A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Oneness Pentecostal Organizations
Country, State, UPCI General UPCI %
Province Constituency Population
Mizoram, India 65,000 730,000 8.9%
Ethiopia 1,000,000 55,000,000 1.8%
Louisiana, U.S.A. 68,000 4,500,000 1.5%
New Brunswick, Canada 8,000 725,000 1.1%
Other Oneness Organizations in America
A number of other Oneness organizations have originated
in the United States. In this section we discuss
those that have attained a worldwide constituency of
20,000 or more as reported by Talmadge French in 1998.
(Reported worldwide constituency is given in parentheses
following the name.)
In 1919, R. C. Lawson, a convert of Haywood’s and an
early black leader in the interracial PAW, founded Refuge
Temple, a large and powerful church, in New York City.
From this base, he formed his own organization, the
Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith
(COOLJC) (140,000). He disagreed with the PAW on two
major issues: he opposed allowing women to be pastors,
and he opposed remarriage after divorce for any reason.
An all-black group, COOLJC has retained a relatively conservative
stance on matters of lifestyle and dress, and it
has had strong leadership. At century’s end it was led by
William Bonner, one of Lawson’s sons in the gospel.
In 1930, Sherrod C. Johnson split from COOLJC and
formed the Church of The Lord Jesus Christ of the
Apostolic Faith (24,700). The main issues were personal
leadership, Johnson’s stricter views on modesty of dress,
and his unusual belief that the Sonship ceased at the
death of Jesus.
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