The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1929-07-19


S; he was speechless in his agony.
The old women down on their
all fours in the saw dust shouted:
/ Praise him! Praise him Praise
| HIM"
Praise him! Praise him! Praise
, him!
BLESS his Holy Name! Bless him!
Bless him!
Save him Jesus! Save himi Save
! him! -
Praise him! Praise him; Praiss
him!" They were shouting iri~ths
mans ears now. "DoG't give u1f :
Let the Holy Ghost take you! come
thru brother, Come THU"
The man rolled in the saw dr,t.
writhing in convulsions. The old
women looked happy. The preacher
in his pulpit smiisd: the tenor
smiled; the choir leader smiled
more than all. Members OF the
choir patted their feet and clapped
their hands. The arganist rushed to
the organ, started a jazzy tune; a
young female soloist arose confident
ly, stood on bench and sang jazz
lily about Jesus. The tenor grabbed
tambourine and beat it on his
knee.
This is religion as practiced
nightly in a tent on the schoolhouse
grounds on Parsonage st. in Eliz-
abeth City. The evangelist is one
styling himself Rev: G. H. Mont
gomery, secretary of the Holmes
Bible end Missionary Institute of
Greensyiile. g. &, an arm of the
Pentecostal Holiness Church. Holy
rollers, some call them. ;!
The Holy ghost was slow in de-
scending upon the man and a lone
woman convert who struggled in
the saw dust with him. While wait
ing for the Holy Ghost to descend
upon the wretched penitents, the
evangelist walked outside his tent
the tenor followed him; they laugh
ed and tested among themselves. :
A sensitive little girl who had
elbowed her way thru the crowd in
the tent and saw the poor wretch
of a man writhing in pain and all
blue in the face, came out of the,
tent, espied the evangelist, went up
to him and asked him why he didn't.
get a doctor for the man?
He doesn't need a doctor, he'll
be all right pretty soon," smiled the
preacher. There's nothing the
matter with him physically
"Well, if he's not wrong physically
he must be crazy and all the more
in need of a DOCTOR" said the little
girl.
Most of us are idiots" replied
the preacher.
"And your business is to make
ignorant people unhappy" asked
the sensitive little girl. There were
tears in her eyes; her heart went
out to the poor man writhing in the
saw dust. The preacher smiled.
The old women in the tent were
smiling; the choir leader was BEAM
ing with satisfaction and clapping
his hands; the tenor laughed out
loud. The PentecoStal Holiness
brethren and sisters were evidently
having helluva good time.
There are nights when people
sleeping in homes a block remote
from the Holiness tent are startled
out of their sleep by the Shrieks
and screams of religion crazed
women. Ignorant, emotional, neu-
rotic persons are made temporarily
insane by threat oI hell and pro-
misses of paradise. They roll in the
saw dust at the foot of the altar,
scream, throw 'nCS. And working
crex of Old women crawling on all
fours like jackals scream incessapt-
ly in shrill staccato voices" Praise
Him! Praise Him! Praise Him"
And the preacher beholding the
fruits of his soul-harrowing evange-
ism grins with satisfaction.
In a more enlightened age these
evangelical nitwits and Jesus shout
ers will be restrained by law. In
Elizabeth City in this year 1929 a
board of public school trustees fur
nish them a school lot on which to
practice their black art and harry
the souls of simple folk. The moy-
ing picture houses in Elizabeth City
are feeling the effects of competi-
ton; scores of people find n ore
amusement and excitement in
watching the Holy Rollers thar IN
going to the Movies.
The Pentecostal Holiness Church
is a union of the Fire-Bapti4ed
Holiness Church and the Pebta-
costal Holiness Church, formed in
North Carolina in 1911. According
to Phelan's Handbook of All DE- o.
limitations, it has All preachess, 32C
churches, and 1910 m,inDcrS, founc
a