Historically and theologically, most Holiness churches trace their roots to the Methodist tradition; that is, they attempt to maintain the combination of radical social witness and theological commitment to developmental spirituality which traces its formulation to the teachings of John Wesley, founder of .
Holiness denominations include Christian and Missionary Alliance, Church of God (Anderson), Church of the Nazarene, , Holiness Christian Church, Pilgrim Holiness Church, , , Wesleyan Church, Central Yearly Meeting of Friends, and numerous independent Holiness congregations. Several of the Holiness denominations are the result of mergers of smaller groups. By the 1990s, two of these denominations had their international headquarters in Indianapolis (Free Methodists and Wesleyans), while that of the Church of God (Anderson) was within the Indianapolis metropolitan area in nearby . The interdenominational Holiness mission organizations and OMS International both had international headquarters in the Indianapolis suburb of . The Holiness churches in Indianapolis served about 25,550 constituents in the early 1990s.
Holiness churches did not arrive in Indianapolis until the first decade of the 20th century, a date quite later than in northern and southern Indiana. The Wesleyan Methodists Connection of America (precursors to today’s Wesleyan Church) organized nationally in 1844 as a protest against the Methodist Episcopal churches’ refusal to condemn slavery or recognize women’s rights. Efforts to organize a Wesleyan Methodist presence in Indianapolis (1853-1857) failed and the church was not established here until 1918. The Free Methodists (founded 1860) did not organize churches in Indianapolis until 1906. The arrival of these churches in central Indiana was slow because: (1) the Methodist Protestant Church (from the South) with its strong Holiness commitment had several flourishing congregations; (2) the Evangelical United Brethren (which merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1965) had a large Holiness constituency; and (3) the Methodist Episcopal Church in Indiana, and especially Indianapolis, had retained a strong Holiness emphasis up to the 1890s. National Holiness leaders, including Bishop Matthew Simpson and Samuel Brengle, had strong connections to Indiana. Roberts Park and Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal churches were nationally recognized as centers of Holiness activism. Holiness believers perceived no need for separate organizations.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, as elsewhere, began to force Holiness clergy from the church by the late 1890s. Perhaps the most celebrated case was that of G. D. Watson, an evangelist who had been pastor at Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church and who became president of the National Holiness Association, a loose organization of Holiness activists and denominations today known as the Christian Holiness Association. Watson was forced to resign from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1896.
The Indianapolis Presbyterian churches also had significant Holiness connections but by the late 1890s Presbyterian Holiness believers were being forced outside to form Christian and Missionary alliance groups under the leadership of A. B. Simpson, who visited Indianapolis frequently during this transition period. The (Christ) Cumberland Presbyterian Church was the Indianapolis representative of that Holiness denomination. Among the Quakers, the Holiness influences led to the founding (1912) of the Central Yearly Meeting of Friends with headquarters in nearby Westfield, Indiana, where a school, campground, and college (Union Bible College and Seminary) were maintained. Holiness evangelists also had determinative influences on the ecclesiology, ministerial structures, and theology of both the Indiana Yearly Meeting (Richmond) and Western Yearly Meeting of Friends with headquarters and archives at nearby Plainfield.
The first Holiness organizations in Indianapolis were para-church developments or independent congregations such as the Original Methodist Church (1890). These included the International Holiness Union and Prayer League (1897), founded by M. W. Knapp and C. W. Ruth, and the Pentecost Bands (1898), established by Vivian Dake. The Young Men’s Holiness League, with headquarters at the corner of New York and Alabama streets, was also active during the decade and counted more than 3,000 men converted to the Holiness tradition during the decade 1897-1907. Cadle Tabernacle had a strong Holiness constituency, with Pilgrim Holiness ministers James DeWeerd, for example, serving occasion-ally as pastors and radio preachers for that downtown center.
have been a rapidly changing feature of the city’s landscape. Some, such as Holiness Tabernacle, founded ca. 1950 by Mary Johnson and husband on Beauty Avenue, were the target of takeovers by roving evangelists who had little respect for established leadership. Many independent Holiness churches, such as the Holiness League of Roy and George Golay (Washington and West streets), were displaced by the urban renewal of downtown and the campus area. There were over 20 independent churches in Indianapolis in 1993, with average Sunday attendance of around 4,800 and a constituency of perhaps 6,500. Some of these were part of the International Holiness Convention, a loose association of independent Holiness churches.
