10. Free Christian Zion Church of Christ: A body organized at Redemption, Ark., in 1905, by a small number of colored ministers, chiefly Methodists, in protest against the attempt to tax church members for the support of an ecclesiastical system. Coordinate with this was the feeling that the church itself should care for its poor and needy. The doctrine and polity accord with those of the Methodist churches, the laity having a large share in the general ecclesiastical system. As reported in 1906, there were 15 organizations, 1,835 members, 20 ministers and 10 licentiates, 14 church edifices and 1 hall, church property valued at $5,975, and 7 Sunday-schools with 63 officers and teachers and 340 scholars.
11. Gospel Mission: An association of eight churches in Pennsylvania, organized especially for evangelistic work and the development of Christian fellowship. They have no special system of doctrine or form of church polity. The communities vary in size and are principally evangelistic in their
Miscellaneous Religious Bodies THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
services. The number of members as reported in 1906 was 196; there were 4 church edifices valued at S3, 100, 10 ministers, and 9 Sunday-schools with 34 officers and teachers and 245 scholars.
12. Heavenly Recruit Church: A body derived from the Heavenly Recruit Association, organized in 1885 as the result of revival work commenced in 1882 and carried on chiefly by members of Methodist churches. The association grew and a number of churches were formed in other states. Subsequently, dissatisfaction arose and there was division, a part of the churches taking the name Holiness Christian Association, while those in Indiana organized as the Heavenly Recruit Church. In doctrine and polity they are in general accord with the Methodist Episcopal Church, emphasizing especially the doctrine of complete sanctification. In 1906 the church reported 27 organizations, 938 members,
8 church edifices and 15 halls for worship, value of church property $8,950, with a debt of $700 on 3 of the churches, 14 Sunday-schools with 116 teachers and 527 scholars.
13. Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association: An organization formed in 1892, at Glenwood, la., by a number of independent churches primarily for the purpose of preaching the doctrine of holiness, but also to carry on general missionary and philanthropic work more efficiently than was possible for them acting separately. They are not an ecclesiastical body, and have no creed. Each local church, usually called an assembly, keeps its own records, but acts in matters affecting all the churches through a central committee located at Tabor, la. In 1906 they reported 10 organizations with 293 members;
9 church edifices valued at $11,300; 36 ministers and 39 licentiates; and 9 Sunday-schools with 75 teachers and 402 scholars. Their missionary work was carried on in this country by about 60 persons, including ordained and licensed ministers, evangelists, and deaconesses. They have a missionary training-home with 70 students, and an orphanage with 23 inmates. The association is represented in India, China, Japan, and Africa, where 7 stations are occupied by 24 missionaries. The total amount contributed through the association for the home work is not given; that for the foreign work amounts to about $5,200. There are churches or local organizations using the name but not identified with this association.
14. Holiness Churches: In addition to the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene (q.v.) there are various small bodies and individual churches which make prominent the doctrine of entire sanctification. Methodist bodies give this point of belief a place in their doctrinal system, holding not to an absolute and sinless perfection, but " a freedom from sin, from evil desires and evil tempers, and from pride." Some, feeling that this doctrine was not sufficiently emphasized, sought those of their own way of thinking and held separate meetings for the promotion of holiness. Some added other peculiarities and stood for the " Fourfold Gospel " or the " Full Gospel," which has been stated as " regeneration for the sinner; sanctification as a second work of grace for the believer; the healing of the bodies of believers in answer to prayer; and
the premillennial coming of Jesus Christ as King of this earth." Among those proclaiming the fourfold Gospel is the Christian and Missionary Alliance (q.v.). Single churches also adopted the four . principles and then either joined forces in such bodies as the International Apostolic Holiness Union (see below), and various evangelistic associations, or remained ecclesiastically independent. The Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene takes a very moderate position on the last two points. Besides these, however, there is a large number of local organizations popularly designated as Holiness Churches, and known by a great variety of names, such as Holiness Church of God, Apostolic Holiness, Sanctified Church, Fire Baptized Holiness, etc. In general doctrine they are Methodistic, and are active in evangelistic, missionary, and charitable work. On account of the varied forms of organization even an estimate as to their number is scarcely possible, though some place it among the thousands, including not merely the Independent Holiness Churches, but several of the smaller denominations, and a large number of churches which, while not severing their ecclesiastical relations with regular denominations, emphasize the " Fourfold Gospel." It is to be noted that the Independent Holiness Churches are chiefly in the southern states.
15. Independent Congregations: Independent or unattached congregations were first reported in the United States by the census of 1890. There were then 156 independent congregations, besides 231 independent Lutheran organizations. When plans were being formed for getting statistics for the census of 1906 there were many indications that the practise, if not the principle, of independency had gained a still stronger foothold. Special efforts were made to secure returns for all such organizations, with the result that 1,079 such churches were registered, besides a considerable number that were loosely organized in evangelistic associations, and such organizations as the Nonsectarian Churches of Bible Faith, which is practically merely the gathering under one head of organizations which have little more in common than similarity of worship and opposition to ecclesiastical rule. Taking these together there were in 1906 not far from 1,500 local churches which refused to recognize ecclesiastical connection with any regular denomination.
