House of Prayer (denomination)

House of Prayer
Classification Protestant
Orientation Evangelical, Holiness, Communalism
Polity Congregational-Connectional
Region Ohio
Origin 1919
Separated from Churches of Christ in Christian Union (partially)
Congregations 2
Members Approx. 200 (1999)

House of Prayer is a Wesleyan-Holiness denomination with roots in Christian communalism. Two churches remain in the U.S. state of Ohio.

Background

House of Prayer founder Edward Wayne Runyan (1864-1945) followed the example of the "Holy Jumpers" of the Metropolitan Church Association, who taught that Christians should live communally.[1][2]

In 1917, several converts were made among the Churches of Christ in Christian Union. One of the denomination's founders, Henry C. Leeth (?-1967), became convinced to start a Christian commune with Runyan. The commune consisted of a farm and a store near Urbana, Ohio.

The Churches of Christ in Christian Union expelled Leeth and 13 other ministers for holding to Runyan's teachings, which denominational leaders found to be too humanistic.[3] Leeth became the House of Prayer's first bishop (or elder) in 1919. The movement and churches went by many names over the years in addition to House of Prayer (HP for short): All Things Common, God's Non-Sectarian Tabernacle, and simply "The Church."

Though the commune failed, the House of Prayer set up many churches and an annual camp meeting which at its peak attracted a thousand visitors per year. It published the periodicals the Herald of Perfect Christianity and Repairer of the Breach, copies of which are lost. Headquarters was in Washington Court House, Ohio—where a church still met as of 2014.

In 1999, the denomination reported two churches and around 200 members, as well as the annual camp meeting.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/catholic_historical_review/v097/97.4.rodgers.html
  2. ↑ Christopher Long, "BURNING BUSH COLONY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/ar ticles/ueb07), accessed November 24, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Modified on November 5, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  3. ↑ A Goodly Heritage: A History of the Churches of Christ in Christian Union, 1976, pg. 112.
  4. ↑ "House of Prayer," The A to Z of the Holiness Movement edited by William Kostlevy, Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 http://books.google.com/books?id=23-KTx1iMiIC &pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=HP+Edward+wayne+runyon +house+of+prayer&source=bl&ots=LLqKlg_iZH&sig=wZrO9uVKFhEvatiVBSfR0ziPuwM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t49zVNnfA8mAygTUkoDICw&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepag e&q&f=false

External links

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