recant and at the same time not to sever their local church connections voluntarily.¹¹  The fundamentalists felt the only way to reclaim their card-playing, dancing, and Sabbath-breaking Methodist brethren was to live an exemplary holy life.  They insisted that spirituality was measure directly by non-conformity to the material  "world."  They proclaimed "the same methods, which were successful in the past, must be depended upon in the future--a clean heart and a right spirit...Reliance upon anything else will prove an utter failure."¹²  The lack of attendance at local prayer meetings and class meetings which "early Methodist heroes regarded as indispensable aids to piety and soul growth" was also abhorred.  Abandonment of these traditional Wesleyan institutions as early as 1858 caused Nathan Bangs, a strong holiness ally, to warn the church against relaxing its requirements of class meeting attendance.  He maintained that individuals unwilling to accept tried and proven Methodist institutions "probably were not really converted and should not be taken into the church in any case."¹³

     The continued denial of primitive Wesleyan doctrine and behavior by the majority of Methodists acted as the primary catalyst that drove the perfectionists within the church to extend their extra ecclesiastical work.  The most common method used to spread and preserve holiness doctrine was the formation of local camp meeting associations.  The initial report of one such organization in August, 1883, stated that thirty-one members were accepted into the newly formed Kansas Western Holiness Association which elected officers, initiated rules of conduct, and adopted articles of faith.¹⁴  State associations in turn were much the same as their smaller sister bodies except they enjoyed a wider geographical sphere of influence and consequently a larger membership.  In Kansas and Texas they established permanent camp meeting sites at Wichita and Greenville, respectively.  However, in the Oklahoma Territory the annual state gatherings were moved each year.¹⁵

     The Kansas group first known as the Southern Kansas Holiness Association traced its origins to an 1880 camp meeting held by Rev. Ira V. Putney in Sumner County.  For the next few years this work grew slowly but an annual camp meeting was continued at Haysville, Kansas under the direction of Milton L. Haney, A Methodist evangelist from Illinois.¹⁶  During the summer of 1884 two camps were held; one in Cowley County, twelve miles north of Winfield on the west side of the Big Walnut River from July 18 to 28 and again in Sumner County nine miles southeast of Wellington on Slate Creek from July 30 to August 6.¹⁷

     This work took a distinct upturn in the summer of 1888 when Rev. Putney combined his efforts  with those of Revs. Haney, G.L. Miller, and S. B. Rhoades at a camp meeting in Riverside Park, Wichita.  In 1889 these evangelists labored in as many as ten camp or tabernacle meetings.  As a result, the holiness endeavors in Kansas continued to grow and by 1891 recorded a membership of three-hundred adherents along with nineteen evangelists.  That same year Rev. Joseph H. Smith oversaw the regularly scheduled Annual Camp which was conducted in addition to at least six other local camp meetings disbursed between Argonia, Benton, Spivey, Kiowa, Cunningham, and Silver Creek, Kansas.  According to R. J. Finley these conclaves provided "the means of bringing may into the fountain of cleansing.  Whole families have accepted the cleansing blood....This is a glorious work and Victory is ours.  Hallelujah!"¹⁸

      State associations also held annual winter conventions and business meetings.  In 1891 the Kansas group met at Hutchinson, where they adopted the name Kansas State Holiness Association.  Rev. Rhoades stated that this was done because of their ever widening geographical sphere of influence.  Here the leadership arranged for the two large canvas tabernacles of the association to be in the field from June to October, 1892.  Officers elected illustrated the interdenominational scope of the State Association by their church affiliations: Rev. Cyrus S. Nusbaum, Methodist Episcopal; Rev. A. B. Bruner, Methodist Episcopal; Rev. A. E. Flickinger, Evangelical; Rev. A. W. Cummings, Methodist Episcopal; and R. J. Finley, Lutheran.  According to Finley, over one fifth of the members of the association belonged to denominations other than the Methodist.¹⁹

     Thirty or forty preachers assisted these men at the 1893 Annual Camp Meeting where approximately three to five thousand lay persons were on the Wichita, Kansas Riverside Park Grounds at any one time.  They used a large tabernacle for religious services and a second one for meals.  In the dinning tent three meals a day were served costing $3.50 per week for preachers and $4.00 for others.  Hundreds of individual small rooming tents (10'x12' or 12'x14') were rented for $2.00 or $2.50 respectively.  Special arrangements were made for reduced rated with the Wichita Electric Street Car Company.²⁰

     Rev. S. P. Jacobs wet the spiritual tone at this camp during the first service when he delivered a message on "The Baptism of the Holy Ghost."  The schedule for each day consisted of prayer and consecration meetings before the nine A.M. services with Bible reading and preaching at ten-thirty A.M.  The program in the afternoon started at two P.M. and continued with praise and prayer until preaching at three.  In the evening the song service began at eight o'clock and the preaching at eight-thirty.  During the ten-day of meetings approximately eighty-nine people claimed conversion to Jesus and 149 sanctification.  Secretary Finley reported that the "Holy Ghost fire is spreading, Glory! Glory! Glory!"²¹

     Subsequent meetings were held monthly in members' homes, local churches, or quite often in rural schoolhouses where holiness exponents felt a greater degree of spiritual freedom.  These concourses known as "band meetings" constituted the most basic structural unit of the holiness revival.  Such assemblies resembled closely the class meetings John Wesley initiated in eighteenth-century England, and they, like the early Methodist institution proved most successful in the egalitarian "west."²²

     "Band" or monthly services attracted people from whole county areas hence, three services generally were scheduled for the day.  Typically, one service was held in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.  According to J. F. Wolford, secretary of the Neosho Valley Holiness Association, "souls were converted and sanctified in nearly every meeting...and at their last gathering in the 'M.E. Church' Edna, Kansas, the Lord sent a real tidal wave."  Consequently, the association planned two meetings for the next month--one at Pioneer School house near Edna, and one near Norton.²³   Such "bands" also held "cottage" or home prayer meetings one night a week where prayer and testimonies were the general order.²⁴

