Charles Green's tribute to James Beall

Early in the Latter Rain Movement of 1948 a young minister from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was sent by his pastor to Beaumont, Texas to see for himself what was happening. That April 1950 trip resulted in the young minister - Charles E. Green - joining forces with the Bealls of Detroit, the Pembertons of Houston, Harry Hodge of Beaumont, and many other ministers involved in the Latter Rain Movement (including, of course, Green's pastor William Marshall).

James Beall (1951)

It also resulted in a lifelong friendship between Green and Mom Beall's son James. In the ensuing decades Green would have Beall speak many times at his June conventions in New Orleans (Word of Faith Temple, the church he founded in 1953). Likewise, Beall would often have Green as a guest speaker in Detroit for Bethesda Missionary Temple's Easter conventions which later became known as Spring Festivals. All told, Green preached in Bethesda's pulpit over 100 times in a five-decade span that began in 1954.

Besides being fellow ministers of the gospel that appreciated each other's ministry of the Word, the pair enjoyed a close personal friendship that included good-natured ribbing and teasing (in fact, I have it on good authority that Green and long-time Washington D. C. pastor John Meares once played a practical joke on Beall, laying a cat on his chest as he slept upright in a chair; Beall, who is said to have hated cats, woke up not a little flummoxed and flustered, which put Green and Meares in stitches with laughter). When vacationing together, Beall and Green, as well as their wives, could let their hair down, as the saying goes (once while in Vermont on a road trip together some time after Mom Beall's passing in 1979, the four of them - then middle-aged - enjoyed the wintry thrill of a good, old-fashioned snowball battle). [UPDATE 9/10/2018 - Charles Green's precious wife, Barbara, went to be with the Lord five years after James Beall on the exact same date.]

The Greens (1951)

Shortly after James Beall went to his eternal rest September 10, Charles Green included the following tribute to Beall in his Harvest Ministries to the World newsletter:

"Word has just come that our long-time and wonderful friend Dr. James Beall has gone home to be with the Lord.

"Barbara and I met James and Anne Beall in 1951. We have laughed together, cried together and vacationed together, but the times we have spent together in the house of God, both in Detroit and New Orleans have been times of joy beyond description. We have not only been friends, but we have counted the Beall family as part of our family.

"The ministry of James Beall blessed and strengthened our New Orleans Church in a marvelous and godly way. He has been highly intelligent with a great knowledge of the Word of God, presented in a clear, concise and witty fashion. We shall not see another like him. We will miss you Jim, and we will keep on loving your family!"

While Green no longer pastors the New Orleans church, he is very active in ministry. Based in Frisco, Texas, he speaks at churches in the United States as well as other places around the globe. His ministry website is Harvest Ministries to the World.

Faith Church flooded by Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 did extensive damage to the Faith Church facility (Word of Faith Temple had been renamed, Faith Church). Charisma magazine carried a story about the damage on its website (the part of the link that pertains to Green's church is at the bottom of that link and is entitled, "Flooded Church Logs On"). The church, which has been under the leadership of Green's son Michael Green since 2001, is now known as The Lifegate and has two locations - LifeGate North is in Mandeville, Louisiana and LifeGate South meets in Metairie, Louisiana.

Ministry Today magazine covered the Greens' pastoral transition this way:

"Michael Green preached his first message in early March [2001] as the senior pastor of Faith Church in New Orleans, taking over for his father, Charles Green. Already co-pastor of the congregation, Green, 47, also had served as worship leader, soloist and speaker in the church started by his father in 1953.

 "Married since 1984, Michael and wife, Linda, have two boys. Church officials said Charles Green, 76, stepped down as senior pastor to mentor other church leaders and lead the missions ministry. 'Dad will be doing a lot of foreign and home missions work,' Green said. 'He will be ministering to ministers, traveling and writing.'"

Charles Green is also an author. One of his books, The Revelation of God and His Word, was reviewed in Ministry Today (November/December 2005). Here is that review:

"Who would enjoy making a car trip from New York to California if all they had were hundreds of pieces of paper containing directions? Even if all the pieces contained correct information, it would be exasperating.

"Yet, that is analogous to the type of spiritual journey many have had to make - countless sermons, books, teachings and songs but no sense of how it all fits together.

"Veteran pastor Charles Green has attempted to provide a comprehensive 'map' of the Christian faith with his new book, The Revelation of God and His Word. Green first presents his teaching chronologically (the Old Testament scriptures), and then doctrinally (Jesus, His church, and its beliefs and practices).

"Most appreciated is Green's irenic tone: for example, when he says about himself: 'The author does not claim - nor does he believe - that his doctrine is the only way to heaven.'"

Charles Green and his wife, Barbara, with Charisma publisher Stephen Strang.

Michael Green leading worship at the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization in New Orleans in July 1987 (Jane Hansen Hoyt of Women's Aglow is in the background). Vinson Synan, writing in An Eyewitness Remembers a Century of the Holy Spirit, said, "Jamie Buckingham announced that this was 'probably the greatest gathering of Christian leaders ever assembled in the history of the United States of America.' The singing was joyous and enthusiastic. Hundreds of participants danced in the aisles as Michael Green and the music ministry led the worship. He said, 'We've taken a football arena and turned it into a tabernacle of prayer.' At one point, hundreds of children sang and danced as they circled the outer aisles holding banners from many nations of the world. One observer, Thomas Nickel, said of the scene: 'Thirty thousand, half Catholic; the other half denominational charismatics, Messianic Jews and old line Pentecostals, so blended together that it was impossible to determine to which category each belonged.'"

