Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians - Way of Life Literature

CFN began as part of e Voice of Healing ministry ofPentecostal “healing” evangelist Gordon Lindsay.Gordon Lindsay was part of John Dowie’s Zion City cultnorth of Chicago in the early 1900s. Dowie believed that theapostolic gis were being restored and claimed to be Elijahthe Restorer. In 1904 he “told his followers to anticipate thefull restoration of apostolic Christianity and revealed that hehad been divinely commissioned as the first apostle of arenewed end-time church” (Dictionary of Pentecostal, firstedition, p. 249). Called “the father of healing revivalism inAmerica,” Dowie believed he was at the forefront of an endtimeapostolic miracle revival. He taught that healing isguaranteed in Christ’s atonement. and insisted that those whosought faith healing give up all medical care. He claimed thatGod did not inflict His people with sickness and he vieweddruggists and physicians as instruments of the devil. Hismagazine, Leaves of Healing, had a wide internationalinfluence.In 1895 Dowie purchased 6,800 acres of farmland about 40miles north of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan andbegan to build the ten square mile Zion City, “where doctors,drugs, and devils were not allowed.” It was the home ofDowie’s Christian Catholic Apostolic Church.Zion City was a planned religious theocracy with streetsand boulevards, parks, a golf course, and a marina. It had itsown electric plant, a brick kiln, and a lumber mill. It had ageneral store and a post office with its own Zion stamps. Itfeatured the Zion Bank, Zion Investment Company, ZionCandy Factory, Zion Lace Factory (brought over in itsentirety from Nottingham, England), Zion Cookie Factory,Zion Publishing House, Zion Boarding Houses, Zion Hotel,Zion College, and the 7000-seat Zion Tabernacle.Sadly, Dowie’s false doctrine had serious consequences inhis own family. When his only daughter, Esther, was severelyburned aer accidentally knocking over an alcohol lamp, he58