     Monthly conventions and cottage prayer meetings helped to fuse the members of the holiness associations together, but their summer camps were the spiritual highlight of the year.  The Neosho Valley group held their annual 1893 assemblage at Oswego, Kansas, and the 1894 meeting in Parsons.  At both of these meetings they engaged Rev. Edward F. Walker as the lead evangelist.  Recognized nationally as a holiness evangelist Walker also was a former pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Parsons.  Rev. Walker asserted that large crowds of people thronged to the Parsons meeting site (one third of a mile from the gas works) and a large number of converts were reported.  Evangelist Walker also was impressed by the interdenominational scope of the southeast Kansas association--president, Congregationalist; vice president, United Brethren; secretary, Methodist; treasurer, Presbyterian.²⁵

     Holiness associations often gathered on the farm of one of their members for a week-end of social activities at special times like the Fourth of July.  In 1896 the members of the Neosho Valley Association attended such a gathering on the farm of J. F. Wolford near Angola, Kansas, where they enjoyed the scheduled festivities.  Here the agenda consisted of basket dinners, singing, and religious services.²⁶

     Traveling evangelists also conducted revivals periodically under the control of such local associations.  Rev. N.J. Nelson reported the results of his evangelistic efforts at Spring Creek School house, Smith County, Kansas, in 1894 when he exclaimed, "Hallelujah!  Forty-two souls saved between March 17 and April 8."²⁷  For such services weather-tight structures seldom were available on the rural prairies of Kansas and the Oklahoma Territory.  Evangelists even conducted services under brush arbors or in roughly constructed log school houses.  Rev. Benjamin H. Irwin, in recounting his work in the Oklahoma Territory, stated:

I came across country by covered wagon traveling over hard "Gumbo" and through deep sand and "Blackjacks,"...Our meetings were held in a log schoolhouse 16 by 20 feet with a sod roof and dirt floor.  On Sunday I preached to a small but appreciative congregation and five came to the altar as definite seekers of entire sactification.²⁸

     Irwin illustrated the physical and emotional load of the itinerant life when he reported that he had delivered "over seven hundred sermons and Bible readings in eighteen months."  He declared that he had almost fallen three times while trying to finish a sermon.  As a result, he canceled all of his evangelistic engagements for the near future.  Rev. E.M. Murrill, another traveling minister, reported similar results in Texas and Louisiana where he witnessed 313 souls converted and 460 sanctified in ten months.²⁹

     Such independent evangelists were not responsible directly to any ecclesiastical leaders or organization except the local holiness associations which called them.  As a result, many fanatical excesses were manifested in both doctrine and physical actions.  These heresies included a teaching which divided full salvation into seven stages referred to as "the seven steps to the throne."  They included: (1) Repentance, (2) Justification, (3) Regeneration, (4) Entire Sanctification, (5) Baptism with the Holy Ghost, (6) Gift of healing, and (7) Translation."  Persons who obtained "translation faith"  would never die supposedly.³⁰

     Other proponents taught an extravagance  referred to as marital purity in which they openly opposed sexual contact between a man and his wife.  J. R. Calwell, as such an advocate and editor of The Quarterly Christian Life used his publication to take an unbending stand on this subject.  He asserted: "We believe all gratification of sexual appetite aside from a  desire to glorify God in the production of offspring, is a violation of natural law, (proved by the awful penalties that visit this sin),..."³¹

     Rev. A. M. Hills reported that men who taught and practiced such folly often boasted in testimony services how dead they were to their wives and children.  "They were so dead to their dependents, [he asserted] that many times they forgot to support their children begotten in other days."  Hills concluded, "Those must have been days when they had a little less religion, but a good deal more sense."³²  Martin Wells Knapp of Cincinnati, Ohio, editor of The Revivalist, also characterized the marital purity agitation as "unscriptural, fanatical, and of a dangerous tendency."³³  Rev. Charles Parham, when recounting the fanatical excesses he witnessed, avowed that some individuals became so excited  emotionally that they (supposedly under the influence of the Holy Spirit) would "jump for fifteen or twenty minutes and clear the floor by two or three feet."  Reports indicated the "holy jumpers" would scream until "you could hear them three miles away on a clear night and until their blood vessels stood out like whip cords."³⁴

     Unrestrained emotionalism and unsound doctrines were not endorsed by the majority of holiness witnesses.  They looked on the fanatic with disdain and believed he did irreparable damage to the cause of Christian holiness when he rejected all human logic and displaced it with his own self-styled divine inspiration.³⁵

     Many holiness leaders within established Methodism realized that if the church did not return to the doctrines of Wesley, a schism was inevitable.  To forestall such a circumstance, several prominent Methodist proponents of Christian perfection addressed an open letter to the bishops.  They suggested a holiness convention be called by the bishops in order to bring the perfectionist revival under the direction of the church.  Rev. William Harris, secretary of the board of bishops, responded that they were "alarmed at certain extravagances connected with the subject [holiness]."  Nevertheless, the bishops declined the invitation to chair a convention.³⁶  However, conventions convened in Cincinnati and New York (1877); Jacksonville, Illinois (1880); Round Lake, New York (1882); Chicago 1885; and again in Chicago in 1901.³⁷

     These assemblages were attended by both the conservative and independent or moderate "comeouter" factions.  The conservatives were members of the National Camp Meeting Association in general.  These individuals quite often held influential Methodist pastorates in large Eastern cities.  The  independent moderates were typically leaders of state and county associations who quite often had been expelled from their respective denominations for preaching holiness.  They included such men as: Isaiah Reid, (Presbyterian), president of the Iowa Holiness Association and editor of the Highway (Nevada, Iowa); John P. Brooks (Methodist Episcopal), editor of the Banner of Holiness (Bloomington, Illinois); William T. Ellis (Methodist Episcopal), editor of the Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas); Solomon Benjamin Shaw (Methodist Episcopal), editor of the Michigan Holiness Record (Grand Rapids, Michigan); Thomas K. Doty (Wesleyan Methodist), editor of the Christian Harvester (Cleveland, Ohio); A. M. Kiergan (Methodist Episcopal Church, South), editor of The Good Way (College Mound, Missouri).³⁸

     These ministers represented the rural "West" and generally favored drawing the National movement together into a congregationalist body centered around the local "bands."  In turn the local organizations would become independent holiness churches electing their own pastors and owning their own property.  A correspondent justified this position in the following statement: "past experience taught that there is no hope of reforming the existing anti-holiness denominations composed as they are in the main; of unregenerated people, proud, fashionable, and worldly minded.³⁹

