Carrie Judd Montgomery: A Passion for Healing and Fullness of the Spirit

This Week in AG History — February 12, 1938

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 13 February 2020

Carrie Judd Montgomery (1858-1946) experienced a physical healing in 1879 that led her on a journey to ever-deepening fullness of life in the Holy Spirit. A prolific author and sought-after speaker, she also established healing homes and was involved in humanitarian work. Montgomery became an important voice for spreading the message of faith in God’s power in both the Holiness and Pentecostal movements.

In the Feb. 12, 1938, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, Montgomery wrote an article on the steps of faith taken by the Jewish patriarch, Abraham. The following quote from that article encapsulates much of her teaching on the life of faith: “When you really hear God speak through His Word it is as easy to believe as it is to take your next breath. If you have ever had an experience of this kind, the memory of it will always encourage you to trust Him yet again.”

As a youth, Montgomery attended an Episcopal church in New York. She was encouraged by her bishop to “swiftly obey the voice of the Spirit.” As a teenager, she started a Sunday School for neighborhood children and sought to be used of God. However, the idea of surrendering herself to God’s will frightened her. She knew she must abandon sin, but she was afraid that surrendering herself to God would require her to abandon her gifts and talents, as well. She feared that in doing so God would not allow her to fulfill her life dream — to be a writer.

In 1876, when she was 17 years old, she fell in an awkward position on the icy ground. She was confined to bed with “hyperesthesia of the spine, hips, knees, and ankles.” For almost three years her outlook was grim, as her weight dwindled down to 85 pounds. In 1879, her father read about an African-American woman, Sarah Ann Freeman Mix, who had experienced a healing of tuberculosis and had a ministry of praying for the sick. Montgomery asked her sister to send a letter to Mix requesting prayer.

The family received a quick reply asking them to trust wholly to the care of Almighty God and to believe the promise of James 5:15, “and the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” Mix asked them to pray at a certain time on Feb. 26, 1879, and she and her prayer group would also prayer and believe God for healing.

On that day, the Judd family prayed in faith. Carrie struggled to overcome the doubts in her mind but, finally, turned over in her bed and raised herself up alone for the first time in over two years. By April, she was able to walk outside and in July she returned to lead her Sunday School class.

Montgomery received so many inquiries about her experience that she published her story, The Prayer of Faith, in 1880. This book became one of the first theological writings on divine healing as provided in the atonement of Jesus Christ. In 1881, she began the publication of a periodical, Triumphs of Faith, which she continued to publish for the next 65 years. God fulfilled her desire to be a writer.

Believing that the life of faith was essential for the spiritual life that God intended for His people, she began teaching on the subject in conferences. She was soon known for her national ministry on the faith-filled life of holiness. In 1890, she moved with her new husband, George Montgomery, to Oakland, California. There, she opened Home of Peace, a healing home where she taught guests how to pray for and receive healing.

When a revival began in Los Angeles at the Azusa Street Mission, Montgomery began to publish reports of its services in her paper. Pentecostal services began to be held in Oakland, and Carrie attended a meeting. She later wrote, “I had myself received marvelous anointings of the Holy Spirit in the past, but I felt if there were more for me I surely wanted it.” She received her own personal Pentecostal experience in 1908.

In 1914, Montgomery became a charter member of the Assemblies of God. She was able to remain a part of the Assemblies of God without cutting her ties to her broader network of evangelical and Holiness believers. Upon her death, her ministry was carried on by her daughter and son-in-law, Faith and Merrill Berry.

The list of early Pentecostal ministers influenced by Montgomery’s ministry read like a “Who’s Who” of the Holiness/Pentecostal movement — A.B. Simpson, William Booth, Pandita Ramabai, Maria Woodworth-Etter, William Seymour, John. G. Lake, A.J. Tomlinson, Alexander Boddy, Smith Wigglesworth, Elizabeth Sisson, Aimee Semple McPherson, A.H. Argue, Juan Lugo, Chonita Morgan Howard, and many others.

Montgomery’s hunger for the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the life of faith was an earmark of her ministry. While she traveled in international missionary work and established camp meetings, orphanages, training schools, and a home for elderly minorities, she never strayed from the core message of her ministry — God calls his people to holiness and to healing.

Read Carrie Judd Montgomery’s article, “The Faith of Abraham,” on page 2 of the Feb. 12, 1938, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Challenge of the Opening and Closing Doors” by Noel Perkin

• “Depravity” by E.S. Williams

• “Ye Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me”

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

See also: “Carrie Judd Montgomery: A Passion for Healing and the Fullness of the Spirit,” by Jennifer A. Miskov, published in the 2012 edition of Assemblies of God Heritage.

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: iFPHC.org

Verna Linzey Collection Deposited at Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center

Verna Linzey, keynote speaker at the Singaporean Pastors’ Convention, June 29, 2014

Dr. Verna May Hall Linzey (1919-2016), an Assemblies of God minister who served as a pastor, crusade evangelist, television evangelist, songwriter, and author, spent over eighty years in active ministry.

Dr. Linzey’s son, Chaplain (MAJOR) James F. Linzey, USA (Ret.), deposited at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center a collection of books, audio/video footage, photographs, and other materials documenting his mother’s life and ministry. Chaplain Linzey served as her road manager and is currently having her autobiography edited for publication.