James Beall, Charles Green, and others (Sept 1971) Sat, Sep 25, 1971 – Page 2 · The Greenville News (Greenville, South Carolina) · Newspapers.com

JLB, MDB, Carl Neal, Charles Green, Stockstill with Garlon (Oct 1966) 11 Oct 1966, Tue Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi) Newspapers.com

Mom Beall and Bethesda

The Latter Rain Movement of 1948 started in Saskatchewan, Canada. The next places it made dramatic impact were Edmonton, Alberta and Vancouver, British Columbia. But it gained its greatest fame in Detroit, Michigan at a church pastored by a woman; it was called the Bethesda Missionary Temple and it was egalitarian before egalitarian was cool.

The woman pastor was Myrtle Dorthea Beall (1894 - 1979). In most of the literature about her she is called M. D. Beall, but to those who loved the ministry of God through her she was known affectionately as Mom Beall.

She was also called Mom Beall because she was recognized as a mother of the Latter Rain Movement. Some even say she was the mother of the LRM. They mean by this that God had given her a sort of matriarchal care of the movement. While the churches that were affected by the revival were never federated in any formal way, many looked to M. D. Beall and her church for leadership and sometimes covering.

Mom Beall became a pastor in an uncommon way. First of all, she never had any formal theological training. She was simply a wife and a mother of three children who knelt down in her kitchen one day and was baptized in the Holy Spirit - that's right, speaking in tongues right there in the kitchen.

The original Sunday School building

When she innocently told others about this wonderful experience some were alarmed and more than once she was made to feel unwelcome in a church. So, she made arrangements to start a Sunday School for her children and others in the neighborhood in a building formerly used by a tire store. That was way back in 1934.

It is a long but interesting story how that Sunday School grew to be one of America's first megachurches. The Bethesda Missionary Temple was a megachurch before megachurches were cool.  Someday I'll get around to telling that story but for right now I'll just tell you how Mom Beall's church became the most well known church in the Latter Rain Movement. (Mom Beall told the entire story in her memoir that was serialized in Bethesda's monthly magazine, the Latter Rain Evangel. The memoir can be read online here.)

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 Bethesda began to pray both for the safety of the young men of their church who were enlisted in the war effort and for revival. God answered those prayers and not one Bethesda life was lost on the battlefields. And seven years to the month later, Bethesda's prayers for revival were answered in a most dramatic fashion.

In late November 1948 Mom Beall traveled to meetings at Glad Tidings Temple in Vancouver. The church was pastored by Reg Layzell and he had invited ministers from the Latter Rain outpouring in Saskatchewan for the special meetings. Historian Richard M. Riss continues the story:

"She travelled 2500 miles by car to attend the meetings in a trip that lasted six days. She wrote:

Mom Beall

"Everything we saw in the meetings was scriptural and beautiful. We left the meeting with a new touch of God upon our souls and ministry. We certainly feel transformed by the power of God. Never in our lives had we ever felt the power of God as we do now and we feel we are carrying something back to our assembly we never had before.

"Mrs. Beall returned to her church to spark revival there, attracting people from all parts of the country ...." (A Survey of 20th-Century Revival Movements in North America)

An article formerly on Bethesda's website added:

"December 5, 1948 was a turning point in the [life] of every Bethesdan. That Sunday morning everyone was gathered for church in the basement building. Opening the service, James Beall asked everyone to stand, and suddenly everyone in the building started singing praises to God in the Spirit .... this continued for about an hour. People were saved, filled with the Holy Spirit and healed in their bodies during this time. As the praise subsided a new song was born.

   'This is the promise of the coming latter rain,
    Lift up your eyes behold the ripening grain.
    Many signs and wonders in His mighty name,
    Drink, oh drink, My people for this is latter rain.'

"Two months after this, on February 13, 1949 the main sanctuary [seating about 1,800] was dedicated. When the doors opened, it was immediately filled and at least 1,700 people were turned away. Services were held night and day for the next three and one half years."

Just as Riss wrote, the happenings in Detroit drew people from all over the country - and eventually the world. Ivan and Minnie Spencer, who founded Elim Bible Institute, were two of the hundreds of Pentecostal ministers who went to Detroit to experience the revival for themselves. In her biography of Ivan Spencer, Marion Meloon tells the story like this:

The Spencers

"Ivan and Minnie had arrived in Detroit and were soon ushered into the basement sanctuary of Bethesda Temple. As they became aware of the hundreds of people on their faces crying out to God in humiliation and brokenness, they knew that God was in the place. Says Minnie, 'The Scripture, 'Break up your fallow ground,' was being enacted before our eyes.' They, too, fell on their faces, and the Spirit wrought a work in their hearts that was new, and made them new.

"In those days spent in the Temple, with little thought of meals and mundane duties, they witnessed marvelous depths of spiritual victory - manifest in conversions, baptisms, healings, deliverances, and impartations of gifts and ministries by the laying on of hands. Holy spontaneity replaced special programs, though there was much teaching. Prayer groups met as early as five in the morning, continuing into the afternoon. And it was easy to pray - one wanted to do nothing else.

