Robert and Mary Craig and the San Francisco Origins of Bethany University

This Week in AG History — March 25, 1951

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 23 March 2023

When it comes to the western half of the United States, Robert (1872-1941) and Mary (1867-1943) Craig were two of the most influential people in the early days of the Assemblies of God. Not only did they serve as founders of the Northern California District Council, but together they built one of the largest churches of their day and started a small Bible class in their kitchen that grew into a university.

Both had been widowed when they married in 1913 – he was 41 and she was 46. Together, they set about pioneering a church in the former Corbett Saloon on O’Farrell Street in San Francisco. Craig had previously pastored a Methodist church before he resigned due to failing health. An experience with the Holy Spirit that healed him of “spiritual impotency” gave him a new lease on life and health and filled him with a passion to see 100,000 souls won to Christ through the sharing of the gospel. Robert and Mary joined the new Assemblies of God fellowship in 1917.

Craig’s marriage to Mary McCulloch proved to be a strong alliance for his evangelistic vision. Recently widowed and financially independent, Mary joined the new mission with passion and zeal for reaching the lost, especially those bound in the addiction of alcohol. When she asked the Lord how the men she was leading to Him would be able to remain steadfast in their faith and sobriety, she felt her instruction was simple: “feed them the Word.” In obedience to the command to “feed them,” she opened up her kitchen in May of 1918 for a new converts class, later saying, “I began Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute with only two students, and one of them was drunk.”

As the church, which came to be known as Glad Tidings Temple, was growing under the leadership of Robert Craig, so was the Bible study under Mary. By Christmas 1918 there were more than 100 students. In 1919, the vision expanded to a two-year structured curriculum as “Pacific Bible and Missionary Training School” (soon changed to “Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute”), focused on providing Pentecostal discipleship, along with preparation for ministerial service. That same year, the Northern California District Council formed with Robert serving as its first superintendent. Mary’s inheritance from her late husband allowed them to serve without taking a salary.

The training institute’s schedule was intentionally designed for immediate application of principles from the classroom through practical ministry experience. The weekday schedule began with prayer before breakfast and classes from 8:45 a.m. to noon. The afternoon was spent working and studying, followed by a 6:45 p.m. class and then evangelistic meetings in the evening where the students took turns leading worship, testifying, preaching, and praying with seekers. Sunday was a highlight of the ministry with a “saint’s meeting” held at 11 a.m., followed by Bible classes at 2 p.m. and a testimony service at 3 p.m. At 6 p.m., the students split into three groups to conduct open-air meetings in different parts of San Francisco while others conducted children’s services at the Temple. All came together at 8 p.m. for the largest evangelistic meeting of the week, when the main auditorium and galleries of the church, which eventually grew to 3,000 people, were packed.

Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute served the Northern California (later Northern California-Nevada) district well, providing training for the majority of their ministers. In 1947, the school came under the direct leadership of the district and in 1950, was moved from the inner-city of San Francisco to the district campground, Bethany Park, in Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz, California. The March 25, 1951, issue of The Pentecostal Evangel reported that “98% of the work” on the new campus was done by people of the district who donated time and labor for their school. During these years, the school acquired accreditation necessitating the enlargement of the library. A call went out to churches and ministers who responded with more than a thousand books, several hundred of which came from J. Narver Gortner’s own personal collection.

With the move to Bethany Park, Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute became Bethany Bible College. When the school became the first in the Assemblies of God to receive dual accreditation as both a Bible school and a liberal arts college, it became Bethany College and later Bethany University. When the school closed in 2011, it had provided training for many Assemblies of God ministers and laity, including a director of Assemblies of God World Missions, a president of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, an editor of The Pentecostal Evangel, the head of Convoy of Hope, an editor of Pneuma, several district superintendents, scores of pastors, missionaries, musicians, evangelists, chaplains, teachers, business officials, law enforcement officers, nurses, and many others who widely impacted the Pentecostal movement.

When two widowed middle-aged people fell in love with Jesus, His work, and each other in 1913, they had a vision to see 100,000 souls won through the preaching of the gospel. This vision was brought to fruition over and over again through the ongoing ministry of the students whose training originally began at Mary Craig’s kitchen table.

