Pilgrim Holiness Church | About Us
In a special general assembly in Cincinnati on October 8-10, 1922, the name of the denomination was changed to the Pilgrim Holiness Church. From 1919 to 1946, the church grew from 8,000 members to 27,418 members with only 3,200 coming through mergers. The rest came through evangelism.
There were two groups developed in the 60's who still bear the name PILGRIM Holiness. The first developed in New York State in 1963. The New York Conference came into conflict with the General Board for setting qualifications for membership which were seen as exceeding the discipline.
In an appearance before the General Board of Administration, the Superintendent, Rev. Andrew Whitney, indicated that he could not serve under the current Pilgrim Holiness manual. A number of the New York churches then voted to pull away from the General Church and form the "Pilgrim Holiness Church of New York". In 1966, the pastors of two small churches in Illinois felt the pressure, and believed it was God's time for them to withdraw from the strong organization which seemed to smother their love for Godliness and holy living.
In December of that year, Rev. Eugene Gray informed his Bloomington, Ill., church that he was resigning and leaving the denomination, and that they were free to do whatever they felt they should. The Church felt this should be a church decision, and set the date for the membership vote. During the last week of December, the church voted to withdraw from the denomination.
During this same year in Decatur, Illinois, Pastor James Southerland was also making decisions. The Board had voted unanimously not to go with the merger, and in January of 1967, the church body voted against it also. A Statement of Purpose was drawn up and presented to the Church for its consideration. This Statement was addressed to the Council of the Illinois District and was speaking to three aspects of the issue. They felt, first of all, that spiritually they would not benefit due to the trend of worldliness and wavering from the standards and convictions of the Founding Fathers.
Secondly, they asked the Council to consider letting the Illinois District as a whole be excluded from the merger. If this was not possible, the Decatur church was willing to stand alone.
Thirdly, they asked for a clear title to their property. If these requests were not granted the Church was still standing against the merger and would withdraw from the General Church. After meeting with the Council and a lawsuit, the Decatur Church was able to purchase their property from the General Church, but the Bloomington Church chose not to do so, and purchased the property where they are now worshiping. TO FINISH READING - - - CLICK HERE