"Yes, revival had come beginning in North America with Canada, then moving down the west coast to as far as Los Angeles. Across the country it came as a great toronado, touching down in many cities, but especially making Detroit its focal point. Why? For Minnie, it was exciting to hear Mrs. Beall, pastor of the Temple, describe their revival prayers and radio programming over the past seven years. Why, it was seven years ago that God had laid upon Minnie the ministry of travail for revival! Her heart leaped within her as she sensed she was hearing the cries of the newborn babe, now delivered." (Ivan Spencer: Willow in the Wind)

Riss writes of another prominent leader that came in contact with the Latter Rain Revival in Detroit and who approved of it as the Spencers had:

Stanley Frodsham

"Mrs. Beall wrote a letter to Stanley Frodsham, a pioneer of the early Pentecostal movement at the turn of the century, a leader of the Assemblies of God denomination, and the editor of the Pentecostal Evangel for twenty-eight years. In her letter, Mrs. Beall described what was happening in her church, and Frodsham decided to leave Springfield, Missouri to visit the church in Detroit. He arrived in January of 1949, and 'he was swept away by the revival taking place in Detroit.... He was moved deeply by scenes of people under great conviction of sin, making confession and finding peace.'" (A Survey of 20th-Century Revival Movements in North America)

However, not all Assemblies of God leaders shared Frodsham's opinion of the Latter Rain Revival. Peter Althouse explains what happened:

"In 1949, under pressure from the Assemblies of God, Frodsham retired from ministry and resigned as the editor of the Pentecostal Evangel, the official magazine of the denomination." (Spirit of the Last Days: Pentecostal Eschatology in Conversation with Jurgen Moltmann)

Relationship with the Assemblies of God also became untenable for Mom Beall and Bethesda and they ended their affiliation with the AOG. Assemblies of God historian Gary McGee provides some background:

"'The 'new order' Latter Rain Movement in reality is giving us nothing that is new in spite of the claims of its advocates,' wrote General Superintendent Ernest S. Williams. For Williams and his colleagues, Latter Rain practices pointed backward to problems that had once vexed the stability, unity, and spiritual integrity of the Pentecostal movement. Neither could the proper interpretation of Scripture justify the teachings of the new movement.

"Opinions on the revival's genuineness varied. The new teachings and the (at times harsh) reactions and counter-reactions revealed a growing gap between establishment Pentecostals and grassroots Pentecostals in some quarters. Although believers in the Latter Rain differed in their teachings to some extent, the General Council listed abuses in the movement and condemned them all in 1949. Latter Rain leaders cried foul. Like the historic churches' condemnations of earlier Pentecostals, so now the Assemblies of God had denounced fellow Pentecostals." (People of the Spirit: The Assemblies of God)

Of course, that is just one side of the story. Australian scholar Mark Hutchinson is a student of Pentecostal history and he writes much more favorably:

"Through people such as Reg Layzell in Vancouver, Myrtle Beall in Detroit, Ivan Spencer in Rhode Island {Spencer as noted above was actually from Lima, New York}, Thomas Wyatt in Oregon, and Earl Lee of Los Angeles, the revival spread all over North America. Wherever they went, the new amalgam of methodology, experience and teaching tapped into the lurking dissatisfaction with the class shift American pentecostalism had experienced under the Assemblies of God, and the memories of the 'Latter Rain' outpouring of power experienced at Azusa Street." (The Canadian Fire: Revivalist Links Between Canada and Australia)

Vinson Synan adds a description of the environment that fostered the spread of the Latter Rain Movement:

"The Pentecostal movement was at a low ebb in 1948, with a growing dryness and lack of charismatic gifts. Many who heard about the events in Canada believed that is was a new Azusa Street, with many healings, tongues and prophecies. A large center of the revival outside of Canada was the Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit, Michigan pastored by Myrtle Beale {her name is actually Beall}. From Detroit, the movement spread across the United States like a prairie wildfire." (An Eyewitness Remembers the Century of the Holy Spirit)

Since December of 1948 Bethesda has been known for, among other things, what Pentecostals and Charismatics call "singing in the Spirit". The beautiful, harmonious strains of a congregation with each member singing their own spontaneous song to the Lord came to be identified by some as sounding like a "heavenly choir".

For her part, Mom Beall's preaching was unique. It was unique for its brevity as she often spoke about 15 minutes (imagine that!) It was also unique for its riveting quality - she was a marvelous story teller. And most importantly it was memorable for its spiritual impact. I remember listening to her preach and at once wanting to cry and wanting to laugh for joy. I felt as though I wanted to burst as the anointing on her words dropped into my spirit like nuclear bombs.

Thousands who heard her preach would say the same. Even Peter Jenkins in his New York Times best-seller A Walk Across America tells about the impact of Mom Beall's preaching. His experience of hearing her preach at the Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans in November of 1975 is alone worth the price of the book. The story is lengthy so I won't share it here, but I must note his description of her:

"Although Mom was over eighty she now looked shot full of the most powerful energy in life."

She was, Peter, she was.

When Mom Beall left this earth in 1979 her son James took over as pastor of Bethesda. During his tenure Bethesda moved from its longtime home on Van Dyke and Nevada avenues in Detroit to the suburb of Sterling Heights. James' daughter Analee Dunn took over as pastor of Bethesda (which is now known as Bethesda Christian Church) in 2004. Bethesda's church plant, which includes a 3,000-seat sanctuary, sits on a 92-acre site. [Pastor Dunn retired on June 12, 2016 and turned over the senior pastorate to Patrick Visger.]

Mom's husband was Harry Lee Beall. Mr. Beall was not a preacher but was supportive of his wife's ministry. "Dad was the builder, mother the pastor," James Beall told the Detroit News in an interview after his mother's death.

Besides James, her children included Patricia Beall Gruits and Harry Monville Beall. Patricia, now 90, is the author of a very popular catechism called Understanding God, as well as the leader of a missions organization in Haiti called Rhema International. Harry was a preacher, soloist, and director of Bethesda's choir and orchestra.

In the video above Mom Beall is seen speaking at 1:46 ... Patricia Beall Gruits is seen at 3:08 ... James Beall speaks at 3:34 ... and Analee Dunn speaks at 7:29 ... Patrick Visger is seen at 5:33.

