Apostolic Faith Mission
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The Apostolic Faith Church is a worldwide Wesleyan Pentecostal-holiness religious organization, with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. This is a distinct body from the Church of God of the Apostolic Faith headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and it also strongly dissociates itself from all Oneness Pentecostal and other Apostolic churches. Further, although some writings claim that it is associated, and even incorprated into the Open Standard Churches, this is not true.
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History
In the early part of the last century, southern churches were segregated by race, but this was not so in the Pentecostal movement in Los Angeles, U.S.A., the parent-church of this particular Apostolic Faith Church or Mission. In 1906, William J. Seymour, an African-American holiness preacher, received an invitation to preach there. In April of that year, he, along with a small group of interdenominational persons, arranged for prayer meetings in a home located on Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles, California. Their purpose was to seek for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, having heard, through Seymour, Charles Fox Parham (a white Pentecostal pioneer and teacher), and others, of this Pentecostal experience being received by believers in the Midwest. When a number received this experience, the word spread, and shortly the meetings were transferred to larger quarters in an old Methodist church on Azusa Street.
Among those attending the meetings on Azusa Street was Florence L. Crawford, a Methodist laywoman. There she received the experience of sanctification and the power of the Holy Spirit. At her baptism in the Holy Spirit, she related that God "permitted me to speak in the Chinese tongue, which was understood by a Christian Chinese who was present." She also testified to receiving a miraculous healing of her eyes, which had been damaged by spinal meningitis.
Although Parham soon denounced the revival as a "darky camp meeting," saying, "God is sick at His stomach!" and "What good can come from a self-appointed Negro prophet," Crawford, a dynamic white woman, entered wholeheartedly into evangelistic work, assisting Seymour. Thousands of inquiries had begun coming in from people who wanted to know more about the Pentecostal outpouring, so Crawford, with the help of her secretary Clara Lum and others, began putting the record of what was being said in the meetings into a newspaper format, using Seymour's mission press. The publication was called The Apostolic Faith.
In addition to her efforts in the publishing work, Crawford felt God's call to travel beyond the boundaries of Los Angeles with the Pentecostal message. Her first ministries were along the West Coast where she worked as an itinerant home missionary. On December 25, 1906, she made her initial visit to Portland, Oregon, where she had been invited to preach in an independent church on Second and Main Street. Subsequently, the pastor of that church offered her his pulpit permanently, and in 1908, Crawford moved to Portland, taking the Los Angeles mailing list along. Secretary Clara Lum soon followed with another copy of that mailing list.
The publication of The Apostolic Faith continued uninterrupted, with the final edition from Los Angeles being printed in June, 1908. Saying nothing with regard to any subsequent editions of the 13th issue, the Apostolic Faith Mission in Portland explained, "The first edition of the 13th issue of The Apostolic Faith paper . . . contained this note: 'For the next issue of this paper address The Apostolic Faith Campmeeting, Portland, Oregon.'" This first edition of the 13th issue, however, came out in July-August, 1908, from Portland.
In the meantime, Seymour suddenly quit publishing The Apostolic Faith. While some are silent about this, others have stated that the reason was that he no longer had his mailing list, which was also his list of supporters from all over the United States, especially in the Midwest. However, the Apostolic Faith Church has replied to this that Crawford and Lum only took two lists, leaving twenty other copies of the list with Seymour. Interestingly, the Portland-based church indeed boasts many supporters from the Midwest in their own early history, in a book titled The Apostolic Faith, which is called an "historical account" of the reorganization of the church in Portland.
The Los Angeles Apostolic Faith Church, without its supporters, quickly declined. In 1909, Seymour's wife Jennie Seymour, with two others (not Mr. Seymour), signed the papers making Crawford's organization an independent entity.
While the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland marks Crawford's arrival there as their beginning, it actually began sometime earlier with Seymour opening his Apostolic Faith Mission, its name emblazoned upon the clapboard side of an old, forgotten Methodist church on Azusa Street. Seymour continued to preach to his fast-dwindling congregation until his death in 1922, after which Mrs. Seymour took over the services. That first Apostolic Faith church building was demolished in 1931 and the land lost in foreclosure in 1938, two years after Mrs. Seymour's death.
