The Iversons: integrity & balance

Revival can be messy. By that I mean, that even when a revival is truly the work of God, wrong practices or wrong doctrine may be found right alongside all the positive spiritual benefits. The Lord's work is, of course, pure and holy, but our responses to what is powerful (and very often unexpected) can be off the mark because of our immaturity, ignorance, and even more seriously - our desire to seek personal advantage.

Therefore, every revival needs people like K. R. "Dick" Iverson and his late wife Edie.

There are thousands of people across the globe whose testimony about the Iversons would be: they loved the Lord, loved the moving of his Spirit in power, and they sought always to make sure that doctrinal balance was maintained. 'Fleshiness' or faddishness (which usually crop up as the result of carnal motivations coupled with bad doctrine) were eschewed by the Iversons.

In fact, the titles of two of Dick's several books confirm this: Maintaining Balance When the Winds of Doctrine Blow: Equipping the Believer to Discern Truth and Guarding the Local Church: Identifying False Ministries. And though his other books do not have in their titles this passion for doctrinal stability, that theme is consistently present in whatever topic he addresses.


Dick & Edie Iverson

Edie was the first of the couple to experience the Latter Rain revival. Shortly after their engagement in June of 1949, Dick began traveling with an itinerant healing evangelist while Edie [then Edie Swanson] enrolled in the school in North Battleford, Saskatchewan where the revival had broken out the previous year.

Dick writes, "In fact, that revival (and Edie's experiences there) would have long range implications for Bible Temple [the church they would lead in Portland, Oregon] and our ministry. The 'latter rain' outpouring, as it was called, became a major stream of the Holy Spirit emphasizing praise and worship (with its power to open the Word), along with prophecy and the laying on of hands. It was within that movement that the roots of the charismatic movement originated." (The Journey: a Lifetime of Prophetic Moments)

Steve Ganz, a missionary and former student of the Bible college founded by Dick Iverson (Portland Bible College), says, "Sister Edie, as she was known, would lead worship with enthusiasm. She was not a good singer, but her love of Jesus was so obvious that we in the congregation could care less and followed her as she led us in honoring God with all our hearts" (in "A Tribute to Edie Iverson" which can be read here).

Edie is credited with at least two popular praise choruses, The Lord Reigneth and Thanks Be to God.

Dick's experience with the healing evangelist was not as positive. He recalls, "I remember that night after night there was a tremendous amount of money being given and one of my tasks was to help count the money. As I counted it in a room with several others, the table would be literally piled high with money, yet, at the same time, Neil [his brother] and I never received the weekly wage we had been promised." (The Journey: a Lifetime of Prophetic Moments)

And though Edie had an enriching experience in North Battleford, as the Iversons interacted with others later in the Latter Rain Movement, Dick saw yet more behavior that could be disillusioning. He writes, "... as with other movements or outpourings of the Holy Spirit, there came afterwards distortion and fakery. Charlatans got a hold of it and all sorts of offshoots went spinning out of control. In many church circles the 'latter rain' became known as the 'scattered rain' and was roundly ridiculed." (The Journey: a Lifetime of Prophetic Moments)


Layzell & Schoch

The Iversons were then blessed to meet two Latter Rain pioneers who manifested the fruit of the Spirit as well as the gifts of the Spirit. Dick writes, "David Schoch - and Pastor Reg Layzell, who we would also get to know on the trip - were two sincere men of God who came out of the 'latter rain' movement dedicated to protecting and keeping pure the fruit of that outpouring. While others twisted, distorted, and indulged in various chicanery, these men among a handful of others, preserved the essence of the Holy Spirit's great gifting." (The Journey: a Lifetime of Prophetic Moments)

The doctrinal balance and integrity that the Iversons instinctively longed for, and then saw manifested in people like Schoch and Layzell, became a hallmark of the ministries they headed: Bible Temple (now known as City Bible Church), Portland Bible College, and the ministerial association Dick founded, Ministers Fellowship International. Dick gives an overview of the Iversons' personal story and the story of their ministries on his blog here.

Edie passed away in 2008 and Dick's tribute to her can be read here. He is in his mid-eighties now and is presently married to the former Roxy Kidder.

[UPDATE April 11, 2018 - Pastor Iverson went to the be with the Lord on April 8, 2018. Charisma News just posted a lengthy tribute that can be accessed here. City Bible Church also posted a 52-minute video remembering his ministry and that can be accessed here.]

