Immanuel Missionary Church
A parish church in Elizabethtown belonging to the Immanuel Missionary Church
ClassificationMethodism
OrientationConservative holiness movement
PolityConnexionalism
AssociationsInterchurch Holiness Convention
OriginJune 1936
Separated fromPilgrim Holiness Church

The Immanuel Missionary Church (IMC) is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement.[1]

The formation of the Immanuel Missionary Church is a part of the history of Methodism in the United States. The Immanuel Missionary Church was born out of a schism with the Pilgrim Holiness Church under the leadership of Ralph Goodrich Finch and D.W. Reynolds due to differences in the interpretation of the Methodist doctrine of entire sanctification; the connexion that became the Immanuel Missionary Church laid heavy emphasis on the death route to entire sanctification, in which "The body of sin must be destroyed for the second work of grace to be true" (cf. Romans 6:6).[2][3][4] Immanuel Missionary Church was organized at a camp meeting held at All States Cabin Camp in June 1936.[5] Its first Book of Discipline was written during that time.[5]

The Immanuel Missionary Church originally had two districts, an Eastern District and Western District.[3] In 2015, the Western District of Immanuel Missionary Church merged with God's Missionary Church, while the Eastern District of Immanuel Missionary Church unanimously voted not to do so citing the desire to uphold its traditional holiness standards as well as the Holiness Methodist Pacifist doctrine of nonresistance, which it sees as being given by Jesus.[3]

The Immanuel Missionary Church was affiliated with Peoples Bible College in Colorado Springs until its closure in May 1994.[5] The choir of God's Bible School and College is noted to tour at Immanuel Missionary Church congregations.[6]

The official organ of the Immanuel Missionary Church is The Immanuel Missionary.[3] The connexion's Singing Hills Camp Meeting occurs annually in Indiana.[3] The Immanuel Missionary Church has congregations in Indiana, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, among other parts of the world.[3][6]

With respect to ecumenism, some members of the Immanuel Missionary Church participate in the Interchurch Holiness Convention.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Thornton, Jr., Wallace (2008). Behavioral Standards, Embourgeoisement, and the Formation of the Conservative Holiness Movement. Wesleyan Theological Society. p. 178.
  2. ↑ Drury, Keith (20 October 2009). "Pilgrim Holiness History - 1936". Drury Writing. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Handel, Paul (2015). "The Immanuel Missionary Church". The Immanuel Missionary. Immanuel Missionary Church. 76 (1): 1, 4-6.
  4. ↑ Kostlevy, William (3 August 2009). Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 681. ISBN 978-0-8108-6318-7.
  5. 1 2 3 Gault, Ralph (2015). A Brief History of Peoples Bible College. Emmanuel Association of Churches. p. 44. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. 1 2 "College Choir Western Tour". God's Revivalist. God's Bible School and College. 126 (4): 11. 2014.
  7. ↑ Reasoner, Victor Paul (1994). The Spirit and Sanctification: Changes Within American Wesleyanism. Asbury Theological Seminary. p. 14.

Further reading

  • Discipline of the Immanuel Missionary Church. Shoals: Immanuel Missionary Church. 1986.
  • Ewing, C. Clair.; Ewing, Charles Wesley (1993). Divorce-Remarriage: Re-examined Scripturally. Indianapolis: Evangelist of Truth.
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