10/25/2009

PHC #8: Explosive Church Growth--1930-1946

8. The Pilgrim Holiness Church: Explosive Church Growth--1930-1946

So, what do you think?

keith drury

7 comments:

vanilla said...

Beautifully done. Brought back memories, as you limned perfectly the picture of the church I knew in my youth. The article could rightly be titled "Faith, Prayer and Sacrifice."

My favorite sentences were perhaps the last two in footnote (6):
When Pilgrims are remembered today they are often dismissed as “those strict ingrown legalists.” Yet the record shows that the Pilgrims from 1930 to 1966 were constantly reaching out, getting people saved, and planting new churches.
What,after all, is the purpose of a church if not to get people saved?

Rev. Rick Carder '87 / ' 03 said...

The external factors of the times (Fight against Socialism, economic gains, and pull for family values and the like) may have contributed to this growth?? Does this play a factor? Was there a parallel of conservativism growth that met with this church growth? What do you think?

Kenneth said...

There is not that much difference in this (Pilgrim) strategy than the strategy used by all of the other holiness denominaitons at the time--yet they all did not continually grow like the Pilgrims did--so what is else accounts for this growth besides these five things? There must have been a "spirit" or "ethos" that is beyond these five?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the informative articles on the PH. I especially liked endnote #2 and the listing of evangelists. It's nice to see E.E. Leadingham mentioned. He was my grandfather and I heard in many places he led the best revivals a particular church had seen. I also remember my paternal grandfather, Rev. Dorsey Schenck was one of those church planters. There were times in my childhood when he would have R.G. Flexon at his home after services.
What a heritage!
Jim Schenck

John Mark said...

I would hope there is a way to publish all this in some permanent form when you are finished.

Duke said...

"these young entrepreneurs willing to start something new."

Too many of us want/expect a large safety net. We function in a culture of plenty and are risk averse, afraid to loose what we have. They functioned in a culture of scarcity and had nothing to loose.

How do we develop and train spiritual enrepreneurs?

Keith Drury said...

Duke, I hope you figure this out. I see no lack of dreaming... it is risking that comes hard.