ADAH19.TXT

THE SIGNIFICANCE Of RACE IN THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE APOSTOLIC PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT 

(A Paper Presented at the First Occasional Symposium on Aspects of the Oneness Pentecostal Movement, at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, M.A. on July 5, 1984) 

By James S. Tinney, Ph.D. 

Introduction 

No discussion of the Pentecostal movement should neglect the important dimension of race. This is true not only because a Black church served as the launching point for what would become a worldwide movement, but also because Pentecostalism legitimized a form of "slave religion" that was being repressed in Black communities, and provided a case example of racial tensions in a movement that increasingly attracted more and more white adherents. [1) 

Pentecostalism is one of the most racially mutual religions of any on the American scene. Rather than representing white missionizing in Black areas, it represents the converse. Furthermore, while it may be numerically larger in the white community (depending on whether one accepts the 3 million estimated membership of the Black Church of God in Christ), there is no question about the fact that Pentecostalism is proportionately more significant in the Black community, enrolling a higher percentage of the American Black population than of the American population generally. Only in the Black community do Pentecostals outrank even the Methodists in membership statistics, causing one Black historian to project that one-third of all Afro-Americans are in some way connected to Pentecostalism. [2] Despite the long-standing inter-racial character of the faith itself, it nevertheless remains rigidly segregated; and this fact too should attract interest. 

When it comes to that branch of the movement known variously as Apostolic, Oneness, or Jesus Name Pentecostalism, the same racial patterns obtain. Only in this segment of the movement, original leadership was provided by whites at the very earliest stages, until the conversion of a Black minister, G.T. Haywood, whose meteoric rise to prominence in the movement quickly outshone the white Apostolic progenitors. As many have noted, this branch also provided movement history with one of the clearest examples of attempts at inter-racial cooperation and organic union in one denomination's story, that of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. In fact, there is evidence that the so-called "inter-racial character" of the movement is a misnomer except in the context of the mother Azusa Mission, and in the healing tent revivalists of the fifties and sixties, and in the Apostolic wing. (3] 

Until now, any discussion of the significance of race in the Oneness movement has been confined to the case history of the PAW and its various spin-offs. Such considerations have usually been descriptive rather than analytical. i.e., they have attempted to redraw the events surrounding the various disagreements and divisions between Blacks and whites in the PAW and its attendant schisms, rather than provide a wider sociological or historical analysis that goes beyond identifying prejudice as a cause. This paper will attempt to fill in this gap by providing a theoretical framework in which the significant role of race is expanded beyond the idea of mere prejudice. This writer utilizes a conflict paradigm, and suggests that, in the meeting of races within the movement, there also occurred natural and normal competition between cultural values and modes of thought and action, each racially identifiable (although this is not to diminish other class factors as well), and each struggling to maintain its own autonomous character. 

For present purposes this paper will examine Apostolicism under three headings relating to the racial context of (1) its Pentecostal origins; (2) leadership competition; and (3) other significant developments. 

I. APOSTOLICISM IN THE RACIAL CONTEXT OF ITS PENTECOSTAL ORIGINS 

When the Pentecostal movement began in 1906 as a three-year long continuous revival at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, pastored by the Black minister William Seymour, it brought into existence a uniquely new form of religion that contained borrowed elements from two traditions: one African and the other White-American. As a result many historians have commented about the African elements in Pentecostal worship and theology. (4) In other works I have analyzed these dual impulses and their effect upon subsequent developments within the movement. (5) 

What now seems clear is that Black participants at Azusa demonstrated a very different set of values and beliefs and needs than did the white participants. The scenario may be recast in summary in the following way. 

At the turn of the century, a growing class division was occurring within Black churches between those who wished to preserve the form of "slave religion" they had long practiced in the South, and others (influenced by both Black and white missionaries from the North) who felt that Black religion should purge itself of its past and imitate the quieter more ordered ritual of mainstream Protestant denominations. Particularly within the independent Black churches there were concerted efforts to abolish the "slave forms" that had been marked by emotional display: phenomena such as dreams and visions emphasis on the role of both evil and good spirits and musical expression characterized by remnants of African-derived melodies as well as other chants and intonations and the use of drums (and other percussive instrumentation) in worship. (6) 

While Methodists were uniformly successful in this purification crusade Baptists were often less successful and whole state associations (as well as local congregations, were known to divide over the issue. In Mississippi, for example, this division led direr ii' into the formation of the Church of God in Christ, a Black Trinitarian body that eventually was swept Into the Pentecostal movement. (7) Those Black Christians including Seymour. who hailed forth at Azusa were in effect rebelling against the social and religious customs of the new Black middle-class. Their emphasis on a return to original Bible Christianity was also to some degree an emphasis on return to a racial past as well. This accounted for the popularity among Blacks of the all to a go back" to primitive Christianity-- to the pattern of the Apostles, hence the Apostolic Faith (as Seymour's Pentecostal movement was first known even prior to the rise of what we now call the Apostolic or Oneness movement). 

Blacks were also at this time in history experiencing a marked Increase in racial hostilities The end of the Reconstruction era had brought wills it a retrenchment in every area. Violence against Blacks was increasing segregation and Jim Crow laws were coming; into existence and the illusion of freedom brought on by emancipation had ushered in a new hopelessness a new fear. These early Blacks who became Pentecostals were not seeking a return to the times of slavery but to something farther back in history an authenticity and simplicity of faith that had served them well in slavery and could he relied on to serve them in the growing racial crisis. This spirituality was African at its roots. 

