Pillar of Fire Church
Encyclopedia
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
organization founded in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915. While the Pillar of Fire is Methodist in doctrine, Alma White and her followers believed that the Methodist Church had become corrupt. Alma White and the members of the Pillar of Fire dedicated themselves to holiness in the Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
tradition. Adherents were referred to as "holy rollers
Holy Roller
Holy Roller is a term in American English used to describe Pentecostal Christian churchgoers. The term is commonly used derisively, as if to describe people literally rolling on the floor or speaking in tongues in an uncontrolled manner....
", and "holy jumpers", because of their religious frenzy. White was noted for her association with the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, her feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
, antisemitism, anti-pentecostalism, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, and hostility to immigrants.
Following the death of the founder, under the leadership of her son, Arthur Kent White
Arthur Kent White
Arthur Kent White was a bishop, and the general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, New Jersey and the President of Belleview College...
, the religious fervor declined, and the emphasis on outreach evangelism and church planting
Church planting
Church planting is a process that results in a new Christian church being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, new worship centre or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already established congregation...
ended, and the organization branches in America fell from a high of around 52 to the current 6.
Today the Pillar of Fire has branches in Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
; Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
; Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
; and Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and Pacifica, California
Pacifica, California
Pacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.-Overview:The City of Pacifica is spread along a six mile stretch of the north central California coastal beach and hills, nestled in several small valleys spanning between...
. It primarily operates four ministry focuses: local church, radio, education, and missions.
The Pillar of Fire name comes from Exodus 13:21–22 which states: "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire
Pillar of Fire (theophany)
A Pillar of Fire was one of the manifestations of the presence of the God of Israel in the Torah. According to Exodus, the pillar of fire provided light so that Jews could travel by night during the Exodus from Egypt . The pillar of fire is traditionally paired with the manifestation of the divine...
to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." The organization's theological position is self described as Wesleyan
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
–Arminian
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
.
Beliefs
The central beliefs of the Pillar of Fire are as follows: biblical inerrancyBiblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy with infallibility; others do not.Conservative Christians generally believe that...
, trinitarianism, the physical resurrection
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
of Jesus Christ, the consubstantiality
Consubstantiality
Consubstantial is an adjective used in Latin Christian christology, coined by Tertullian in Against Hermogenes 44, used to translate the Greek term homoousios...
of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
, the "universal depravity of the human race
The Fall of Man
In Christian doctrine, the Fall of Man, or simply the Fall, refers to the transition of the first humans from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience to God. In Genesis chapter 2, Adam and Eve live at first with God in a paradise, but the serpent tempts them into...
," the necessity of "repentance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," belief in "justification by faith and in Christian perfection
Christian perfection
Christian perfection, also known as perfect love; heart purity; the baptism of the Holy Spirit; the fullness of the blessing; Christian holiness; the second blessing; and entire sanctification, is a Christian doctrine which holds that the heart of the regenerant Christian may attain a state of...
, or entire sanctification, as a second definite work of grace," the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body
Resurrection of the dead
Resurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
, and premillennialism
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
.
Continued work of the Pillar of Fire
The Pillar of Fire continues its work today working in three main areas: radio, education, and missions, both local and overseas.Six US congregations
- Alma Temple, Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
- Belleview Community ChapelWestminster CastleThe Westminster Castle, also locally known as "The Big Red Castle" or "The Pillar of Fire" is a historic landmark located in Westminster, Colorado, northwest of Denver near the intersection of 83rd and Federal...
; Westminster, ColoradoWestminster, ColoradoWestminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population... - Coastside Community Chapel; Pacifica, CaliforniaPacifica, CaliforniaPacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.-Overview:The City of Pacifica is spread along a six mile stretch of the north central California coastal beach and hills, nestled in several small valleys spanning between...
- Pillar Community Chapel; Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
- Pillar of Fire Church; Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- Zarephath Christian Church; Zarephath, New JerseyZarephath, New JerseyZarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
Zarephath Health Center
The Zarephath Health Center was opened in 2003 and utilizes volunteer physicians, nurses and support people to meet the health care needs of the poor and uninsured on the campus at Zarephath, NJ. The Health Center sees 300–400 patients per month who otherwise would not be able to affordable health care. Dr. Eck testified to the Joint Economic Committee on Health Insurance on April 28, 2004, to demonstrate the sustainability of this model.International missions
There are missions in India, Costa Rica and Liberia as well as:- The oldest of their missions was in HendonHendonHendon is a London suburb situated northwest of Charing Cross.-History:Hendon was historically a civil parish in the county of Middlesex. The manor is described in Domesday , but the name, 'Hendun' meaning 'at the highest hill', is earlier...