Read the report, “Glad Tidings, Our Oldest School, Erects New Modern Buildings” on page 13 in the March 25, 1951, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Death Has Been Defeated” by A.T. Pierson

• “How to Seek God” by Walter H. Beuttler

• “God Stirs Hearts in Cuba” by Henry C. Ball

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

Revival Sweeps College Campus in Missouri: Central Bible Institute in 1950

This Week in AG History — March 18, 1950

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 16 March 2023

The recent move of the Holy Spirit on the Asbury University campus, which attracted 50,000 visitors to the small town of Wilmore, Kentucky, has been widely reported in the religious and secular media. The “Asbury revival” is the latest example in a long history of revivals on college campuses. An openness to the Holy Spirit has set many Pentecostal and evangelical institutions of higher education apart from their secular counterparts. This should not be surprising, as many Christian schools were birthed in times of revival.

Central Bible Institute (now consolidated into Evangel University) experienced brief, intense periods of spiritual renewal throughout its history. C.B.I. President Bartlett Peterson, in the March 18, 1950, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, reported on one such period of spiritual awakening, which he characterized as a “spontaneous Holy Ghost revival.” The Assemblies of God school, located in Springfield, Missouri, had been organized in 1922, but faculty members commented that it was “the deepest revival they can recall.”

Bartlett wrote the article thirteen days into the revival. He described it as a sudden and transformative visitation of God: “With it came a breaking, melting process as lives were conscious of being remade and transformed on the Divine Potter’s wheel. At one instant one was conscious of the sweeping power of a great forest fire; in the next a cleansing, as if by colossal waves, overwhelmed us. Some testified that their lives had been completely transformed within minutes of time.”

The revival attracted the attention of the local press. Bartlett quoted an article in the Springfield Daily News, which stated that the revival had “consumed the feelings and interests of some 750 students.” School administrators quickly carved out time for students to meet for testimonies, preaching, confession of sins, singing, and waiting upon the Lord in prayer. For two weeks, three lengthy services were held each day at C.B.I. – 8 am to 12 pm; 2 pm to 4:30 pm; and 7 pm to 10:30 pm.

The Springfield Daily News compared the revival at C.B.I. to revivals occurring at the same time at evangelical schools Wheaton College and Asbury College, noting the C.B.I. revival did not develop “into the extended around-the-clock exultations” of the other two schools. The newspaper noted that C.B.I. students exhibited a variety of emotional responses: some “demonstratively and others in quiet contemplation.” This and other times of spiritual renewal at Central Bible Institute nurtured deep spirituality and a passion for helping people in countless students who went on to serve the Lord in life and ministry.

Read the entire article by Bartlett Peterson, “Spontaneous Revival Sweeps C.B.I.,” on page 6 of the March 18, 1950, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

* “Do You Have a Burden for Souls?” by Hattie Hammond

* “A Church-Building Miracle,” by Billie Davis

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Photo caption: Revival that lasted several weeks in the Central Bible Institute chapel, Fall of 1954

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

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

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

C. M. Ward: The Man Behind the Revivaltime Radio Broadcast

This Week in AG History —March 11, 1973

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 09 March 2023

Charles Morse Ward (1909-1996) is best remembered as the speaker for the Revivaltime radio broadcast from 1953-1978. He also pastored local churches, was a camp meeting speaker, and served as a Bible school professor and president.

Born in Ontario, Canada, C.M. Ward was the son of A.G. Ward, a circuit rider Methodist preacher in Western Canada, who was influenced by Pentecostal meetings in Winnipeg, Canada. When A.H. Argue returned to Winnipeg with the message from the Azusa Street revival, A.G. Ward was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1907. A.G. Ward became one of the founding members of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC). As a young college student, C.M. moved to Springfield, Missouri, with his family when his father assumed the pastorate of Central Assembly of God.

C.M. Ward graduated from Central Bible Institute (later Central Bible College) in 1929. While ministering in Kansas, he met and married Dorothy Hymes — a union that lasted 67 years. Soon after their marriage, Ward became pastor of a struggling church in Woodstock, Ontario. Following a campaign held by Charles S. Price in Victoria, British Columbia, the PAOC recommended Ward to become the pastor of Metropolitan Church, where those services had been held. It was a small church in an upstairs hall in a rough part of town. Ward started holding street meetings and soon began drawing large crowds. Many of the people from the street meetings began attending the church. After brief stints working in Toronto as editor of the PAOC’s Pentecostal Testimony and in Minneapolis on the faculty of North Central Bible Institute (now North Central University), Ward devoted himself to full-time evangelism, and moved to the United States.

In 1943, he went to the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Bakersfield, California, where he served as pastor for nine years. He used radio extensively while in the pastorate in Bakersfield, which later made him a unanimous choice to be appointed as radio speaker for the Assemblies of God.