Whites who were attracted to the Azusa Mission came for quite different reasons. Most of them were not urban dwellers (unlike many of the Black participants such Seymour, who had lived in three urban cities prior to coming to Los Angeles) but were drawn from "those agrarian artisan and small entrepreneurial classes most adversely affected by urban-industrial change."(8) Furthermore they couched their opposition not in terms of racism, nor in terms of preserving a racial tradition nor even in league with other Christians, as did the early Black Pentecostals. Instead, white Pentecostal attacked intellectual evils such as "higher criticism, Darwinism, and the social gospel." They brought with them to Azusa a theological system that was largely identical to the Wesleyan Holiness movement, including a legacy of "come-outism" that separated them from other Christians. (Here again, it should be noted that most Blacks at Azusa did not have this Holiness background. In fact, the Wesleyan Holiness movement has never had much currency in the Black community.) 

On the most central Pentecostal distinctive -- the formal definition of the nature, means, timing, significance, and evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost -- the differences between Blacks and whites showed up even at the beginning of the movement. For Seymour and the Black participants, the doctrine of the Holy Ghost was not emphasized as much as the Spirit itself. For whites, tongues provided an emotional release not available in the Holiness movement; for Blacks; tongues provided an emotional release available throughout African/Afro-American religious history. For whites, therefore, tongues symbolized a break with the old order; but for Blacks, tongues symbolized continuity with the old order. 

There were other important differences as well. Black Pentecostals and white Pentecostals at Azusa did not agree about. Blacks had a greater toleration for ethical divergences; Seymour never emphasized rigorous ethics in dress, associations, and other behavioral matters as did the whites coming from the Holiness movement. Blacks also emphasized holy dancing and other motor phenomena in worship that whites frowned upon: Blacks did not require interpretation of tongues as a separate gift or event. They also preferred a strong episcopacy both at the local church level (where the pastor functioned as bishop) and at higher levels, rejecting congregationalism and mild connectionalism. Blacks also had problems with women clergy; Seymour and other male clergy always were assumed to be superior to women preachers or exhorters. Water baptism was also more emphasized; Seymour demanded it before one could be considered worthy of being called Christian or joining a church. And Blacks at Azusa also had two un-evangelical ideas about salvation: first, they believed that "Christ's blood won't blot out sins between men;" and second, they believed that salvation was improbable.(9) 

Throughout the famed revival, whites and Blacks encountered much strife over such differences as these. Eventually; Seymour and his followers adopted the superstructure of Wesleyan theology to accommodate their experiences, but the marriage between African spirituality and Euro-American theology was an uneasy one. Seymour, for instance, valued tongues-speaking in its own right, and was never comfortable with linking it to the Wesleyan concept of an experience subsequent to salvation. Throughout his life, he vacillated on this point, eventually denying that tongues was the initial evidence of a subsequent experience. Nor did he link it with sanctification; indeed, he also had problems with the eradication theory. In this, he disagreed with both William Durham and the idea of sanctification at conversion, as well as with the Wesleyan idea of sanctification as a second experience in a three-tier arrangement. - Seymour and the Blacks at Azusa also emphasized possession" (rather than mere faith appropriation); and even proclaimed another experience called the "anointing" that was not identical to either sanctification or the baptism in the Spirit. 

These differences have persisted down to the present, accounting; in large part for divergences between Black and white Pentecostals, both Trinitarian and Apostolic. In fact, within the first year of the Azusa revival, there were five separate schisms in which all the whites left en masse to organize separate Pentecostal missions elsewhere in the city. From time to time, they would venture back to Azusa, attempting to wrest control from Seymour, and to rescue the white converts who had since become converted, on grounds of doctrinal purity vis-a-vis the misled pastor."(10) 

It is the thesis of this paper that the same struggle between African and Euro-American impulses continued to assert itself throughout much of the early days of the movement. In this respect, the Oneness or Apostolic development should also be viewed in this light. As such, its primary racial significance is -that it represents the survival and renewal of African impulses which were threatened by the absorption of Pentecostalism into the white Wesleyan mode. Apostolicism is a further rejection of white attempts to harness and define the Pentecostal work of the Spirit. In a sense, the Jesus Name movement was a elaboration of Pentecostal dogma and experience that the Euro-American stream (especially in Wesleyanism) promoted. As such, it is closer to the Africa understanding and experience at its roots. The Oneness development rejected (as did Seymour, who was nor Oneness) the idea of sequentialism in works of grace, eliminating not one, but both prior works of justification and entire sanctification. It rejoined the Pentecostal experience to the normative Christian state, making it synonymous with the initiatory conversion. In addition to being a reassertion of African principles, It should also likely be seen as a reaction against racism In the early Pentecostal movement; by rejecting white theology zing of their experience, they were also rejecting white social control and superordination. 

Additional Black or African influences can be witnessed In the emphasis on monotheism, in the belief that the Spirit is an influence or force rather than a person, in the insistence on the magical use of the name, in the restoration of the primacy of the ritual use of water, in the rejection of the major Western Christian concept of justification by faith alone, and in the value placed on subjective revelation. 

