Pillar of Fire International

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Zarephath Christian Church in Zarephath, New Jersey
File:Alma White 01b.jpg
Bishop Alma White (1862–1946), founder of the Pillar of Fire Church
File:PIllar 01.jpg
Pillar of Fire missionaries, November 25, 1914
Assembly Hall service c. 1965 in Zarephath, New Jersey
File:Pofmissionaryhomes1966.jpg
Missionary homes of the Pillar of Fire Church in 1966

The Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey.[1] The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915.[2] While the Pillar of Fire is Methodist in doctrine, Alma White and her followers believed that the Methodist Church had become corrupt.[3] Alma White and the members of the Pillar of Fire dedicated themselves to holiness in the Wesleyan tradition. Adherents were referred to as "holy rollers" and "holy jumpers" because of their religious frenzy.[2][4][5][6][7][8] White was noted for her association with the Ku Klux Klan, her feminism, anti-Catholicism, antisemitism, anti-pentecostalism, racism, and hostility to immigrants.[9]

Following the death of the founder, under the leadership of her son, Arthur Kent White, the religious fervor declined and the emphasis on outreach evangelism and church planting ended; the organization branches in America fell from a high of around 52 to the current six.

Today the Pillar of Fire has branches in Zarephath, Denver, Westminster, Colorado, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and Pacifica, California. It primarily operates four ministry focuses: local church, radio, education, and missions.[1]

The Pillar of Fire name comes from Exodus 13:21–22 which states: "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." The organization's theological position is self-described as Wesleyan–Arminian.[10]

Beliefs

The central beliefs of the Pillar of Fire are as follows: biblical inerrancy, trinitarianism, the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit, the "universal depravity of the human race," the necessity of "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," belief in "justification by faith and in Christian perfection, or entire sanctification, as a second definite work of grace," the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and premillennialism.[11]

Continued work of the Pillar of Fire

The Pillar of Fire continues its work today working in three main areas: radio, education, and missions, both local and overseas.[12]

United States congregations

Zarephath Health Center

The Zarephath Health Center was opened in 2003[13] and utilizes volunteer physicians, nurses and support people to meet the health care needs of the poor and uninsured on the campus at Zarephath, NJ. The Health Center sees 300–400 patients per month who otherwise would not be able to affordable health care. Dr. Eck testified to the Joint Economic Committee on Health Insurance on April 28, 2004, to demonstrate the sustainability of this model.[14]

International missions

There are missions in India, Costa Rica and Liberia as well as:[15]

  • The oldest of their missions was in Hendon London, England, and was established in 1904 by Alma White. The mission organized a Charitable Trust on 19 September 1992, and was registered as a charity in December 1992 (Charity No. 1015529). In response to a complaint received by the Charity Commission in 2002, an inquiry was held, the charitable trust dissolved and transferred its assets to the U.S. organization, and the charitable trust was removed from the registry as it had ceased to exist.[16][17] One of the stated aims of this mission was to evangelize the local Jewish population in the vicinity of the mission.[18] Ironically, after the mission was sold, the property became a kosher boutique hotel[19] in 2010.[20]
  • Reverend Smallridge was given permission to start a Pillar of Fire Church in Nigeria in 1974.[21]
  • The Pillar of Fire was established in Malawi in 1984 by Reverend Moses Peter K. Phiri.[22]

Schools

Primary and secondary

Colleges

Media

Radio stations

Discontinued periodicals

  • Pillar of Fire
  • Pillar Magazine
  • The Dry Legion
  • The Good Citizen
  • Rocky Mountain Pillar of Fire
  • London Pillar of Fire
  • The British Sentinel
  • The Occidental Pillar of Fire
  • Woman's Chains
  • Pillar of Fire Junior
  • Pillar of Fire Bay Chronicle
  • The Alma White Evangel

Notable members

General superintendents

Other leaders and notable members

Ku Klux Klan, historical intolerant ideologies, and Ku Klux Klan repudiation

File:Klanatcampmeeting.jpg
Klanswomen gather on August 31, 1929 in front of Assembly Hall, Zarephath, New Jersey, for "Patriotic Day" during annual Camp Meeting. [44]
The Good Citizen, July 1926
Branford Clarke illustration in The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy

In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the Pillar of Fire Church was vocal in its support of the Ku Klux Klan, to an extent which was unique for a religious denomination.[45][46][47][48] Alma White spoke and wrote prolifically of her and the Pillar of Fire Church's support for the Klan and many of the Klan's principles including anti-Catholicism, white supremacy, antisemitism, nativism, and temperance. In 1943, shortly before her death, she and the Pillar of Fire Church significantly but not completely distanced themselves from the then discredited and nearly bankrupt Klan organization, while continuing to promote many of the Klan's intolerant principles. In a 1920s sermon she republished in 1943 she said

We have no connection with the Klan organization. We endorse them in the principles for which they stand. However there is no room in our hearts for racial prejudice.[49]

Yet White and the Pillar of Fire advocated for white supremacy in the same 1943 book-set which asserted distaste for racial prejudice. In her chapter titled "White Supremacy" she wrote