In December 1953, Revivaltime went on the ABC Network with Ward as its speaker. Within a year, Ward’s dynamic ministry caused the broadcast to be given major ratings by ABC officials, who listed it as the top religious program in many parts of the country. Audiences were captivated by his biblically based sermons, his invitation to the “long, long altar,” and the Revivaltime choir singing Ira Stanphill’s “There’s Room at the Cross for You.”

Thousands came to Christ, attracted to the message of the gospel by Ward’s crisp and clear sermons. Sprinkled with skillfully told stories from the Bible, biographies, literature, and history, he captured the attention of the sophisticated as well as the common person. Ward’s radio audience crossed denominational lines, and his voice became familiar to English-speaking people overseas. Over the next 25 years, Ward preached more than 1,300 weekly radio broadcasts on over 650 stations. No one took Pentecostal evangelism more successfully to the airwaves than C.M. Ward.

Ward also published the broadcast radio sermons in 23 annual volumes called Revivaltime Pulpit, as well as numerous other books and over 250 booklets. More than two million copies of his popular Revivaltime Miniature series were distributed with testimonies from men such as the late Colonel Sanders, Dr. Wernher von Braun, Colonel Frank Borman, Governor Richard Askew, and J.C. Penney.

In 1967 he joined the faculty of Central Bible Institute as assistant professor of homiletics and became a frequent speaker at camp meetings and other events.

In 1973, Ward moved to the West Coast to take the appointment of president of Bethany Bible College (later Bethany University), continuing to be Revivaltime speaker (and commuting to Springfield) until 1978, when he retired from the radio broadcast.

His main autobiography, The C.M. Ward Story, was published in 1976. Two other autobiographical sketches are Things I Didn’t Learn in Bible School (1982) and “In Perils of … Brethren … ” (1991). Ward received more than 50 awards, including being Central Bible College alumnus of the year in 1961. In 1969, he received an honorary doctorate from Northwest College (now University) in Kirkland, Washington. He also was named to the national Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1993.

C.M. Ward passed away on July 12, 1996, in Modesto, California. His wife, Dorothy, passed away on April 17, 2007. Both are buried in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Springfield, Missouri.

A report about C.M. Ward accepting the presidency of Bethany Bible College is featured on page 28 of the March 11, 1973, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Born to Be …,” by William E. Pickthorn

• “How to Be a Happy Christian,” by Fred Smolchuck

• “When Grandmas Talk to Jesus,” by E. S. Caldwell

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

John Wright Follette: Encouraging a Deeper Life in Christ

This Week in AG History —March 2, 1940

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 02 March 2023

John Wright Follette (1883-1966) was a gifted Bible teacher and author who spoke in many conferences and retreats. His messages encouraged believers to press into God, seeking more of Him, in order to guard against sin and live a more holy or “deeper life” in the Spirit. He spoke often about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but emphasized the importance of Christian maturity. Follette wrote: “Many in Pentecost today seem to have missed the idea or purpose of the latter rain and instead of falling into line with God for a deeper life, ripening, maturing, and drying [as grain for the harvest], they are occupied with the incidentals. These incidentals [manifestations and gifts] are all very essential but only to the end—growth.”

One of Follette’s sermons on spiritual life appeared in a 1940 article in the Pentecostal Evangel. He articulated the importance of following after God’s purposes and plans on a daily basis. “Christians many times fail (and their faith is harmed),” he said, “because they try so hard to accomplish things that God has no idea of doing.” He described the Christian life not as a series of “disjointed affairs, but instead declared there is definite purpose in the Christian walk for which each of us were created. “Were we as sincere and careful in the matter of spiritual purpose as we are about materials ends,” said Follette, “I am sure we should grow in grace and save ourselves many a ‘spiritual headache.’”

In conclusion, Follette stated, “God does not thank you or reward you for doing a thousand things (good and religious) which do not relate to His will.” Instead, he emphasized, “Seek His will — do that and you cannot but glorify Him.”

To better understand Follette and his teachings, it is important to learn his background. Follette was a descendant of French Huguenots who first settled the Catskill Mountains in the early 1600s. His ancestors helped to establish the community of New Paltz, New York. He received his college and ministerial training at the New York Normal School in New Paltz, Taylor University, and Drew Theological Seminary.