Whenever cultures come into contact. however, there is always a mutual interaction that takes place, whether through transference, syncretization, or reinterpretation. Because of this, not only were whites influenced by the Black religious culture, but Blacks similarly were also influenced by white religious culture. White influences ran be seen In the emphasis on a mechanical theory of inspiration of scripture, In the tradition of hymnody adopted for worship, in the attitude toward women clergy, and in the adoption of dispensartionalism In eschatology. 

II. APOSTOLICISM IN THE RACIAL CONTEXT OF LEADERSHIP COMPETITION 
While cultural interaction and borrowing is not always or usually a conscious process, many factors were at work predisposing both Blacks and whites to learn from each other. One of the easiest ways to view this process is to look at the lives of key leaders in the movement, particularly in its formative years. It is true that such a method often tends toward an elitist view of history, and also does not adequately take into account the extent to which leaders are reflective of popular mass culture rather than responsible for originating it. But leaders are critical factors in that their function as propagators lends a legitimizing function to those elements of culture they approve. 

For this reason, personality conflicts often shield cultural conflicts. Similarly too, particularly in inter-racial situations, the imputation of prejudicial motives to the "other side, often overlooks the degree to which disagreements are due to cultural and class differences, rather than racial hostility. The net effect, of course, is often as injurious to unity as if due to racial animosity. 

A look at some of the principal white and Black actors on the scene during the formation of the movement will serve to highlight some of the racially significant differences. (Unlike some other works which are concerned with the biographical details of such leaders, this paper will concentrate on those aspects 'of their churchmanship and theology which have racial significance for the movement.) 

Among the white protagonists, one must begin with Charles Parham, who was a major forerunner of the Apostolic movement. While Parham had been largely bypassed by the Pentecostal movement by the time of the 1913 revelation given to John Scheppe, Parham Is a primary example of a distinctly white cultural version of Pentecostal religion. The differences between Parham and Seymour further illustrate the tensions between the two segments of the movement.! (11] 

Parham s legacy to the Oneness movement includes, of course, his use of the name Apostolic Faith. While not originated by him, he popularized the term and gave it currency throughout the early Pentecostal movement. The name was also prominent in the ministries of Seymour and Florence Crawford, but by 1909, whites in the movement had opted for the term Pentecostal. (12) Generally, it was Blacks who continued to use the name and then affixed it to the Oneness movement. Here is a clear case of cultural transference The "restoration" and "return" theme which the name symbolized was more accurately a description of Black themes than white ones. (In this respect, it is also important to note that more than nine Black Trinitarian Pentecostal groups also continue to use the name Apostolic Faith. While white Oneness bodies sometimes use the name themselves, they have largely opted for other titles, causing the Apostolic Faith title to become even more racially-identified today.) 

Parham's other major contribution was his practice of water baptism by immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Among persons who would become leaders in Oneness, Howard Goss is an example of those who were baptized in Jesus' Name by Parham. (13) Not linked to any special view of the Godhead, Parham's use of the name for baptism occurred as early as 1902. Here again, Parham was not alone in using this formula, but his baptismal subjects later made the connection between his ritual act and the later Oneness pattern while both Blacks and whites continued this formula in Oneness, it was clearly the Black wing of the movement that most rigidly linked the ritual use of the name to the new birth. Even in the early days, it was the white churches who allowed more latitude in theological interpretation of the formula's meaning. [14] Here then is an example of Black adoption of a white method, in turn invested with a much more magical automatic effect. 

Next to Parham, perhaps William Durham should be considered for his influence on the early Oneness movement. Durham stands in a very unusual relationship to Apostolicism. On the one hand, he was the leader of the "finished-work branch of Pentecostalism from which Oneness, particularly in the central states, drew most of its early converts. His repudiation of a three-step sequentialism in spiritual experience (although he retained two experiences) may have led to further questions regarding all subsequent works of grace. Certainly, if this were true, then the Apostolic movement was an indirect beneficiary of Durham's reductionism. We also know that when Frank Ewart came to Los Angeles in 1908, he decided to associate with Durham's mission there, rather than with Seymour's Azusa Mission. (15) But there is little evidence of Durham's direct or continuing influence on Oneness developments. 

Yet there is something racially significant about Durham's effect on Pentecostal liturgy, especially the testimony service. White Oneness believers (like white Trinitarians) quickly dropped the phraseology of being "saved, sanctified, and baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire," as a result of the Durham teaching on the "finished work." Yet Black Apostolics continued to use the three-step reference when testifying. In fact, some Black Oneness denominations, such as the Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God, retain allusions to these three experiences in their official doctrinal statements even today. [16} Here, however, it is important to keep in mind that even among Black Trinitarians, becoming "sanctified" did not carry the customary Wesleyan interpretation that whites brought with them into Pentecostalism. This is not due to any influence of Durham as much as to the fact that the Wesleyan Holiness movement was largely a white phenomenon. Nevertheless, we do not wish to overstress the point; after all, Black Apostolic churches do not generally incorporate the words "Holy" or "Holiness Church" in denominational titles, whereas Black Trinitarians do. 