The slaveholder, in many instances, was as much to be pitied as the slaves. He, too, was a victim of the system.....Where the slaves were well treated they were happy and contented...But some radicals could never see this side of the question. They dwelt continually on the cruelties of a few hard taskmasters and ignored the good people who had the welfare of their dependants at heart. No matter what the better class of slave owners might do, they had to bear the stigma of cruelty with the worst of tyrants.....Where property rights are involved, supported by the government, the only safe and sane way to make wrongs right is by cool-headed procedure.[50]

She also said to the New Brunswick Daily Home News,

"My people are not members of the Klan, but we agree with some of the things that they stand for to assert our American right of free speech. We have always stood for one hundred percent Americanism and so does the Klan, so naturally we agree there."[51]

Yet the Pillar of Fire's pulpit and the Pillar of Fire's printing operation were used extensively to advocate for many of the most intolerant of Klan values. In 1922 Bishop Alma White preached a sermon promoting the Klan at the Pillar of Fire Church in Brooklyn, New York (which coincidentally was incinerated by the 1960 New York air disaster[52]) and published that sermon in The Good Citizen. The speech was titled "Ku Klux Klan and Woman's Causes" and one section was subtitled "White Supremacy."

The Klansmen stand for the supremacy of the white race, which is perfectly legitimate and in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Writ, and anything that has been decreed by the Almighty should not work a hardship on the colored race...It is within the rights of civilization for the white race to hold the supremacy; and no injustice to the colored man to stay in the environment where he was placed by the Creator.... When the black man was liberated it was time for women to be enfranchised, without which the colored man with his newly-acquired rank became her political master. ...The white women bore the sting of humiliation for more than half a century in being placed in an inferior position to the black men in the use of the ballot and the rights of citizenship... To whom shall we look to champion the cause and to protect the rights of women? Is there not evidence that the Knights of the Klu [sic] Klux Klan are the prophets of a new and better age?

The Pillar of Fire Church strongly argued against social and political equality for Blacks and advocated for racial segration and repeal of the fifteenth amendment.[53][54] The Pillar allowed the Klan to hold meetings or cross burnings on at least several of the church's numerous properties including numerous documented Klan gatherings in Zarephath, New Jersey; Brooklyn, New York; Bound Brook, New Jersey; Longmont, Colorado; and Westminster, Colorado.[6][55][56] White participated directly in many of these meetings. During this time, the Pillar of Fire Church published The Good Citizen, a monthly 16 page political magazine and three books, The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy, Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty, and Heroes of the Fiery Cross, all of which heavily promoted the Klan and its agenda from 1921 until 1933. Ideologically, in these publications, the Pillar of Fire Church promoted anti-Catholicism, antisemitism, nativism, and white supremacy, all primarily under the guise of patriotism.

The organization has since repudiated its historical relationship with the KKK at its website in 2009:

Much talk has also arisen over her brief but significant association with the KKK, which has also been publicly condemned and repented of by the POF leadership with a request for full forgiveness. Despite these and other errors in its history, the Lord in His grace and mercy has chosen to bless the ministry.[57]

And in the local paper in 1997:

We regret, repudiate and repent, and ask for full forgiveness for anything in our past that is short of Christian standards based on God's Word, following Jesus' model prayer that teaches us to ever pray and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. (Luke 11:4) We specifically regret mistakes and bad judgement by previous generations or anyone in our membership of the past.[58]

While the Pillar of Fire's repudiation characterized its association with the Klan as brief, it continued for at least several decades to promote its ideologies of intolerance for religious and racial minorities and of equality for white Protestant women. In 1943, 22 years after the church began publicly working with the Klan, it republished Alma White's pro-KKK books as a three-volume set under the title Guardians of Liberty, reaffirming its positions in support of anti-Semitism, white supremacy, nativism and most notably, anti-Catholicism. Volumes II and III of Guardians had introductions by Arthur White, affirming his support for his mother's intolerant ideologies, primarily but not exclusively in regard to anti-Catholicism. After his mother died in 1946, he was the Pillar of Fire's general superintendent until 1981.