Verna was one of six children born to Carey F. Hall and Alice M. Hall in the southeast Kansas town of Coffeyville. After her father passed away, her mother married Rev. Francis L. Doyle, who served in 1928 as pastor of Coffeyville First Assembly of God.

The early Pentecostal movement, with its dual emphases on the Word of God and spiritual renewal, made a significant impact on young Verna. She recalled that, as a young girl, prominent Assemblies of God educator and theologian P.C. Nelson routinely stopped at her family’s home with his ministry team. She received permission from her mother to get out of bed and sit at the kitchen table with other family members who were listening to Nelson and his team share about the meetings they had conducted.

Yielding to a call to the ministry, Linzey matriculated at the school founded by Nelson, Southwestern Bible School (now Southwestern Assemblies of God University), where she studied from 1937 to 1939.

Verna Hall leading a Hallelujah Parade in San Diego, California, circa 1940

Linzey participated in evangelism, pastoral ministry, and crusades with her eldest brother, Franklin Hall, in the 1930s and early 1940s in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and California. She eventually conducted her own crusades and ministry. She married Stanford E. Linzey (1920-2010) in 1941. They affiliated with the Assemblies of God and in 1946 planted and co-pastored a church, El Cajon Evangelistic Tabernacle, in El Cajon, California.

Linzey influenced her husband, Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.), to become a U.S. Navy chaplain. During his ministry as a Navy chaplain from 1955 to 1974, Verna Linzey continued to preach and teach in churches and at conferences, including at Women’s Aglow. She frequently taught on the Holy Spirit. Stanford sometimes accompanied her in ministry. It is estimated that Verna and Stanford Linzey laid hands on and prayed for 20,000 people to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

Linzey was given the title “Mother of the Fleet” by Admiral Frederick C. Johnson, USN (Ret.) for her building the Sunday school program at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, which was the largest Sunday school program in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1970. She was also made an honorary U.S. military chaplain by the Coalition of Spirit-Filled Churches.

In addition to her ministry, Linzey had a very active family life. She and Stanford had ten children—five boys and five girls.

Verna and Stanford E. Linzey with their children, 1958

Linzey had a deep love for the Word of God. She mastered biblical languages at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. When her husband earned his his Doctor of Ministry degree at Fuller Seminary (1980), Verna Linzey audited and completed the coursework as well. She received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Kingsway University and Theological Seminary (2001). She served as chief editor of the New Tyndale Version Bible translation (2009) and as one of the translators of the Modern English Version Bible translation (2014).

In her later years, Linzey wrote extensively on the theology of the Holy Spirit, including articles published in various religious periodicals. In 2004, she authored The Baptism with the Holy Spirit, for which she received the Best Non-Fiction of the Year Award (2006) from the San Diego Christian Writers’ Guild. It is a classic restatement of Classical Pentecostal doctrine and was later republished in the Philippines by ICI Ministries and used as a textbook in 100 Bible colleges.

In 2004, following the publication of her book, Linzey received opportunities to preach on television. Her television ministry began when she preached on the baptism with the Holy Spirit on God’s Learning Channel, a satellite network founded by Al and Tommie Cooper. This paved the way for two television series which would later be filmed: “The Holy Spirit Today with Dr. Verna Linzey” and “The Word with Dr. Verna Linzey.”

In 2007, Linzey wrote another book, Spirit Baptism, and recorded a set of teaching CDs and videos titled, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit and The Light of the World.

Linzey continued to be remarkably active in ministry until the age of 97, when she passed away. In November 2010, she had a role in a major feature movie, Iniquity, which is an updated version of the story of David and Bathsheba. She sang “The Rose” by Bette Middler for the soundtrack. Linzey was one of the keynote speakers for the 2011 Leadership Summit at the Heritage Foundation, where she received the 2011 Leader of the Year Award. She also received the “National Bible Teacher of the Year Award” at Westminster Theological Seminary in California during National Bible Week in 2011. Her album “Oh Blessed Jesus” went Gold for Best Vocals in Southern Gospel Music, featuring Grammy Award Nominee Triumphant Quartet and the group Sisters as her backup vocals the year after she passed away.

Dr. Linzey’s remarkable life spanned the history of the Pentecostal movement, to which she made significant contributions. She touched countless thousands of people through her pastoral and evangelistic ministry and writings.  Now, with the Verna Linzey Collection accessible at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, future generations will be able to study her life, ministry, and legacy.

_________________

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 archives and research center 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: http://www.iFPHC.org

 

Otto Klink: From Atheism and Socialism to Assemblies of God Evangelist

This Week in AG History — July 18, 1931

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 18 July 2019

Otto J. Klink (1888-1955) was a German-born American Pentecostal evangelist who traveled the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, preaching salvation through Jesus Christ and warning his listeners about the dangers of socialism, atheism, and modernism.

Born in Hersfeld, Germany, he was educated in Berlin, where he learned French, Latin, and Greek, alongside his native German. His family were members of the Lutheran church; however, in 1905, 17-year-old Otto attended a Holiness tent meeting. Kneeling in the sawdust, he claimed God’s promise of salvation and felt a distinct call to enter the ministry.

Klink was willing to serve God but did not want to be associated with the Holiness people. He decided to study for the Lutheran ministry and entered the University of Berlin, where he studied the works of Marx, Engels, and La Salle. He came to believe that salvation was achieved by good character and social action — particularly through elevating the lot of the poor and underprivileged.