(In fairness to Durham, it should be said that his teaching is not totally preserved even in the Assemblies of God, who regard him as a patriarch. Durham taught that entire sanctification or crucifixion of the carnal nature actually occurred at regeneration. The "finished work" doctrine, however, became universally misinterpreted to mean the imputation of Christ's righteousness - a kind of positional sanctification in the Calvinist sense - rather than an actual experience combining two works of grace in one point in time. Even today, Black Trinitarian denominations have refused to accept the sanctification as imputation theory characteristic of most white Pentecostal`,. Is this because it too conveniently provides an excuse for continuing racism in the lives of believers?) 

It seems that Florence Crawford's influence on the movement is also suspect. Not an original thinker, her contribution lies mainly in the fact that she remains faithful to many of the white religious culturalisms that Parham had tried to impress upon the movement Both of them more _ staunch believers in three works of grace. Both also scorned the receiving of public offerings to support the church. And both were highly Critical of Seymour and he wild display of emotions that characterized the Azusa Street Mission. In this late sense, Crawford (along with Parham) represented the ocular, linear emphasis of European culture, as opposed to the oracular, emotive culture off African descendants. In two additional ways, Crawford is important for this discussion, however. First, it was under her aegis that Ewart received the Pentecostal experience in Portland. (17) And second, Crawford's separation from Seymour was due to his refusal to ordain women pastors- an issue that would later continue to divide the Oneness movement largely along racial lines. 

Turning to Black leaders in early Pentecostalism who figured in some way in influencing Apostolicism, one should probably mention Seymour once again. In a real sense, Seymour and the Azusa Street Mission figure more importantly than some realize in the events leading to the formation of the Oneness movement. For one thing, Seymour continued to use the title "Apostolic Faith" for both his local church and the wider Pentecostal movement (and this at a time when the term had fallen into disuse among white Pentecostalism. For another thing, Seymour's understanding/of speaking in tongues as Spirit possession more closely approximates the Oneness concept. Even today, receiving the Spirit in a Trinitarian Pentecostal church is less violently emotional than in a Oneness church. Reeds exploration into Oneness Christology as "dwelling" could perhaps also be extended to include the Oneness doctrine of infilling as "dwelling." (18) In tins sense, "dwelling" more nearly approximates the Black Pentecostal concept of passion. While the Pentecostal. movement had passed beyond the control of Seymour by 1913, yet it must nor be forgotten that the famed campground was still owned and operated by the Azusa Mission. Seymour was also present at that 1913 campmeeting, although as an observer rather than a participant. Throughout his life, he is characterized by a wide capacity or tolerance, which meant that, he never spoke out against the Oneness developments. He Is known to have visited in the home of G.T. Haywood in Indianapolis, In., and to have fellow tripped with other Black Oneness saints and churches. (19) His theme in Oneness churches ~ as often, "How pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity." (20) While some say that he permitted born In Jesus' Name on occasion prior to it becoming an issue around 1913, he later added a doctrinal statement specifying water baptism as "one dip" only in the "name of the Trinity." (21) On one of his visits to the East Coast, he ordained ministers and set in order a Black Trinitarian church, which today is known as the Apostolic Faith Church of God. (22) In summation, it appears that he personally believed in the Trinity and preferred that formula for water baptism; yet he was one of the few Trinitarians to continue to fellowship and embrace Oneness believers after the New Issue arose. Perhaps it was because he himself saw some of his own emphases (not the least of which was the name he prefers for the movement) being continued in the Oneness churches. Seymour also was a firm believer in episcopal polity. 

Second only to Seymour among Black Trinitarians was Bishop C.H. Mason, founder of the Church of Cod in Christ. Mason's role in the formation of Apostolicism was also minimal, but there are several interesting sidelights. Some men who would later be instrumental in Oneness had more than casual relations with Mason. PEA. Moss was one of these. Goss visited Mason in Memphis and secured ordination credentials from him prior to the formation of the PAW. (23) Also, Glenn Cook personally visited Mason to urge him to make contact with Seymour prior to Mason's Pentecostal experience. (24) Because Mason had friends In the Oneness camp, and because he too, like Seymour, was a (clan who believed In tolerance divergent doctrinal beliefs, his stance vis-a-vis the Apostolic movement was non-belligerent. Mason never disciplined those few COGIC pastors who began baptizing in Jesus' Name when the New Issue arose. Probably because his tolerance was a rarity, many Black Apostolics have rumored that Mason we; himself privately rebaptized in Jesus' Name. (25) While this writer has never been able to verify Mason's rebaptism, it does appear that there has been an interesting racial difference in the way early white leaders responded to Oneness, as compared with the more tolerant way Seymour and Mason responded. The reasons for this may include the following: (1) Racial minorities are often forced into a "fortress mentality" which they share in common with the other religious minorities; (2) more white Pentecostal loaders than Black had had the advantage of theological training, which caused them to become more alarmed by theological error or innovation; (3) white Pentecostals were also more fundamentalist; and (4) Oneness was perceived as a greater threat by new white organizations such as the Assemblies of God, who were developing and struggling for identity at the same time, whereas Black organizations were older. 

At this point, the discussion leaves those white and Black Pentecostals who remained Trinitarian, and considers several early Oneness leaders. Again, however, the focus will be on racial matters rather than on biographical summaries. 

