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[redneck-phd]

Reconsidering the Pentecost Band Evangelistic Tactics

The Pentecost Bands made St. Joseph, Mich. their headquarters in 1886 as they launched revivals along the Illinois Canal line (photo credit: The Inland Waterways of North America by David Edwards-May.) The Pentecost Bands, established in 1885 in the small Michigan community of Parma, hold a rich history that extends far beyond rural landscapes. Contrary to common assumptions, these bands were…

[redneck-phd]

Do Not Be Silenced: Pushing for Egalitarian Theology in Doctrine & Practice

Silenced is for sale at all major online bookstores, including Amazon. Ebook $45; Hardbound $80.50 A week ago, I had a chance to return to Spring Arbor University (SAU), my alma mater with my sixteen-year-old son, who is beginning his college search.  As much as I love SAU, I am deeply worried about the university’s lack of connection to its Free Methodist history and even its own mission. A key…

[redneck-phd]

Pentecost Bands as Advocates for Social Purity

A group photo of Pentecost Band Members from 1900. (Courtesey Chris Hansen Family Photo Collection) Historically, Free Methodism was tied to numerous social causes (and still is to this day). Its founding principles emphasized care and inclusion for everyone, strong abolitionist ties, and an emphasis on returning to the “old time Methodist” principles, such as entire sanctification. However,…

[redneck-phd]

Michigan Pentecost Bands Cause Local Uproar in 1886

An undated photo of some women from the Pentecost Bands. Some newspaper accounts note women as young as sixteen and seventeen leaving home to join a Pentecost Band. (Photo Chris Hansen Family Photo Collection) Because the Pentecost Bands were essentially traveling revivalists, their members had the opportunity to influence countless individuals, It wasn’t unusual for a young adult to attend a…

[redneck-phd]

Pentecost Band Leaders Embrace Marital Purity

The White Cross Army Pledge- (link to the book below). The White Cross Army was modeled after temperance organizations and attempted to create a social movement favoring strict sexual abstinence, except in marriage for the purpose of procreation. While Free Methodists during the Progressive Era were known for following stringent Holiness lifestyle guidelines. (For example, simple dress, no…

[redneck-phd]

Dake's Influence on Pentecost Band Theology

An early photo of the Pentecost Bands, prior to 1892, founder Vivan Dake is in the front/center right. While the Pentecost Bands were loosely affiliated with the Free Methodist Church (mostly through connections of leaders such as Vivan Dake and the mentorship of Free Methodist General Superintendent Benjamin Titus Roberts), they diverged from mainstream Free Methodist theology on several key…

[redneck-phd]

Pentecost Band Initial Organizational Guidelines

A photo of Pentecost Band members, undated but likely early 1900s. (Photo Credit: Chris Hanson Collection)   While the Pentecost Bands did eventually branch into overseas mission work (Africa, India, and Europe) in the mid-1890s onward, from 1885-1889 the bands ministered in the midwestern United States, traveling around Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.   Guidelines for band membership and…

[redneck-phd]

A Brief History of the Pentecost Bands

An early photo of the Pentecost Bands, prior to 1892 because found Vivan Dake is in the front/center right. (Photo Credit: Chris Hanson Collection) In 1882 Free Methodist elder Vivan Dake along with his wife Ida, J.B. Newville, Henrietta Muzzy Abbie Dunham, and J.L. Keene formed an evangelistic outreach group they named the Pentecost Band. The six were based in Iowa at the time, and God called…

[redneck-phd]

Shiny Happy People Podcast

I’m happy to share that my spouse, Andrew, myself and our friend Jeff are hosting a podcast review of each episode of the new Prime Duggar documentary Shiny Happy People. The documentary was released on Amazon Friday, June 2, 2023, and is a four-part series looking into not only the Duggar family, but the underlying theology of their show and the influence of conservative, Christian leaders such…

[redneck-phd]

Jinger Duggar's Book Illustrates the Toxicity of Complementarian Theology

A few years ago, I was interviewed by a journalist writing about Gothard’s Institute for Biblical Life Principles (IBLP) and how his views on gender might have contributed to the numerous accusations emerging about his sexual abuse of women who had worked with him. I don’t think the journalist ever got the article published, which is, unfortunately, what sometimes happens in freelance…

[redneck-phd]

Christian Media & Complementarian Theology: This Partnership isn't a New Thing

While my more recent blog posts have been about historic examples of women in ministry, I want to take a few posts to connect why the study of historic gender concerns in American Christian culture is relevant to issues Protestant American culture still faces today. Gender roles and family roles are very black-and-white in conservative, Christian culture and allow little deviation. (stock photo…

[redneck-phd]

Free Methodist Women in the South Part I

During the 1890s and early 1900s numerous women wrote to The Free Methodist to share reports about their local congregations or the evangelistic crusades they were leading. Over the next few posts, I’ll be republishing ministry reports from women who lived and ministered in the southern states.  Their stories are remarkable, and they should be allowed to tell their stories in their own words…

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Clara Wetherald A Methodist, Then a Free Methodist and Finally a Congregationalist

Gaylord Congregationalist Church (Now First Congregational United Church of Christ) Clara Wetherald noted in her testimony at the 1890 Free Methodist General Conference that when she was younger she thought the only way a woman could preach was if she married a minister. So, that’s exactly what she did when, at seventeen, she married John Wetherald, an ordained elder in the Methodist Protestant…

[redneck-phd]

Free Methodist Women in the South Part II

Free Methodist Women in the South Part II

Summerville, Georgia is in the upper left portion of the state and is the county seat of Chattooga County. Map from nationsonline.org Continuing the series of Free Methodist women’s ministry reports from the south. We will move from the 1890s into the early 1900s. (See Part 1 for the 1890s.) February 2, 1904 Summerville, Georgia We are here in our work. We have no other motive in view than to…

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Free Methodist Women in the South Part I

Free Methodist Women in the South Part I

During the 1890s and early 1900s numerous women wrote to The Free Methodist to share reports about their local congregations or the evangelistic crusades they were leading. Mrs. J.E. Beasley and her husband were active in establishing a Free Methodist society in Hazelhurst, Mississippi in 1894. Map from nationsonline.org Over the next few posts, I’ll be republishing ministry reports from women…

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The Free Methodist Deaconess Order Part Two

The Free Methodist Deaconess Order Part Two

(Left to right) Rev. J.L. McCullough; Belle McCullough; Florence Mitchell. Belle McCullough was a Free Methodist Deaconess. You can see both Belle McCullough and Florence Mitchell are wearing the dark gray dresses assigned to the deaconess order. The 1907 Free Methodist General Conference was largely supportive of establishing a deaconess order, and unlike women’s ordination, the idea was met…

[redneck-phd]

The History of the Free Methodist Deaconess Order Part One

The History of the Free Methodist Deaconess Order Part One

Located in Evansville, Wisconsin. The original building was constructed by the United Methodist Church, Evansville became a Free Methodist school in 1880 when Superintendent George Coleman and his wife Lucy opened the school. The school was supportive of the Free Methodist Deaconess Order and offered a two-year deaconess coursework program. One of the most under-researched areas of Free…