Several weeks ago I mentioned that one of our college profs, Dr. Keith Drury, was doing a series on the Pilgrim Holiness Church.  This was one of the two churches that merged to make The Wesleyan Church.  Here are the links to the entire series so far.

History of the Pilgrim Holiness Church

~ PH#8 Explosive Church Growth (1930-1946) (10/27)

~ PH#7 The Finch Dissention (1936) (10/20)

~ PH#6 Consolidation & Centralization (1930) (10/13)

~ PH #5 Did Pilgrims split from Nazarenes?(1917) (10/6)

~ PH #4 Mergers & Acquisitions (1919-1929) (9/29)

~ PH #3 Acting Like a Denomination (1905-1919) (9/22)

~ PH #2 Missional Expansion (1898-1905) (9/15)

~ PH #1 Founding of the Pilgrims (1897) (9/8)

I have been following this series with great interest.  I was only 5 when the two churches merged, but my family was in the Pilgrim Holiness church.  I have also had the opportunity to pastor several former Pilgrim churches.

I’ve mention before on this blog that I fell in love with The Wesleyan Methodist Church history.  There are some great stories associated with the founding of The Wesleyan Methodist Connection.  The history of the Pilgrim Holiness Church was never as exciting (that is until now.)  I have really enjoyed this series of Dr. Drury’s.

Over the last few weeks, it has become apparent that the founders and those who were part of the Pilgrim Holiness Church were passionate about the gospel.  They were passionate about seeing the sinner converted.  They were passionate about seeing the converted come into a full relationship with God (or sanctification.)  The did this through revivals — camp meetings — evangelism and a whole host of other things.  This little denomination doubled the amount of churches between the years of 1930 and 1946.  It was missional before missional was a word.  It really is quite an amazing history.  As I have been reading this history, it has been my prayer that we would and could recapture this sense of urgency and passion that our early church fathers and mothers had for the lost.  They were people of prayer and devotion.  All I have to do is think back to that little country church in Pocono Lake, PA and remember my great aunts (especially on a Sunday evening) coming in before the service and praying out loud.  I remember the prayer services around the altars of the various Pilgrim and Wesleyan Churches that we attended in Orefield, Allentown, and Pocono Lake – they prayed with passion and all at the same time — they prayed for the lost to be saved — they prayed for full salvation for the converts — they prayed for their pastor — they prayed they they could make a difference in their communities — oh that we could recapture that sense of passion for our Savior, Redeemer and Friend.  What a legacy to pass on to the next generation!