One night while attending a Socialist political gathering, he made a speech that was interpreted as encouraging rebellion against the German Crown Prince for his mistreatment of the working class. He was arrested and sentenced to two months in prison. Upon completion of his prison term, he found that his name had been removed from the University of Berlin attendance list. Klink interpreted these events as evidence that his belief in God had failed him. He made the intentional decision to embrace an atheistic worldview.

Finding jobs difficult to get in Germany due to his prison record, he asked his father for money to sail to America. Arriving in 1909, he began writing for a German language newspaper in New York City. He later recounted how he became involved with an anarchist society in New York City called The Red Mask, and that he was part of a plot to assassinate President William Taft at Bronx Park. His failure to carry out the plot led to his dismissal from the society. He returned to Germany, where through the assistance of influential friends he was able to secure a position in the office of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Due to political unrest in Germany, Klink sought to return to the United States. He did so just three months before World War I broke out in Europe in 1914. In 1917 he married a young Pentecostal girl named Ida Ball. Ida prayed earnestly for her new husband to receive Christ and to be healed of the anger and bitterness within him toward God. On the last night of a 10-day revival meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, with evangelist Paul Barth, Klink felt God say to him that this was his last chance. He prayed through to salvation that night and, in 1921, he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He received ministerial credentials with the Assemblies of God in 1923.

In the 1930s, Klink began to speak out strongly against the policies of the Nazi Party in Germany. Klink ministered alongside Myer Pearlman, the Jewish Assemblies of God Bible teacher and author, at the 1937 Wisconsin District camp meeting. Klink spoke of a great persecution of the Jewish people in Germany and prophesied disaster for Adolph Hitler if he continued his course of action.

Klink wrote several booklets, including, Why I Am Not An Atheist, and Why I Am Not A Modernist, along with a monthly column in the C.A. (Christ’s Ambassadors) Herald called “Otto-graphs” — a collection of world news and events of interest to young readers. He also authored several featured articles in the Pentecostal Evangel. His article in the July 18, 1931, issue, “The Language of the Blood of Christ,” is a prime example of his use of historical illustrations and world events to provide a deeper understanding of the gospel message of salvation.

For more than 30 years, Otto and Ida Klink traveled the country in evangelistic meetings, making their home in the Miami, Florida, area where Mrs. Klink also began a children’s home that provided care for up to 40 children. The Klinks moved to California in 1951 and opened a gospel supply house which they operated until his death in 1955.

At the height of his preaching ministry, an article published in the Enid (Oklahoma) Gospel Tabernacle newspaper described the former employee of the German Kaiser as having “one of the most powerful, soul-gripping messages ever delivered from an American pulpit — a combination of fire and level headedness — whirlwind oratory and calm common sense that has made him an outstanding figure in American evangelism.”

Read Otto Klink’s article, “The Language of the Blood of Christ,” on page 1 of the July 18, 1931, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Freedom From the Dominion of Sin,” by E.S. Williams

• “How I Received the Baptism,” by H.C. Ball

• “Proving God as Healer,” by Mattie Kerr

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: http://www.iFPHC.org

C. H. Austin: From the Saloons to Assemblies of God Railroad Evangelist

This Week in AG History —November 16, 1929

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG News, 15 November 2018

Clement Henderson Austin (1889-1973) knew railroads almost as well as he knew the gospel. He spent decades working as a train engineer, but he became mired in a lifestyle of drunkenness, gambling, violence, and addictions to alcohol and tobacco.

After a dramatic conversion, Austin became an Assemblies of God evangelist. He spent the rest of his life sharing the gospel and his testimony. Austin’s story was published in a tract, which was republished in the Nov. 16, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Austin’s testimony began when he was 8 years old. His life began to unravel when his mother died. For years he carried this sorrow deep inside his soul, crying himself to sleep at night. He wondered why he could not have a mother, like other boys.

As a young teenager, Austin ventured onto the streets of Fort Worth, Texas, where he quickly adapted to the ways of the world. He started firing train engines at age 16, soon becoming a train engineer. A large young man, he learned how to fend for himself.

Saloons became a second home to young Austin. He started drinking and smoking, then gambling and stealing. He prided himself on his coarse speech, later calling himself “one of the ringleaders in oaths and smutty jokes.”

Austin recalled that he was “young and tender” when he started living on the streets. But as the years progressed, he noted, “my heart became more cold and hard.” He could feel “the enemy’s fangs” as they “sank into my soul and body.”

The coarse engineer married a young woman and they had a son. Austin tried to cover up his drunken and thieving ways by lying to his wife. But he knew that his life was spinning out of control, and he felt incredible guilt over the injustice he was committing against his family. He did not want his son to follow in his footsteps.

Austin had not been to church in 12 years. While Austin had tried to ignore God, he realized he needed to turn his life around, and he knew he could not do it alone. One night, while looking into the stars, he said aloud, “O God, help me to quit gambling.” Starting at that moment, Austin’s faith — birthed out of desperation — took root.

God seemed to chase after Austin. Two weeks before his conversion, Austin was running through a dark tunnel and heard a voice say, “Throw away your tobacco.” He did, and he never tasted it again.