London, England, and was established in 1904 by Alma White. The mission organized a Charitable TrustCharitable trustA charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...
on 19 September 1992, and was registered as a charity in December 1992 (Charity No. 1015529). In response to a complaint received by the Charity Commission in 2002, an inquiry was held, the charitable trust dissolved and transferred its assets to the U.S. organization, and the charitable trust was removed from the registry as it had ceased to exist. One of the stated aims of this mission was to evangelize the local Jewish population in the vicinity of the mission. Ironically, after the mission was sold, the property became a kosher boutique hotel in 2010.
- Reverend Smallridge was given permission to start a Pillar of Fire Church in Nigeria in 1974.
- The Pillar of Fire was established in Malawi in 1984 by Reverend Moses Peter K. Phiri.
Primary and secondary
- Alma Heights Christian SchoolsAlma Heights Christian SchoolsAlma Heights Christian Schools, formerly Alma Heights Christian Academy, consists of an elementary, middle and high school. Together, the organization is a private evangelical Christian school located in Pacifica, California...
in PacificaPacifica, CaliforniaPacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.-Overview:The City of Pacifica is spread along a six mile stretch of the north central California coastal beach and hills, nestled in several small valleys spanning between...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... - Belleview Christian SchoolWestminster CastleThe Westminster Castle, also locally known as "The Big Red Castle" or "The Pillar of Fire" is a historic landmark located in Westminster, Colorado, northwest of Denver near the intersection of 83rd and Federal...
in Westminster, ColoradoWestminster, ColoradoWestminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population... - Eden Grove Academy in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
- Somerset Christian Academy (formerly Alma Preparatory School and Temple Christian Day School) in Zarephath, New JerseyZarephath, New JerseyZarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
(Now closed as of June 2009) - Sycamore Grove School in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
Colleges
- Alma White CollegeAlma White CollegeAlma White College was a Bible college in Zarephath, New Jersey from 1921 to 1978. It was an institution of the Pillar of Fire Church.-History:...
in Zarephath, New JerseyZarephath, New JerseyZarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
(1917–1978) - Belleview CollegeBelleview CollegeBelleview College is a Christian college in Westminster, Colorado, operated by the Pillar of Fire Church and founded by Bishop Alma Bridwell White.-History:...
in Westminster, ColoradoWestminster, ColoradoWestminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population... - Somerset Christian CollegeSomerset Christian CollegeSomerset Christian College is a private evangelical Christian college and is owned and operated by Pillar of Fire International, a religious denomination. The college was located in the Zarephath section of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey. Due to the recent flood, all 2011 classes...
holding classes at Stonecrest Church in Warren, NJ
Radio stations
- KPOFKPOFKPOF is an AM radio station in Westminster, Colorado broadcasting at 910 kHz. The transmitter and studio are located on the campus of Belleview Christian Schools in the historic Westminster Castle, just northwest of Denver, Colorado. KPOF is known locally as "AM91: The Point of Faith" and offers...
in Westminster, ColoradoWestminster, ColoradoWestminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population... - WAWZWAWZWAWZ is a contemporary Christian music radio station located in Zarephath, New Jersey. It is a Listener Supported/commercial radio station owned by the Pillar of Fire Church. The station's target demographic is a 25-34 year old female...
in Zarephath, New JerseyZarephath, New JerseyZarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio... - WAKWWAKWWAKW is an American radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The station plays a Christian adult contemporary format. The station is owned and operated by Pillar of Fire. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts....
in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
Discontinued periodicals
- Pillar of Fire
- Pillar Magazine
- The Dry Legion
- The Good CitizenThe Good CitizenThe Good Citizen was a sixteen-page monthly political periodical edited by Bishop Alma White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. The Good Citizen was published from 1913 until 1933 by the Pillar of Fire Church at their headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey in the United States...
- Rocky Mountain Pillar of Fire
- London Pillar of Fire
- The British Sentinel
- The Occidental Pillar of Fire
- Woman's Chains
- Pillar of Fire Junior
- Pillar of Fire Bay Chronicle
- The Alma White Evangel
General superintendents
- Alma Bridwell WhiteAlma Bridwell WhiteAlma Bridwell White was the founder, and a bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church. In 1918, she became the first woman bishop in the United States...
(founder) 1901 to 1946, first general superintendent - Arthur Kent WhiteArthur Kent WhiteArthur Kent White was a bishop, and the general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, New Jersey and the President of Belleview College...
(son of the founder) 1946 to 1981, second general superintendent - Arlene Hart Lawrence (granddaughter of the founder) 1981 to 1984, third general superintendent
- Donald Justin WolframDonald Justin WolframDonald Justin Wolfram was the fourth General Superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church from 1984 to 2000.-Biography:...
