IPHC Brief History Organizational Heritage

Brief History: Organizational Heritage

The first congregation to bear the name of the Pentecostal Holiness Church was organized in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1898 as a result of the evangelistic ministry of Abner Blackman Crumpler, a Methodist evangelist. In 1897 in Magnolia, North Carolina, Crumpler organized the inter- denominational North Carolina Holiness Association.

Because of his uncompromising holiness ministry, Crumpler was tried in 1899 in a Methodist ecclesiastical court for "preaching the glorious doctrines of Methodism," as he explained it. Although he was acquitted in the trial, Crumpler soon withdrew from the Methodist Church and with several followers began a new denomination which generally was called the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

In 1900 the church's first convention was conducted in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Crumpler was elected to serve as president, and a Discipline was adopted. Several congregations were organized principally in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. In 1901 at Magnolia, North Carolina, the word pentecostal was eliminated from the name, and for eight years the church was known as The Holiness Church of North Carolina.

Following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 1906, and after many members received the baptism of the Spirit according to Acts 2:4, the word pentecostal was restored to the name at Falcon, North Carolina, in 1909.

The Fire-Baptized Holiness Church came into being as the result of the evangelistic ministry of Benjamin Hardin Irwin of Nebraska. A Baptist lawyer converted to Wesleyan holiness theology, Irwin postulated a "baptism with fire" following the experience of sanctification.

From 1896 to 1900, Irwin's preaching campaigns in the Midwest and South resulted in large numbers of followers from the holiness movement, many of whom were also attracted to his healing ministry. When leaders of the National Holiness Movement rejected his teaching as "third blessingism," Irwin began to organize Fire-Baptized Holiness Associations around the nation, the first of which was organized in Olmitz, Iowa, in 1895.

From 1896 to 1900, Irwin's preaching campaigns in the Midwest and South attracted large crowds, including many holiness ministers. At Anderson, South Carolina, in August 1898, Irwin led in the formation of a national body known as the Fire-Baptized Holiness Association. Irwin was elected to serve as "general overseer" for life while "ruling elders" were appointed over eight states and two Canadian provinces. A periodical promoting the movement, Live Coals of Fire, was published in Lincoln, Nebraska.

When Irwin left the movement in 1900, Joseph Hillery King was chosen to serve as general overseer. In 1902 the name was changed from Fire-Baptized Holiness Association to the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church.