     As loyal Methodists the conservatives opposed such a thesis and any formal declaration of union.  At the 1885 Chicago Convention, Chairman, Rev. George Hughes as the leading conservative, went so far as to pocket veto a letter from James F. Washburn who as an independent moderate, described the successes of the congregational holiness church work in California.  The chairman thus refused to allow what he regarded as rank "comeoutism" propaganda to be read publicly on the floor of the convention.  Instead, he maneuvered the delegates into seeking a gigantic infusion of the Holy Spirit.  The refusal of Hughes to recognize the separatist faction drew a quick and critical response from William Ellis, who accused the chairman and his conservative allies, of "unsound principles and unfair practices" in their control of the assembly.  Rev. Ellis concluded that in the future separate regional conventions should be held because as he said, "The narrow contractedness of the east will never coalesce with the broadness and fullness of the west."⁴⁰

     Rev. A. M. Kiergan, editor of The Good Way, summarized his feelings concerning the handling of the convention when he stated:

Sectarianism will never work in harmony with anything outside the sect it advocates.  2.  That so-called eastern holiness is sectarian to the bone, compromising and worldly.  3.  That now the lines are everywhere clearly drawn between sectly, worldly, compromising would be holiness, and the real Bible sort.  4.  That it will be useless to attempt, hereafter an assembly where that element is allowed to assume the front.⁴¹

Two other moderates, no doubt dissatisfied with the results of the convention, included Harden Wallace of Southern California and Solomon Benjamin Shaw of Michigan.  These men helped to initiate the independent holiness work in their respective states.⁴²

     Rev. Shaw in reality labored on what he referred to as the "undenominational line."  This stand constituted a sort of middle ground between the association plan favored by the denomination oriented members of the National and the independent congregationalists of the movement.  Here Shaw confirmed that both the independent holiness churches and the interdenominational associations had a legitimate mission.  He continued "Our work is not to build up or tear down churches, but to save souls and to lead God's people into the glorious experience of entire sanctification regardless of denominational lines."  He concluded that through such methods "we can reach many souls that the F. M. [Free Methodist] and W. M. [Wesleyan Methodist] would not reach.⁴³  Shaw continued to push this undenominational work through the agency of the Michigan State Holiness Association which he helped to organize at Lansing, Michigan, in December, 1881.  By the late 1880s however, opposition to the unconventional work of the Michigan Association caused Shaw and his followers to lean progressively toward the establishment of an independent holiness denomination.  At Dutton, Michigan, between September 23-27, 1889, they organized the Primitive Holiness Mission.  This constituted the first centrally organized denomination founded exclusively to propagate second blessing holiness.⁴⁴

     Almost immediately this new denomination confronted strong opposition from all facets of the holiness movement.  Benjamin T. Roberts, founder of the Free Methodist Church branded Shaw as a traitor and deceiver.  At the same time A. Copeland, editor of the Holiness Evangelist of Oakland, California, as a strong supporter of independent holiness churches complained that he did not understand how "holy men who have been put in the stocks of...sectarian church government, and beaten from pillar to post by the sect principle and spirit" should "go to work and organize another sect, and thus perpetuate the very evil which has met them at every turn in all the sects."  Only Thomas K. Doty, editor of the Christian Harvester and a Wesleyan Methodist in good standing, lent tentative support to Shaw and his Michigan associates.⁴⁵

     Evangelist Harden Wallace as early as the spring of 1880 launched what became ultimately the independent holiness church work in Southern California.  Here Wallace combined forces with Revs. Harry Ashcraft, James W. Swing, and  Mr. and Mrs. James F. Washburn.  These individuals, by May, 1884, reported through the columns of the Kansas periodical, Fire and Hammer, that they initiated four independent holiness churches from the "bands" of the Southern California and Arizona Holiness Association.⁴⁶  They organized on a congregationalist polity.  All the local members, thereby, had a say in electing elders who took charge of the spiritual interest of the local churches and deacons who supervised the temporal concerns.  It also followed that the New Testament Churches called only sanctified ministers to "feed the flock" and only those who professed the experience of heart holiness were recognized as members.⁴⁷  This plan proved very successful as witnessed in a report published in the Pentecost that revealed at least twenty-six local holiness churches were active in Southern California by January, 1893.⁴⁸

     The extreme radicals of the independent movement were however, the first individuals to combine the doctrine of holiness and a stand against the sects or the established churches.  Daniel Sidney Warner was one such reformer who spent almost ten years initially as a minister in the Church of God (Winebrennerian).  Those in this church claimed the Bible as their only guide in life, rejected sectarian entanglements and practiced foot-washing on par with the ordinances of communion and water baptism.  Less than three months after Rev. Warner began to advocate a second experience of holiness, the leadership of the Winebrennerian Church rejected his newly found perfectionist message.⁴⁹  On January 30, 1878, Warner was formally accused of trying to "divide the church."  This charge was upheld and his license withdrawn.  No Doubt, his thinking on ecclesiastical structure was influenced strongly first by his work in the Church of God (Winebrennerian) and his eventual rejection by that body for preaching holiness.  In fact, on the day following his trial Warner said:

The Lord showed me holiness could never prosper upon sectarian soil, encumbered by human creeds, and party names, and he gave me a new commission to join holiness and all truth together and build up the apostolical church of the living God.

Thus, the stage was set as early as 1878 for D. S. Warner to begin his radical separatist ministry which acted as a catalyst for the independent holiness church work.⁵⁰

     This activist centered his ministries in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan where, in October 1881, he took the final step in rejecting all visible ecclesiastical government.  This transpired when Warner proposed to the North Indiana Eldership, of which he was a member, some measures that he felt would help that body conform more closely to the "Bible standard of church government."  The eldership ministry refused to hear him and in response Warner along with five other members withdrew immediately.  This process was repeated a few weeks later in Michigan where Warner again combined the doctrine of Christian perfection and his ideas of separatist church polity.   This aroused opposition from the local Michigan Eldership and as a result twenty members withdrew from that body.  Thus, by November, 1881, Warner helped to create two isolated centers of independent church activity--one at Beaver Dam, Indiana, and the other at Carson City, Michigan.  According to the biography of Rev. Warner these were the first two groups in the United States "to step completely out of Babylon and take for their basis the New Testament Church alone."  In accordance they resolved:

That we adhere to no body or organization by the church of god bought by the blood of Christ, organized by the Holy Spirit, and governed by the Bible.  And if the Lord will, we will hold an annual assembly of all saints who in the providence of God shall be permitted to come together for the worship of God, the instruction and edification of one another, and the transaction of such business as the Holy Spirit may lead us to see and direct in its performance.