In the meantime, Austin’s wife began attending revival services at a Pentecostal church in San Diego, California. At first, she did not tell Austin, afraid that he might mock her. But she could not keep quiet, and she told him about the miracles she witnessed. Cripples were leaving their crutches, and deaf people could hear again. He agreed to go hear the evangelist.

The revival services were being held in a small hall, which was packed with people. Austin recalled that “people sang as if they meant it,” and he could tell they had something that he was missing. A young sailor sat next to Austin, and when the evangelist called people to the altar, he tried to pull Austin forward for prayer. Austin knew that he needed to go forward, but he did not want to publicly admit that he needed God.

An intense battle ensued between Austin’s ears. He recalled hearing a voice tell him that he was “too big a sinner” to be on his knees in church. This voice, who Austin recognized as the devil, taunted him, telling him that his drinking buddies would laugh at him. But Austin looked past his suffering, had faith in God, and cried out, “O Lord, have mercy on me.”

After an emotional spiritual battle, Austin found himself lying on the floor. He felt spiritual oppression flee, and he felt a sweet peace sweep through his soul. Austin set his heart on Christ and never looked back.

Austin told his family, friends, and coworkers about his conversion. He returned money he had stolen and asked for forgiveness from those he had offended. “There is now no more drinking, no more gambling, no more taking the name of our Lord in vain, no more tobacco,” he wrote. Instead, “old things have passed away and all things have become new.”

Austin studied for the ministry at Berean Bible Institute, an Assemblies of God school in San Diego. He graduated in 1925 and was ordained as an Assemblies of God evangelist in 1926. He continued working as an engineer on the Rock Island, Southern Pacific, and San Diego and Arizona railroads, but he viewed his secular employment as a vehicle for his higher calling — to preach the gospel across the American Southwest. During the next half century, this large, gentle, earnest railroad engineer, armed with his testimony and a Bible, touched countless lives.

Read Clement H. Austin’s testimony, “Saved and Called to Preach,” on pages 12-13 of the Nov. 16, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Ten Reasons Why I Believe in Divine Healing,” by Thomas G. Atteberry

• “The Extra Portion,” by Mrs. Robert (Marie) Brown

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: http://www.iFPHC.org

Dr. Charles S. Price: From Skeptic to Pentecostal Evangelist

This Week in AG History —October 24, 1931

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG News, 25 October 2018

Dr. Charles S. Price (1887-1947), pastor of the theologically liberal First Congregational Church in Lodi, California, ventured into a Pentecostal revival service in 1921. His purpose was to expose the evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson, as a fraud. He was so confident that he would achieve this mission that he even placed an advertisement in the local newspaper, promoting the title of his next sermon — “Divine Healing Bubble Explodes.”

Some of Price’s church members had attended the revival services in San Jose and reported large numbers of conversions and miracles. He scoffed and replied, “I can explain it all. It is metaphysical, psychological, nothing tangible.” Price arrived at the revival with a pen and paper, ready to take notes. He had difficulty finding a seat, as the revival tent was packed with 6,000 people, but finally was seated in the section reserved for people with infirmities who desired healing.

He was shocked to discover that the revival was being sponsored by Dr. William Keeney Towner, pastor of the prestigious First Baptist Church in Oakland. Price and Towner had been friends when Price had served as a pastor in Oakland. Towner came over to Price and told him, “Charlie, this is real. This little woman is right. This is the real gospel. I have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. It’s genuine, I tell you. It is what you need.”

At the time, McPherson was an Assemblies of God evangelist. She later formed her own denomination, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. While Price expected McPherson’s sermon to be rife with fanaticism, he was surprised to discover that her message was thoroughly biblical and compelling. Hundreds responded to an invitation to go to the altar and accept Christ. He returned that evening and, although still skeptical, was seated on the platform with the other ministers. He quickly became a believer, however, once he began witnessing numerous healings, including a blind person regaining sight and a lame person being able to walk.

When McPherson invited people to raise their hands if they wanted to accept Christ, Price raised his hand. A fellow minister leaned over and whispered, “Charlie, don’t you know she is calling for sinners?” Price responded, “I know who she is calling for.” He quickly went down to the altar, recommitted himself to Christ, and later would state that he left that tent “a new man.”

Price continued to go back to the nightly revival meetings. He felt conviction about his pride and ambition and lack of integrity. After four nights praying at the altar, Price was baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Price shared his experience with his congregation, and soon 500 of his church members also were baptized in the Holy Spirit. The once-liberal congregation became a center for revival in the community and began holding evangelistic street meetings in nearby towns. Price ultimately became one of the best-known Pentecostal evangelists of the 20th century. While Price did not join a denomination, he regularly preached at Assemblies of God churches and district and national events. Price went from skeptic to believer because he witnessed the reality of God’s healing power.

Dr. Charles S. Price preached a message, “Meet for the Master’s Use,” at the 1931 General Council of the Assemblies of God. Read his sermon on pages 2, 3, and 16 of the Oct. 24, 1931, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Inspiration and Revelation,” by E. S. Williams

• “How We Built a Church,” by Martha E. Thorkildson

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: http://www.iFPHC.org

Franklin Hall Collection Deposited at Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center

Franklin Hall, 1937

Franklin Hall (1909-1994), a prominent Pentecostal evangelist, was best-known for his emphasis on prayer and fasting. Hall had roots in the Assemblies of God, and his later worldwide ministry made an impact on the broader Pentecostal and charismatic movements.