Sterling Heights sanctuary (photo by Elite Pro Audio, copyright 2016)

Mom Beall's obituary · Fri, Sep 21, 1979 – Page 44 · Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) · Newspapers.com

Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit Free Press 13 Jun 1964, Sat Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com

Jon Rising · Bethesda Missionary Temple history

James Lee Beall (1924 - 2013)

James Lee Beall, pastor emeritus of Bethesda Christian Church in Sterling Heights, MI, died on September 10. He was the second senior pastor of Bethesda, being preceded by his mother M. D. Beall, the founder of the church.

Beall's daughter Analee Dunn is the third and current senior pastor of the large church that was in the 40s, 50s and 60s the most prominent Latter Rain Movement church. [Note:  Analee Dunn has retired from the senior pastorate and Patrick Visger was installed in that post on June 12, 2016.]

Charisma magazine notes in its obituary for Beall that his ministry bridged both the Latter Rain Movement and the Charismatic Movement, saying that he "was one of the most sought-after speakers in the charismatic movement of the 1970s and became known for his nationwide radio broadcast, America to Your Knees."

While he was popular when speaking worldwide he was always a local pastor first. He once wrote:

"As preachers, we who pastor learn quickly enough that we receive more honor when we are away from home. We can tell old stories and get away with them, use illustrations without having anyone throw rocks at us, and combine the best of any number of sermons. Consequently, we receive adulation of our new audience. But when we return home there is no parade or marching band.

"This tends to give some pastor-shepherds an itch to travel. After all, they are such a precious gift that they simply must share themselves with the multitudes. But we need to shrink our heads to the size of our hats and remain where the Lord has put us.

"I love compliments as much as the next person. In fact, I eat them up. Through the years a number of well-intentioned people have told me my ministry was just too great to be confined to one local church. I have been momentarily excited by such dazzling suggestions. But they were nonsense. Just because people like to hear me speak as I travel the country does not automatically bestow upon me an apostolic gift of travel. The Lord called me to be a pastor-shepherd. And if I have a lick of sense, that is where I will remain." (Your Pastor, Your Shepherd)

James Beall leading worship at Bethesda

And remain he did. He was on the pastoral staff of Bethesda for 57 years and was a model of integrity and faithfulness.

His mother, Myrtle Beall, shared in her memoir, A Hand on My Shoulder, how James came to sense the call of the Lord to ministry:

"I recall also the night James Lee failed to return home on time from the Young People's Meeting at church. I was much worried and concerned at the thought of what may have befallen him and prayed earnestly to God for his protection. At midnight he came home and dashed up the stairs to me, taking two or three stairs at a time; he was crying, 'Mother, I've got Him. Mother, I've got Him!' I met Jim at the top of the staircase. Suddenly his arms were around me as he sobbed, 'Mother, God has given me the precious Holy Spirit and has called me to help you in the work!'

"God had indeed given him a vision that night of the burden that the Lord had put upon me. Jim had cried out to God that he might help me carry this burden. Right then and there the Lord baptized him in the Holy Spirit." (A Hand on My Shoulder, chapter 30)


Jim Beall in the Navy

As his funeral home obituary reads, Beall was also a "Proud WWII Navy Veteran". Author Barbara J. Yoder gives some background on this:

"My friend Patricia Beall Gruits still remembers the day her brother [James Beall] went off to war. He was just eighteen years old, still 'wet behind the ears,' in many ways more of a boy than a man. The whole family went with him to the neighborhood drugstore, the collection point for departure. There the local young men had gathered to wait for the bus that would take them to their military assignments.

"Their families had come with them. Some were clinging to each other, weeping uncontrollably. Others stood in total silence. No words could explain how they felt. The war's death statistics predicted the probable end of each young man's story. The families knew they were sending their sons and brothers off on a death assignment.

"Every member of Patricia's family was weeping. She remembers seeing her little brother, Harry, standing there crying buckets of tears. He had heard everyone talking about the war, and he was inconsolable about losing his beloved older brother. Would he ever see his big brother again?

"In this dreadful and terrifying time, Myrtle D. Beall, who in the 1930s had led Bible classes and

M. D Beall

prayer groups and who had founded a neighborhood Sunday School that had become a small church, decided to accept an offer to minister on the radio, broadcasting live from the church building. She called the program America to Your Knees. Beall's single-minded goal was to summon an army of wartime pray-ers every weekday morning from 10:00 to 10:30. She was not about to do it alone; she was going to find everyone she could in the listening area to pray with her.

"After her radio broadcast, Myrtle went straight to the church sanctuary to lead a live prayer meeting from 10:30 to noon. She was joined not only by church members, but also by many people who prayed with her on the radio program. They were desperate. They did not want their sons to die. Some of those listening on the radio had already lost their sons and were stricken with grief, but still they came to pray. They would cry out to God, praying until they saw results.

"As these pray-ers got together daily, they learned to pray through their grief to faith. Faith began to arise as they learned to cry out to God and to connect with Him from their hearts. They learned how to pray until God spoke to them, and then they learned to proclaim His words back to Him. Their prayer-cries got God's attention because they had learned to speak out the prayers He had planted in their hearts.

"A sound was released in those prayer meetings that caused heaven to overtake hell on earth. Hell's assignments were interrupted on a daily basis as those people prayed earnestly and faithfully. Jesus put it this way: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

"The war ended, and all 84 servicemen from the church, Bethesda Missionary Temple, returned home safely. Not one soldier from that church lost his life" (The Cry God Hears ... and is Waiting to Answer).

After the war, Jim Beall put his spared life to good use bringing life - through Jesus Christ - to others, many others.

An article about his wife, Anne, can be read at this link, while a full-length interview with Pastor Beall can be read at this link.

From left to right: James Lee Beall, Harry Lee Beall, Harry Monville Beall, Myrtle Dorthea Beall, and Patricia Doris Beall Gruits

From left to right: Harry Beall, Modest Pemberton and his wife Evelyn, Marie Pemberton and her husband Garlon, and James Lee Beall. Photo is the property of Cyndy Green Crider.