The is a result of the merging of the Wesleyan Methodist Church with the Pilgrim Holiness Church, which was in turn the result of a merger in Indiana of the Holiness Christian Church, Apostolic Holiness Union of Indiana, the International Holiness Union and Prayer League, the Trinity Tabernacle Association, and the Missionary Bands of the World (Pentecost Bands). The Wesleyan Methodist Church began (1844) as a protest against the refusal of the Methodist Episcopal Church to oppose slavery. The other groups were formed as the Methodist Episcopal Church and Quakers (in Indiana) took stands against Wesleyan doctrines of sanctification and ceased to take reformist social positions. By the 1990s, the denomination had about 200,000 members worldwide. In Indianapolis there were 13 congregations in 1992 counting 900 members with a constituency of approximately 1,500. Juridically, the churches were part of the Indiana Central District of the Wesleyan Church. The international headquarters (with library and archives) moved from Marion, Indiana, to Indianapolis (6060 Castleway Drive West) in 1986. The Pentecost Bands and the Pilgrim Holiness Church were the major merging elements that formed the Wesleyan Church.
The Pentecost Bands, groups of youth devoted to short-term evangelistic and missionary endeavors, were founded (1882) by the Free Methodist Vivian Dake. They arrived in Indianapolis (1887) and established a center at 3400 West Washington Street. In 1898 these incorporated independently of the Free Methodist Church as Pentecost Bands of the World. The international headquarters of the organization was in Indianapolis at the Salem Park Campgrounds. When the group merged with the Wesleyan Church (1958), the constituency had declined to about 200 in two churches in Indianapolis: Salem Park (3400 West Washington Street) and St. Clair (719 East St. Clair). The Salem Park Church later withdrew (1966) from the Wesleyan Church and became independent with a membership of about 150 with a school (K-12). The group was very active in providing medical and social services to the impoverished and in evangelistic and missionary work around the world.
The eventual First Pilgrim Holiness Church in Indianapolis was founded in 1890 as the (independent) Original Methodist Church. It then joined (1902) the Christian Holiness Church which merged in 1919 (82 Indianapolis members) with the International Apostolic Holiness Church. This church evolved through other mergers into the Pilgrim Holiness Church (1922), with offices scattered around the nation. These offices were consolidated with the establishment of the denominational headquarters and publishing company (1930) at 839 North Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, then moved to 1609 North Delaware Street and later (1945) to 226-230 East Ohio Street. In 1930 there were four churches with an average attendance of 237. When the denomination merged with the Wesleyan Methodists (1968), there were 12 churches with an average attendance of around 900. Two Indianapolis congregations did not merge.
The began (1860) as a protest against the secularization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the issues being freedom from slavery, sin (positively stated in Wesleyan terms of sanctification), the influence of secret societies, pew rents, and freedom for women to preach. The Pentecost Bands, then part of the Free Methodist Church, arrived in Indianapolis in 1887, but withdrew to form a separate denomination in 1898. The next official Free Methodist presence was not established until 1906, and then the development was slow until around 1910 when a congregation was established. The international headquarters and archives moved from Marion, Indiana, to Indianapolis (770 North High School Road) in 1990. By this point, there were six congregations in Indianapolis with a combined membership of about 1,385 and a constituency of about 1,800.
The in Indianapolis had 21 congregations with a membership of about 3,800 and a constituency around 7,000 by the 1990s. Juridically these congregations were part of the Indianapolis District of the Church of the Nazarene. The district office was at the Nazarene Campground in nearby . An annual “Assembly Journal” reported statistics, clergy assignments, and minutes of judicatory meetings.
The first congregation of the then Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene was organized (1907) with 60 charter members in the Young Men’s Holiness League building at New York and Alabama streets. The league, despite having a “membership” large enough to attract numerous nationally prominent Holiness personalities as speakers, had not been structured as a church and had few churches to which it could refer its numerous converts. C. W. Ruth, peripatetic Indianapolis-based evangelist and organizer on a national level for the Church of the Nazarene, served briefly as pastor (1908). The church was initially part of the Chicago Central District of the new denomination.
The first appointed pastor was C. A. Imhoff, who moved the congregation to its own quarters at 16th and Delaware streets. First Church of the Nazarene grew slowly and moved frequently before it obtained a building at 1621 West Washington Street ca. 1914 where it remained until it moved to its present site at 601 North Shortridge Road. The building on West Washington Street housed a Nazarene Church, (1980s), that did significant ministry to the poor and homeless of the city. The most prominent pastor at First Nazarene was probably Haldor Lillenas, author of more than 4,000 songs and hymns, who during his tenure (1923-1926) founded a music publishing company, Lillenas Publishing Company, at the corner of East Washington Street and Arlington Avenue. Before the company was sold (1930) to the Nazarene Publishing House, Kansas City, Missouri, more than 700,000 hymnals and songbooks were published and sold. The church has published its own periodicals including . Throughout its history the Church of the Nazarene has provided services to the poor of the city. Among its programs were an extensive system of vegetable gardens provided to the inner city poor on land owned or leased by the churches. This continued through the 1950s when the price of renting land became prohibitive.