Hall’s nephew, Chaplain (MAJ) James F, Linzey, USA (Ret.), recently deposited at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center a large collection of books, tracts, periodicals, photographs, and audio/visual footage documenting Franklin Hall’s life and ministry. The Franklin Hall Collection, which provides valuable insight into segments of the Pentecostal movement that have not been sufficiently documented, will be a boon to researchers.

Franklin was born in 1909 in the mid-western town of Coffeyville, Kansas, the first of six children, to Carey F. Hall and Alice M. Hall. He was Methodist Episcopal from birth. At age 12, deeply distraught that his father passed away, and with many business responsibilities that he took on to help his mother and siblings, he sought a deeper experience with the Holy Spirit. He received permission from his mother to attend the newly-formed Pentecostal church in Coffeyville, founded by Francis L. Doyle. Franklin’s mother and siblings eventually joined him and also began attending the Pentecostal church.

Doyle was a widower, and he married Franklin’s mother, Alice. They became ministry partners. Under Doyle’s leadership, the congregation voted to join the Assemblies of God. Doyle ultimately transferred his ordination to the Pentecostal Church of God, which also ordained Alice.

Upon graduating from Coffeyville High School, Franklin attended Central Bible Institute (CBI) in Springfield, Missouri. After leaving CBI, he began conducting river baptismal services and “Hallelujah Parades” in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. He gained a following as an independent Pentecostal evangelist.

A few publications by Franklin Hall

In the 1940s, Franklin moved his ministerial headquarters to San Diego. In 1946, Franklin founded Miracle Temple, where he established the Fasting and Prayer Daily Revival Center with the help of Burroughs Waltrip (Kathryn Kuhlman’s husband), Stanley Comstock, Earl Ivy, Tommy Baird, Myrtle Page, and Franklin’s brothers, Harold, Virgil, and Delbert. Delbert and his wife Florence were co-pastors. Franklin’s sister, Burnena Van Horn, assisted with music, and his other sister, Verna Linzey, occasionally spoke. Under his leadership, assisted by Jack Walker, the teaching of fasting as a means of bringing about revival and the restoration of the Church spread throughout the Pentecostal world.

In 1946 Franklin and his wife, Helen, sold some assets and borrowed against their home to finance the printing of millions of pieces of literature to send to people all over the world. His best-known book, Atomic Power with God by Fasting and Prayer, was widely circulated in Pentecostal circles.

Franklin Hall and his teachings were influential in the Latter Rain movement in the late 1940s and in the salvation and healing revivals of the late 1940s and early 1950s. However, some of Hall’s teachings – including his views on fasting and demons – were critiqued by both Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals as being extreme.

Posters at Franklin Hall meeting location, circa 1940s.

Believers from many denominations came to Miracle Temple to hear Franklin’s teaching concerning prayer and fasting. Many went on consecration fasts of only water, some for twenty to more than sixty days. They prayed for worldwide revival. They wanted to see salvation and healing, and the restoration of the gifts of the Spirit.

Christians from around the world reported significant results from prayer and fasting: demons were cast out, the mentally ill were healed, people with cancer were healed, the blind received their sight, and the crippled were healed. People with stomach ulcers, palsy, tuberculosis, asthma and bronchitis were healed. People with smoking and drinking addictions were instantly set free. Many received Christ as Saviour and were baptized in water and in the Spirit.

It is reported that one thousand people received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour during the first year at Miracle Temple. Most were military men from across America stationed in San Diego. They carried the message of the Gospel around the world in their travels with the U.S. Navy. One sailor who did office work for Franklin Hall, and whom Franklin mentored, was Stanford Linzey. He married Franklin’s sister, Verna, and went on to become the first active duty Assemblies of God Navy chaplain.

Franklin conducted crusades throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Africa. His crusades attracted large crowds and he had a significant worldwide following.

Franklin Hall crusade in Ghana, 1960s

In 1956 Franklin moved his headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona, where he founded the Hall Deliverance Foundation, and later built the International Healing Cathedral. In 1970 Hall’s ministry included thirty-two affiliated churches and two thousand members. After publishing Healing Word News with great success, he began publishing Miracle Word Magazine in 1965, which eventually reached a peak circulation of 24,000.

Franklin passed away in 1994. In 2010, Helen passed away. Franklin Hall was a prominent member of a generation of Pentecostal healing evangelists, few of whom remain alive today.

Scholars are increasingly interested in evangelists, including Hall, who helped lay the foundation for Pentecostalism’s significant growth worldwide. One such scholar, Matthews A. Ojo, documented Franklin Hall’s influence in Africa, which until recent has received very little scholarly attention. Ojo’s book, The End-Time Army (Africa World Press, 2006), documented Franklin Hall’s contribution to charismatic student movements in Nigeria in the 1970s.

Another scholar, Laura Premack, Lecturer in Global Religion & Politics at Lancaster University in England, has built upon Ojo’s research, finding that Franklin Hall had influence in Nigeria as early as the 1940s. In a recent article, “Prophets, Evangelists, and Missionaries: Trans-Atlantic Interactions in the Emergence of Nigerian Pentecostalism” (Journal of Religion, 2015), she reported, “Hall published prolifically from the 1940s through the 1970s, and a primary focus of his ministry was to print and ship his newsletters, books, and pamphlets around the world. They circulated in the United States and West Africa, influencing both American healing evangelists and Nigerian Christians.”