One of the most interesting observations that must be made is the nearly total absence of references to racial and/or inter-racial matters in nearly all the seminal accounts by white Oneness writers. Among primary sources, neither O.J. Fauss, Frank Ewart, Andrew Urshan, make any mention of Black participation in the Oneness movement except for one mention of the dedication of an un-named "Negro brother's new church" in Faust). Even the Ethel Goss book makes no mention of any Black church or minister (other than a brief reference to Seymour). This silence is all the more striking given the often-touted inter-racial character of the PAW. 

Even in secondary sources, the life of only one white Oneness leader, Jerrn Cook, frequently includes inter-racial references. The life of Cook's spiritial father-in-the-gospel, Frank Ewart, by contrast appears culturally and racially isolated. Cook is frequently noted as participating alongside 13 black Apostolics. He is known to have preached in both Mason's and Haywood's church.[26] He also baptized Haywood (27); and even invited Haywood to preach during his revivals at other white churches.(28) Ewart, however, hailed from Australia, a country even today regarded as the most racist outside South Africa itself. Whether or not Ewart's isolation was intentional or not, it is interesting that in Portand he was associated with Crawford (whose cultural preferences were definitely white); and when he moved to Los Angeles, he refused to associate with Seymour, identifying instead with an all-white mission. Admittedly, these incidents predate the Oneness revelation. And Ewart was alongside Haywood in the re-formation of the PAW denomination in 1918. (29) Gopider, however, does . note Bewares mysterious disappearance from the PAW sometime later. (30) 

The primary person responsible for the inter-racial character of Apostolicism was, of course, G.T. Haywood. In fact, it may be argued that Haywood, more than any other person, was responsible for the growth and development of the Oneness movement, especially in its formative years. No other figure looms as large in all historical accounts of the movement. Even the white Assemblies of God seeks to rewrite its history so as to make him a member,[31] although an A/G contemporary referred to him as "a white man's Negro,(32) an unflattering term. Haywood, as it turns out, becomes the central link between all the early leaders of both the Trinitarian and Apostolic movements, and among both white and Black Pentecostals. His work was international, as well, inasmuch as it was Haywood who baptized McAlister in Ottawa, Canada. [33) (McAlister also provides links to the Oneness movement in Latin America.) It was Haywood, more than anyone, who became the national spokesperson for Apostolicism, and who, in fact, refined it and provided much of the earliest written literature about the movement. By 1920, the strength of the Jesus' Name movement was in the central and east-north central states, precisely where Haywood's ministry was targeted. (34) The degree of Haywood influence can be inferred from the fact that. despite his race, he was the only Black man ever to address the all-white A/G general council. Even there, the Oneness doctrine had become so attached to his name that it was repudiated by someone on the basis that it was "Haywood's doctrine " as if he had invented it. (35) 

Haywood more than any other person, is also responsible for stamping his imprint on the movement. The survival of Black culturaisms over white ones can be largely attributed to those things he countenaced; and the curious mixture of these with white culturalisms was also his doing intentionally or unintentionally. If some of the things he borrowed from whites were later rejected by other of his Black brothers and sister>. this can only be viewed as a witness to the resilience of Black religious culture not as a cenigration of his influence. In fact, it is noteworthy that most of the alternate pathway, carved out by other Black Apostolics did not occur until after Haywood's death. Haywood was uniquely qualified to lead an inter-racial movement because he was Devoid of prejudice, Both racially and culturally. He was responsible for the economic survival of the Urshans. Ye; this is just one example of his belief that there ought to be no distinctions based on race.[36) ails church was also said to be nearly half white and half Black. Yet despite his sense of fairness and equality it was the signature of his Black hand that whites in the PAW didn't want on their ministerial credentials. (37) 

Haywood's genius as a songwriter was responsible nod only, for creating a large body of hymnody used by white Evangelicals but for establishing ~ tradition of hymnody in Black Apostolic churches that differentiated them from Black Trinitarian Pentecostals who scorned hymn hooky His artistic drawings of large charts depicting end-time events also firmly established Black Apostolicism in the pre-millennial pre-tribulational school of thought. This was especially pace-setting since Seymour did not take a stand on prophetic timetables but tended toward belief in a general resurrection; and even the CCGIC did not emphasize eschatology- its official doctrine contained no statements on a rapture or tribulation or millennium until the 1970's (large numbers of COGIC clergy still preach the doctrine of soul-sleep). In addition, Haywood was willing to admit that God called a women to preach at a time when women clergy were forbidden in every other Black denomination in America. In all of these ways, Haywood mediated aspects of white religious culture to Black Apostolics. 

III. APOSTOLICISM IN THE RACIAL CONTEXT OF OTHER SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 
The story of racial antagonisms within the PAW has often been told and will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that when the PAW reorganized in 1932 its reorganization committee mandated, "There shall be no racial distinction whatsoever."! (38) In actuality however, there were racial considerations albeit directed toward affirmative action toward white representation so that whenever there was a Negro elevated to the bishopric there was also a Caucasian elevated." This was true says Goulder, despite the fact that "from the . time of the great schism in Chicago the PAW has been largely Negroid and the concept of racial balance was a myth everywhere else but on the official roster. It is very doubtful if the PAW had a dozen [whiter churches in 1934."~(39) 

