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Charles Fox Parham (4 June 1873 - c. 29 January 1929^[2]) was a controversial American preacher who is considered by many to be the "founder of modern Pentecostalism."^[3] It is clear from history that both the Azusa Street revival and the pentecostal revival that spread from Zion City (now called Zion), Illinois, grew from Parham's ministry and teachings. While press reports were initially favorable in some of the areas Parham ministered, some of the large main line churches, and church heirachy in Zion City, were not pleased with his ministry and did what they could to discourage furtherance of his teachings. As a result some of the press reports became more negative as his ministry approached its peak in in 1906 and 1907.

In July 1907, the San Antonio, Texas, papers reported that Parham was detained on morals charges.^[1] Those charges never even reached the stage of indictiment because there was "absolutely no evidence which merited legal recognition". Even the city attorney "was satisfied it was all spite work".^[2] Despite the total lack of evidence, religious leaders of the time (who disagreed with Parham's beliefs) kept the unproven allegations before the people. In the moral climate of the time, even unproven allegations were enough to ruin a minister's reputation. Rather than battle in this environment Parham withdrew to his prior home area of Baxter Springs, Kansas, where he continued to minister to a congregation he had previously started there. From there he ministered outside his local area on a smaller scale, until his death over 20 years later, never able to get away from the old allegations.^[3]

Parham's writings confirm that he believed in racial segregation, which ultimately appears to have been a factor in his eventual separation from the William Seymour and the Azusa street revival. Parham was against mixed marriages and felt that there should be a separation of the races in or at religious services. His belief in the gospel was not enough to overcome this segregationist upbringing. By current standards, Parham has been accused of racism, though at the time (the very early 1900's), and location (the southern states, where terminology and concepts of what was appropriate behavior were different than what is now acceptable), Parham would have been more appropriately termed a "segregationist" rather than a "racist". A racist of the period would nor have allowed Seymour to attend his bible classes, and would not have had blacks at his meetings (both were activities Parham allowed and endorsed).

Contents 1 Bio 1.1 Life and Career 1.2 Ministry 1.3 Death 2 Controversy 2.1 Allegations of Racism 2.2 Freemasonry 2.3 Morals Questioned 2.4 Doctrinal Differences 3 Legacy 4 References 5 Notes 6 Works 7 External links

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.

He married the daughter of a Quaker, Sarah Thistlewaite. The probable date of their marriage is given by Parham's wife in her 1930 biography on Parham: "The Life of Charles F. Parham". In chapter V (written by Mrs. Parham) she says they "were married, December 31, 1896; the Friend's Ministers, Jonathan Ballard and his wife had charge of the service at my grandfather's home." It would have made Parham 23 years old when they married. The other date, given at the end of the book, quotes a later newspaper article (which probably was a typographical error), saying their marriage was solemnized December 31, 1985. Other earlier dates given in some later records, but an earlier date would not fit with details related by Mrs. Parham in the 1930 biography.

Parham began preaching when he was 15 years old, and was already an active evangelist by the time he met his future wife at the age of 19. From there he did various evangistic work. In 1898, he moved his ministry to Topeka, Kansas, starting a healing home there. The 1930 biography on Parham (page 48) acknowledges that Parham "deciding to know more fully the latest truths restored by the later day movements", took a sabatical from his work at the healing home in 1900 and "visited various movements, such as Dowie's ... the Eye-Opener work ... Malone's work ... Dr. Simpson's ... Sanford's ... and many others." When he returned from this sabatical, those left in charge of his healing home had taken over and, rather than fighting for control, Parham started Bethel Bible School in Topeka, operating the school on a faith basis, not charging tuition, depending on God to supply the needs of the school.

In late 1900, Parham had his sturdents at Bethel Bible School study the Bible to determine what evidence was present when the early church received the Holy Ghost. The conclusion of the students (with Parham in agreement) was that the evidence was speaking in tongues. Shortly after that conclusion, during a New Years Eve "watch-night" service at Bethel (December 31, 1900), Agnes Ozman asked to be prayed for to receive this evidence, then began to speak in what they referred to as "in tongues", speaking in what was believed to be a known language. Some alleged that she was the first person to do so since the event of Pentecost in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles, however there are hundreds of other recorded instances including St. Francis of Asissi, Martin Luther, Saint Augustine, and others starting around 1800. The difference between the tongues that came initially under Parham's ministry, and what had happend previously (as pointed out by some of the articles), was that the speaking in tongues this time came as a direct result of a specific teaching on and study of the subject, while previously the experience had been more random and was felt to be more in the nature of estatic utterances. The low profile of the other instances, plus the press coverage and the controversy in the papers, apparently caused people to think it was the first time since the day of pentecost.