Although he was raised in the Methodist Church, after receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he was ordained in 1911 by the Council of Pentecostal Ministers at Elim Tabernacle in Rochester, New York. Follette affiliated with the Assemblies of God in 1935 and became a favorite speaker at many church conferences, camp meetings, summer Bible camps, and missionary retreats around the world. He also taught at Elim Bible Institute in Rochester and at Southern California Bible College (now Vanguard University).

Follette was a prolific writer. More than 100 of his articles and poetry appeared in the Pentecostal Evangel and other periodicals. Many of his writings were put into book form after his death. His works include Smoking Flax and Other Poems (1936); Broken Bread (1957); Arrows of Truth (1969); This Wonderful Venture Called Christian Living (1974), Fruit of the Land (1989), and several other books and tracts. Follette died in New Paltz, New York, at the age of 82.

Read the article, “The Spiritual Purpose in Life and Method of Attainment,” on pages 2, 3, and 7 of the March 2, 1940, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Holiness Unto the Lord,” by A. H. Argue

• “What God Says About Foolish Talking,” by Mrs. Cornelia Nuzum

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

Oskar Jeske: German Pentecostal Pioneer in Poland and Survivor of Soviet Prison Camps

PHOTO: Oskar Jeske (center) with wife, Anna, and Polish workers.

This Week in AG History — February 24, 1974

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 23 February 2023

Oskar Jeske (1902-1989) was a Pentecostal minister born in Poland to German parents. His life intersected with much of the tumultuous history of Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century, yet God proved himself faithful and led Jeske to a fruitful ministry, despite war, prison, and separation from family.

Prior to World War I, the Polish nation was divided among the empires of Germany, Russia, and Austro-Hungary. Jeske’s parents taught him their native tongue of German while he learned Polish, the language of the land of his birth. However, the Russian Czar was the legal king of Poland, and so education was also carried out in Russian. He would later learn English to further his education as a minister.

As a young boy, Jeske was surrounded by religion. The Polish Catholic church and Russian Orthodox church controlled much of the civic affairs. Jeske’s mother was converted to evangelical Christianity in a revival among German speakers in 1907 and began taking her son with her to the meetings, despite much persecution from the established church in their community. Jeske showed little interest in his mother’s faith until one Sunday in June 1916 when his mother was unable to attend the church meeting. Jeske did not intend to go to the meeting, but when he came upon the farmhouse where it was taking place, he heard the sound of someone in the woods crying out for God to “save the lost.” Jeske had a sudden conviction that “the lost” was himself. That day he made a commitment to follow Christ – no matter what came his way.

Prior to this, Jeske wanted to be a schoolteacher but soon announced to his mother and grandparents that he wanted to be a minister. He immediately began sharing his testimony in any meeting that would allow him. In 1924, Pastor G. Herbert Schmidt brought to their meetings the understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit with accompanying gifts of the Spirit. To Jeske, this teaching simply confirmed what they already knew in their meetings. Miraculous provision and healing had been the norm in their Christian experience as had heard many, particularly children, pray in languages they had not learned.

With so many coming to Christ and feeling a call to minister, it became clear that training was needed. Danzig Bible Institute was created in 1930 to train ministerial students from many of the Eastern European nations to shepherd the growing Pentecostal movement. Jeske studied under teachers such as Leonard Steiner of Switzerland, Donald Gee and Howard Carter from Britain, and T.B. Barratt of Norway. But the one that caught his eye the most was American missionary, Anna Bukczynski. Romance was strictly forbidden at the school, but Bukczynski was offering English lessons, and these lessons not only helped his studies but allowed him to be with her several times a week. They married in June of 1932, and together began working in the churches to encourage the believers. But their newly found bliss would be short-lived as Germany, under the Nazi flag, invaded Poland from the west on Sept. 1, 1939, and Russia responded with a counter-invasion from the east 17 days later.

As a German living in Poland, Jeske worked to minister to the hurting people around him. The fighting devastated the Polish land and people as they lived in the tug-of-war area between Germany and Russia. When Hitler’s forces were expelled in 1945 and the Russians took control of Poland, remaining ethnic Germans were rounded up and placed in prison camps, including Oskar Jeske. Because Anna was an American citizen, their children were considered Americans and only Oskar was sent to a labor camp in the Ural Mountains of Russia.

Loaded onto cattle cars, the prisoners taken with Jeske spent 31 days on the torturous journey east. It was six months before he would ever be allowed to change the clothes he was wearing at his arrest. For five years, he subsisted in brutal conditions, surviving beatings, forced labor under starvation conditions, and disease.