While, in general, this is their chief characteristic, it is possible to arrange them in four classes: (1) churches originally established in newly settled or outlying districts as mission or union Sunday-schools, and which have developed a church life, but on account of the heterogenous component elements have declined to enter any one denomination; (2) churches which use a denominational name, Congregational, Lutheran, etc., but refuse to be included in denominational lists; (3) union churches in which representatives of two or more denominations unite, independently of their denominational relations; (4) churches which are absolutely opposed to any denominational bonds lest the development of their distinctive ideas of church life be hindered. This last is by far the
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA Miscellaneous Religious Bodies
largest class and includes most of the so-called Holiness Churches (see above). While the list of independent congregations includes some of very broad doctrinal views, the great majority appear to be distinctly conservative. Their local organization is very simple, as is also generally their form of worship. In a number of cases their members are largely interested in various missionary and philanthropic movements, but as individuals rather than as organizations. The 1,079 churches reported 73,673 members. Of these, 10,029 were in New York state; 9,431 in Illinois, and 7,586 in Pennsylvania. The number of their church edifices was 812, besides 229 halls, and the value of their church property was $3,934,267.
16. International Apostolic Holiness Union: A body founded by Martin W Knapp, at Cincinnati, 0., in 1897, for the purpose of emphasizing the doctrine of holiness, which, in his view, had gradually dropped out of the Methodist Church. The form of organization includes both regular churches and local bands or unions, and corresponds in general to that of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Very few of the ministers have regular salaries, the greater number being supported by free-will offerings. The body emphasizes missionary work at home (in the mountain regions of West Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky, and in Oklahoma), and abroad (India, Japan, Korea, South Africa, and China, where there were in 1906 twenty-five missionaries). There are two Bible schools, in North Carolina and Kansas, and a school in Ohio. Three rescue homes and an orphanage are also conducted at an annual cost of about $3,600. As reported in 1906, there were 74 organizations, 2,774 church members, 178 ministers, 44 church edifices and 31 halls, church property valued at $80,150, against which a debt is reported by 23 of the organizations of $13,246, and 68 Sunday-schools with 503 officers and teachers and 3,276 scholars.
17 Lumber River Mission: An organization of five churches in North Carolina, which call themselves Holiness Methodist churches, but do not affiliate with other Methodist bodies. The special purpose is to carry on evangelistic work in the lumber section of the state. In 1906 they reported 265 members, 5 ministers and 3 licentiates, 5 church edifices valued at $3,000, and 5 Sunday-schools with 28 teachers and 256 scholars.
18. Metropolitan Church Association: An organization developed from the Metropolitan Methodist church, which was itself the result of revival meetings held in 1894 on a vacant lot in the densely populated district of Chicago. Emphasizing the doctrine of holiness, the workers did not find the most cordial welcome in the churches, and rented halls, theaters, and other buildings; at last a somewhat famous resort at Waukesha, Wis., was purchased and made the headquarters for the movement, which came to be known as the " Burning Bush." The special feature of the association is its revival work, which extends all over the United States and into foreign lands; it also has a number of departments of educational and philanthropic character in the establishment at Waukesha. No salaries are paid to workers in any department,
whether at home or abroad, the entire enterprise being conducted on the " faith " basis. Foreign work is carried on in India, Africa, and Wales; the number of missionaries being reported as 15. During 1906 some $30,000 was expended for the development of the work. The statistics for 1906 were : 6 organizations, 466 members, 19 ministers, 4 church edifices with a seating capacity of 2,025, church property valued at $118,300; 4 Sunday-schools with 29 officers and teachers and 360 scholars.
19. Missionary Church Association: An organization formed in 1898 by a number of persons resident in Berne, Ind., who desired to emphasize their belief in the "Fourfold Gospel" (i.e., "regeneration for the sinner, sanctification as a second work of grace for the believer, the healing of the bodies of the believers as an answer to prayer, and the premillennial coming of Jesus Christ as king of this earth"), to reach neglected parts of the home field with this gospel, and to carry it to foreign fields. Its general doctrinal status is essentially that of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (q.v.), and it carries on some of its work through that society. It differs from it, however, in having a regular church organization, which the Alliance has not. The headquarters are at Berne, Ind., and the 32 churches reported in 1906 were chiefly in Indiana and adjoining states. The total number of members given was 1,256; there were 19 church edifices and 12 halls, a seating capacity in churches of 4,735, church property $33,135; 34 Sunday-schools with 271 officers and teachers and 1,916 scholars.
20. New Apostolic Church: An organization of essentially the same type, with the same doctrine and in all respects but one the same polity, as the Catholic Apostolic Church (q.v.). The difference between the two lies in the interpretation of the apostleship, the New Apostolic Church holding that there may be any number of apostles (i.e., more than twelve), that there should always be an apostleship among men, and to this end the living apostles may and should select bearers to the title according to their needs. As the apostles of the Catholic Apostolic Church diminished in numbers, a bishop in Germany named Schwarz consulted in regard to their successors, claiming that the spirit of the apostles had often incited new selections. He was excommunicated, but subsequently a priest named Preuss was selected " through the spirit of prophecy " in 1862, and with him the New Apostolic Church commenced. Schwarz was afterward selected as apostle. The first church in the United States was organized in 1897, and in 1906 there were 13 organizations in 8 states, 19 ministers, 2 church edifices valued at $8,500, and 3 Sunday-schools with 10 officers and teachers and 150 scholars.