Marcelino Manuel da Graca
Encyclopedia
Marcelino Manuel da Graça (January 25, 1881 or 1884 - January 12, 1960), better known as Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace, was the founder and first bishop
of the United House of Prayer For All People
. He was born January 25, in Brava
in the Cape Verde Islands, then a Portuguese
possession off the west coast of Africa
. There is no verifiable information to confirm his exact birth year, but most sources either state 1881 or 1884. The family of Manuel da Graca, the father of Marcelino, arrived in America at the port of New Bedford
, Massachusetts
, aboard a ship called the Freeman in May 1902. It is unclear whether Marcelino was aboard the ship in 1902, but ship manifests show that he visited America in 1903, and in 1904 he came as a cabin passenger aboard the schooner called Luiza.
}After leaving his job as a railway cook, Grace began using the title bishop. In 1919, Daddy Grace, as parishioners knew him, built the first House of Prayer in West Wareham, Massachusetts at the cost of thirty-nine dollars. He later established branches in Charlotte, North Carolina and Newark, New Jersey.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Daddy Grace traveled America preaching and establishing the United House of Prayer for all People. The Constitution and By-Laws of The United House of Prayer, promulgated in 1929, stated that the purpose of the organization in pertinent part was "to erect and maintain places of worship and assembly where all people may gather prayer and to worship the Almighty God, irrespective of denomination or creed." He traveled extensively throughout the segregated South in the 1920s and 1930s preaching to integrated congregations years before the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s and the religious ecumenical movements which followed. One of the principles that Daddy Grace taught which provoked controversy was the concept of one man leadership. Grace used the Bible as his reference and taught that God only used one man at a time (e.g. Noah, Moses, and Jesus). One of the many criticisms made against Grace is the following statement which Grace is to have allegedly made in the early 1940s: "Salvation is by Grace only. Grace has given God a vacation, and since He is on vacation, don't worry about Him. If you sin against God, Grace can save you, but if you sin against Grace, God cannot save you." Nonetheless, the "interpretation of this point – that Grace claimed he himself was God – has been almost completely definitive in both academic and popular literature, and only a handful of writers have ever questioned it, usually as an aside." The most extensive research done by Danielle Brune Sigler on this statement shows that Mr. Fauset selectively quoted certain parts of the original message which changed the context." The original statement, spoken by a member and not Grace, shows that the members and Grace, himself, thought that he was not "God himself", but merely an "intermediary" and "the path to salvation."
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the United House of Prayer For All People
United House of Prayer For All People
The United House of Prayer for All People is a Christian denomination founded by Marcelino Manuel da Graca . Marcelino Manuel da Graça was born in Brava in the Cape Verde Islands...
. He was born January 25, in Brava
Brava, Cape Verde
Brava is an island in Cape Verde. It is the smallest inhabited island, but at the same time the greenest, of Cape Verde, in the Sotavento group. First settled in the 1540s, its population grew after Mount Fogo on neighbouring Fogo erupted in 1675...
in the Cape Verde Islands, then a Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
possession off the west coast of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. There is no verifiable information to confirm his exact birth year, but most sources either state 1881 or 1884. The family of Manuel da Graca, the father of Marcelino, arrived in America at the port of New Bedford
New Bedford
-Places:*New Bedford, Illinois*New Bedford, Massachusetts, the most populous New Bedford**New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park*New Bedford, New Jersey *New Bedford, Ohio*New Bedford, Pennsylvania...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, aboard a ship called the Freeman in May 1902. It is unclear whether Marcelino was aboard the ship in 1902, but ship manifests show that he visited America in 1903, and in 1904 he came as a cabin passenger aboard the schooner called Luiza.
}After leaving his job as a railway cook, Grace began using the title bishop. In 1919, Daddy Grace, as parishioners knew him, built the first House of Prayer in West Wareham, Massachusetts at the cost of thirty-nine dollars. He later established branches in Charlotte, North Carolina and Newark, New Jersey.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Daddy Grace traveled America preaching and establishing the United House of Prayer for all People. The Constitution and By-Laws of The United House of Prayer, promulgated in 1929, stated that the purpose of the organization in pertinent part was "to erect and maintain places of worship and assembly where all people may gather prayer and to worship the Almighty God, irrespective of denomination or creed." He traveled extensively throughout the segregated South in the 1920s and 1930s preaching to integrated congregations years before the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s and the religious ecumenical movements which followed. One of the principles that Daddy Grace taught which provoked controversy was the concept of one man leadership. Grace used the Bible as his reference and taught that God only used one man at a time (e.g. Noah, Moses, and Jesus). One of the many criticisms made against Grace is the following statement which Grace is to have allegedly made in the early 1940s: "Salvation is by Grace only. Grace has given God a vacation, and since He is on vacation, don't worry about Him. If you sin against God, Grace can save you, but if you sin against Grace, God cannot save you." Nonetheless, the "interpretation of this point – that Grace claimed he himself was God – has been almost completely definitive in both academic and popular literature, and only a handful of writers have ever questioned it, usually as an aside." The most extensive research done by Danielle Brune Sigler on this statement shows that Mr. Fauset selectively quoted certain parts of the original message which changed the context." The original statement, spoken by a member and not Grace, shows that the members and Grace, himself, thought that he was not "God himself", but merely an "intermediary" and "the path to salvation."