Through this, his faith did not waver, and he was able to provide spiritual comfort to his fellow prisoners and pray with many dying men while also teaching others how to live without losing hope. But after five years, when he was finally to be given a trial on the charge of being a German spy, he was placed in solitary confinement and found himself so frightened and exhausted that he could no longer pray. He felt in his spirit that God had finally forsaken him.

In this lonely, cramped cage he tried to pray in German but he could not find the right words. He tried again in Polish but could not exhaust his emotions. He tried in Russian and in English but came to the end of his knowledge of the languages. But then the Holy Spirit invaded his prison cell, and he began to pray in a language he had never learned. The presence of God so filled his heart and mind with joy and assurance that God would never leave nor forsake him – even if he received the standard sentence under Stalin’s government of 25 more years of hard labor.

When he faced the charge of being a spy at the Soviet war tribunal, he found that it was his knowledge of languages that served as the chief evidence against him. Why would anyone learn German, Polish, Russian, and English unless it was to engage in espionage? Returning to his cell, he began to pray again as he awaited sentencing. The court interpreter heard him praying in tongues and asked what language he was speaking now. Jeske replied, “In a heavenly language.” The interpreter laid her hand on him and said, “I don’t think you should be afraid. Your God will help you.”

God did provide that help. Jeske was released and returned to western Germany. While it took another six years for him to be able to reunite with his wife and children who could not leave the eastern occupied lands, Jeske was eventually reunited with Anna and their two children – after 12 years apart. The German District of the Assemblies of God paid for a trip to the United States to reunite Anna with her American family and together the Jeskes ministered in the German Branch of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada until Anna’s death in 1976, followed by Oskar’s death in 1989.

You can read a review of Oskar Jeske’s autobiography, Revival or Revolution, on page 7 in the Feb. 24, 1974, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Limits of Omnipotence” by Bill Popejoy

• “Qualify Yourself for Ministry” by Silas L. Gaither

• “Reasonable – According to the Spirit” by Stanley M. Horton

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

Minna Seaholm: Female Pioneer Assemblies of God Military Chaplain

This Week in AG History — February 13, 1943

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 16 February 2023

The United States government did not permit females to serve as military chaplains during World War II, but that did not deter Minna Seaholm (1894-1944), an Assemblies of God evangelist who felt a call to minister to young men in uniform. A 1943 Pentecostal Evangel article titled, “Our Lady Chaplain,” reported on her activities, noting that she overcame significant odds to follow God’s call.

Seaholm served as a roving chaplain to military bases and Civil Conservation Corps camps. Assemblies of God literature regularly published reports of her meetings, and the Home Missions Department (now U.S. Missions) collected offerings to assist her. She often held three or four speaking engagements each day. “Her absorbing passion,” the article explained, was to offer young men “a chance to find God before they go out into the dangers and uncertainties of war.”

Seaholm experienced difficulty in obtaining official government approval to meet with the troops and to hold meeting on the bases. However, the article reported that Seaholm was “never daunted” and made contact with President Franklin Roosevelt and other high-ranking officers in the army. She succeeded in gaining access to numerous camps and bases across the United States and also spoke at high school assemblies. Although Seaholm did not hold a commission as a chaplain from the United States government (the military restricted the chaplaincy to males until 1974), the article noted that “her commission has been granted from a heavenly source.”

Read the article, “Our Lady Chaplain,” on page 11 of the Feb. 13, 1943, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel. Also featured in this issue:

• “Why Preach Divine Healing Today?” by Lee Krupnick

• “The Message of the Scars,” by Noel Perkin  

• “Self-Test Questions for Christians,” by W.R. Munger

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

Frank M. Boyd: Pioneer Assemblies of God Theologian and Educator

This Week in AG History —February 5, 1984

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 09 February 2023

Frank Mathews Boyd (1883-1983) is remembered as one of the early theologians of the Assemblies of God. He was born Dec. 24, 1883, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and spent much of the next one hundred years traveling the nation ensuring that Pentecostal ministers had access to a quality ministerial education.

In 1906, Boyd traveled to Oakland, California, for a job opportunity. While there, he attended a Bible study concerning the second coming of Christ. The study of the end times convicted him as to his own life purpose. He made a commitment to follow Christ and soon felt a call to full-time ministry.