WMZK in 1969 Sat, May 31, 1969 – Page 9 · Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) · Newspapers.com

From the July/August 2018 edition of Ministry Today magazine

Anne Beall - a pastor's wife extraordinaire

Anne Beall, James Lee Beall, and their daughter Analee (circa 1952)

There is no shortage of ministers who refer to the late James Lee Beall as a "pastor's pastor". He even wrote a popular book on pastoring - Your Pastor, Your Shepherd. But serving right alongside him for 57 years at the Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit, Michigan was his wife Anne. Her graciousness, wit, and wisdom in the role of a pastor's wife were also remarkable. Anne was a pastor's wife extraordinaire. Today, she still attends the church, now located in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights and known as Bethesda Christian Church. Her daughter, Analee Dunn, is the current senior pastor of Bethesda (Note: she is now pastor emeritus). Anne wrote the following for the church's newspaper, Bethesda Parade, back in December 1980:

"Recently, someone asked me if I believed God had planned or ordained my marriage to my husband, Jim. Was our marriage 'Made and ordained in heaven?' My reply! 'I'm not sure we really asked God about it. I doubt if God could have changed our mind and plans.'

"Love - it is still the name of the game. There is no question in my mind that Jim and I have a greater and deeper love today than we had 34 years ago when we said, 'I do.' [the Bealls were married in 1946] As love matures, one person's thoughts become the thoughts of the other. In future columns I will discuss this matter more fully, but from this point in history, I'm sure God in His all-wise providence, knew Jim needed me. Jim was the fulfillment of all my dreams: tall, dark, handsome, a football player; and so romantic!


Anne, Myrtle, and Patti Beall (1962)

"I have always believed when a person's life is totally committed to the Lord, God does guide our life. The Lord leads us day by day, and step by step. Usually it is not in some dramatic way, but the 'still small voice' of assurance saying, 'This is the way, walk ye in it.'

"In the 1920s my parents, Sam and Daisy Broyles, resided in the State of California. On a beautiful May morning, their third child entered the world - me. This date is not important for you to know.

"During the seven years of my parents' residence in California, both of them received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Their visitation with God took place in a Brethren Church. This experience produced a life of total commitment to their Lord. My spiritual life developed in this intimate and blessed atmosphere.

"Every person's life is molded by a series of decisions. My parents decided to move to the State of Tennessee, their home state, in the late 1920s. They were greeted by the GREAT DEPRESSION. My sister, Lois, was born at this time. We have accused her of being the cause of it!

"With the move to Tennessee, Mother and Dad saw the tremendous need for spiritual life in the community. Our relatives were Methodist. Consequently, one Sunday morning church service was started in a local school. On Sunday afternoon another school was secured for services in a Baptist community. I learned early that God is not confined to any one group. Mother did the preaching; Dad the organizing. Attendance at each of these meetings grew, and in time beautiful church buildings were erected in each community. My Mother was the first woman licensed to preach by the Methodist Church in Tennessee. It helped to have a brother on the Selecting Committee!

"All of us are products of History. Our childhood becomes our history. This part of history is something over which we have no control. God teaches and guides us in ways and at times unknown to us.

"In May of 1944 I graduated from the White County High School. The Broyles family moved to Michigan. On the first Sunday of June of the same year we attended our first service at Bethesda.

"Jim was serving with the U. S. Navy in Brazil!"

Anne Beall wrote a chapter entitled, "When Death Takes a Child"

James Dunn, the Beall's son-in-law, continues the story, "While home on leave in 1945, another monumental change took place [in Jim Beall's life]. Meeting Anna Mae Broyles, whose family had recently joined the church, was akin to being struck by a thunderbolt. With only a few days to get to know each other, both knew they had met the love of their lives. Writing daily during the rest of the war cemented their feelings, and marriage came four months after his discharge on July 3, 1946. They became the very picture of marital fidelity. Their love never wavered in 67 years together" (from "In Memory and Tribute to a Great Man," Heartbeat of Bethesda, October 2013).

Jim, with a twinkle in his eye no doubt, wrote the following in his ministry newsletter (Facts, Foibles, and Fables) in September 2007, "Now and again I remind her that my proposal of marriage hinged around her ability to gain the cooking skills of her mother - Daisy Broyles. In fact, I didn't know the pleasure of real fried chicken until I fell in love with this trim, gorgeous, captivating creature whom I met during my Navy days and would soon become my future bride. Grandma Broyles lured me into her family with chicken, biscuits, fried apples and fried corn."

Anne and Jim's daughter Analee is married to James Dunn, and she is pastor emeritus of Bethesda Christian Church. [She retired June 12, 2016, handing over the senior pastorate to Patrick Visger.]

The Bealls also had two sons, Jimmy and John (who lives with his wife Heather in California).

In 1983, James Broyles Beall - Jimmy - died at 36 after a long, debilitating illness. Anne wrote movingly of his illness and passing in a book entitled, Help! I'm a Pastor's Wife. Jamie Buckingham's daughter-in-law, Michele Buckingham, edited the book, which has chapters by thirty well-known pastor's wives, included Anna Hayford (Jack), Freda Lindsay (Gordon), Barbara Green (Charles), and a preacher in her own right, Anne Gimenez (John). Anne Beall's chapter is entitled, "When Death Takes a Child".

Jim and Anne Beall

Anne Beall (left) and Kathryn Kuhlman (right) at a reception for special speakers at the World Conference on the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem in 1974. Anne's husband, Jim, was one of the speakers along with Miss Kuhlman, David du Plessis, Corrie ten Boom, Pat Robertson, Jamie Buckingham, Charles Simpson, Arthur Katz, Willard Cantelon, Gen. Ralph Haines, Costa Deir, and Charles Farah.