Resolved, That we ignore and abandon the practice of preacher's license as without precept or example in the Word of God, and that we wish to be 'known by our fruits' instead of by papers.

Resolved, That we do not recognize or fellowship any who come unto us assuming the character of a minister whose life is not godly in Christ Jesus and whose doctrine is not the Word of God.

Resolved, also, That we recognize and fellowship as members with us in the one body of Christ, all truly regenerated and sincere saints who worship God in all the light they possess, and that we urge all the dear children of God to forsake the snares and yokes of human parties and stand alone in the 'one fold' of Christ upon the Bible, and in the unity of the Spirit.⁵¹

     Eventually under such a general plan hundreds of local holiness churches were established nation wide, "each congregation being independent of the others, except in common sympathy, and Christian fellowship;..."  Here the holiness people attempted to reunite the doctrine of heart purity with what they saw as the most likely worship form of first-century Christianity.⁵²  At first these advocates did not even have any formal places of worship but met in individual homes, schoolhouses and when the weather permitted in the "streets or groves."⁵³

     The Indiana and Michigan groups, however, were not the first independent holiness proponents to separate themselves completely from the old line denominations.  At North Topeka, Kansas, as early as April 17, 1881, Rev. C. A. Sexton, editor of Good Tidings, built and dedicated Faith Chapel.  Here radical holiness and a congregationalist polity were first combines.  Under the leadership of Rev. Sexton a full agenda of religious services was scheduled each week.  Sunday services began with divine worship at 11:00 A.M., Sunday School at 3:00 P.M., divine worship again at 8:00 P.M., and prayer meeting each Friday at 8:00 P.M.⁵⁴

     The Main emphases at such meetings focused on allowing each individual complete freedom to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit.  They accomplished this by not adhering to any predetermined pattern for the services--referred to as "the free line."  For example, they might "Sing and pray together; read a portion of the Word:; and according to E. Morgan, "then one after another would pour forth a verbal stream of gospel fire 'with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven.'"⁵⁵  This reliance on direct revelation and interaction with God also was typical at similar services in Michigan where Joseph C. Fisher avowed that "we were together in one accord when the Holy Ghost separated Brother Edwin B. Lyon to take the oversight of the flock, which was solemnly ordained by prayer and the laying on of hands."  Acts 6:6, 14:23; 2 Pet. 5:2.⁵⁶

     Therefore, the only part mankind played ideally in organizing and controlling the New Testament Church was simply for each individual to "recognize God's organizing, and work together with Him in carrying out his will as revealed to all members by the Holy Spirit.  And just to the extent that members were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were 'tempered together' or scripturally organized.⁵⁷  Thus, heart purity acted as the only binding force between individual parishioners and all counterfeit or man made unions such as the old line churches or sects were looked upon as "sin and error."⁵⁸

     These radicals, at this time, adopted the practice of characterizing the established churches as "Modern Babylon" or as the "Mother Harlot" who had forsaken and fallen away from God. They father relied on the Bible for confirmation when exhorting others to: "Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not her plagues (Rev. 18-4), [and again] be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:...come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you (2 Cor. 6:14-17)."⁵⁹  C. A. Sexton of Faith Chapel in North Topeka, Kansas, also employed poetry in this assault on the established church when he published the following verse from "The Wormy Manna, Or the Essence of a False Gospel":

  The more moderate independents however, opposed the use of such extreme rhetoric.  They felt it turned people away from accepting the propriety of separate holiness churches.

     Editor William Ellis as such a moderate again used the columns of Fire and Hammer to defend the organization of independent holiness churches while at the same time condemning the radicals or "comeouters."  He described these extremists as "blind, hair brained, devil deluded fanatics who denounce all church organization by making a god out of Comeoutism.  Their chief point is 'I've come out,' therefore, I am holier than thou."  Rev. Ellis father asserted that "Sexton and Co. of Good Tidings manifests such a self-righteous attitude that they will not even bow their heads in prayer where sinners are getting converted.  Because there is an organization."⁶¹  Rev. Sexton responded to the charge of fanaticism by saying that "the followers of Jesus need not be scared by this scare word but ought to so live that it be true of them.  That they are fanatical in relationship to all the drones and false professors and their creeds because living faith will inspire enthusiasm to expel such dead formalism."⁶²

     Rev. A. M. Kiergan charged that such fanatics even went so far as to reject the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment.  Instead they taught a sort of glorification in this life, present redemption of the body, walking on the streets of the New Jerusalem, and that they were actually living in heaven.  They also added to these teachings general doubt as to the divine sanctity of the Sabbath as the first day of the week.  One such proponent, Rev. A. L. Brewer, editor of The Royal Priest, responded in part that if anyone could show him "that this is not the time of Christ's personal reign on earth, [he would be] ready to confess the whole comeouter business as premature and pack his goods and start for Babylon:...or the established church."⁶³  Rev. D. S. Warner of The Gospel Trumpet also struck out at the conservative independents.  Warner asserted that advocates such as T. K. Doty of the Christian Harvester acknowledged that "holiness could never prosper where high churchism was in power...and we must assert our rights and say to this hydra-headed monster, ecclesiasticism, get down into the dust."⁶⁴  On the other hand Doty stridently opposed the radical "comeouters" as those who overvalued feelings and impressions, and mistook the work of the imagination for the voice of the Holy Spirit."⁶⁵  In turn, John P. Brooks published one of the first and strongest declarations in defense of the moderate viewpoints on independent church polity.  His 1891 work, The Divine Church, constituted a treatise or systematic premise which stood in marked contrast to the inflammatory Bible exploiting statements published in the periodic literature of the day by such men as D. S. Warner, C. A. Sexton, and A. L. Brewer.⁶⁶

