The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith is a

Oneness Pentecostal Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Jesus Only movement) is a nontrinitarian religious movement within the Protestant Christian family of churches known as Pentecostalism. It derives its distinctiv ...

church with headquarters in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It was founded in 1919 by Robert C. Lawson. The church's mission statement is: "To evangelize the world for Jesus Christ; to equip every believer to become true Disciples of Christ; and to engage those social problems that challenge the communities we have been called to serve."

History

The "Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ", as it is most commonly known, was organized by Robert C. Lawson, a protégé of G.T. Haywood, who claimed salvation and the baptism of the Holy Ghost in 1913. In 1914 Lawson was called to the ministry and soon began evangelizing, mainly in the

Mid-West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, and pastoring in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. When he found himself at odds with the leadership of the

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. (P.A.W.) is one of the world's largest Oneness Pentecostal denominations, and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. While it began in 1906 with Trinitarian beliefs, it was re-organized in 1916 a ...

, Lawson resigned from that organization in 1919 and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he founded the Refuge Church of Christ, after the members of a prayer band in Harlem welcomed him and turned their meetings over to him. That small church grew and became known as the Refuge Temple, and, later, the Greater Refuge Temple. It was the hub of Lawson's evangelistic efforts in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

. Lawson's field work took him up and down the East Coast, throughout the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, and as far as

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

, where he appointed missionaries to carry on spiritual work. Greater Refuge Temple

The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ has been very influential among

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

Pentecostal churches, and has given rise to several spin-off bodies. The first major break-away was in 1930, when Sherrod C. Johnson created a rival organization, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, through which he challenged Lawson's stance on practical holiness. The most important fracture in the church's history, though, came in 1957 when Smallwood E. Williams led about 70 churches away to form the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Other organizations that were born from or splintered from this church body include the Church of God in Christ Jesus International Ministries, Progressive Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Refuge Temple Assembly of Yahweh, the Evangelistic Churches of Christ, a host of small organizations, and independent churches of varying sizes. Furthermore, there have been splits in many of the offshoot churches: for example, the church founded by Sherrod C. Johnson (Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, also referred to as CLJC) has splintered and re-emerged as the Holy Temple Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, the Apostolic Ministries of America, and the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, all of which are actively evangelizing

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and

. Thus, the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is the

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ...

of a family of predominantly African-American Pentecostal Apostolic organizations. After Lawson's death in 1961, a rising minister in the organization, William L. Bonner, proposed a change in the church's governmental structure. Whereas Bishop Lawson, as founder, had been the sole governing prelate of the organization, Bonner suggested that there be a board of archbishops, or "apostles", who would govern the churches. Two other groups, the Board of Bishops and the Board of Presbyters, both hold accountable and are held accountable by the Board of Apostles. The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ has many other auxiliaries that function to serve its members and those of the community. The International Armor Bearers' Young Peoples' Union (ABYPU), the International Sunday School Department, the International Missionaries, and the International Congress are a few that work together to bring the ministry to laymen and surrounding communities.

Doctrine and practice

The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ is, historically and doctrinally, a

organization like the

United Pentecostal Church The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri, United States. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal ...

and the

. With roots in the earliest years of American Pentecostalism, much of the culture of the church reflects the doctrine of the

Holiness movement The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emp ...

of the 1800s. Among the practices that separate it from other Pentecostal churches are its outspokenness on the significance of the name "Lord Jesus Christ", especially as a baptismal formula; a very conservative dress code, which includes the wearing of hats or some other type of headcovering (e.g., prayer veil) by women during church services; insistence on wine to be used during communion; strict interpretation of New Testament scriptures concerning divorce and remarriage; and the disallowance of women as pastors. (These last two were Lawson's points of disagreement with the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.)

Organization and membership

Governance of the church includes the Chief Apostle, the Presiding Apostle, the Board of Apostles, the Board of Bishops, the Board of Presbyters, the Executive Secretary, and the General Council. Major laity-driven auxiliaries are Women's Council; Ministers' and Deacons' Wives' Guild; the International Sunday School Association and the Armor Bearers' Young People's Union, which together make up the International Congress; and the International Music Department. Though women are not ordained, they are licensed as social, senior, and field Missionaries through the organization's International Missionary Department. There is also a Deacon's Union. In 1990 the church had about 30,000 members in 450 churches in the United States. In 2018, there are now 1,200 churches worldwide, including congregations in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Its U.S. membership is predominantly

. Headquartered at Greater Refuge Temple Church in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, the church operates W. L. Bonner College in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the cit ...

and the Church of Christ Bible Institute in

Leaders

The presiders of the organization have been: * Robert C. Lawson, 1919–1961 * Hubert J. Spencer, 1961–1973 *William L. Bonner, 1973–1995 *Gentle Groover, 1995–2001 *James I. Clark, 2001–2007 *Matthew Norwood, 2007-2012 *Robert Sanders, 2013–2016 *James I. Clark, Jr., 2016-

References

Notes Bibliography * ''Handbook of Denominations in the United States'', by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood * ''Discipline Book of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ'' * ''For the Defense of the Gospel'', edited by Arthur Anderson * ''My Father in the Gospel'', by Bishop W.L. Bonner. * ''And the High Place I'll Bring Down'', biography of Bishop W.L. Bonner

External links

General Links *
Official Google+ Page

Official Youth Site - ABYPU

Official International Congress Site

Official Forum

Official Web Site Of Newly Elected Presider Bishop Matthew Norwood

About the leaders

''Related Links

Excerpts from Biography of Lawson protégé Lymus Johnson

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ Of The Apostolic Faith Historically African-American Christian denominations Christian organizations established in 1919 Oneness Pentecostal denominations Churches in Manhattan Holiness denominations