Roxy and Dick Iverson

The campus of City Bible Church and Portland Bible College

Latter Rain songs

[The audio recording above, captured live at Elim Bible Institute in 1967, is representative of Latter Rain praise & worship in the 1960s. Among the songs, prophecies, and spontaneous worship, listeners will hear three of the songs mentioned in the article below - two by James Lee Beall, and the one by Modest Pemberton.]

In addition to distinctive teachings and practices, the Latter Rain Movement also developed its own collection of songs.

First there was the publication of James and Phyllis Spiers' songbook, Spiritual Songs by the Spiers in November 1949. The Library of Congress catalogue of copyright entries (January - June 1950 edition for published music) says that this songbook contains, "many new latter rain choruses by Phyllis C. Spiers."

Phyllis wrote the very popular Latter Rain song, He's the Lord of Glory, which can be heard at this link. She and James were from Winnipeg and ministered with the Hawtin brothers and others from the site of the Latter Rain's initial outbreak in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. They would later go on to be affiliated with both Elim Bible Institute in Lima, New York and radio evangelist Thomas Wyatt.

Also in the fall of 1949, a convention at Elim saw a development in Latter Rain music that ran parallel with the Spiers' efforts. Marian Meloon writes,

This convention also marked the beginning of Psalm-singing as we know it today, through the ministry of a blind sister on Elim's staff - Rita Kelligan. This gift developed over succeeding months and years, giving us the rich heritage that forms part of the charismatic renewal worship today [in Ivan Spencer, Willow in the Wind: A Spiritual Pilgrimmage, Logos International, 1974. Kelligan's 1952 book, Scripture Set to Music (Elim Bible Institute) is still available for purchase]. 

Other songs by people involved in the Latter Rain revival include: Edie Iverson's The Lord Reigneth and Thanks Be To God; James Lee Beall's It Shall Flow Like a River and Let the Oppressed Go Free; Eleanor Stern's Fresh Oil from the Throne; Charlotte Baker's Set My Spirit Free; and Garlon Pemberton's Abraham's Blessings are Mine. These are but a few of the songs birthed in the Latter Rain revival.

Below is the sheet music for two more Latter Rain songs. The May 1953 edition of Bethesda Missionary Temple's Latter Rain Evangel said, "These songs were given to us by the Lord during the Convention that is still in progress."

River of God is attributed to James Lee Beall and Frieda Campbell, whereas Sing, O, Barren, Sing! is attributed to Modest Pemberton with Frieda Campbell credited for the arrangement.



BETHESDA MISSIONARY TEMPLE trio - Frieda Campbell, James Lee Beall, Betty Treas

SPIERS Rochester paper July 23, 1955 Sat, Jul 23, 1955 – Page 4 · Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) · Newspapers.com

A tribute to Edie Iverson (1931 - 2008)

by Steven Ganz

I first met Edie Iverson in 1972 at a church called Bible Temple in Portland, Oregon. Although her husband pastored the 500-member church, her influence was unmistakeable and everywhere.

Sister Edie, as she was known, would lead worship with enthusiasm. She was not a good singer, but

Edie Iverson

her love of Jesus was so obvious that we in the congregation could care less and followed her as she led us in honoring God with all our hearts.

In all the years I knew her, I never once heard her complain or say something unkind about anyone. Although she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, she never made it an issue.

Her mother, Sister Swanson, was a Scandinavian woman with a true gift of faith, who never made any allowance for doubt. Edie was out of the same mold, but had learned to be compassionate towards those of us who wrestled with doubt. Edie, if I remember correctly, was going to the Bible School in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada when the Latter Rain Revival started. Through this revival she became involved in the prophetic and in the 'song of the Lord' as it was then called.

She and her husband, K. R. 'Dick' Iverson, were a doctrinally-balanced eye in the midst of that prophetic storm. Sister Edie could always be counted on to see the issues from the position of faith informed by love. Her passion and zeal for the Lord never waned. They led Bible Temple for 44 years, from a church of just a few families (known at first as Deliverance Temple), through several building projects, until it became a church of several thousand. Though the church became so large, she was always a mother to each of us. Even after the Lord had led my wife and I to go to other places, Sister Edie would always remember us and our kids.

Steve and Malana Ganz

I will remember her until 'that day.'

[Steve and Malana Ganz have served as missionaries in places like Panama and Kamchatka, Russia. Currently, Steve is the pastor of Clover Pass Community Church in Ketchikan, Alaska.]