Boyd received his formal theological training from three evangelical schools. After graduating from the Missionary Training Institute at Nyack, New York, in 1911, he attended Biblical Seminary in New York and also earned his bachelor’s degree at Los Angeles Pacific College. In the early days of the Pentecostal movement, local churches often ordained men and women for ministry and Boyd was ordained in 1912 by Bethel Pentecostal Assembly in Newark, New Jersey. He later served as the principal of their Bethel Bible Training School in Newark. When the Assemblies of God was formed in April of 1914, Frank Boyd was one of its first ministers, transferring his papers to the organization in August of that year.

In 1917, Boyd married Helen Calvert at Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. This began an adventure of traveling, teaching, and mentoring students for ministry. When the General Council opened its first national school in Springfield, Missouri, in 1922, Boyd was asked to serve as the first dean of Central Bible Institute (CBI). Boyd was also involved in administrative leadership at Glad Tidings Bible Institute and Southern California College during the 1930s and 1940s. For two years, he served as a marketplace chaplain at Severance Tool Industries in Saginaw, Michigan, before being called to return to Springfield for educational ministry at both CBI and the national office of the Assemblies of God.

During his second term at CBI, Boyd noted a need for the training of students who were not able to move from their homes and attend ministerial training schools. To help meet this need, Boyd founded Berean School of the Bible (now part of Global University) in 1947 as a correspondence school. Boyd authored many of Berean’s original textbooks using his instructor’s notes from CBI classes.

Frank and Helen Boyd traveled during their years of educational ministry and taught for one year at Central Bible Institute in Japan. After Boyd retired in 1963, CBI named and dedicated “Boyd Hall” in 1968, which served as the first home for many newly married ministry students.

Boyd also served the Fellowship as a prolific author, especially writing on Bible prophecy, including The Budding Fig Tree (1925), God’s Wonderful Book (1933), The Kenosis of the Lord Jesus Christ (1947), Introduction to Prophecy (1948), Signs of the Times (1950), The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (1951), Ages and Dispensations (1955), and Studies in the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1967).

One of his theological contributions was to promote a modified form of dispensationalism that fit Pentecostal teachings. He also wrote over 100 articles for the Pentecostal Evangel. Many of these were responses he posted for a weekly question-and-answer column.

Helen Boyd served on staff at each of the Bible schools where her husband ministered, mentoring students at CBI as a teacher and dean of women. She also was a proofreader and wrote Sunday School quarterlies for the Gospel Publishing House. After 63 years of marriage, Helen passed away in 1980.

On Dec. 24, 1983, Frank Boyd celebrated his 100th birthday with a party held at Maranatha Village, the Assemblies of God retirement community in Springfield, Missouri. He passed away on Jan. 13, 1984. Frank and Helen Boyd are buried in Eastlawn Cemetery in Springfield.

A report about Frank M. Boyd’s 100th birthday celebration is featured on page 12 of the Feb. 5, 1984, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “A Righteousness That Will Stand,” by Stanley M. Horton

• “The 39th Year,” by Stephen V. Rexroat

• “Tribute to a Missionary Teacher,” by Charles T. Clauser

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

Dr. Florence J. Murcutt, Early Assemblies of God Missionary and Surgeon

Florence Murcutt (sitting) with Alice Luce at Glad Tidings Bible Institute, San Francisco, California; circa 1920s

This Week in AG History — January 30, 1932

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 02 February 2023

Dr. Florence J. Murcutt (1868-1935) began life in Australia as a Jew, overcame prejudice to become a pioneer female surgeon in the United States, and ended life as an Assemblies of God missionary to Mexicans. She was likely the first medical doctor to serve as an Assemblies of God missionary, yet her name and significant evangelistic work as a Pentecostal has been largely forgotten.

Born in Australia to English parents, Murcutt was raised in the Jewish faith. Murcutt had an inquiring mind and explored the claims of Christianity. As a young woman she read the Bible for herself, cover to cover, in six weeks. She accepted Christ as the messiah and became active in Christian circles. She and her sister, Ada, immigrated to America in 1900 and became national speakers with the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Murcutt graduated in 1907 from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (now Drexel University College of Medicine) and became a surgeon.

Murcutt’s life was forever altered when she attended a Pentecostal camp meeting in Portland, Oregon. At the meeting, a man who was entirely unfamiliar with the French language began prophesying in French under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Murcutt understood the prophecy, which testified that Jesus was the only way to God. Moved by this miraculous prophecy and by the palpable presence of God at the meeting, she knelt at the altar and committed to yield herself fully to God’s purposes for her life.