     Rev. John S. Inskip and William McDonald, president and vice president of the National Camp Meeting Association represented the majority of holiness people when they opposed the establishment of such independent churches.  McDonald as editor of the National Association periodical, The Christian Witness, argued that such a phenomenon "would only widen the breach between the holiness workers and the church proper, and place a new weapon in the hands of the opponents of the movement by which they will greatly hinder the work."⁶⁷  Inskip echoed opposition to the independents when he said, "We are persuaded it is both unwise and injurious to identify the work of holiness with such men and their measures."⁶⁸  Nevertheless, the independents continued to gain numerical strength.  By the twentieth-century the church of God (Holiness) and the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, emerged from this movement.⁶⁹

     As recently as their 1982 General Convention, the Church of God (Holiness) reported independent congregations in seventeen different states with their primary strength still centered in Kansas and Missouri.  Each of the 165 voting delegates represented a maximum of twenty-five local church members.  This figure, according to E. W. Roy, editor of the Church Herald and Holiness Banner, represented only those people who professed a born again experience with God and excluded any of their unconverted children or any other individuals who attended the local churches but made no confession of grace.⁷⁰  The Church of God headquartered in Anderson, Indiana, reported for 1982 one of the largest local memberships of all the holiness groups.  They claimed 220, 130 local members within 2,275 congregations in every state including the District of Columbia and Canada.⁷¹

      ¹Cowen, "Church of God (Holiness)," 20, 21.     BACK

      ²Dallas D. Lore, "National Camp Meeting," Northern Christian Advocate (Auburn, New York), XXIX, July 1, 1869, 205.     BACK

     ³McDonald and Searles, Life of Inskip, 196-198.     BACK

     ⁴Daily Journal (New England Annual Conference), 1883, as reported by William McDonald, "Bishop Bowman's Address," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. I, April 19, 1883, 4.     BACK

     ^5Ibid.,; William McDonald, "Crazed by Holiness," Ibid., May 3, 1883, 4.  For an official Methodist retort see James Fry, "Bishop Bowman on Religious Specialities," Central Christian Advocate (St. Louis, Missouri), XXVII, May 16, 1883, 156.  For a comparison of the spiritual character of Bishop Bowman to that of his episcopal fellows including Matthew Simpson, who was a strong proponent of holiness, see William McDonald, "The Difference in Bishops," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. I, May 3, 1883, 6.     BACK

     ⁶"Conference Proceedings," The Conference Daily  (Salina, Kansas), I, March 16, 1878, l.     BACK

     ⁷Thomas J. Wheat, "Dr. Steele Minifies The Evil," Christian Advocate and Journal (New York), LXIII, January 12, 1888, 20.     BACK

     ⁸William McDonald, "The Death of Bishop Ames," Advocate of Christian Holiness (Philadelphia), o.s. XI, June, 1879, 140, 141; William McDonald, "The Northwestern," Ibid.,  August, 1879, 191; "Passing Comment," Northwestern Christian Advocate (Chicago), XVII, July 2, 1879, 4.     BACK

     ⁹Melvin E. Dieter, "Revivalism and Holiness," 227, 228; John P. Brooks, "Line Upon Line," Banner of Holiness (Bloomington, Illinois), VI, August 17, 1878, 2; "A Methodist Theater!!!  The Fashionable Local Event!!  No Revival of Religion," Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), IV, March 24, 1885, 2. Henry Clay Morrison, a leading Southern Methodist minister and advocate of Bible holiness went so far as to accuse feather-wearing church woman of contributing to the near extinction of many species of American song birds.  Henry C. Morrison, "Victim of Senseless Fashion,"  The Penticostal Herald (Louisville, Kentucky), IX, August 11, 1897, 6.      BACK

    ¹⁰D. Curry, "Evolution-Darwinism-The Bible," Central Christian Advocate (St. Louis, Missouri), XXVII, June 13, 1883, 185.     BACK

    ¹¹John S. Inskip, "Inquiries of Correspondence," Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany (New York), o.s. LXXV, May, 1885, 155; John and Cora Glendening, "The True Church," Holiness War News (Clay Center, Kansas), I, April, 1891, 2; "Sabbath Desecration," Beulah Items (Providence, Rhode), o.s. IV, January, 1891, 4; "A Holiness Meeting Destroyed," Ibid., September, 1891, l.     BACK

    ¹²"Is The Methodist Church Declining?"  The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. II, December 4, 1884, n.p. Dr. Beverly Carradine graphically described what he considered the folly and sin of odern church entertainment.  He highlighted the following objections:

    ¹³Nathan Bangs, "The Recent Revival," Christian Advocate and Journal (New York), XXXIII, January 21, 1858, 9; Ibid., July 29, 1858, 117.  In 1742 John Wesley divided the membership of his societies into classes of about twelve, one of whom was styled the leaders.  These groups were arranged according to residences and met in private homes.  The original number however, soon enlarged and sometimes from twenty to fifty or even a larger number met in a single class.  Simpson, Methodism, 227-229.  The importance of these meetings was also addressed in the following.  H. Mattison, "Class Meeting,  Should We Attend Them or be Excommunicated?,"  The Northern Independent (Auburn, New York), VI, October 10, 1861, 37.     BACK

    ¹⁴J. Carnaham, "Camp-Meeting at McNames Grove," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), I, November, 1883, 3; "Constitution and By-Laws,"  Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), IV, March 13, 1885, 2.  Rules and regulations for the Kansas Western Holiness Association included:

    ARTICLES OF FAITH

QUALIFICATION OF MEMBERSHIP

The Association shall be composed of such persons as give satisfactory evidence to the Association of their experience of entire sanctification." J. Carnahan, "Camp-Meeting at McNames; Grove," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), I, November, 1883, 3.

