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

Oneness Pentecostal Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic Pentecostalism, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Oneness movement) is a nontrinitarian branch of Pentecostal Christianity that emphasizes the absolute oneness of God and the full deity of Jesus C ...

denomination with headquarters in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. It was founded in 1919 by Robert C. Lawson. According to the

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...

in 2020, the denomination had 85,938 members in 527 churches.

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, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, and pastoring in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

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

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (P.A.W. or PAW) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Claiming an estimated 2 million members in approximately 4,000 churches as of 2022, the Association of Religion ...

, Lawson resigned from that organization in 1919 and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 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—eac ...

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

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, and as far as

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

, 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 known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

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, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, 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 ges ...

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 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 Christianity, Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions such as Quakers, Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. Churches aligned with ...

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 Executive Secretary, and the General Council. Apostolic Faith is based on the teaching Jesus passed down to the twelve apostles, book of Act 2. The Apostolic church is oneness, open to all people. 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, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Its U.S. membership is predominantly

Black-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

. 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 ...

, the church operates W. L. Bonner College in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

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 (Presiding Apostle) *William L. Bonner, 1990-2014 (Chief Apostle for Life) *Gentle Groover, 1995–2001 *James I. Clark Jr., 2001–2007 *Matthew Norwood, 2007-2012 *Robert Sanders, 2013–2016 *James I. Clark, Jr., 2016-2022 *James A. Maye, 2022–present

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 Christian organizations established in 1919 Oneness Pentecostal denominations Churches in Manhattan Historically African-American Christian denominations