Murcutt was later baptized in the Holy Spirit and devoted the rest of her life to missionary work. In 1912, she traveled to Palestine, where she distributed gospel literature in Hebrew and Arabic. She was ordained as a missionary by the Assemblies of God on June 18, 1915. Murcutt served with Alice Luce and Henry C. Ball as a missionary to Mexicans living along the borderlands in Texas, California, and Mexico. In 1926, she helped Luce to establish a Spanish-language department of Berean Bible Institute in San Diego. This department was the foundation for what became Latin American Bible Institute in La Puente, California. Murcutt and Luce taught at the school, planted several Spanish and English congregations, and engaged in missionary work in Fiji and Australia. Murcutt died in December 1935 from injuries resulting from being struck by an automobile.

Murcutt, one of the many largely unheralded Pentecostal pioneers, had a testimony that reads like an adventure novel. She had many impressive achievements, but she found the greatest purpose and meaning when she committed herself fully to God.

Read Florence Murcutt’s article, “A Retrospect of the Lord’s Leadings,” on pages 7 and 9 of the Jan. 30, 1932, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “A Secret of Victorious Living,” by Rachel Craig

• “Is Pentecost a New Religion?” by Charles E. Robinson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

Highlands Child Placement Services: Providing Assemblies of God Adoption Services Since 1966

This Week in AG History — January 26, 1975

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 26 January 2023

In 1946, the Assemblies of God began operating Hillcrest Children’s Home in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to provide a safe place for children who were unable to remain in their family home. Over the next several years, it became apparent that some children might be better served in a foster family or adoptive home rather than an institutionalized group home setting.

In 1959, the General Council approved a resolution “that the Department of Benevolence be encouraged to continue to broaden its program of childcare through the establishing of child placement and adoption agencies at such a time as is deemed feasible, and practical.” This paved the way for the establishment of Highlands Child Placement Services and Maternity Home.

In 1963, Mrs. D.G. Danley donated her three-story, 40-room mansion in Kansas City, Missouri, to the Assemblies of God without restriction. Much renovation was needed before it was ready for children, but churches and individuals, under the direction of the first administrator, James W. Strayer, had it ready for occupancy by June 1966, naming it Highlands Children’s Home, after the Highlands neighborhood in which the building stood.

Strayer came to Hillcrest in Hot Springs to identify children who wanted to live with families and who were legally free to be adopted. Five girls and four boys – ranging in age from 7 to 12 – were transferred from Hot Springs to Kansas City and welcomed by a team of houseparents. In February of 1967 the first Highlands child was placed in a foster home and, that spring, the first legal adoption took place. More than 250 Assemblies of God families made application to take a child into their home during that year.

In 1969, the new administrator, Vernon Cooper, expanded Highlands’ vision to also include prenatal care to unmarried pregnant women and assistance in helping them with options for their future. In 1970, the General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God decided to place more emphasis on child placement rather than replicating the in-house services of the home in Hot Springs. To achieve these visions, a new facility was built in 1972 that was more suitable for housing pregnant women while still serving as offices for the adoption agency. The name was changed to Highlands Child Placement Services.

In the Jan. 26, 1975, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, Cooper wrote an article, “Our Children Need Love,” in which he stated that the functions of the home included “placing children for adoption and foster care and working with unmarried mothers.” By this time, Highlands had placed more than 300 children in adoptive homes and served nearly 200 unwed mothers with medical service, counseling, education, and a safe home in which to adjust to the changes of pregnancy. Adoptive families fees provided 25% of the funding, and the other 75% came from donations by Assemblies of God churches and laypersons.

More changes came in later years. A second group home for young women was added in 1984, with most of the mothers ranging in age from 14 through 21, with an average age of 17. In 1990, it was reported that over 700 women had gone through the program with 550 releasing their children for adoption, and the remaining mothers receiving education and assistance in preparing to parent their babies.

In 1992, a toll-free pregnancy-counseling hotline was opened to help women in crisis pregnancies, and in 1993, a home was begun on the 10-acre campus to house pregnant women who already had other children so that they could receive help during their pregnancy without needing to relinquish custody of their older children.

Administrator Robert Michels reported, “we don’t tell the girls or their families what to do. We help them ask questions of themselves and others and make a decision on their goals, on what they want to do. We give them the supportive atmosphere they need in which to decide.” Abortion was never an option offered through the services of Highlands, whose leadership stated their belief that “abortion is death. We talk about life.”

In 2006, after placing over 3,000 children in adoptive homes, Highlands relocated to the 62-acre campus of Hillcrest Children’s Home in Hot Springs and continued its emphasis on providing help and hope for pregnant women and a safe place for children.