The other large Nazarene church is Westside Church of the Nazarene. Its origins are to be traced to a revival meeting held at the corner of West 10th Street and North Holmes Avenue in 1915. The church was finally organized on July 17, 1916, with 82 charter members. In 1919 a church building was constructed at the intersection of 11th and King streets. The building was expanded on that site until the congregation moved (1981) to its location at 8610 West 10th Street. The church had a retirement village as well as a school (K-12) and an extensive day care program.
These, as well as the other 19 congregations founded between 1907 and 1992, give significant funds to the missions budget and universities of the denomination, maintain a number of social ministries within Indianapolis, and provide a flow of clergy and leaders to the national church.
The uses the geographical denominator to distinguish it from the Pentecostal “Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee.” In 1993 the Church of God (Anderson) had 11 congregations with a membership of 2,314 in Indianapolis and a constituency around 6,200, a large number of whom were associated with Church at the Crossing. The state offices of the Church of God were in Carmel. The national offices, publishing house, archives, national campground (held annually), and largest university were in the Indianapolis metropolitan area in nearby Anderson.
Technically, the Church of God (Anderson) considers itself a “restoration [of New Testament Christianity] movement” rather than a denomination, but it has all the structures of a denomination. The movement was founded by Hoosier evangelist Daniel Warner, a former member of the (Winebrenner) Church of God and former vicepresident of the Indiana State Holiness Association. He used the periodical , later , as a forum to define the tradition and as a communication device to connect the local groups of adherents into a national body. Warner left the North Indiana Eldership of the (Winebrennerian) Church of God in 1881 but it is unclear when the first congregation of the new group was formed in Indianapolis since records were not kept and the anticlerical nature of the “reformation movement” avoided early institutionalization. However, already from September, 1881, through September, 1882, Warner and J. C. Fisher published in Indianapolis, first at 70 North Illinois Street then at 625 West Vermont Street. But local resources were not sufficient to maintain the leadership; the paper and headquarters, after several moves, were transferred to Anderson.
The is a remnant of the 1968 merger of the Wesleyan Methodist and Pilgrim Holiness churches. By the 1990s there were two congregations in Indianapolis—Pilgrim Chapel and Fountain Square Pilgrim Holiness—with a combined constituency of about 300.
The Salvation Army is best known as a social service agency, but it is also a Holiness church with four congregations (Corps) in Indianapolis. As of the 1990s, the membership of about 300 persons (full adult members committed to the ministry of the Salvation Army) was augmented with a much larger constituency, perhaps as many as 1,500. From the city-state headquarters at 1919 East 52nd Street it administered numerous thrift stores, a rehabilitation center, a Family Service Center, and other ministries. The Salvation Army arrived in Indianapolis in 1889. It has had headquarters and ministry sites at a number of Indianapolis locations.
The split off from the Salvation Army in 1896. The discipline and methods of the Salvation Army were maintained until 1984 when a corporate structure, complete with a CEO, was adopted. However, they still viewed themselves as a church but with a radical social as well as a religious mission. The Volunteers began work in Indianapolis at least as early as 1902 with “90 sustaining members,” but the Indianapolis “post” was not officially founded until 1922. By the 1990s, there was one “post” in Indianapolis with about 60 members and a constituency of perhaps 250.
The in Indianapolis had its origin in the ministry of George N. Eldridge, an Anderson Methodist Episcopal minister who was expelled from the North Indiana Conference for teaching the Wesleyan-Holiness doctrines of healing and sanctification. The “Gospel Tabernacle” was opened in 1883 on East Street north of its intersection with Massachusetts Avenue. In 1907 many members of the congregation became Pentecostal, despite the efforts of Eldridge, who also eventually became Pentecostal, and several visits by A. B. Simpson, founder of the Alliance. There were three congregations in Indianapolis in 1993 with a membership of around 300 and a constituency of about 500. The national denominational headquarters and archives were in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
*Note: This entry is from the original print edition of the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (1994). We are currently seeking an individual with knowledge of this topic to update this entry.
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