Whether speaking in tongues was revived through Parham's ministry, or whether it simply gained momentum through it, most in the Pentecostal movement would point to him as being a key person in the early days of the movement. Prior to 1906 (i.e. in 1903 - 1905), Parham held services in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, where "baptism of the holy spirit with speaking in toungues" was often present. William Semour, the initial preacher at Azusa street, attended Parham's bible college in the winter of 1905, and went out from there to Los Angeles, bringing many of Parham's teachings with him.

When Semour was in Los Angeles and the Azusa Street revival was beginning, a request came for Parham to go to Zion City (a community then in religious turmoil resulting from financial problems the community was going through) to hold some meetings. Parham responded, held meetings there, and as a result many in Zion City, including FF Bosworth, John G. Lake, and other ministers who later became well known in pentecostal circles, had pentecostal experiences. Zion City had been founded by Alexander Dowie as a community where Christian morals would guide community life, and prior to Parham arriving, had been a one church community (Dowie's church). The people there were already committed to Christian values, already believed in divine healing, and already had a zeal for the Gospel. Parham's intrusion into the community was strongly resisted by the head of Dowie's church, Overseer Voliva, who initially even prevented them from using any of the public buildings for holding services. Despite this church hierarchy resistance, his coming was well received by many of the community leaders (some had formerly been officials in Dowie's church) who were ready for further growth in the Gospel. The initial Word people heard rang true, people opened up their homes, and religious services proceeded desite everything the local church hierarchy tried to prevent the services. Those who attended Parham's services and saw the further gospel light there were rejected from Dowie's church, but a spark was lit in their lives and the Gospel fire spread. From Zion City, possibly to as great an extent as from Los Angeles, pentecost spread around the world.

After 1906 in Zion City, Parham's ministry continued until his death over 20 years later, but it was not long before his influence began to decline. This decline was caused by a number of factors. Resistance to his ministry, hatred, bitterness, strife,and persecution arose, and scandal was alleged. Parham's wife said that he did not let bitterness come in, did not retaliate, and preached non-resistance, quoting Parham in saying that these were the ways of those who refused to accept the truth that was presented. The start of the decline was when Parham visited Seymour on Azusa street, tried to provide correction regarding the emotionalism and other things he saw, and was asked not to return. Next, the head of Dowie's church in Zion was against what he saw as intrusion into their religious community and did what he could to resist Parham's influence. And those who tried to have Parham start a formal organization (and place them within it) turned from Parham when he refused. On top of this, the allegations of racism, scandal, and doctrinal differences all appear to be related responses and added to Parham's loss of influence.

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. Parham recovered to an active preaching life, strongly believing that God was his healer. In the fall and summer of 1928, after returning from a trip to Palestine (which had been a lifetime desire), Parham's health began to deteriorate. Those who knew him said that they saw him stopping at times to catch his breath when walking even short distances. Still a desire to minister drove him forward. In early January 1929 Parham took a long car ride with two friends to Temple, Texas, where he was to be presenting his pictures of Palestine. Word came the following Monday that he was very sick, and when his wife arrived she found out that his heart was bad and he was unable to eat. He collapsed the prior Saturday (January 5, 1929) while showing his slides. Over his resistance (he wanted to keep on with his preaching tour) his family brought him home, and on the afternoon of 29 January 1929 Charles Fox Parham died in the confines of his home in Baxter Springs, Kansas.^{[4] [5]}

While some now allege that Parham was a "racist", given the era and location he would more appropriately be termed a "separationist". Parham's writings and biography confirm that he did not feel it was appropriate to have intermingling of blacks and whites in the services and did not believe in inter-racial marriages. His zeal for the gospel does not appear to have been strong enough to overcome these segregationist barriers.