The customary white Oneness response is to interpret the racial divisions as occurring purely on pragmatic grounds in an effort to "keep the peace' in southern towns where segregation was still the social rule. Some pastors have Depicted the southern part of the movement as a white one thus regarding the issue of rake as less important than regional differences. What is apparent is that whites who eventually became the United Pentecostal Church never considered the race issue a moral one whereas Black apostolics did. One searches in vain for any statement in white literature bearing on the ethical ~import of race. Only a hasty reference by YouRa refers to the fact that "neither race, education ability. n anything that is esteemed as valuable humanly avails in Jesus Christ."(40) By contrast. the PAW manual contains a full paragraph stating, "We declare that we are convinced of the great evil of discrimination which is contrary to the Word of God and Is Inconsistent with Christian practices. We, therefore, admonish all of our brethren to keep themselves pure from this evil, and to seek its extirpation by all lawful and Christian means. We must at all times and in all places welcome all groups into our midst on an equal footing without regard to race, class, or any other unscriptural distinction."[41] 

One pertinent observation may be made at this point. Denominational, defections based on race consistently follow a certain pattern: if separations occur, it is always the racial minority t tat secedes. In the history of the Church of God, the Pentecostal, Church, and the Fire Baptized Church, Black minorities parted from the white majorities. On the other Hand, in the PAW, and in the COGIC, white minorities separated from Black majorities. The pattern remains constant both in Oneness and Trinitarian bodies. 

Nevertheless, a feeling of being betrayed by whites continues even to this day among Black Apostolics. As late as 1947, Lawson said, "The Pentecostal movement is degenerating into the same backslidden rut of the denominational churches. They all start out with great love for humanity irrespective of race or color ... but then the color question comes up. Here of late we behold the spiritual monstrosity of ... a Jim Crow Pentecostal church. The white brethren are responsible for this, and upon them shall God's judgment be. (42) 

If some Black Apostolics in the PAW seemed to life up the lofty goal of racial integration, there were other examples of Blacks who created Marie race a theological motif. W.T. Phillips founded his Oneness body along such lines, and until 1927 it divas known as the Ethiopian Overcoming Holy Church of God. The Church of God (Apostolic), another southern denomination, contains the most explicit references to race in this regard: 

The Ethiopian is a descendant from Ham, the third son of Noah. From Ham came Cush, his older son. Therefore the Ethiopians were called Cushites before they were called Ethiopians. They are supposed to have resided in Sousana or Cushston, which is the land of Cush (Gen. 1:6-7, 2:13), which is the district southeast of Babylon and west of Persia. They continued to move and increase until they extended their settlement into Arabia and dwelt for sometime about the eastern branches of the Red Sea. 

Hab. 3:7; Num. 12:1. Whence they crossed over to Africa and occupied the southern coast an gradually penetrated into Abyssinia south of Egypt. [It] Is noted this day to be the oldest Christian country in the world. Even from the days of Eunuch, Christianity has been existing in that country. 

Acts 8:26-29. The name Ethiopia was given from God himself, read Psalm 66:31. The word Negro was not given by the Lord. God called him Ethiopia (Jer. 13:28). The word Negro or nigger is a curse name given the Black man by the white man.[43) 

Most of the racially significant differences between Black and white Oneness believers were not expressed in overtly racial terms. This paper has assumed the position that many of the factor; relating to the rise of the Jesus' Name movement were operating at a subconscious level, where competing worldviews and competing cultural traditions struck leaf to gain ascendancy. What this writer has offered is the suggestion that, in the final analysis (perhaps because of the numerical majority of Blacks in the movement), whites were far more influenced by Black religious culture than were Blacks influenced by whites. indeed, it is: likely that the persecution white Oneness people have experienced. even at the hands of Trinitarian Pentecostals, was thought to have been based on the lower-class characteristics of the movement, when inactuality it was largely because of opposition to the B1ack cultural influences. 

Among these were certain aspects closely related to African traditional religious impulses: the restoration of baptism to a central place in worship (similar to the river cults of Africa), the investiture of baptism and the ritual use of the marine of Jesus with Dualities approaching magical effects, the emphasis on monotheism (which characterizes African religions, even those permitting a pantheon of lesser divinities, the reinterpretation of the Holy Spirit as the influence or power of God, rather than another person in the godhead, the continued use of the holy dance as a form of liturgical expression, and the relatively violent nature of possession as experienced under the semblance of being filler with the Spirit. (As a in point, the wider acceptance of emotional display even in white- Oneness churches, as Opposed to the quietistic trends at long white Trinitarian Pentecostals should not be overlooked.) 

That white Oneness followers share more in common with Black Pentecostal styles (whether Trinitarian or Apostolic) is not the most important consideration, however. More important is the fact that Oneness theology symbolizes a conscious break with white theological standards. In this sense, the Oneness movement represents a fuller and more complete reformation than does Trinitarian Pentecostalism. Oneness theology contains the seeds of open rebellion against a white Protestantism that emphasizes faith alone; and against a white Wesleyan Holiness movement that emphasizes seagentiahsn In religious experience; and against a white Pentecostalism that, on the one hand, excuses the sin of racism in believers by means of an imputed righteousness through, a)"finished work" doctrine; and on the other hand, a white Pentecostalism that seeks to Mollify other white Christians by identifying itself within the mainstream of evangelicalism. 

