page_title: International Pentecostal Holiness Church
section_title: Mergers and schisms
hierarchical_section_title: International Pentecostal Holiness Church / History / Mergers and schisms
caption_attribution_description: Octagon Tabernacle in Falcon, North Carolina. Just a step back. Behind the tabernacle lies a basketball court, sand volleyball pit and mini golf course. All are private. This place must be busy in the summer time.
context_page_description: The International Pentecostal Holiness Church or simply Pentecostal Holiness Church is a Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1911 with the merger of two older denominations. Historically centered in the Southeastern United States, particularly the Carolinas and Georgia, the Pentecostal Holiness Church now has an international presence. In 2000, the church reported a worldwide membership of over one million—over three million including affiliates.
  Heavily influenced by two major American revival movements—the holiness movement of the late 19th century and the Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century—the church's theological roots derive from John Wesley's teachings on sanctification.
  Several ministers who were raised in the Pentecostal Holiness Church have come to have greater name recognition than the church itself, such as Oral Roberts, an internationally known charismatic evangelist; Charles Stanley, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention; and C.M. Ward, a former Assemblies of God radio preacher.
context_section_description: The Fire-Baptized Holiness Association also embraced Pentecostalism around the same time, taking the line that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was the "baptism of fire" that it had been seeking.  Given the similarities in doctrine and geographic reach with the Pentecostal Holiness Church, the two groups began talks on a merger. The two groups merged on January 30, 1911, at the Falcon Tabernacle in Falcon, North Carolina. The new denomination took the name of the smaller of the two, Pentecostal Holiness Church. S.D. Page was elected the first General Superintendent.
  Following the 1911 merger, the Tabernacle Pentecostal Church, originally the Brewerton Presbyterian Church, merged with the Pentecostal Holiness Church in 1915. Having Presbyterian roots and located mostly in South Carolina, this group of around 15 congregations was affiliated with Nickles Holmes Bible College in Greenville. After the mergers, the new denomination, which continued to go by the name Pentecostal Holiness Church, had about 200 churches with approximately 5,000 members. Property for the denomination's first headquarters was purchased in 1918 for $9,000 in Franklin Springs, Georgia.
  In 1918, several PHC members who wanted stricter standards concerning dress, amusements, tobacco, and association between the sexes withdrew to form the Pentecostal Fire-Baptized Holiness Church. In 1920, another schism came into the Pentecostal Holiness Church over divine healing and the use of medicine. Some pastors believed that while divine healing was provided in the atonement, Christians still had the right to turn to medicine and doctors.  The majority of the church—as did many Pentecostals of the time—believed in trusting God for healing without turning to earthly means. The minority withdrew and formed the Congregational Holiness Church in 1921.
caption: The octagonal Falcon Tabernacle was the site of the 1911 merger.
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