When Premack was informed that Franklin Hall’s archival collection was deposited at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, she responded, “It’s fantastic that the FPHC is archiving this collection! There is currently no straightforward way to access sources on Franklin Hall, who deserves a lot more scholarly attention than he’s received.”

Now, with the Franklin Hall Collection accessible at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, it will be easier than ever to study the life, ministry, and worldwide impact of this fascinating evangelist who encouraged Christians to pray, fast, and believe God for great things.

_________________

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 archives and research center 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: http://www.iFPHC.org

C. H. Austin: From the Saloons to Assemblies of God Railroad Evangelist

This Week in AG History — November 16, 1929

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on PE-News, 16 November 2017

Clement Henderson Austin (1889-1973) knew railroads almost as well as he knew the gospel. He spent decades working as a train engineer, but he became mired in a lifestyle of drunkenness, gambling, violence, and addictions to alcohol and tobacco.

After a dramatic conversion, Austin became an Assemblies of God evangelist. He spent the rest of his life sharing the gospel and his testimony. Austin’s story was published in a tract, which was republished in the Nov. 16, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Austin’s life started to unravel when he was 8 years old, when his mother died. For years he carried this sorrow deep inside his soul, crying himself to sleep at night. He wondered why he could not have a mother, like all the other boys.

As a young teenager, Austin ventured onto the streets of Fort Worth, Texas, where he quickly adapted to the ways of the world. He started firing train engines at age 16, soon becoming a train engineer. A large young man, he learned how to fend for himself.

Saloons became a second home to young Austin. He started drinking and smoking, then gambling and stealing. He prided himself on his coarse speech, later calling himself “one of the ringleaders in oaths and smutty jokes.”

Austin recalled that he was “young and tender” when he started living on the streets. But as the years progressed, he noted, “my heart became more cold and hard.” He could feel “the enemy’s fangs” as they “sank into my soul and body.”

The coarse engineer married a young woman and they had a son. Austin tried to cover up his drunken and thieving ways by lying to his wife. But he knew that his life was spinning out of control, and he felt incredible guilt over the injustice he was committing against his family. He did not want his son to follow in his footsteps.

Austin had not been to church in 12 years. While Austin had tried to ignore God, he realized he needed to turn his life around, and he knew he could not do it alone. One night, while looking into the stars, he said aloud, “O God, help me to quit gambling.” Starting at that moment, Austin’s faith — birthed out of desperation — took root.

God seemed to chase after Austin. Two weeks before his conversion, Austin was running through a dark tunnel and heard a voice say, “Throw away your tobacco.” He did, and he never tasted it again.

In the meantime, Austin’s wife began attending revival services at a Pentecostal church in San Diego, California. At first, she did not tell Austin, afraid that he might mock her. But she could not keep quiet, and she told him about the miracles she witnessed. Cripples were leaving their crutches, and deaf people could hear again. He agreed to go hear the evangelist.

The revival services were being held in a small hall, which was packed with people. Austin recalled that “people sang as if they meant it,” and he could tell they had something that he was missing. A young sailor sat next to Austin, and when the evangelist called people to the altar, he tried to pull Austin forward for prayer. Austin knew that he needed to go forward, but he did not want to publicly admit that he needed God.

An intense battle ensued between Austin’s ears. He recalled hearing a voice tell him that he was “too big a sinner” to be on his knees in church. This voice, who Austin recognized as the devil, taunted him, telling him that his drinking buddies would laugh at him. But Austin looked past his suffering, had faith in God, and cried out, “O Lord, have mercy on me.”

After an emotional spiritual battle, Austin found himself laying on the floor. He felt spiritual oppression flee, and he felt a sweet peace sweep through his soul. Austin set his heart on Christ and never looked back.

Austin told his family, friends, and coworkers about his conversion. He returned money he had stolen and asked for forgiveness from those he had offended. “There is now no more drinking, no more gambling, no more taking the name of our Lord in vain, no more tobacco,” he wrote. Instead, “old things have passed away and all things have become new.”

Austin studied for the ministry at Berean Bible Institute, an Assemblies of God school in San Diego. He graduated in 1925 and was ordained as an Assemblies of God evangelist in 1926. He continued working as an engineer on the Rock Island, Southern Pacific, and San Diego and Arizona railroads, but he viewed his secular employment as a vehicle for his higher calling – to preach the gospel across the American Southwest. During the next half century, this large, gentle, earnest railroad engineer, armed with his testimony and a Bible, touched countless lives.

Read Clement H. Austin’s testimony, “Saved and Called to Preach,” on pages 12-13 of the Nov. 16, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Ten Reasons Why I Believe in Divine Healing,” by Thomas G. Atteberry

• “The Extra Portion,” by Mrs. Robert (Marie) Brown

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

Smith Wigglesworth: How a British Plumber Became a Noted Pentecostal Healing Evangelist

This Week in AG History — April 5, 1947

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on PE-News, 6 April 2017

Smith Wigglesworth (1859-1947) was one of the most prominent healing evangelists of the early Pentecostal movement. He was, however, largely unknown outside his town in northern England until he was 48 years old. That was when, in 1907, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit under the ministry of a Pentecostal Anglican vicar, A. A. Boddy.