Yet in a few ways, the Apostolic movement has imbibed a draught of white religious culture as well. And in this sense, Black Apostolics have more in common with white Trinitarians than with Black Trinitarian Pentecostals. Notable here is the emphasis on a fully-developed eschatological dispensationalisrn, which unmans Rev from the whiter fundamentalists although given legitimacy by Haywood. And there is also the tradition of hymnody which parallels that of the Rodeheaver tradition, and which was in fact absorbed by it. Finally, the issue of women preachers has a certain racial significance, since it was like the closer contact with white Pentecostals within the PAW that led to that body's official position on women clergy more nearly approximating Pentecostals. 

For a fuller treatment of the conflict between African derived "slave religion" and the bourgeois Negro church as reflected in Pentecostal origins, see my "Competing Strains of Hidden and Manifest Theologies in Black Pentecostalism" (an unpublished paper presented to the Society for Pentecostal Studies annual meeting, Nov. 14, 1980), 27 pages single-spaced. Available from the author at PO Box 386, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059. 

2. See entry on "Pentecostals" in W.A. Low and Virgil Clift, Encyclopedia of Black America (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981), p. 667. 

3. For a discussion of the theory that the Pentecostal movement originated as a truly inter-racial movement, a theory the author rejects, see my unpublished paper, "Conflicting Theories of Historical Origins for Black Pentecostalism" (an unpublished paper presented to the American Academy of Religion annual meeting, Nov. 16, 19, 9), 39 pages. 

4. See my article, "The Blackness of Pentecostalism" in Spirit: A Journal of issues incident to Black Pentecostalism, 111, 2 (1979), pp. 27-36. 

5. Refer to footnote 1. 

6. George Eaton Simpson, Black Religions in the New World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), pp. 61-62; and Albert Raboteau, Slave Re;iRion: The Invisible Institution In the Antebelium South (New York: Oxford, 1978), pp. 63-64, 79-, 3; and Henry he. Mitchell, Black Belief (New York: Harper and Row, 175), pp. 105-151. 

7. Leonard Lr.`vett~, "Black Holiness-Pentecostaiism (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Candler School of Theology, 197')),, pp. 35, 4°. 

8. Robert Mapes Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited (INlew-~r orl<, Oxford, 1979), p. 224. Unfortunately, Anderson's profiles of 45 eariY leaders of the movement Include only two Oneness leaners. 

9. The Apostolic Faith 1, 1(1906), p. 2. 

10. Frank Bartleman, Another Wave Rolls In (Northridge, Cal. Voice, 1962, pp. 84-85. 

11. Competing Strains," p. 15. 

12. History of the Assemblies of God" (Unpubl~shea. lass ler a. e notes If ~ Flower, ocatea In archives of the Assemblies of God Graduate School, Springfield MO. 

13. David Reed, "Aspects of the Origins of Oneness Pentecoctahsm," [r '~ynar,'s Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Oracles 

14. Fred J. Foster Think It Not Stran ~e: A History of the ()nen~ss Went tSt. L.OU;S: Pentecostal l~ut~lish~ng House, 1')65), p. 65. 

15. Anderson, 154. 

16. Arthur Carl P~ep~orr, Profit s In llehef: ~ hi- ifs hi iOuS i,~,. ~ s ot to- U s and Can Vo'urne lil, (San Franc~sco: Harper and Ron, 197'~), p. 2(J1. 

17. David Arthur Reed, "Origins and Development of the Ther~logy of (oneness I:,entecostalisrn In the U.S." (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Boston University Graduate School, 1978), p. 101. 

19. Interview with Franklin Showell, Baltimore, Md., November 11, 19,6. 

20. Mother McLain Remembers Elder Seymour," In Burning Bush Man (summer 1976), F,P- 4 and 16. 

21. William J. Seymour, Doctrines and Discipi~n' of the Azus<` Street ~Qo~rol~c Faith Mission (Los Angeles: s.p., 1' lS), p. 82. 

22. Apostolic Faith Manual o1 the Apostolic faith Chub Cod (Washington, D.C., 

23. Foster, 48. 

24. Anderson, 155. 

25. I recall hearing this from friends at Christ Temple of,the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World in Kansas City, Mo., many years ago. Recently I found another Inference to this In a tape-recorded program of the 23rd annual convention of the Pente. ost Ill Church' s of the Apostolic Faith, labeled "Footprints on the Sands of Time ' an/} sold as two casset`es. The speaker (unidentified on side 2 of the first cassette) states "When it came to the brethren, lB.shop Masonl would give up a great deal just to hold onto thenn. He was ready for all the COGIC to be ~_,~...~:d in Jesus' Name, after he had been baptized. You know, he was baptized along with several of his brethren in the name of Jesus Christ. But when he discovered it would split his organization, he refused to stand up and say,'This is the way 'He had no Election to anyone being baptized in Jesus' Name. He said that 't wasn't his ministry to divide the brethren." 

26. Anderson, 155. 

27. Foster, 54. 

28. Foster, 52. 

29. Morris t:. Colder, History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the \~/or (Indianapolis: s.p., 1973), p. 46. ~ ~ i 

30. Colder, 71. 

31. Haywood disavowed he was ever a member of the Assemblies of Goc. See Colder, 36. 

32. Interview with C.S. Williams, former general superintenci~nt of the Assemblies of God, and an Azusa Street participant, conducted in Springfield, Mo.,iJuly 1979. 