(great-nephew of the founder) 1984 to 2000, fourth general superintendent - Robert Barney DallenbachRobert Barney DallenbachRobert Barney Dallenbach is a bishop in the Pillar of Fire Church. He also was the Pillar of Fire Church's fifth general superintendent until losing a vote of confidence at the 2008 Pillar of Fire annual camp meeting convention. He also served as a director for the North Metro Arts Alliance in...
(husband of granddaughter of the founder) 2000 to 2008, fifth general superintendent - Joseph Gross, 2008 to present, sixth general superintendent
Other leaders and notable members
- Reverend Robert K. Cruver, Jr.
- Bishop William Cruver
- Reverend Branford ClarkeBranford ClarkeBranford Clarke was an Evangelical preacher, poet and artist who promoted the Ku Klux Klan through his art which was drawn for the Pillar of Fire Church and their publications.-Biography:...
- Reverend Pauline White Dallenbach
- Reverend Thomas A. Goode, he sued the church in 1920 saying the church "had alienated the affections of his wife and defrauded him of his property"
- Bishop Wilber Konkel
- Bishop E. Jerry Lawrence
- Reverend Johannes Maas, ordained by Bishop Arthur White in 1956, international president, Worldwide Faith MissionsWorldwide Faith MissionsWorldwide Faith Missions is a non-governmental international Christian relief and development church missionary organization based in the United States of America with mission branches in India, Burma , and Thailand. It is a part of the worldwide missions church movement.- History:Worldwide Faith...
- Bishop A. R. Stewart
- Reverend Kathleen Merrell WhiteKathleen Merrell WhiteKathleen Merell White was a minister, author and senior leader in the Pillar of Fire Church, a Protestant denomination founded in 1901 by Bishop Alma White, Kathleen's mother-in-law...
- Reverend Gertrude Metlen Wolfram (1888–1959) was the dean of Alma White CollegeAlma White CollegeAlma White College was a Bible college in Zarephath, New Jersey from 1921 to 1978. It was an institution of the Pillar of Fire Church.-History:...
Ku Klux Klan, Historical Intolerant Ideologies, and Ku Klux Klan repudiation
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, to an extent which was unique for a religious denomination. Alma White spoke and wrote prolifically of her and the Pillar of Fire Church's support for the Klan and many of the Klan's principles including anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
, white supremacy
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
, anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, nativism
Nativism (politics)
Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
, and temperance. In 1943, shortly before her death, she and the Pillar of Fire Church significantly but not completely distanced themselves from the Klan while continuing to promote many of the Klan's intolerant principles. In a 1920's sermon she republished in 1943 she said
"We have no connection with the Klan organization. We endorse them in the principles for which they stand. However there is no room in our hearts for racial prejudice."
Yet White and the Pillar of Fire advocated for white supremacy in the same 1943 book-set which asserted distaste for racial prejudice. In her chapter titled "White Supremacy" she wrote
The slaveholder, in many instances, was as much to be pitied as the slaves. He, too, was a victim of the system.....Where the slaves were well treated they were happy and contented...But some radicals could never see this side of the question. They dwelt continually on the cruelties of a few hard taskmasters and ignored the good people who had the welfare of their dependants at heart. No matter what the better class of slave owners might do, they had to bear the stigma of cruelty with the worst of tyrants.....Where property rights are involved, supported by the government, the only safe and sane way to make wrongs right is by cool-headed procedure.She also said to the New Brunswick Daily Home News,
"My people are not members of the Klan, but we agree with some of the things that they stand for to assert our American right of free speech. We have always stood for one hundred percent Americanism and so does the Klan, so naturally we agree there."
Yet the Pillar of Fire's pulpit and the Pillar of Fire's printing operation were used extensively to advocate for many of the most intolerant of Klan values. In 1922 Bishop Alma White preached a sermon promoting the Klan at the Pillar of Fire Church in Brooklyn, New York (which coincidentally was incinerated by the 1960 New York air disaster
1960 New York air disaster
The 1960 New York air disaster, also known as the Park Slope Plane Crash, was a collision on December 16, 1960, between two airliners, United Airlines Flight 826 and Trans World Airlines Flight 266 over New York City, in which Flight 266 crashed into Staten Island and 826 into Park Slope, Brooklyn...
) and published that sermon in The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen was a sixteen-page monthly political periodical edited by Bishop Alma White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. The Good Citizen was published from 1913 until 1933 by the Pillar of Fire Church at their headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey in the United States...
. The speech was titled "Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
and Woman's Causes" and one section was subtitled "White Supremacy
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
."
