Charles Fox Parham
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Charles Fox Parham (4 June 1873 - c. 29 January 19291) was a controversial American preacher who is considered by many to be the "founder of modern Pentecostalism."2 However, several allegations of sodomy[1] and racism have diminished his reputation.
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[edit] Bio
[edit] Life and Career
Born in Muscatine, Iowa, on 4 June 1873, Parham began coordinating independent services at the age of 15, and in his early adult life had already made a name for himself. He was affiliated with the Methodist and Holiness movements. Parham disagreed with the hierarchy of the Methodist church, and later, would alienate his followers, too, by declaring their worship style invalid. In 1895, he broke with the mainstream Methodist denomination and established his own ministry. In 1898, he moved his ministry to Topeka, Kansas.
He married the daughter of a Quaker, Sarah Thistlewaite. Numerous dates for the marriage exist, including, 1886, 1896, and 1891. The Assemblies of God gives it at 1886, while other less authoritative sources give it at the latter dates.
While preaching at a New Years Eve service (1901) at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Agnes Ozman began to speak in tongues, the first reported person to do so since the event of Pentecost in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles.
[edit] Death
As a boy, Parham had contracted a severe rheumatic fever which damaged his heart and contributed to his poor health. At one time he almost died. In his mid-50s, it seems, Parham's health was fast crumbling. He collapsed while on a trip to Temple, Texas. Charles Fox Parham died on 29 January 1929 in the confines of his home in Baxter Springs, Kansas[2].
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Racism
William J. Seymour, also influential in the movement and a colleague of Parham's then took the doctrine of tongues to Los Angeles, where the crucial Azusa Street Revival would take place in 1906. When Parham visited Seymour there, he denounced the revival as a "darky camp meeting," saying, "God is sick at His stomach!"[3]
Another widespread belief relating to Parham's racial attitudes is that he was a Klansman. According to written records, Parham became a full member of the Ku Klux Klan during 1910[4], although this is hotly debated by supporters of Parham, who contend the KKK didn't exist at this time.
[edit] Freemasonry
Parham was almost certainly a member of the Freemasons[5]. Because many in the Pentecostal movement oppose the Freemasons so bitterly, some have said that he left the organization when he started his "Full Gospel" ministry, although there is evidence that he was still a member in 1928, when he appeared to still have Masonic tendencies.
[edit] Sodomy
In 1907, Parham was charged with sodomy with two young males in San Antonio, Texas. The charges were later dropped, reportedly because nobody was willing to come forward and testify. Still, his reputation had been scarred and his religious influence was lowered by this event.[6]
[edit] Legacy
The Charles F. Parham Center for Pentecostal-Charismatic Studies is an "independent research facility" on the campus of South Texas Bible Institute in Houston, Texas. It is one of several organizations to consider Parham a founding leader of the Pentecostal movement.[7]
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
Note 1: Parham's exact death date is obscure. One website listed in the references has listed it at 29 January 1929. No other dates that we know of, for there are none, object to that.
Note 2: Most sources maintain Parham and William J. Seymour founded modern Pentecostalism, although Pentecostal doctrine had dwelt for years among many different congregations.
[edit] Works
- A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1902)
- The Everlasting Gospel (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1911)