Born into a very poor family, Wigglesworth started working at age 6 in factories and farms to help support his family. He had little formal education and did not learn to read or write properly until married. While his parents were not committed Christians, Wigglesworth found the gospel message compelling and spent his youth in varied churches. He accepted Christ at a Methodist revival at 8 years old, was confirmed by an Anglican bishop, was immersed in water as a Baptist, and was discipled under the Plymouth Brethren.

Wigglesworth operated a plumbing business in Bradford, England, and helped his wife with a small gospel mission. Early in his ministry, he began encouraging people to have bold faith for both salvation and healing. His stalwart belief in divine healing arose from his own experience of healing from a ruptured appendix. He understood suffering, and he felt a special call to minister to the sick.

Prior to experiencing the baptism in the Holy Spirit, Wigglesworth had gained a reputation for aggressive evangelism, but he spent little time in the pulpit. After he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, he found himself preaching with uncharacteristic fluency and boldness. People who heard him preach experienced deep conviction, and healings and miracles often followed his ministry. He became a well-known speaker across Europe and North America and also helped to establish the Pentecostal movement in New Zealand and Australia.

Wigglesworth held credentials with the Assemblies of God USA from 1924 to 1929, and Gospel Publishing House published two books of his sermons: Ever Increasing Faith (1924) and Faith That Prevails (1938). Stanley Frodsham, the editor of the Pentecostal Evangel, wrote a best-selling biography, Smith Wigglesworth: Apostle of Faith (1948). These books remain in print and have been translated into many other languages.

When Wigglesworth died suddenly of a stroke in 1947, the Pentecostal Evangel published an obituary by Donald Gee and also republished one of the healing evangelist’s classic sermons, “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe.” Gee wrote that Wigglesworth had “a unique ministry, a gift of Christ to His church.” Seventy years after his death, Smith Wigglesworth’s ministry continues to inspire and influence new generations of Pentecostals.

Read “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe” by Smith Wigglesworth and “Awaiting the Resurrection” by Donald Gee on pages 3 and 11-12 of the April 5, 1947, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Walking to Emmaus,” by John Wright Follette

• “Hallelujah! Christ Arose,” by Ernest S. Williams

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

Hal Herman: From Hollywood to Assemblies of God Missionary Evangelist

Hal Herman (right) prays with attendees at his Hong Kong evangelistic outreach, 1957

This Week in AG History — March 17, 1957

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on PE-News, 16 March 2017

Harold C. “Hal” Herman (1902-1999) was a successful Hollywood photographer and press agent in the 1920s and 1930s. However, harrowing experiences as a U.S. Army photographer during World War II led him to accept Christ, and he ultimately became a noted Assemblies of God missionary evangelist who ministered in 48 nations.

Herman became well-known in Hollywood through his 1928 book, How I Broke into the Movies, a compilation of stories from 60 motion picture stars, including Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, and Greta Garbo. During World War II, Herman was inducted into the Army and served in New Guinea on a special news and camera team. Later he went to the Philippines as the official photographer for Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s field headquarters staff.

Herman found himself dodging artillery while carrying his camera in war zones. After experiencing kamikaze attacks and other dangers of war, he promised God that he would lead a better life. During World War II, Herman narrowly escaped death five times.

After the war, he returned to Columbia Pictures, where God used a friend to point him to Jesus Christ. Herman repented of his sin, gave his heart to God, and said, “For the first time in my life I felt the love of God touch me. I knew every evil had been broken. I was spiritually alive.” Herman soon began sharing his faith with movie stars, directors, producers, makeup men, and other staff members where he worked. Their questions gave Herman opportunities to witness about his salvation for the next nine months that he remained at Columbia Pictures.

From this turning point in his life, he felt called into full-time evangelism. He first gave his testimony in churches, and then he began holding evangelistic and tent crusades, first in Germany and then in other parts of the globe, eventually traveling five times around the world.

Sixty years ago, the Pentecostal Evangel published a report by Assemblies of God missionary Harland A. Park about Herman’s evangelistic crusade in Hong Kong. During this campaign, Herman preached continuously in various churches and outdoor meetings from October 1956 through January 1957, sometimes holding two and three meetings a day. He presented “a clear-cut message of faith in Jesus Christ as the One who is abundantly able to give victory over sin, sickness, and death to all who will truly believe and follow Him as Lord.” Huge crowds attended the meetings. People came from Hong Kong, Kowloon, and even farther to seek more of God and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

While in Hong Kong, Herman ministered at the chapel of a refugee settlement where more than 400 decisions were made for Christ and many were healed. He also ministered at Ecclesia Bible Institute for three days of special meetings for the students. Twenty students testified of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Others were stirred to fast and pray, and many were refreshed by the Holy Spirit.

Decision cards were registered for 2,260 persons who professed Christ as Savior in the open-air crusade. Hundreds more prayed for salvation at Assemblies of God, Foursquare, and Pentecostal Mission churches where he preached. Many of these new converts enrolled in a special follow-up Bible correspondence course to learn the truths of God’s Word.

One joyful conversion was a woman who abandoned thoughts of suicide and followed Christ. Herman also prayed for a man deaf in one ear, and the man testified to being healed. Others were prayed for and received healing from cancer, tuberculosis, and other diseases. He also prayed for a number of children to be healed. “May these days count for eternity” was the prayer of Herman and the missionaries who assisted at these meetings.

