Deuteronomy 32:7
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
The light of Holiness came to us in 1905. The Lord sent the blesses light through a precious brother, Brother Blackstone. A number of us accepted the Gospel light in the fullness of sanctification. At this time we were in the Methodist Church and there we remained until 1913. During that time, many different guest preachers preached Holiness. Brother Whopper was one of the most prominent preachers who led us further out. Then in January of 1913, the Lord sent a preacher, Eldress Henretta E. Ricks to Wadesboro, NC. Eldress Ricks was assisted by Sister Alease Lewis. Eldress Ricks and Sister Lewis brought us out of the Methodist Church, and we built our first Tabernacle.
History of the Church
History of the Church
He served in that position until 1966 when Bishop McKinley Smith was promoted to Presiding Prelate and Bishop A.W. Davis and Bishop O. L. Conyers were elected his vice. In 1988, Bishop A.W. Davis was promoted to Presiding Prelate and Bishop Louis McMillion was elected his vice. In 1992, Bishop Joseph Mitchum was elected Presiding Prelate and Bishop James Davis Sr. was elected his vice. In 2012, Bishop James A. Davis Jr, was elected to Vice Bishop. In 2017, our current Presiding Prelate, Bishop Alexander Glover was consecrated as Bishop with Bishop Arthur D. Kemp being consecrated as his vice in September of 2024.
Our first annual meeting, namely a Camp Meeting, was held in September 1913, at Wadesboro, NC. In the year of 1915, our first General Assembly was called by Eldress Ricks, and held in Salisbury, NC and later moved to Rutherfordton, NC. The General Council met in 1916. It was there that our first Presiding Prelate, Bishop William H. Lilly, was chosen and elected by the council. He remained in that capacity until 1943 when Bishop J.P. Gaddy was elected to that position with Bishop McKinley Smith as his vice in 1944.