Portland was then established as the headquarters of this growing spin-off movement. In 1922, its headquarters building, a landmark in downtown Portland, was erected. A large neon sign with the message "Jesus the Light of the World," first displayed in 1917, was transferred to the new structure. Since then, a new headquarters building has been built in south Portland near its camp ground, new church, and parsonage.
Church doctrines and teachings
Through the years, the Apostolic Faith Church's leaders have maintained the doctrines outlined in Seymour's editions of the The Apostolic Faith papers printed in 1906. As a Trinitarian and fundamental church, their doctrinal position centers on a belief in a born-again experience, supports the Wesleyan teaching of holiness, and stresses the need of sanctified believers to receive the Pentecostal experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They hold to a somewhat-Arminian teaching of salvation, in strong defiance of Calvinistic beliefs regarding sin, predestination, and eternal security.
While they will say that some in other churches could possibly be saved, they maintain that this particular Apostolic Faith Church has the "whole gospel," while others have a "lesser gospel." Members are not forbidden to read outside materials or attend other churches, but they are strongly warned not to do so. Even home Bible studies are, in some of their churches, strongly warned against as leading to trouble; the others of their pastors absolutely forbid them.
Further, the Apostolic Faith Church maintains and strongly protects the concept of its being a church that will not pass a collection plate. Rather, small slotted boxes are placed upon the walls of their various rooms to receive "tithes and offerings." Most of the Apostolic Faith Church's pastors hold to the concept of paying "tithes" to the church, which they teach comprises 10% of one's whole income. Some of their pastors, however, encourage that a tithe be paid upon not just all of one's income but also upon all gifts and all personal purchases. The membership is strongly encouraged to channel all charitable giving through the church rather than through other charitable entities.
The pastors and preachers in the Apostolic Faith are not seminary-taught. In more recent years, some have had non-religious college educations, or some years in college, but this is not encouraged. Rather, those who preach are chosen by their pastors from the congregations and taught by those pastors. These men and women are expected to further educate themselves by reading the KJV Bible, reading other Apostolic Faith pastors' sermons, listening to Apostolic Faith preachers' recordings, and attending yearly camp meetings.
The Apostolic Faith Church uses the KJV Bible and sees other translations as not only inferior but also damning. They use, nearly exclusively, no literature other than that they publish themselves, which includes a bimonthly magazine, tracts, and all Sunday school materials. They allow almost no speakers to teach in their churches unless they hold membership with the Apostolic Faith Church (Mission).
They allow no remarriage while a previous (first-marriage) spouse is still living, except to the original spouse. All such marriages, other than those to the original spouse, are considered adultery. Should one join their membership while in what the church considers to be an adultrous marriage, the couple must separate immediately in order to maintain that membership.
Among other prohibitions for members, they allow no dancing, alcohol/wine consumption, or smoking, considering these to be sins. Any jewelry which touches the person, including wedding bands, is prohibited, except for those particular watches they deem acceptable. Once severely frowned upon, higher education, some sports attendance, and pants worn by women while off the church grounds are now reluctantly accepted. Certain card-playing and television, once all considered sins, are now common among both the members and leadership.
Organization
The church is governed by a board of five trustees which guides the General Overseer from Portland, Oregon, where they maintain a campground and a publishing house. Rev. Darrel Lee is currently serving as overseer. Both home and foreign missions have emerged on a large scale, with works in Africa, Asia, the West Indies, and Europe. While each of these have their own leadership, the Portland headquarters is still seen as having the final say.
American congregations are also, of course, under the leadership and direction of the headquarters in Portland. Although visits to the individual churches are both few and irregular, the headquarters makes all the decisions for the churches. Discipline is maintained by yearly visits by all of the ministerial staff, and most of those in the congregations, to the camp meetings.
Church motto
"Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).
Periodicals
- Higher Way
- The Light of Hope
- Focus
Other Printed Materials
- Sunday school materials
- Tracts
Membership
In 1997 the church reported approximately 4,000 members, in 50 congregations with 160 ministers in the United States, and 10 congregations and 25 ministers in Canada. There are approximately 50,000 members in foreign lands. The largest mission field is in Nigeria, where there are approximately 20,000 members in about 600 churches. Membership is only an estimate. While records of baptisms are kept, the church includes as members those who attend regularly and are compliant with their basic teachings.
External link
The Apostolic Faith Church (http://www.apostolicfaith.org)