Alma Bridwell White

Alma White, between 1910 and 1920

Alma Bridwell White - "Mollie" (born June 16, 1862 in Kinniconick, Lewis County , Kentucky , † June 26, 1946 in Zarephath , New Jersey ) was the founder of the Methodist - Pentecostal Church Pillar of Fire International . In 1918 she was named the first female bishop in the United States . In addition, she became known for her association with the Ku Klux Klan , her feminism , her anti-Semitism , her negative attitude towards Catholicism and the Pentecostal movement , her racism and her rejection of immigrants.

Life

The daughter of William Moncure Bridwell (1825-1907) and Mary Ann Harrison (1832-1921) was born on June 16, 1862 in Kinniconick, Lewis County , Kentucky , and grew up there with six sisters. At 16 she experienced a " revival " under William Baxter Godbey , whereupon she joined the Methodists . She wrote about this experience: "Some were so overwhelmed, they left the room, vomited their dinner and stumbled back into the house, pale as death."

She did her education at the "Millersburg Female College" in Millersburg . Then she accepted an invitation to Montana . An aunt had invited one of the seven Bridwell sisters to come to Montana; Alma was the last to ask, but the only one who dared the long journey. In 1882 she traveled to Bannack , Montana, and stayed to teach, first at school and later at the Salt Lake City Methodist Seminary . In 1887 she married Kent White (1860-1940), a student at the Methodist Seminary. The two had two sons, Ray Bridwell White and Arthur Kent White .

She and her husband founded the Methodist Pentecostal Union Church in Denver , Colorado in 1901 . Her involvement included leading congregation chanting and prayer times, as well as occasional sermons. In 1907, Caroline Garretson established a community farm in Zarephath , New Jersey .

In 1918, White was named "Bishop" by William Baxter Godbey, making him the first female bishop in America. She died on June 26, 1946 in Zarephath.

Feminism, intolerance and the Ku Klux Klan

The Good Citizen , July 1926

As a feminist, White has been an important advocate for the equality of white Protestant women. However, it was just as uncompromising in its attacks on religious and racial minorities. She justified both as being biblically founded. Most of their biting political attacks have targeted the Catholic Church, but they also propagated anti-Semitism, white supremacy and intolerance towards immigrants .

Under her leadership, the Pillar of Fire Church developed a close and public partnership with the Ku Klux Klan . White supported the Ku Klux Klan in every way. She allowed, and occasionally attended , clan meetings and cross-burns on various Pillar of Fire Church properties . In the monthly magazine The Good Citizen , she propagated the ideology of the Ku Klux Klan. And even after her connection with the Ku Klux Klan loosened from the 1930s, she published revised editions of her books on the Klan in a three-volume edition under the name Guardians of Liberty in the 1940s .

Publications

• Alma White: Looking Back from Beulah 1902.
• Demons and Tongues (1910)
• The Harp of Gold (1911) with Arthur Kent White
• Alma White: My Trip to the Orient . Pillar of Fire, 1911. (1911)
• The New Testament Church (1911-1912) in two volumes
• Truth Stranger Than Fiction (1913)
• The Titanic Tragedy: God Speaking to Nations (1913)
• Alma White: Why I Do Not Eat Meat . The Pentecostal Union, 1915, ISBN 0-7905-6913-2 . (1915)
• Alma White: Restoration of Israel . The Pentecostal Union, 1917. (1917)
• The Story of My Life (1919-1930) in five volumes
• Alma White: Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy . The Good Citizen , 1925, ISBN 1-4286-1075-8 .
• Alma White: Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty . The Good Citizen , 1926, ISBN 1-4254-9000-X .
• Alma White: Musings of the Past . Pillar of fire, 1927. (1927)
• Alma White: Heroes of the Fiery Cross . The Good Citizen , 1928.
• Musings of the Past (1927)
• The Voice of Nature (1927)
• Hymns and Poems (1931)
• Short Sermons (1932)
• Alma White: With God in the Yellowstone . Pillar of Fire, 1933. (1933)
• Demons and Tongues (1936)
• The Sword of the Spirit (1937)
• Alma White: Guardians of Liberty . Pillar of Fire Church , 1943.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barry W. Hamilton : William Baxter Godbey . Roberts Wesleyan College . Archived from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2010: "After 1868, Godbey served several Methodist charges as pastor, was appointed twice as a presiding elder on the Kentucky ..."
2. ^ Alma White: The Story of My Life . Pillar of Fire Church, 1919, p. 221 ( google.com ).
3. ↑ Alma Bridwell White , Encyclopædia Britannica . Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 21, 2007. “Née Mollie Alma Bridwell. American religious leader who was a founder and major moving force in the evangelical Methodist Pentecostal Union Church, which split from mainstream Methodism in the early 20th century. Alma Bridwell grew up in a dour family of little means. She studied at the Millersburg (Kentucky) Female College and in 1882 moved ... " 
4. ↑ Cf. en: Zarephath in the English language Wikipedia.
5. ↑ Kristin E. Kandt : Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White. . In: American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law. . 8, 2000, p. 753. “Alma White and the Pillar of Fire were unique, however, in their public alliance with the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, the Pillar of Fire was the only religious group to publicly associate itself with the Klan. "
6. ↑ Lynn S. Neal , Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance . In: Church History Studies in Christianity and Culture . 78, No. 2, 2009, p. 350. "White's words and Clarke's imagery combined in various ways to create a persuasive and powerful message of religious intolerance."
7. ↑ Alma White: America --- the White Man's Heritage . In: Pillar of Fire Church (ed.): The Good Citizen . August 1929, p. 4.