Herman rubbed shoulders with numerous Christian leaders throughout his ministry. Yonggi Cho, a young minster who would later pastor the world’s largest church, served as his interpreter at meetings he held in Seoul, South Korea, in 1957. Herman also ministered in a 21-day revival campaign in Cairo, which helped him later to produce a documentary on Lillian Trasher called, The Nile Mother. Herman’s ministry intersected with Howard Rusthoi, Francesco Toppi, Reinhard Bonnke, Mark and Huldah Buntain, and Colton Wickramaratne. C. M. Ward wrote about Herman’s conversion and ministry in a 1959 booklet, Goodbye Make-Believe! The Hal Herman Story.

Herman spent his early years promoting Hollywood stars, but a radical conversion led him to spend the rest of his life promoting Jesus Christ. He became a faithful AG missionary evangelist who lived to age 96, and thousands were saved through his nearly 50 years of worldwide ministry.

Read “Hong Kong Crusade,” on pages 14-15 of the March 17, 1957, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “God, Make Us Your Burning Ones,” by T. J. Jones

• “Bringing Christ to Alaska,” by David Hogan

Click here to read this issue now.

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. H. Austin: From the Saloons to Assemblies of God Railroad Evangelist

This Week in AG History — November 16, 1929

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on PE-News, 17 November 2016

Clement Henderson Austin (1889-1973) knew railroads almost as well as he knew the gospel. He spent decades working as a train engineer, but he became mired in a lifestyle of drunkenness, gambling, violence, and addictions to alcohol and tobacco.

After a dramatic conversion, Austin became an Assemblies of God evangelist. He spent the rest of his life sharing the gospel, illustrated by his life story. Austin’s testimony was published in a Gospel Publishing House tract, which was republished in the Nov. 16, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Austin’s mother died when he was eight years old. For years he carried this sorrow deep inside his soul, crying himself to sleep at night. He wondered why he could not have a mother, like all the other boys.

As a young teenager, Austin ventured onto the streets of Fort Worth, Texas, where he quickly adapted to the ways of the world. He started firing train engines at age 16, soon becoming a train engineer. A large young man, he learned how to fend for himself.

Saloons became a second home to young Austin. He started drinking and smoking, then gambling and stealing. He prided himself on his coarse speech, later calling himself “one of the ringleaders in oaths and smutty jokes.”

Austin recalled that he was “young and tender” when he started living on the streets. But as the years progressed, he noted, “my heart became more cold and hard.” He could feel “the enemy’s fangs” as they “sank into my soul and body.”

The coarse engineer married a young woman and they had a son. Austin tried to cover up his drunken and thieving ways by lying to his wife. But he knew that his life was spinning out of control, and he felt incredible guilt over the injustice he was committing against his family. He did not want his son to follow in his footsteps.

Austin had not been to church in twelve years. While Austin had tried to ignore God, he realized he needed to turn his life around, and he knew he could not do it alone. One night, while looking into the stars, he said aloud, “O God, help me to quit gambling.” Starting at that moment, Austin’s faith — birthed out of desperation — took root.

God seemed to chase after Austin. Two weeks before his conversion, Austin was running through a dark tunnel and heard a voice say, “Throw away your tobacco.” He did, and he never tasted it again.

In the meantime, Austin’s wife began attending revival services at a Pentecostal church in San Diego, California. At first, she did not tell Austin, afraid that he might mock her. But she could not keep quiet, and she told him about the miracles she witnessed. Cripples were leaving their crutches, and deaf people could hear again. He agreed to go hear the evangelist.

The revival services were being held in a small hall, which was packed with people. Austin recalled that “people sang as if they meant it,” and he could tell they had something that he was missing. A young sailor sat next to Austin, and when the evangelist called people to the altar, he tried to pull Austin forward for prayer. Austin knew that he needed to go forward, but he did not want to make a public demonstration.

An intense battle ensued between Austin’s ears. He recalled hearing a voice tell him that he was “too big a sinner” to be on his knees in church. This voice, who Austin recognized as the devil, taunted him, telling him that his drinking buddies would laugh at him. But Austin looked past his suffering, had faith in God, and cried out, “O Lord, have mercy on me.”

After an emotional spiritual battle, Austin found himself laying on the floor. He felt spiritual oppression flee, and he felt a sweet peace sweep through his soul. Austin set his heart on Christ and never looked back.

Austin told his family, friends, and coworkers about his conversion. He returned money he had stolen and asked for forgiveness from those he had offended. “There is now no more drinking, no more gambling, no more taking the name of our Lord in vain, no more tobacco,” he wrote. Instead, “old things have passed away and all things have become new.”

Austin studied for the ministry at Berean Bible Institute, an Assemblies of God school in San Diego. He graduated in 1925 and was ordained as an Assemblies of God evangelist in 1926. He continued working as an engineer on the Rock Island, Southern Pacific, and San Diego and Arizona railroads, but he viewed his secular employment as a vehicle for his higher calling – to preach the gospel across the American Southwest. During the next half century, this large, gentle, earnest railroad engineer, armed with his testimony and a Bible, touched countless lives.

Read Clement H. Austin’s testimony, “Saved and Called to Preach,” on pages 12-13 of the Nov. 16, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Ten Reasons Why I Believe in Divine Healing,” by Thomas G. Atteberry

• “The Extra Portion,” by Mrs. Robert (Marie) Brown

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