    ¹⁵"Greenville Holiness Camp Meeting [History of]," Texas Holiness Advocate (Greenville, Texas), IX, July 5, 1906, l; "Texas State Holiness Association: Statement of Doctrine; Form of Government,"  Texas Holiness Banner (Sunset, Texas), I, May, 1900, 5; R. J. Finley, "Kansas Holiness Association - Secretary's Report,"  The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. XI, December 4, 1893, 5; "Camp meeting and Notice [Indian Territory]," Ibid. (Boston and Chicago), XVII, August 3, 1899, 12.     BACK

    ¹⁶Yearbook of The 95th Annual Camp Meeting of The Kansas State Holiness Association Incorporated, Interdenominational, Beulah Park, Wichita, Kansas, 3, 4.     BACK

    ¹⁷C. A. Fleming and S. Hewitt, "Camp Meeting Notices," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), I, July, 1884, 3.     BACK

    ¹⁸S. B. Rhoades, "From Kansas," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. IX, May 28, 1891, 5; "Camp Meeting Calendar," Ibid., 8, R. J. Finley, "From Kansas," Ibid., December 3, 1891, 4.     BACK

    ¹⁹S. B. Rhoades, "From Kansas," Ibid., X, January 7, 1892, 8; S. B. Rhoades, "Harvester Gleanings," Christian Harvester (Cleveland, Ohio), XX, April, 1892, 30.     BACK

    ²⁰"Holiness Camp Meeting," The Wichita (Kansas) Daily Beacon, June 6, 1893, 4; "Holy of Holies," Ibid., June 9, 1893, 4: "The Camp Meeting," Ibid., June 15, 1893, 4.  The larger state associations normally compiled "Guide Books" of discipline.  These covered the following types of subjects: (1) Constitution and By-laws of the Respective State Association, (2) Statement of Doctrine, (3) Object and Mission, (4) Rules for Reception of Members, (5) Rules for Organizing County Associations auxiliary to the State Associations, (6) Model for Constitution and By-laws of a County Ass'n auxiliary to the State Association.  Etta E. Shaw, "Semiannual Convention," Michigan Holiness Record (Grand Rapids, Michigan), II, April, 1884, 5, 6.  See Appendix A for structure of a state association.     BACK

    ²¹"Holy of Holies," The Wichita (Kansas) Daily Beacon, June 9, 1893, 4; R. J. Finley, "Kansas Holiness Association - Secretary's Report," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. XI, December 14, 1893, 5.  For a conclusive account of the Texas State Association's early history see "Greenville Holiness Camp Meeting [History of]," Texas Holiness Advocate (Greenville, Texas), IX, July 5, 1906, 5.  For an individual report on one of the early annual camps of the Oklahoma Territory Association see "Church Notes," Indian Journal (Eufaula, Oklahoma Territory), September 7, 1894, 4; "The Holiness Meeting," Ibid., September 21, 1894, 4; Ibid., September 28, 1894, 4.     BACK

    ²²"Band Reports," Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), III, December 12, 1884, 3, 4; Milton L. Haney, "Holiness Associations," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston and Chicago), n.s. XII, December 6, 1894, 8; Milton L. Haney, "Specially Rules for Band Meetings," Ibid., XIII, January 10, 1895, 5; Milton L. Haney, "The County Associations," Ibid., XIV, February 13, 1896, 2.  The usage of "West" by the 1880s referred to a geographical region including the states of Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, and the Oklahoma Territory.  The "band" concept also traced its roots to interdenominational meetings conducted in sparsely populated rural communities.  Nelson Case, History of Labette County Kansas from The First Settlement to The Close of 1892, 317.      BACK

    ²³J. F. Wolford, "Neosho Valley Band Meeting Report," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston and Chicago), n.s. XII, April 12, 1894, 12.      BACK

    ²⁴B. S. Barton, "Twelve Mile, Kan. to The War Cry," Evangelistic War Cry (Salina, Kansas), V, March 15, 1894, 4.     BACK

    ²⁵"Camp Meeting," The Parsons (Kansas) Daily Sun, August, 19, 1894, 4; "The Churches," Ibid., September 2, 1894, 4; Edward F. Walker, "Rev. Dr. E. F. Walker [Camp Report]," Christian Standard and International Holiness Journal (Philadelphia), XXVIII, September 28, 1893, 12; Edward F. Walker, "Parsons, Kansas Camp Report," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston and Chicago), n.s. XII, September 12, 1894, 12.  Edward Franklin Walker (1852-1918) was converted in 1871 in San Francisco at the National Camp Meeting tabernacle crusade after which he affiliated with the Methodist for many years before becoming a Presbyterian.  A Wealthy philanthropist financed his college in California in 1873.  In his later years Walker became a General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.  Edward Franklin Walker Diary, June, 1871, 4; May 27, 1873, 74; Edward Franklin Walker's Papers, Nazarene Archives, Kansas City, Missouri.     BACK

    ²⁶"Social Times," Cherryvale (Kansas) Republican, July 10, 1896, 3.     BACK

  ²⁷M. J. Nelson, "Hallelujah! 42 Saved At Spring Creek Schoolhouse," Evangelistic War Cry (Salina, Kansas), V, April 19, 1894, 1.     BACK

    ²⁸Benjamin H. Irwin, "From Holt, Oklahoma," Christian Standard and International Holiness Journal (Philadelphia), XXXI, November 21, 1895, 16.     BACK

    ²⁹Benjamin H. Irwin, "Rev. B. H. Irwin," Ibid., XXVIII, September 21, 1893, 12; E. M. Murrill, "Tidings from Evangelists," Ibid., XXXI, October 24, 1895, 14.  One of these meetings was conducted in a large canvas tabernacle in Abilene, Texas.  Rev. Murrill confirmed that people came in covered wagons from as far away as eighty miles and three-hundred miles by rail.  The crowd averaged fifteen-hundred persons per service and the evangelist said he counted "twenty-one souls converted and forty-seven sanctified." E. M. Murrill, "Meeting at Abilene, Texas,"  The Way of Faith and Neglected Themes (Columbia, South Carolina), VI, July 24, 1895, 1.     BACK

    ³⁰C. W. Bronson and G. Newton, "To The Public," Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), III, June 1, 1884, 2: Charles Broughten Jernigan, Pioneer Days of The Holiness Movement in The Southwest, 150.  Cited hereafter, Jernigan, Pioneer Days.     BACK

    ³¹J. R. Caldwell, "An Open Confession," The Quarterly Christian Life (Jacksonville, Illinois), II, Autumn, 1888, 15.  Caldwell used his publication to discuss such topics as family hygiene, dress, diet, children's companions, and school.  "Thoughts on Marital Purity, Part II: Dress, Diet, Associations, Exercise, School," Ibid., III, September 21, 1889, 142.     BACK

    ³²Aaron M. Hills, "Fanaticism Among Holiness People," The Holiness Advocate (Goldsboro, North Carolina), III, April 1, 1903, 5.     BACK

    ³³"Social Purity," The Revivalist (Cincinnati, Ohio), XI, January 26, 1899, 5.     BACK

