Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

Some Special Meetings
A number of special meetings were held, conducted by the holiness evangelists, William Mac
Donald, J. A. Wood, and others. The work grew and prospered, however, not so much because of
special meetings, as by reason of the constant means of grace. It was a great inflowing tide of
spiritual life, power, and salvation.
The Tabernacle At Pasadena
The new church was finished and dedicated, but the crowds that gathered were so great, and so
overtaxed the capacity of the building, that a tabernacle was constructed adjoining it, at a cost of
$10,000, which had a seating capacity of 2,000.
A Constant Revival
During those four years Dr. Bresee took into the church, either by letter or on probation, a
thousand persons. Throughout that period, although not all the membership was in the enjoyment
of sanctification, the church was on the high tide of spiritual life, glory, and full salvation.
It was while in Pasadena, that the first great Christmas love feast was held under the leadership
of Dr. Bresee. At that first Christmas love feast, the new church was crowded, and it was a season
of marvelous power and glory, never to be forgotten by those who were present. The songs of victory
and shouts of triumph and holy joy, went up to heaven. These Christmas love feasts have been a
characteristic of the holiness movement in Southern California ever since that time, and until the
Christmas following his death, in 1915, Dr. Bresee conducted all these glorious meetings.
The Prohibition Campaign
It was during Dr. Bresee's pastorate that the great prohibition movement began in California, as
a result of which Pasadena became a prohibition city, and I think, the first in the state. The fight was
a very hotly contested one, and after the adoption of prohibition, the matter of the right of a city of
that class to have such a law, was carried to the supreme court, which decided in favor of the law.
Dr. Bresee took a very prominent part in that conflict, so much so, indeed, as to draw the fire of the
enemy upon himself. The opponents of prohibition were so aroused that they burned him in effigy,
and attacked him in the most vituperative manner in the public press of the city.
Reasons For Leaving Pasadena
The term of ministerial office in the Methodist church, was lengthened from three to five years
while Dr. Bresee was pastor of the First church in Pasadena, and, as a result of this change, he
remained four years. At the end of the fourth year, opposition of some strength had developed against
the preaching and work of holiness, and a few of the members, who were influential because of their
wealth and standing, opposed Dr. Bresee, and objected to his return to the charge, because of his
favorable attitude toward holiness. This was to him a new experience, as up to that time, he had
never met with any opposition to his return to a charge. For this reason he was more sensitive in