James Gordon Lindsay (June 18, 1906 – April 1, 1973) was a revivalist preacher, author, and founder of
Christ for the Nations Institute.
Born in
Zion, Illinois
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,655.
History
The city was founded in 1900 by John Alexander Dowie, a Scots-Australian evangelical minister and faith healer who had ...
, Lindsay's parents were disciples of
John Alexander Dowie, the father of healing revivalism in America. After the family moved to
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, the young boy was influenced by
John G. Lake and converted to Pentecostalism by
Charles Fox Parham. At the age of eighteen he began his ministry as a traveling evangelist, conducting meetings in
Assembly of God,
British Israelite churches and other
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
groups. By 1940 he was organizing large convention meetings, including the 1940 Anglo-Saxon World Federation meetings in Vancouver.
In 1947 he began serving as campaign manager and publicist for
William Branham, with whom he established ''Voice of Healing'' magazine in 1948. Lindsay gradually took over full management of the ''Voice of Healing'' association which helped launch and popularize the ministries of
Oral Roberts
Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christianity, Christian televangelist, who was one of the first to propagate Prosperity theology, Prosperity Gospel Theo ...
,
A. A. Allen, and dozens of other prominent evangelists. In 1971, Lindsay renamed the organization Christ For The Nations to reflect the growing missionary focus of the organization. He led the organization until his death.
Biography
James Gordon Lindsay was born and raised in an atmosphere of healing and Pentecostal experience. He was born in Zion City, Illinois, on June 18, 1906. His parents were Thomas Lindsay and Effie (Ramsey) Lindsay. They were followers of
John Alexander Dowie, a famous healing evangelist of the late 1800s who claimed to be the return of
Elijah the Prophet and founded Zion as a religious commune. When the city went bankrupt, after the fall of Dowie, the Lindsay family moved to a Christian community led by Pisgah Finis E. Yoakum in California, and then to Portland, Oregon. Lindsay converted to
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
during a meeting led by
Charles Fox Parham, an early leader of the Pentecostal movement in Topeka, Kansas. He then developed a relationship with
John G. Lake, who had also been a follower of Dowie, and who was leading the Divine Healing Mission in Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon. During the 1920s, Lindsay traveled with Lake in mission campaigns in California and the southern states. Then he became a pastor of a
Foursquare Gospel
The Foursquare Church is an international Pentecostal Christianity, Christian denomination founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. It lies within the evangelical tradition. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, Unit ...
church in California before later returning to Oregon, where he married Freda Schimpf.
Lindsay was involved with the
British Israelite movement and was the organizer of the 1940 Anglo Saxon World Federation Convention held during March in Vancouver, Canada. Speakers at the event included Canadian minister
Clem Davies, a KKK recruiter and promoter of an early version of
Christian Identity Theology. When
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
broke out, Lindsay accepted a call to become pastor of a church in
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...
in early 1940.
''Voice of Healing''
Lindsay first heard
William Branham in a meeting in
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
during the authum of 1947 and, after meeting with him, they both agreed that Lindsay should act as Branham's campaign manager. Later that year he resigned his pastoral position to become campaign manager for Branham. In order to promote the campaign, Lindsay started the "
Voice of Healing" in Shreveport Louisiana in April 1948. Shreveport was home of Branham's prior campaign manager Jack Moore, who pastored a church in the city. A magazine of wide circulation, particularly in the southern US, the first issue listed William Branham as publisher, Gordon Lindsay as editor,
Jack Moore as associate editor, and Anna Jeanne Moore as circulation editor.
A few months later in July 1948, Branham announced he was stepping away from the revival circuit for a time. The news came as quite a blow to Lindsay who had just begun the revival publication to cover Branham's meetings. Coverage of other evangelists, such as
Jack Coe,
Oral Roberts
Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christianity, Christian televangelist, who was one of the first to propagate Prosperity theology, Prosperity Gospel Theo ...
, and
A. A. Allen began to appear in the magazine as it circulated nationwide. The group sponsored the first convention of healing evangelists in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
during 1949 and began to function as a loose fellowship of ministers under the Voice of Healing banner. In 1950 a biography of Branham written by Lindsay ("William Branham: A Man Sent from God") was published.
By October 1950, Branham was no longer the publisher but was listed as an associate editor. The
masthead listed the following editors:
*Gordon Lindsay - Editor
*
Jack Moore - Co-editor
*Anna Jeanne Moore - Managing editor
*
F. F. Bosworth - Associate editor
*Wilbur Ogilvie - Associate editor
*
William Branham - Associate editor
*O.L. Jaggers - Associate editor
*Harvey McAlister - Associate editor
*
T. L. Osborn - Associate editor
*Dale Hanson - Associate editor
*Gayle Jackson - Associate editor
As the popularity of some of its members rose, they left the fellowship to establish their own organizations and publish their own literature. As a result of the popularity of the magazine, and Lindsay's status as a key organizer of revival meetings, Lindsay played a key role in the
Healing Revival period.
[Harrell, p. 62]
References
Sources
*
External links
Christ For The Nations Official Website*http://fredalindsay.com/
Current President Dennis Lindsay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, James Gordon
1906 births
1973 deaths
20th-century American historians
20th-century apocalypticists
20th-century evangelicals
American Evangelical writers
American evangelists
American historians of religion
American magazine founders
American Pentecostal missionaries
American talent agents
Branhamism
Pentecostal writers
Prosperity theologians