Parham's actions stepped beyond what a racist of the period would have done. He allowed William J. Seymour, a Black minister, to attend his bible school in Texas in 1905 (something many from the south of his era would have been reluctant to do). Seymour had to sit in an adjacent classroom or in the hall (due to Texas race laws), but special allowance was made for him to attend. Seymour became influential in the movement and (although he was Black) was a colleague of Parham's who took the doctrine of tongues to Los Angeles, where the crucial Azusa Street Revival would take place in 1906. Then, in late 1906, Parham made a special trip to visit Seymour in Los Angeles, at Seymour's request, to try to help control the emotionalism and other problems which were occurring. And the biography on Parham documents that Blacks were welcome at a number of Parham's later meetings, even in Kansas, though it appears segregation probably applied within those meetings.

While Parham was in Los Angeles in late 1906, terminology from Parham's upbringing appears to have surfaced and he denounced parts of the revival as being like a "darky camp meeting." This comment was made in response to the emotionalism he observed. While Parham believed in "manifestations of the Spirit", he was against the excesses and what he called the "manifestations of the flesh" that he observed in Los Angeles, which Parham said made "God is sick at His stomach!" While his comments would not be polically correct in today's racially sensitive environment, it appears his comments were aimed at the actions he observed (which Seymour had recognized were a problem and had asked him to come and help deal with) rather than the people, specific races, or strong racist beliefs.^[6]

For whatever the reason (i.e. whether racial or otherwise), local elders at Azusa street did not agree with or accept Parham's attempt at correction of these manifestations and asked him to leave after only a few services. After this separation it appears Seymour began to distance himself from Parham, going so far as to eventually claim that "the Azusa St. Mission was where the Baptism of the Holy Spirit first fell" (1930 Parham biography, p164).

Some articles alledge that Parham was a Klansman, and claim there are written records confirming that Parham became a full member of the Ku Klux Klan during 1910.^[7] Yet the source and validity of the documents themselves is not provided, and this is hotly debated by supporters of Parham. Parham's supporters contend the KKK didn't even exist at this time (supported by the Wikipedia article on the KKK, which says the Klan did not start until 1915).^[8]

Whether Parham was or was not a member of the Klan, by 1910 Parham had already been isolated by most of pentecostalism and was already back operating from his local church at Baxter Springs, Kansas, an area where integration was not well accepted at the time and which still has a low non-white population. Given the small town environment, involvement in local activities (whether formal or informal) may have been more of a result of his isolation and and upbringing than a belief in their values.

Parham was almost certainly a member of the Freemasons at some time in his life.^[9] The 1930 biography on Parham (page 32) says "Mr. Parham belonged to a lodge and carried an insurance on his life. He felt now that he should give this up also." The question is one of timing, the extent of his involvement, and how much of their teachings became merged with his theology. 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. This would fit with the comment in the biography. What is clear is that, at the peak of his ministry (between 1900 and mid-1907) he had little time for involvement in any organizations. His bible school and his preaching were an all consuming task. Some feel there is evidence that Parham was still a member of the Freemasons in 1928 (they feel he "appeared to still have Masonic tendencies"), but source documents for this are not quoted. If Parham was involved in Freemasonry, the ultimate question is what the level of his involvement was, when he was involved, and if there are any indications of these beliefs in his ministry, especially during the period of his highest influence in the early pentecostal movement (from 1900 to 1907). Lower level involvement in smaller communities can be more of a social involvement than a belief in or an understanding of their principles.