Broyles-Beall engagement (Apr 1946) Sun, Apr 14, 1946 – 34 · Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, Tennessee) · Newspapers.com

MINISTRIES magazine (Summer 1986)

Baxter and Branham: were they Latter Rain men?

Ern Baxter (left) and William Branham

"During his years in ministry, Ern Baxter participated directly or indirectly in Classical Pentecostalism, the Healing Revival, the Latter Rain Movement, and the Charismatic Renewal" - S. David Moore, The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology

What made Baxter useful - and prominent - in each of those movements was his "unique blend of what he called 'Word and Spirit'" (Moore, page 36).

While not formally trained, Baxter was always a student of the Scriptures and theology (over 4,000 of the books he collected are now housed in the Ern Baxter Memorial Library in Mobile, Alabama ---  UPDATE: In 2015, the entire collection was donated to The King's University in Southlake, Texas); thus, he was a man of the Word. But at the same time, he was passionate for the gifts and work of the Holy Spirit. He was equally at home in his study preparing masterful teachings or serving as William Branham's right hand man as Branham prayed for the sick and cast out demons; thus, he was a man of the Spirit.

While Moore is correct that Baxter preached in many classical Pentecostal and Latter Rain churches, Baxter is best known for - and most accurately identified with - the Healing Movement of the 1940s and 50s and the Shepherding Movement of 1970s.

And he is a useful figure for untangling popular notions about Branham and the Latter Rain Movement. Branham, who had one of the most - if not the most - powerful healing ministries in the mid-twentieth century, is often blended into the discussion of Latter Rain topics on the internet. It is even frequently asserted that he was the leader of the Latter Rain Movement.

Baxter is immediately helpful as one broaches that topic, as he informs us that Branham was not even really a Pentecostal, saying in a December 1978 interview with New Wine magazine:

"He and I had many sessions that were hours long. During one of these, he told me he didn't believe that tongues was the evidence of the baptism. So I asked him about speaking in tongues, and he said that he had gone to a Pentecostal mission and had told God, 'These are apparently the only people that will accept my [healing] gift - let me talk in tongues so I will be acceptable.' And he said that God let him talk tongues, but he never talked in tongues again. That seemed to be his introduction to the Pentecostals, and they apparently accepted him because of it. Few people would know that story, but I mention it because as his gift became more apparent as he grew older, he saw that the Pentecostal people were probably the only ones that would receive it.... He was a missionary Baptist, so his tradition would not link him into historic Pentecostalism."

So, those that assert Branham's leadership of the Latter Rain Movement are confronted with some difficulty right off the bat because Branham's sentiments are certainly not in keeping with Latter Rain beliefs.

Then, as we observe how Baxter came to work closely with Branham for the better part of a decade

more light is shed on the Branham/Latter Rain assertions. Ministers in Vancouver (where Baxter pastored the large Evangelistic Tabernacle) wanted to bring Branham and his dramatic healing ministry to their city in 1947:

"I was asked to lead the meetings, which I did," Baxter told New Wine, "Later, Branham asked to see me personally. He said that he had been in prayer and the angel of the Lord had spoken to him and told him that I was to be his companion in ministry. He invited me to join him.... I started to travel with him as often as I could be away from my church. One year I was away eight months.... I was with Branham from 1947 until I had to leave him, in about 1953 or 1954."

According to Robert K. Burkinshaw, "Branham had attracted overflow crowds to Vancouver's Exhibition Garden in late 1947 with what appeared to many to be genuine demonstrations of miraculous powers of insight and physical healing. The 'North Battleford brethren' (as they came to be known) and many others viewed the events of the Branham meetings as evidence that old-time Pentecostal power and fervour could be revived" (Pilgrims in Lotus Land: Conservative Protestantism in British Columbia, 1917 - 1981).

James Watt

They were influenced by what they observed in Branham's meetings, but they had no relationship with him - he certainly was not their leader. Jim Watt, another of the leaders in North Battleford, confirms this on his website:

"Some years later Winston Nunes (now deceased) sought me out as the last living elder of the seven. He sought confirmation to his theory that William Branham, J. E. Stiles and Franklin Hall were the three catalysts that God used to launch the 1948 Northern Canada Revival. I agreed that these three were certainly key principles that motivated the prayer and fasting that birthed this move. But I pointed out that there were other principles equally critical. There was the Presbytery revelation itself; the 5-fold ministry emphasis of Ephesians 4:11-12; the high point of worship through the Heavenly Choir; the 'team spirit' operating within the eldership; the humility and teachability of the leadership; the sensitivity to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit."

Interestingly, after the outbreak of revival at the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, on February 12, 1948, leaders from that site (such as George and Ern Hawtin) traveled back to Vancouver to minister in November - but did not do so at Baxter's church, but at Glad Tidings, pastored by Reg Layzell.

Baxter and Branham were Voice of Healing men (VOH being the loosely federated ministries led by Gordon Lindsay and that included men like Branham, Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, and Jack Coe). The Hawtins, Jim Watt, Reg Layzell, and others were Latter Rain men (those at the North Battleford site actually prefer the term, 1948 Move of the Spirit, wanting to distance themselves from teachings and practices that occurred later as the revival spread across the world).

While with Branham, Baxter was the 'Word' man - he taught in afternoon sessions, while Branham

Ern Baxter (1914-1993)

flowed in the gifts of the Spirit in the evening meetings.

"Branham had a tremendous word of knowledge," Baxter told New Wine, "Before praying for a person, he would give accurate details of their lives - their home town, activities, actions - even way back in their childhood. Branham never once made a mistake with a word of knowledge in all the years I was with him. That covers, in my case, thousands of instances."