    34Charles Parham, "Sermon," The Apostolic Faith (Baxter Springs, Kansas), Whole Number 3, April, 1925, 9.     BACK

    ³⁵George Weaver, "Fanaticism," Sent of God (Glenwood, Iowa), I, September 1, 2, 1892, 1; Milton L. Haney, "Fanaticism" Ibid, (Tabor, Iowa), XIV, June 15, 1899.     BACK

    ³⁶"Two Letters: To The Bishops of The Methodist Episcopal Church and Reply of The Bishops," Central Christian Advocate (St. Louis, Missouri), XXVI, January 18, 1882, 18.     BACK

    ³⁷Dieter, "Revivalism and Holiness," 239-245.  For primary accounts of the individual conventions see Proceedings of Holiness Conferences, 1877;  Solomon Benjamin Shaw, ed., Proceedings of The General Holiness Assembly, Held in The Park Avenue M. E. Church in Chicago, May 3-13, 1901, edited by Solomon Benjamin Shaw.  "Report of Committee on Paternal Address to The Churches," Advocate of Christian Holiness (Philadelphia), o.s. IX, February, 1878, 36, 37, 47, 48; A. E. Sexton, "The Holiness Convention a Success," Good Tidings (Topeka, Kansas), Whole Number 5, December 30, 1880, 4; A. E. Sexton, "Address of The Central Western Holiness Union Convention Held in Jacksonville, Illinois, December 15-16, 1880," Ibid., Whole Number 8, January 20, 1881, 1; A. E. Sexton, "Holiness The Great Need [Round Lake Convention}," Ibid. (North Topeka, Kansas), Whole Number 80, August 3, 1882, 2, 3; A. E. Sexton, "The Assembly Again," Ibid., Whole Number 120, May 24, 1883, 3; "General Holiness Assembly Chicago, May 20th," Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany (New York), o.s. LXXV, May, 1885, 154; "The General Assembly Chicago," Ibid., LXXVI, July, 1885, 26-28; Ibid., September, 1885, 95; "Declarations of Principles," Michigan Holiness Record (Grand Rapids, Michigan), III, June, 1885, 9, 10; Solomon Benjamin Shaw, "General Holiness Assembly," Ibid., 14; I. G. Terrill, "Address of George Hughes Upon Taking The Chair at The Chicago Assembly," Ibid., 9.     BACK

    ³⁸Charles Edwin Jones, A Guide to The Study of The Holiness Movement, 590, 620, 625, 728, 742.  Editor Brooks related several incidents in which pastors removed the names the local rolls of as many as forty proponents of holiness.  One Methodist presiding elder was instrumental in having a holiness evangelist run out of a small town in Illinois.  John P. Brooks, "Facts That Are Stubborn," Banner of Holiness (Bloomington, Illinois), no. vol., n.d., n.p.     BACK

    ³⁹James W. Swing "News From The Front," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), II, November, 1884, 3. B. A. Washburn, a leading holiness advocate in California, listed the following reasons for establishing independent holiness churches.  This description as outlined below contained the major point contained in the correspondence which Rev. Washburn wanted read openly to the delegates at the 1885 Chicago Holiness Convention.

Cowen, "Church of God (Holiness), 24, 25.  Cowen found his material in B. A. Washburn, "To The General Assembly, Chicago, May 20, 1885," The Good Way (College Mound, Missouri), May 23, 1885.    BACK

    ⁴⁰William Ellis, "Holiness Assembly," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), II, June 1885, 1.  One reason the radical delegates at the 1885 Assembly were so upset at the way it was handled was that the majority of these delegates were the ones who ask for the assembly in the first place.  John P. Brooks, "et al.,"  "The General Assembly.  The Official Call," Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), IV, May 1, 1885, 3.  By 1901 when the next national convention was held in Chicago its conservative delegates had moved closer to recognizing the necessity of maintaining work independent of the established church. Echoes of The General Holiness Assembly, 1901.     BACK

    ⁴¹"The Big Convention." The Gospel Trumpet (Williamston, Michigan), VII, August 1, 1885, 2.  For more details see A. M. Kiergan, Historical Sketches of The Revival of True Holiness and Local Church Polity From 1865-1916, 61-64.  Warner quite often used material from The Good Way.  A. M. Kiergan, "Objections to Sectism," The Gospel Trumpet (Williamston, Michigan), VI, September 15, 1884, 1.      BACK  

    ⁴²Timothy L. Smith, Called Unto Holiness, The Story of The Nazarenes: The Formative Years, 27-35.     BACK

    ⁴³Solomon B. Shaw, "Interdenominational Work a Special Need of The Day," Michigan Holiness Record (Grand Rapids, Michigan), II, September, 1884, 42.    BACK

    ⁴⁴"History of Organization," Ibid. (Dutton, Michigan), VII, January, 1890, 23; "Holiness Mission Conference," Ibid., 29.     BACK

    ⁴⁵"The Convention at Dutton," Ibid., September and October, 1889, 18; Mrs. S. Shaw, "A Few Important Facts," Ibid., 28, 29; S. B. Shaw, "A Second Reply," Ibid., February, 1890, 37; A. Copeland, "Interesting Letters," Ibid., "Brother S. B. Shaw and His Work," Ibid., April, 1890, 40.     BACK

    ⁴⁶Josephine M. Washburn, History and Reminiscences of The Holiness Church Work in Southern California and Arizona, 7-14.  Cited hereafter, Washburn, History and Reminiscences; James W. Swing, "San Bernardino, Cal. May 28, 1884," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), I, June, 1884, 3.  For a good primary account of the early years of this work see G. E. Butler, "Holiness in Downey," Pentecost (Los Angeles, California), I, February 5, 1886, 8; Ibid., February 26, 1886, 8.     BACK

    ⁴⁷Harden Wallace, "Strictures," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), I, August, 1884, 3; G. V. D. Brand, "Primitive or Apostolic Church," Pentecost (Los Angeles, California), I, August 21, 1886, 5, 6; J. A. Foster, "Sanctification The Basis of Membership in The New Testament Church," Ibid., February 26, 1886, 8.  By the late 1880s and early 1890s these teachings had been transferred to Western Kansas as evidenced the periodical literature of the Western Union Evangelistic Association.  D.P. Ziegler, "Western Union Evangelistic Association (Incorporated Under The Laws of The State of Kansas)," The Western Record (Clay Center, Kansas), III, September 10, 1892, 1; Bradford Washburn, "Twelve Reasons Why We Cannot Recognize Any One a Member of The Church of The Firstborn Until He is Sanctified," Holiness War News (Clay Center, Kansas), I, September, 1891, 1; "Holiness The Basis of Union," Herald of Pentecost (Kackley, Kansas), I, September 1, 1894, 1.  For a simple declaration of the principle points of government of the New Testament Churches see Government and Doctrines of New Testament Churches, 3-23.     BACK