By late 1906 Parham was getting a lot of resistance from churches who were against the beliefs he was presenting. Different things were tried to lessen his influence. In July 1907, local San Antonio, Texas, newpapers reported that Parham was detained on "morals charges".^[10] Another article gives more specifics and says that Parham was "charged with sodomy of young males". The same article says that Parham "vigorously denied the charges".^[11] While some ministers of the era (ones who were adverse to Parham's teachings) alleged that the charges did not go forward because nobody was willing to come forward and testify, the charges did not even get to the point of an Indictment (meaning there was no credible evidence at all), let alone go to trial. There was simply no evidence against Parham and it appears he was believed in his denial. Given the resistance to Parham's ministry, his followers believed that the allegations were a tool used by some of the churches, possibly Dowie's church at Zion. Historians point out that Overseer Voliva, the man who was then in charge of Dowie's church in Zion (which was strongly opposed to the pentecostal movement as brought by Parham), would not let the unproven allegations disappear into the past, regularly bringing them up. And there was resistance to his ministry from other areas also, both because he was against formalism and because he was against extremes of emotionalism. Parham's wife, in her 1930 biography on Parham (page 198), said that the city attorney told Parham that he would not "even call the case to trial for he 'was satisfied it was all spite work'". She also says that she was with her husband "at the date set in the indictment, but the case was never called, the prosecuting attorney declaring that there was absolutely no evidence which merited any legal recognition".

What is clear is that the situation never made it any further, and under the law there should be a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. As well, even under Biblical principles an accusation against an elder should not have been received or accepted without proper witnesses. While there is not even an inference that Parham's morality was questioned again, the taint of the initial allegations scarred Parham's reputation for the rest of his life, and his religious influence was lowered in some areas by this event, with this unproven allegation being regularly brought up by those opposed to his ministry. After these allegations, Parham no longer had the same major active influence in the development of the pentecostal movement he previously had. He withdrew his base of operation to his prior home area at Baxter Springs, Kansas, and from then on operated from the church he had previously started there. The 1930 biography on Parham shows that, even after the 1907 allegations, Parham's ministry continued to grow from the original core of believers who came in previously. Parham's ministry continued to be strong and well received amoung the believers he had introduced the gospel to in both Kansas and Texas. His ministry also grew and was accepted California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, Oregon, Idaho, and Michigan, and he still had "thousands of friends around the country". Yet until his death, the unproven charges were regularly raised, and his later ministry did not have the same effect on history as his earlier ministry.

In addition to the scar created by the unproven morals charges, the historians who have studied Parham's life also point to doctrinal differences as a factor which caused some in the holiness and pentecostal movements to distance themselves from Parham.

The most controversial of Parham's beliefs at the time was his belief that hell was not eternal - that it would eventually end. According to the 1930 biography on Parham's life, Parham came to this conclusion when studying the Bible with his future wife's grandfather. The historians, indicate this belief was not well received by many of the theologians who heard it.

Another controversial belief of Parham's, which does not seem to have been as controversial in the early 1900's, was Parham's acceptance of at least some elements of British Israel theology. Around 1900 British Israelism appears to have had a number of followers, including Alexander Dowie and Frank Sanford (both ministers Parham had studied in his 1900 Sabatical). Parham's 1902 book "A Voice Crying in the Wilderness" reprinted in 1910, and then printed again after the 1930 biography about Parham, has several chapters on this, clearly confirming his acceptance of many portions of the doctrine. Chapter titles include "The Tribe of Judah - Queen Victoria's Pedigree from Adam Down Without Missing a Generation" (claiming to trace her linage through King David), and "Ten Lost Tribes Discovered".

Parham was also against man made heirarchy and leadership, feeling that God would lead his church through independent local assemblies. When in 1907 some in Zion attempted to have Parham set up a structure and heirarchy (similar to most organizations), Parham resigned his position as "Projector of the Apostolic Faith Movement". He claimed that he "simply followed a well considered plan ... made years ago, never to receive honor of men or to establish a new Church." This step, and the belief behind it, left Parham outside the eventual structures established by others, and outside the support that those structures offered their ministry.

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.^[12]

Parham's main teaching was Holy Ghost's baptism and it's evidence of speaking in tongues; biblical teaching that was ignored in past times.

• 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)
• Selected Sermons of the Late Charles F. Parham, ed Sarah E. Parham (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1941)
• The Life of Charles F. Parham, Founder of the Apostolic Faith Movement, by Sarah E. Parham (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1930)

NOTE: even though these books are difficult to locate through standard book stores, all of these books are still stocked and sold at reasonable prices by The Apostolic Faith Bible College, 335 West 10th Street, Baxter Springs, Kansas 66713, ph (620)856-5281.

• Official Website of the Ministry That Charles Parham Started (Apostolic Faith Bible College - Baxter Springs, Kansas)
• The Assemblies of God
• Apostolic Faith Church