But eventually it became necessary for Baxter and Branham to part. Ernest Gentile says:

"Although Baxter honored Branham for his honesty and handling of money, and felt him to be a sincere and godly man, their doctrinal differences became too great for continued compatibility" (Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today).

Branham spoke both of their disengagement from each and of his affection for Baxter during a sermon delivered in Chicago in 1958:

"I haven't got an official campaign manager at these times, since our dear, precious brother Ern Baxter had to return to his church. It was calling for him. His church is almost the size of this auditorium. So to be gadding around across the country with me, his church wouldn't stand for it any longer. He had to return back to them or he'd probably lose his church. A wonderful soul, a wonderful man of God, I love him. But he had to go back and since then I haven't had a campaign manager so I have to try to speak myself" (in Door to the Heart, Chicago, Illinois, January 12, 1958).

Branham died after a car crash in 1965. He was 56 years old.

Baxter, as Moore notes above, was never confined to one movement or one fellowship. Though he was primarily with Branham and the Voice of Healing crowd in the period of 1947-1954, he was also impacted by the revival that occurred in Saskatchewan (read: Latter Rain, if you will). In a sermon where he laid out a sketch of his long ministry (EB001 in the Broken Bread Teaching collection), Baxter said:

"Another momentous thing happened - at least for me and many others - and that's something called the Latter Rain.... I went to their second convention in Edmonton, Canada and I never saw such a concentration of the power of God. This was a tremendous movement."

After disengaging from Branham, Baxter went back to pastoring in the Vancouver area for awhile and was often a guest speaker at churches that would have been considered Latter Rain - churches like Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit, Gospel Temple in Philadelphia, Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bible Temple in Portland, Oregon, and Inland Christian Center Church in San Bernandino, California. During these years he would often preach a much-loved message, Life on Wings (EB201 in the Broken Bread Teaching collection), which used the development of an eaglet as the metaphor for growth in the Christian life.

In 1974, Baxter became deeply involved in the Charismatic Renewal. He committed himself to be a part of Christian Growth Ministries - joining forces with Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, Don Basham, and Charles Simpson. The Charismatic Renewal encompassed much more than CGM and its adherents, of course, but CGM was a very focal segment of the Renewal.

According to the New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, the "initial thrust of CGM was to bring Spirit-baptized Christians to maturity and to teach church-building". However, the five also promoted a concept of church leadership that was labeled Shepherding and/or Discipleship. Despite the Biblical usage of those terms, in practice the oversight in believers' lives often became overly authoritarian by those the CGM leaders had set in authority.

In 1975, he moved to Ft. Lauderdale where CGM was headquartered. It was also in 1975 that he preached the message that he is probably best known for, Thy Kingdom Come (EB202 in the Broken Bread Teaching collection).

During this period of his life Baxter enjoyed immense popularity in the United Kingdom. In this 

Ruth & Ern Baxter

video, British charismatic leader Terry Virgo tells of Baxter's impact in the U. K., referencing Baxter's teaching series, The King and His Army (recordings EB701 - 706 in the Broken Bread Teaching collection).

Although the ministers of CGM had a very high profile and much influence during much of the 1970s, Moore recounted in an article in Minstry Today magazine how things unraveled:

"In 1975, several high-profile charismatic leaders accused the five of trying to take over the charismatic renewal and dominate the lives of their followers, charges the five always denied. Rumors abounded as many unsubstantiated allegations were made against the movement and its leaders.

"The heated controversy divided the renewal for more than a decade, and the dispute was never satisfactorily resolved. Even among the five leaders there were conflicts, and Derek Prince quietly withdrew from the group in 1984. Two years later the other four broke formal ties and ceased publication of New Wine, ending the Shepherding movement as an expression of the five men's shared commitment."

But the total scope of Ern Baxter's life is captured by this eulogizing statement that was until recently posted on the website for his memorial library:

"For more than 60 years, Ern Baxter served the Lord as an evangelist, pastor, teacher, musician, and prophetic leader. He was one of this generation’s outstanding Bible teachers. Ern went to be with the Lord on July 9, 1993."

Baxter and Branham in Battle Creek 1952 · Wed, Aug 13, 1952 – Page 8 · Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Michigan) · Newspapers.com Baxter preaching for Leonard Fox in 1971 Sat, Mar 27, 1971 – Page 16 · The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, California) · Newspapers.com Baxter & Branham (1954) Sat, Aug 21, 1954 – 27 · The Province (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) · Newspapers.com

Garlon Pemberton, remembered



Jon Rising · The Good Samaritan

DIXIE CAMP MEETING - (from l to r) Modest Pemberton, Wayne Pemberton, M. D. "Mom" Beall, Garlon Pemberton

Garlon Pemberton was one of the most vibrant and unforgettable people involved in the Latter Rain Movement of 1948. When the movement started, he and his brothers Wayne and Modest were among the earliest ministers in the U. S. to fully embrace it.

They sponsored the Dixie Camp Meeting in 1951 that did much to spread the blessing and teachings of the young LRM. According to Dennis McClendon in the July 1, 1951 edition of the Houston Post:

"During the meetings that closed June 17, more than 400 ministers were in attendance. Missionary leaders came from every continent of the globe. Countries represented by delegates included Liberia, India, Canada, China, Australia, Peru and England, the Rev. Mr. [Modest] Pemberton said. The average nightly attendance under the oversized tents exceeded 2,000 persons. There were representatives from every state in the Union - more than 30,000 in all [a cumulative attendance figure for the two-week camp meeting]. 'We had made big plans but the Lord made them even bigger,' the minister said."