33. Foster, 60. 

34. Anderson, 185. 

35. Foster, 67. 

36. Morris Ei.. Colder, The Life and Works of Bishop Garfield Thomas Ha ~ wood (Indianapolis, s.p., 1977), pp. 49. 63. 

37. Reed (di sserta t ion), 186. 

38. Colder (History of PA W), 107. 

39. Golcler (History of PAW), 114, 116 

40. Oscar Vouga, Our Gospel Message (St. Louis: Pentecostal Publishing [House, n.d.), 

41. Manual of D'sc,~line of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, 1945 (New Yorr~st~an C)utlo`;k Publishing Co., 1945), p. 1i. 

42. Arthur M. Anderson, editor, For the Defense of the Gospel: Writin s of Bishop R.C. Lawson, Vol. I (New York, 1971,, pp. 32fJ-327. . 

43. Discipline of the Church of God (apostolic) (Winston-Sallem, N.C., n.p., n.d.), 

Name of Denomination Churches Membership 

—Apost le Church of Christ in God (`u~Jo~ ~'is s - ) 
_'Aposto I ic Asserno i ies of Chrise~(~ ~qn) ' 
_ Aposto I ic Church of Christ ~#~ ~r~ S"ff) 
Aposto I ic Church of God 
Aposto I ic Church of God, Incorporated 
Aposto I ic Fa i th Temp I e 
t~ -- - Aposto I ic Gospe I Church of Jesus Christ (~~ I'l'1) 
-Apostolic Minisrers Conference (So~c~) 
- Aposto I ic Overc~ming Ho I y Church of God ~t~~ ~ql 
Assemb I '~ s of the Lord Jesus Chr~st (al,Q~~ lt11) 
cetnel ~posrolic ~nurcn or tne ~entecostal Movement(~,~) 
Bib le Way Churches of Our Lord Jesus Christ of 
the Aposto I ic Faith Wor I d Wlde (,ll~~ {q~'1) 
Bible Way Pentecostal Apostle Church6~1Y~j . ~1 
Church of Chr~sc (Hoi iness Unto rhe LorrJ) ~ 5(, 
Church of God .~postolic(~, ~q33) 43 
Church of God or the Aposto I ic Faith(~o - ) 
Church of God Pentecost,aI Churches of rhe Wor1~1 
Church of Jesus CHrist (7>fk - ~,) 
Churctr o~ Our Lord Jesus Christ of the 
Aposrol ~c Fa.rh ~\ct~4~19 
Church ~f the Lord Jesus Christ of the 
Apostolic Fa.th6*l~Ql-- t9~7) 
Churches in the Lord Jesus Christ of the Aposto I ic Fa ~ th 
Emmanuel Pentecostal Church of Our Lord, Apostol ic Fa~th (5° - 
Emmanue I Pentecosta I Churches of Aposto I ic Fa~th 
Emmanuel Tabe-nacle Baptist Church Apostol~c 
Fa~th Ta~rnac I e Corporation of Churches (Son~) 
Fr.?e Gosp" I Ch~rches of Christ 
Free~or'' C;hape I Pentecosta I Orthodox Church of Christ 
Greater Emmanue I Aposto I ic Church 

HiRhv~ay Christ~an Church of Christ(~^ i6~1), r 13 
H`~3hway Church of Christ Association 
H`gh~ay Temple of the Apostolic Faith 
tJoly Tample Cnurch of Chrisc (Q~`F) 

International Evangelism Crusades (~4Q - 4 I1~5s~4 
King's Apostle Holiness Church 
Lead~ng Comma~drnent Churches 
Living Witness Apostol ic Faith 
Macedonia Chur_hes of Virginia C5O^ - 
[vit . Carme I Hc, I V Church of the Lord Jesus (tll. - c~ll) 
Mt. Hebron Apostolic Temple of Our Lord 

Jesus Chr~st of the Apostol ic Faith 6~^ 1185 - lo) 

Name of Denomination churches 

New Aposto I ic Association 
New Born Church of God and True Ho I iness 
New Testament Pentecosta I Church 
Original Apostolic Assembly of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 
Origina I G I orious Church of God in Christ Apostolic Faith (Melton 1987) 

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (Melton 1977) 
Pentecosta I Church of Christ 
Pentecosta I Churches of the Apostol ic Faith Association (Melton 1987) 
Pentecosta I Churches of the Aposto I ic Fai th internat iona I Associat 
      ion 

Pentecostal Fol lowers of Jesus 
-Redeemed Assembly of Jesus Christ Apostolic (Melton 1987) 6 
Rehoboth Churches of God in Christ Jesus ( Aposto I ic ) 
- Seventh Day Pentecostal Church of the Living God (Jones) 4 

- Sh I oh Aposto I ic Temp I e (Melton 1985, Supp) 23 
- True Vine Pentecosta I Churches of Jesus (Melton 1987) 10 
- United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) (Jo nes) 5' 
United Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Aposto I ic Faith 
-Un ited Churches of Je sus Apostol ic (Melton, 1987) 
- United Way of the Cross Churches of Christ of the Aposto I ic Faith (Melton, 1985 Supp) 
Victory Pentencosta I Aposto I ic Church 
Victory Pentecosta I Churches of the Apostol ic Faith 
—Way of the Cross Church of Christ (Melton 1987) 


14