Timeline

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  • 1862 Birth of Alma White as "Mollie Alma Bridwell" in Kinniconick, Kentucky[3]
  • 1887 Marriage of Alma Bridwell to Kent White
  • 1896 Church established in Denver[59]
  • 1901 Methodist Pentecostal Union Church dedicated in Denver in December[2]
  • 1902 Alma White ordained an elder[60]
  • 1904 Pentecostal Union Herald changed to Pillar of Fire[61]
  • c. 1905 Pillar of Fire separates from Methodist Episcopal Church
  • 1907 Creation of community at Zarephath, New Jersey[2]
  • 1909 Alma White separates from husband after he converts to Pentecostalism[59][62]
  • 1913 Begins publishing The Good Citizen, which is in print until 1933
  • 1915 Publishes "Why I do not eat meat"
  • 1917 Name of church officially changed to "Pillar of Fire"[61]
  • 1917 Alma White College founded in Zarephath, New Jersey[27]
  • 1918 White becomes the first woman ordained as a bishop in the United States[2] by William Godbey[59]
  • 1920 Acquires Westminster University of Colorado property in Westminster, Colorado[63]
  • 1924 Publishes Woman's Chains, which is in print until 1970[59]
  • 1925 Westminster University renamed Belleview College and Preparatory School[63]
  • 1925 Publishes The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy
  • 1926 Publishes Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
  • 1928 Publishes Heroes of the Fiery Cross
  • 1928 KPOF radio station in Westminster, Colorado[64]
  • 1931 WAWZ radio station in Zarephath, New Jersey[65]
  • 1932 Church established in Morrison, Colorado[66]
  • 1936 Property estimated at $US 4M with 4,000 adherents in 46 congregations[62]
  • 1943 Republishes Guardians of Liberty as a three volume set
  • 1946 Death of Alma White on June 26[2][67]
  • 1946 Death of Ray Bridwell White on November 5[68]
  • 1946 Arthur Kent White begins tenure as second general superintendent
  • 1978 Alma White College closes[27]
  • 1981 Arthur Kent White ends tenure[35]
  • 1981 Arlene White begins tenure as third general superintendent
  • 1984 Arlene White ends tenure
  • 1985 Donald Justin Wolfram begins tenure as fourth general superintendent[69]
  • 2000 Donald Justin Wolfram ends tenure[69]
  • 2000 Robert B. Dallenbach begins tenure as fifth general superintendent
  • 2003 Donald Justin Wolfram dies on August 25[36][69]
  • 2008 Robert B. Dallenbach loses vote of confidence at 2008 camp meeting. Vice Superintendent Joseph Gross becomes sixth general superintendent.
  • 2009 Somerset Christian Academy, formerly Alma Preparatory School, closes

In popular culture

Alma White, the Pillar of Fire, and their association with the Klan are dramatized in Libba Bray's New York Times best-selling 2012 murder mystery The Diviners, in a chapter titled "The Good Citizen." The Diviners is being made into a feature film by Paramount Pictures.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Contact Us. Pillar of Fire International. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Pillar of Fire Church: Doctrinal Statement in Brief, accessed August 31, 2006
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  12. ↑ Pillar.org
  13. ↑ ZHcenter.org
  14. ↑ AAPSonline.org
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Thepillarhotellondon.com
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ An Overview of Eden Grove Academy School, accessed August 30, 2006 Archived August 13, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ Somerset Christian Academy: History, accessed August 30, 2006
  26. ↑ Sycamore Grove School: A Ministry of the Pillar of Fire Church, accessed August 30, 2006
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Institutions that have closed, merged, or changed their names, accessed September 3, 2006
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Introducing Belleview Christian College, accessed August 30, 2006
  30. ↑ Somerset Christian College: History, accessed August 30, 2006
  31. ↑ AM91 & Castle History, accessed September 1, 2006 - "KPOF is the oldest station of the Pillar of Fire Network, which is the oldest network of Christian Stations in the World."
  32. ↑ Star 99.1 Jobs, accessed September 1, 2006 – "STAR 99.1 is a radio-ministry of Pillar of Fire"
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 93.3 Cincinnati Ohio Christian Radio, accessed September 1, 2006 - "93.3 WAKW is a service of Pillar of Fire, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization"
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Scribd.com
  41. ↑ http://www.scribd.com/doc/93216529/Dr-Johannes-Maas-Biography
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Guardians of Liberty, Vol. 1, Alma White, page 120.
  50. ↑ Guardians of Liberty, Vol. 3, Alma White, Chapter 7, White Supremacy, page 103.
  51. ↑ Guardians of Liberty, Vol. 1, page 119
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 59.3 Book Review of Susie Cunningham Stanley's "Feminist Pillar of Fire: The Life of Alma White" Bethel College (Indiana), accessed September 2, 2006
  60. ↑ Time Line 1900's, accessed September 2, 2006
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 Historic Downtown Colorado Springs, accessed September 2, 2006
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 Historic Westminster, Colorado: The Princeton of the West, accessed September 2, 2006
  64. ↑ Denver Radio: 80 Years of Change, accessed September 1, 2006 – "On March 9 [1928], KPOF went on the air and was owned by a religious movement called the Pillar of Fire.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ The Town of Morrison, Colorado: Pillar of Fire Church, accessed September 2, 2006 Archived August 29, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ 69.0 69.1 69.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

  • Cyril Edwin Mitchinson; The Babbitt Warren (1927)
  • Charles Wright Ferguson; The New Books of Revelations: The Inside Story of America's Astounding Religious Cults (1929)
  • Alma White's Evangelism Press Reports, compiled by C. R. Paige and C.K. Ingler (1939)
  • Susie Cunningham Stanley; Feminist Pillar of Fire: The Life of Alma White; Cleveland, Ohio; The Pilgrim Press, (1993) ISBN 0-8298-0950-3
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Randall Balmer; Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (2004) ISBN 1-932792-04-X

External links

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