The Klansmen stand for the supremacy of the white race, which is perfectly legitimate and in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Writ, and anything that has been decreed by the Almighty should not work a hardship on the colored race...It is within the rights of civilization for the white race to hold the supremacy; and no injustice to the colored man to stay in the environment where he was placed by the Creator.... When the black man was liberated it was time for women to be enfranchised, without which the colored man with his newly-acquired rank became her political master. ...The white women bore the sting of humiliation for more than half a century in being placed in an inferior position to the black men in the use of the ballot and the rights of citizenship... To whom shall we look to champion the cause and to protect the rights of women? Is there not evidence that the Knights of the Klu [sic] Klux Klan are the prophets of a new and better age?
The Pillar of Fire Church strongly argued against social and political equality for African Americans and advocated for racial segration and repeal of the fifteenth amendment
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"...
. The Pillar allowed the Klan to hold meetings or cross burning
Cross burning
Cross burning or cross lighting is a practice widely associated with the Ku Klux Klan, although the historical practice long predates the Klan's inception...
s on at least several of the church's numerous properties including numerous documented Klan gatherings in Zarephath, NJ; Brooklyn, New York; Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. At the United States 2010 Census, the population was 10,402.Bound Brook was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1869, within portions of Bridgewater Township...
; Longmont, Colorado
Longmont, Colorado
Longmont is a Home Rule Municipality in Boulder and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Longmont is located in Northern Colorado. Longmont is the 13th most populous city in the State of Colorado. The word "Longmont" comes from Longs Peak, a prominent mountain named for explorer Stephen H....
; and Westminster, Colorado
Westminster, Colorado
Westminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population...
. White participated directly in many of these meetings. During this time, the Pillar of Fire Church published The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen was a sixteen-page monthly political periodical edited by Bishop Alma White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. The Good Citizen was published from 1913 until 1933 by the Pillar of Fire Church at their headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey in the United States...
, a monthly 16 page political magazine and three books, The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy
The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy
The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy is a 144 page book written by Bishop Alma Bridwell White in 1925 and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. In the book she uses scripture to rationalize that the Klan is sanctioned by God "through divine illumination and prophetic vision". She also believed that the...
, Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty was a book published by the Pillar of Fire Church in 1926 by Bishop Alma Bridwell White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. She claims that the founding fathers of the United States were members of the Ku Klux Klan, and that Paul Revere made his legendary...
, and Heroes of the Fiery Cross
Heroes of the Fiery Cross
Heroes of the Fiery Cross is a book published in 1928 by Protestant Bishop Alma Bridwell White in which she "sounds the alarm about imagined threats to Protestant Americans from Catholics and Jews." In the book she asks rhetorically "Who are the enemies of the Klan? They are the bootleggers,...
, all of which heavily promoted the Klan and its agenda in the 1920s. Ideologically, in these publications, the Pillar of Fire Church promoted anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
, antisemitism, nativism
Nativism (politics)
Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
, and white supremacy
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
, all primarily under the guise of patriotism.
The organization has since repudiated its historical relationship with the KKK at its website in 2009:
Much talk has also arisen over her brief but significant association with the KKK, which has also been publicly condemned and repented of by the POF leadership with a request for full forgiveness. Despite these and other errors in its history, the Lord in His grace and mercy has chosen to bless the ministry.
And in the local paper in 1997:
We regret, repudiate and repent, and ask for full forgiveness for anything in our past that is short of Christian standards based on God's Word, following Jesus' model prayer that teaches us to ever pray and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. (Luke 11:4) We specifically regret mistakes and bad judgement by previous generations or anyone in our membership of the past.
While the Pillar of Fire's repudiation characterized its association with the Klan as brief, it continued for at least several decades to promote its ideologies of intolerance for religious and racial minorities and of equality for white Protestant women. In 1943, 22 years after the church began publicly working with the Klan, it republished Alma White's pro-KKK books as a three volume set under the name Guardians of Liberty
Guardians of Liberty
Guardians of Liberty is a three volume set of books published in 1943 by Bishop Alma Bridwell White, author of over 35 books and founder of the Pillar of Fire Church. Guardians of Liberty is primarily devoted to summarizing White’s vehement anti-Catholicism under the guise of patriotism...
, reaffirming its positions in support of anti-Semitism, white supremacy, nativism and most notably, anti-Catholicism. Volumes II and III of Guardians
Guardians of Liberty
Guardians of Liberty is a three volume set of books published in 1943 by Bishop Alma Bridwell White, author of over 35 books and founder of the Pillar of Fire Church. Guardians of Liberty is primarily devoted to summarizing White’s vehement anti-Catholicism under the guise of patriotism...
had introductions by Arthur White
Arthur Kent White
Arthur Kent White was a bishop, and the general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, New Jersey and the President of Belleview College...
, affirming his support for his mother's intolerant ideologies, primarily but not exclusively in regard to anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
. After his mother died in 1946, he was the Pillar of Fire's general superintendent until 1981.