Legacy Statement
Oldest Council in the
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World
Since 1909
In the exact manner that the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. lays claim to the title “oldest oneness organization in the world” The First Apostolic Council is the oldest council in the P.A.W.
The late Bishop Morris E. Golder wrote: “the original organization bearing the name of the ‘Pentecostal Assemblies of the World’ came into existence in the year of 1906 in the city of Los Angeles, State of California”. The late Bishop G. T. Haywood concurs with this fact, writing in the Voice in the Wilderness in 1921, “it (the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World) was started in 1906 in Los Angeles, California.”
If the P.A.W. accepts the title of “Oldest”, then it must also accept the fact that it has not always been an apostolic or Jesus’ name oneness organization.
According to its historians and elders: Golder, Paddock, and even Garfield T. Haywood himself, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. (P.A.W.) was formally organized in 1912 as adherents of trinitarian beliefs, and in 1916 re-organized as a Oneness Pentecostal organization.
However, the government recognition (formal organizing) of an organization, and in this case, the P.A.W. as well as The F.A.C., does not denote its actual origin or beginning.
The P.A.W. says:
Its origin can be traced to the Azusa Street Revival (1960-1909) under the leadership of William Joseph Seymour. During this time, it was a loose fellowship of churches that were united by the infilling of the believer with the Holy Ghost, and holiness. Some would later refer to this experience as "the latter rain".
Although there is one individual church (Christ Temple, Indianapolis, Indiana) in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World that began in the year 1908, the Indiana Council did not grow directly out of Christ Temple and no other council began their worship services in or prior to 1909 as did The First Apostolic Council.
Our council began in the same manner as the P.A.W. Its origin can be traced to 1909 with the Christian Faith Band Church of Louisville, Kentucky. At that time a small group of holiness seekers from the Christian Faith Band Church left that assembly after hearing G. T. Haywood preach.
Because of the work of Bishop G. T. Haywood in 1909, the Christian Faith Band Assembly yielded a small group of F.A.C. charter members; their names were Sister Viola Beeler, Sister Anna Bell Davis and Sister Theresa Coffman, who offered her garage to be used for Sunday Worship services. The F.A.C. is a direct result of the actions and work of these courageous women along with other notable Apostolic figures such as F. I. Douglas, A. R. Schooler, and Sister Lucy A. Cureton of Fairfield, KY, who served as the first Secretary.
The “Louisville Assembly” grew nonstop into the Kentucky State Council (unofficial) and by 1923 had sprouted 13* additional assemblies.
*1923 - Kentucky State Council meets at Fairfield, Kentucky in January with 13 churches representing.
The names of the pastors are as follows:
1. Elder F. I. Douglas
The Original 35 members/Louisville Assembly
2. Bishop D. T. Schultz (F. I. Douglas), Elder W. P. Foree
Greater Bethel Temple - Louisville, KY
3. Elder O. G. Fletcher, Elder Robert Lewis
Church of God in Jesus’ Name - Lexington, KY
4. Elder Elijah Crayton
Ebenezer Temple Church - Maysville, KY
5. Elder John Marshall (sent by Douglas)
Bethel Temple - Shelbyville, KY
6. Elder Patrick Tillery, Elder Elzy Thomas
Christ Temple Church - Ashland, KY
7. Elder Everhart (Needs citation), Sis. Lula Jones
Bethel Temple Church (Bethel Temple Church Apostolic Faith) - Frankfort, KY
8. Elder P. L. Scott
Lively Stone Church of God - Nortonville, KY
9. Pastor Lena Robinson, Elder Alonzo Taylor, Elder W. W. Harris
Greater Christ Temple - Nashville, TN
10. Mother A. V. Witt, Elder Gus Hogan, Elder Samuel Haynesworth, Elder Melvin Boyd (the Sr.)
Christ Temple Pentecostal Church - Old Hickory (Hopewell), TN
11. Joshua Sawyer, Elder William E. Fykes
Jerusalem Temple - Springfield, TN
12. Mattie (Long) Holland, Sister Daisy Jordan
Adairville, KY - New Jerusalem Temple until 1964; Holy Mission Apostolic from 1964 – 1972
13. Sister Hattie Young
Church of the First Born - Ashland City, TN
14. Pastor Minnie Colbert, Elder George Burns
Christ Temple Church (Christ Temple North) - Nashville, TN
In 1973 Bishop Morris E. Golder, the former historian of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., becomes the 3rd diocesan of The F.A.C.
Sources:
- Christian Outlook - July 1960
- 1922 Handwritten Testimonial from Sister Theresa Coffman via Mother Katie Gilbert, Member of Greater Bethel Temple (mother church)
- 1971 Obsequies (Anna B. Calhoun)
- October 1972 to October 1985 F.A.C. General Secretaries’ Business Session notes (Lucy Cureton, H. J. Crittendon, Mary Harris, Vancy Voohries)
- F.A.C. Charter - Kentucky Secretary of State legal document (June 16, 1971)
- Constitution and Bylaws compiled by Bishop Morris E. Golder (1979)
- F.A.C. Council program (October 21-24, 1983)
- 2000 F.A.C. Council program
- Constitution and Bylaws book revised by the late Bishop Melvin Boyd (the senior) – April 2000
- 70th Souvenir Book of the Pentecostal Assemblies of
the World (August 1985)
- F.A.C. Business Session Minutes - July 18, 1978
- P.A.W. Minute Book 1945, 1953, 1973, 1990
- Great Women of Pentecost, Volume I
- Interview with F.A.C. Diocesan Bishop Sherman L. Merritt
- Interview with Elder Woodard Bowley
- Newspapers.com Obituaries
- Newspapers.com Articles
- Apostolicarchives.com
- Findagrave.com
Compiled by:
F.A.C. Council Historian (2007), Suffragan Bishop L. McNeese