    ⁴⁸"Holiness Church Directory," Pentecost (Los Angeles, California), IX, January 12, 1893, 4; "The Basis of Christian Union," The Kansas Evangelist (Beloit, Kansas), I, December, 1898, 2.     BACK

    ⁴⁹Daniel Sidney Warner, Journal of D. S. Warner, January 1, 1879, 149-153.  Anderson Theological Seminary, School of Theology Library, Anderson, Indiana.     BACK

    ⁵⁰Ibid., March 7, 1878, 161.     BACK

   ⁵¹A. L. Byers, Birth of a Reformation: Or The Life and Labors of Daniel S. Warner, 255-269.  Cited hereafter, Byers, Labors of Warner. As early as 1875 conflict arose in the Indiana Eldership of the Church of God over some members belonging to the Masonic lodge and the use of tobacco.  As a result, several conservatives were expelled whereby they formed the North Indiana Eldership.  Daniel S. Warner identified with this body after his expulsion from the Ohio Eldership of the Church of God (Winebrennerian). Ibid., 177, 178.     BACK

    ⁵²James W. Swing, "News from The Front," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), II, November, 1884, 3.     BACK

   ⁵³S. B. smith, "Correspondence," The Gospel Trumpet (Indianapolis, Indiana), IV, November 15, 1881, 3.     BACK

    ⁵⁴"Dedication," Good Tidings (North Topeka, Kansas), Whole Number 18, April 7, 1881, 4; "Holiness Meetings," Ibid., Whole Number 22, May 5, 1881, 4.     BACK

    ⁵⁵A. L. Brewer, "The Free Line, "The Royal Priest (Kirksville, Missouri), II, October 16, 1889, 2; E. Morgan, "Something Better Than Sermons," Good Tidings (North Topeka, Kansas), Whole Number 70, June 1, 1882, 4.     BACK

    ⁵⁶Joseph C. Fisher, "Victory," The Gospel Trumpet (Indianapolis, Indiana), V, January 1, 1882, 2.     BACK

    ⁵⁷"The Only Unsectarian Organization," Ibid. (Bucyrus, Ohio), VI, October 15, 1883, 1; W. A. Balmain, "The Church," The Royal Priest (Kirksville, Missouri), V, May, 1895, 1.     BACK

    ⁵⁸William Kirby, "Lay Aside Sectarianism," Pentecost Trumpet (Clay Center, Kansas), III, February 18, 1892, 2.     BACK

    ⁵⁹D. W. McLaughlin, "The One Holy Apostolic Church Contrasted With The 'Mystic Babylon of Revelation,'" Good Tidings (Topeka, Kansas), Whole Number 14, March 10, 1881, 1, 2; Allen L. Kennedy, "Modern Babylon," The Royal Priest (Kirksville, Missouri), I, November 28, 1888, 3.     BACK

    ⁶⁰"The Wormy Manna or The Essence of a False Gospel," Good Tidings (North Topeka, Kansas),  Whole Number 104, February 1, 1883, 1.     BACK

    ⁶¹"The Comeouter, The Sect Devil," Fire and Hammer (North Topeka, Kansas), I, October, 1884, 3; "'What Is It?'" Ibid., July, 1884, 3; "The Sect Incubator," Ibid., January, 1884, 3.     BACK

    ⁶²"Fanatic," Good Tidings (North Tapeka, Kansas), Whole Number 230, February 3, 1886, 3.     BACK

   ⁶³D. Brenneman, "Scraps of History,"  The Royal Priest (Kirksville, Missouri), I, May 16, 1888, 1; A. L. Brewer, "Thoughts," Ibid., 2.  For a condemnation of Brewer and his radical ideas see George Newton, "To The Public," Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), III, June 1, 1884, 2; "What Next?" The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Chicago and Boston), n.s. XVIII, May 10, 1900, 5.     BACK

    ⁶⁴Daniel Sidney Warner, Scratch Book (#4028).  Anderson Theological Seminary, School of Theology Library, Anderson, Indiana.  This was taken longhand from a speech, "True Morals," given by Thomas K. Doty at the December, 1880, Jacksonville, Illinois, Holiness Convention.  Also found in D. S. Warner, "Apostolic Power," The Gospel Trumpet (Indianapolis, Indiana), IV, July 1, 1881, 3; D. Warner, "Smoke From a Strange Fire," Ibid., VI, November 15, 1884, 3.    BACK

    ⁶⁵"Fanaticism of The Day," Christian Harvester (Cleveland, Ohio), XX, April, 1892, 29; "Comeoutism," Ibid., February, 1892, 12.     BACK

    ⁶⁶John P. Brooks, The Divine Church: A Treatise on The Origin, Constitution, Order and Ordinances of The Church; Being a Vindication of The New testament Ecclesia, and an Expose of The Anti-Scriptural Character of The Modern Church or Sect, preface.     BACK

    ⁶⁷"A New Holiness Church," The Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness (Boston), n.s. I, May 17, 1883, n.p.  "The New Church Not Scriptural," Pacific Herald of Holiness (San Francisco), IV, May 29, 1885, 1.     BACK

    ⁶⁸"Rev. John S. Inskip of The Standard and Home Journal,"  Central Christian Advocate (St. Louis, Missouri), XXVI, September 20, 1882, 300.     BACK

    ⁶⁹Cowen, "Church of God (Holiness)," n.p.; Byers, Labors of Warner, n.p.     BACK

    ⁷⁰E. W. Roy To Craig C. Fankhauser, June 30, 1983, Personal Possession of Craig C. Fankhauser, Independence, Kansas; Church of God (Holiness) Convention Minutes, 1982, 2-4.     BACK

    ⁷¹1983 Yearbook of The Church of God, United States and Canada, 266, 267.     BACK