The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1898-08-06
s.wElRD RsLIoIon."

DtSngp CT0O0y M0kfaJ IHtngS
Boom oaf Wesf-Hes as black
as can be, and Besfo,0s a 'sHoiy
Kiss" upon az pretty phite
Womea.
The Church of God and Saints
of Christ is the title of q religious
denomination which has Just closed
its first general assembly in En-
poria, Kan. The organization is
the work of Bishop William s.
Crowdy, who a little over a year
ago was q poor, uneducated, un-
known colored ex-soldier of the
regular army living in Oklahoma.
Nov. %, 1897, he claims, God
called him to his present work.
Crewdy Is q large, Well-built
man, who shows his military train
ing, having served eight years as a
soldier, three in a Maryland regi-
ment and five in the Tenth regular
cavalry. He claims that until the
revelation was made known to him
in Oklahoma his knowledge of the
Bible was barely worth mention
ing. Now he quotes whole books,
can repeat almost any verse called
for and in actual debate has con-
founded some of the best Biblical
students in the vest.
He claims now to have $1,000
followers, and has established
churches, or, as he calls them,
temples, in ten of the largest cities
in KANSAS, several in Oklahoma,
the Indian Territory and Texas.
He objects to having his religion
called a new sect, claiming that it
is the old apostolic religion. The
declarations of faith in brief is:
eve, the Church of God and
Saints of Christ, believe the Bible
as it is; repentance, faith and bap-
tism by burial into the water"
However, a fundamental portion
of their belief, and on which much
stress is put, is the ceremony of
foot washing, which seems to be a
preliminary to entering the fold.
But even foot washing and baptism
are made subordinate ceremonies
tothat of comforting the Holy Ghost
upon one another which is done
with kiss. In the language of
Bishop Crowdy, "You must be
breathed upon with a holy kiss"
and he quotes many passages from
both the Old and New Testament
as authority for his assertion.
Crowdy claims to be a prophet
as well As . priest, and says he is
like John the Baptist, messenger
sent ahead to prepare the way.
Among his prophecies is that
America viii be victorious In the
present war, and will gain every
point she seeks, but that it will stir
up still greater war, in which
America and England viii represent
the second beast spoken of In the
Revelation, which had two horns,
and which prevailed against all
others. Blood, he claims, viii run
like water in the streets during the
second war, which will be one of
religion, but that in the end right
eousness will triumph and the king
dom of God will prevail.
Possibly, however, the wonder
full influence he Yields over his
converts is even more remarkable
than is his knowledge of Scripture.
And they are by no means confined
to the illiterate and ignorant. Yet
they are a conglomeration such a.
prob ably was never before amalga-
mated in any one religious body, at
least in America The color line
is totally obliterated. Whites and
blacks, males and females, Germans
and Irish, Scandinayians and Welsh,
fraternize and meet in a perfect
equality and sociability such as
certainly never before been wit
messed in the United States. The
most delicate and refined Caucasian
girl or woman, when she becomes
a convert to this church, or belief,
thinks nothing out of the way, and
displays not the least hesitation to
receive the 'tholy kiss from the
lips of the blacklist negro in the
congregation. On this point do
the followers of Crowdy especially
pride themselves, and claim that
they are doing more than any other
force bieng brought to bear in
eradication of the color line.-Grif,
IU:Ilo...-.n~f D.