In 2018, the decision was made to restructure the Highlands adoption program to better serve children under new laws affecting adoption placement with its placement services shifting to providing a consultation and support service for singles or adoptive couples at any point in their adoption journey. This shift allowed Highlands to continue ministering to a larger demographic of the Assemblies of God. Highlands is also able to facilitate adoptions in Missouri and Arkansas. It is anticipated that several other states will be added in the near future. The maternity home remains in Hot Springs while the adoption networking agency is based in Springfield, Missouri.

While the needs and responses of Highlands Child Placement Services have evolved over the years, the mission remains the same as that stated by Vernon Cooper, the author of the 1975 article and administrator of Highlands for more than 20 years: “We cannot ignore the needs of our society. We must realize God has placed us here in a unique position for ministry. We must reach out to those in need – care for them and love them. It’s what God would have us do and with his help we will do the very best we can.”

Read the article, “Our Children Need Love,” on page 23 of the Jan. 26, 1975, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Is Jesus Really Coming Back?” by Ian McPherson

• “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” by C.M. Ward

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

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

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

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

Pentecostal History by the Numbers: 2022 FPHC Report

Another year has come and gone, and the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC) has continued to expand its influence and its collections—assisting researchers, processing archival materials, and making materials accessible online. THANK YOU to staff members, donors, and church leaders for helping to build both the Assemblies of God and God’s Kingdom through our work at the FPHC!

The FPHC has become the largest Pentecostal archives in the world – a world class repository of materials documenting the Assemblies of God and the broader Pentecostal movement. Church leaders, scholars, students, and other researchers around the world depend on the FPHC’s resources and services.

Here are some highlights from 2022:

150,000 Catalog Records

In 2022, the FPHC created 7,750 new catalog records, which broke the 150,000 mark. As of December 31, 2022, the FPHC catalog contained 155,115 catalog records. Each record represents an item or a collection that has been processed and that is now in the FPHC online database, which allows end-users to search, do research, and place orders for materials.

The growth of the FPHC’s collection has been remarkable. When Darrin Rodgers came in July 2005 to serve as director, the FPHC catalog contained about 49,000 records. In 17 years, the FPHC more than tripled the number of records. This has been possible because of the behind-the-scenes work by FPHC staff of collecting, preserving, and making accessible these treasures of the faith.

163 Languages

The Assemblies of God is diverse (44% of AG USA adherents are non-Anglo) and global (95% of AG adherents live outside the US). This is reflective of the incredible growth and diversity of the broader Pentecostal movement. Importantly, the FPHC seeks to document this diverse and global constituency. In 2022, 10% of new FPHC catalog records were for materials in languages other than English. The FPHC now holds materials in 163 languages (up from 158 languages in 2021).

The ten languages with the largest numbers of catalog records are below:

English	143,987
Spanish	3,216
Norwegian	1,795
Swedish	1,166
French	781
Finnish	760
German	656
Italian	280
Portuguese	278
Russian	242

3,000 Reference Questions

Each year, countless thousands of people use the FPHC’s research website. The vast majority find what they need on the website. In 2022 approximately 3,000 thousand people (NLRC employees, church leaders, students, people in the pew, and other researchers) contacted FPHC staff for additional personal assistance. The FPHC’s Reference Archivist, Glenn Gohr, alone fielded 2,368 request inquiries. Other FPHC staff members assisted numerous others.

1 Million Views

In 2022, the FPHC blog (https://ifphc.wordpress.com) reached 1 million views since its launch in 2007. We received just over 100,000 views in 2022. The blog features “This Week in AG History” columns, as well as other posts related to Pentecostal history and the Heritage Center.

100 Years of the Pentecostal Evangel

The FPHC is making progress on adding digital resources to its website. All known surviving issues of the Pentecostal Evangel (1913-2014) are now on the FPHC website. Our Digital Archivist, Todd Trask, is in the process of re-scanning issues from 1992 to 1999, replacing the remaining low resolution black and white scans created 23 years ago. The Pentecostal Evangel, our flagship AG periodical for 100 years, continues to promote our AG testimony.

61 Services at 25 Churches and Events

In 2022, the FPHC’s Heritage Speaker, Ruthie Oberg, spoke in 61 services at 25 churches and district and national events in 10 states. Her compelling messages bring our heritage and testimony to life, furthering the mission of the FPHC and of the Church.

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

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