McClendon also wrote the following about the Pembertons and their wives:

"Three brothers, natives of Cameron, Texas, are at the energetic core of the World Wide Revival 

Garlon & Modest

[Corporation]. The Reverend Modest S. Pemberton, who studied for several years to be a skin specialist, is assisted by an older brother, Wayne C. Pemberton, who had previously been in the oil leasing business.

"A younger brother, the Rev. Garlon L. Pemberton, completes the trio and holds the presidency of the World Wide Revival Corporation. He is a preacher of 12 years, who was once an amateur prize fighter and church-building contractor.

"The ministers are assisted by their wives in all phases of religious activity. Mrs. M. S. Pemberton directs musical programs, Mrs. W. C. Pemberton teaches Sunday school and Mrs. G. L. Pemberton plays the organ."

M. D. "Mom" Beall preached at the camp meeting, and the Pembertons gave this account in the August 1951 issue of the Latter Rain Evangel:

"Sister Beall of Bethesda Temple of Detroit was the principal speaker, speaking each evening at 7:45 P.M. Only God knows just what was accomplished in the meetings. The whole city of Houston was stirred, and people from all over the States, India, Australia, Africa, etc. were here for this glorious time of fellowship with God's people.....

"On Thursday the 14th of June, we saw something we had never seen in our Christian life before. Sister Beall had preached on 'A Lamb for an House,' and we saw approximately 400 men not counting the women and children, who were kneeling on the ground in the sawdust and shavings, weeping and pouring out their hearts to God. We are so sorry we did not have a picture made of this scene. People were healed, filled and delivered throughout the whole meeting. We shall never know until eternity just what was accomplished."

Garlon Pemberton remained close friends with Mom Beall for the rest of her life. In fact, he was one of the speakers at her memorial service in September 1977 (click here to hear Garlon's remarks; first, though, he is introduced by Mom Beall's eldest son, James Lee Beall). Her respect for Garlon was evident in a two-minute portion of one her sermons that can be heard be clicking here.

According to his funeral home obituary, during his 65-year ministry Garlon "started and pastored thirteen churches in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi."

The among the myriad people Brother Pemberton ministered to was the famous pastor, Anne Gimenez. She and her husband, the late John Gimenez, are best known for pastoring Rock Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but they also were among the leaders of the massive Washington for Jesus rally in April 1980.

In her autobiography, Born to Preach, Anne relates how Garlon prophesied about her call to minister was she was a teen in Texas. She writes,

"Although the 'presbyters' did not know me, I was called to the altar and Pastor Pemberton began to prophesy over me. The prophetic words were stunningly accurate, reflecting the deepest desires of my heart. 

"'Yea, My child…thou art a chosen vessel, chosen all the days of thy life. Thou art a peculiar treasure, even in thy home thou art noted as such... 

"'The Lord has reserved thee for this last revival…He has poured out His Spirit mightily on thee. Thou were chosen as a little girl, yea chosen all thy life… 

"'The Lord doth lead thee and go before thee. Thou shalt walk in His footsteps and hear Him say, ‘This is the way. Walk ye therein…'". 

Later in life he served as an associate pastor at Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans, Louisiana. That church was pastored by Charles E. Green. New York Times best-selling author Peter Jenkins attended that church for awhile and one chapter of his  now out-of-print book The Road Unseen creates a representative 'snapshot' of the church and Garlon. Here is just a part of that chapter:

"We pulled into the parking lot of the Word of Faith, our church. The building was built out of cinderblocks painted white and the sanctuary was eight-sided. We'd heard our pastor, Reverend Charles Green, say many times that God had told him to buy the five acres the church was on when it was nothing but a dirt road and a swamp. Now it was some of the most valuable real estate in the entire city.

"Word of Faith was located about a half mile off the interstate right next to a sprawling shopping center called Lake Forest Mall and the Methodist Hospital. The Sunday night crowd was always smaller than Sunday morning's but usually there were at least six hundred folks at this service. Although it was a thirty-five mile drive one way, we felt it was more than worth it. We never left a service in which we hadn't been inspired by God and His Word....


Garlon

"I opened the door for Barbara and Rebekah and also held it for Garlon Pemberton. Garlon, an associate pastor, had grown up tough in Texas. The man had a square build, and his muscles and voice were filled with power. Before becoming a preacher he'd been a boxer, and he was so full of energy he could have sold the excess to the power company. Garlon was loved by everyone and must have been in his early sixties - although no one ever thought about how old he was."

Though Charles Green knew countless ministers, he unequivocally asserted, "No one knew the Bible better than Garlon did. No matter what subject came up he could refer you to several Scriptures by memory."

Garlon died at the age of 91 in July 2008, but his effervescent personality and blessed ministry are not forgotten (for instance, churches still sing his song, "Abraham's Blessings are Mine").

[UPDATE October 6, 2014 - His wife Marie 'Honey' Pemberton died on October 3 and her memorial service will be held tomorrow, October 7. Charles Green will officiate the service. Her funeral home obituary can be read here and she can be seen below in a one-minute video that was recorded a few years ago.]

(from l to r) James Lee Beall with Garlon & Marie Pemberton (This photo is the property of Cyndy Green Crider.) 

Garlon and JLB in Lansing 1952 · Sat, Jun 28, 1952 – Page 9 · Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) · Newspapers.com
Garlon Pemberton with the Bealls (Jan 1956) 19 Jan 1956, Thu Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi) Newspapers.com Charles Green and Garlon Pemberton 1981 · Fri, Mar 20, 1981 – Page 10 · The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana) · Newspapers.com
Anne Gimenez and Garlon Pemberton (1978) 05 May 1978, Fri Johnson City Press (Johnson City, Tennessee) Newspapers.com