United Holy Church of America

United Holy Church of America Date of Establishment: 1886 Incorporation 1918
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Holiness-Pentecostal
Polity	Episcopal
Region	United States, Caribbean, Africa
Headquarters	Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Founder	Bishop L.M. Mason
Congregations	est. 516
Members	50,000+
Official website	http://uhca.org

The United Holy Church of America, Inc. is a predominantly black Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination, and the oldest African-American Holiness-Pentecostal body in the world. The International Headquarters is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The UHCA consists of 516 churches, 17 districts, and 8 territories. The largest and the oldest district of the connectional body is the Southern District Convocation (Goldsboro, NC).

History

This church was organized as the outgrowth of what was called a "holiness revival", sparked by the meetings held by Isaac Cheshier at Method, North Carolina (a suburb of Raleigh), in 1886. It began as a regional body. In 1900 this body called itself Holy Church of North Carolina, and later, as it grew, the Holy Church of North Carolina and Virginia. In the early 1900s, the church added a Pentecostal understanding. In 1916 the name United Holy Church of America was adopted, and the church was incorporated on September 15, 1918. The United Holy Church of America is the oldest African American Holiness-Pentecostal body in the world. Many independent churches were established.

The church was born in Method, NC, in May 1886. On October 13, 1894, in the city of Durham, North Carolina, the first convocation was organized. Those present were G.A. Mials, H.C. Snipes and S.S. Freeman, all of Raleigh, North Carolina; present also was G.W. Roberts of Durham, North Carolina, and L.M. Mason of Method, North Carolina. On October 15, 1900, a convention was called by the Rev. C.C. Craig to meet at Durham, North Carolina, to prepare a discipline for the government of the churches. Those present were H.C. Pettiford, H.C. Snipes, L.M. Mason, G.W. Roberts, Mrs. Emma E. Craig, and Mrs. L.J. Roberts.

The church was first known as the "Holy Church of North Carolina", and later as the "Holy Church of North Carolina and Virginia". In September 1916, in a Convocation assembled at Oxford, North Carolina, the name was changed to the United Holy Church of America. On September 25, 1918, the Church was incorporated in the state of North Carolina under the name of the United Holy Church of America Incorporated. The Southern District of the United Holy Church of America came into being in the year 1894 in the city of Durham, North Carolina. This was the first and the largest of all the districts in the connection. It was organized by Elders C.C. Craig, L.M. Mason, George W. Roberts, H.C. Snipes, and H.C. Pettiford, along with Mother E.E. Craig, and Mrs. L.J. Roberts. Elder L.M. Mason was chosen as its first president.

In June 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bishops H.L. Fisher and G.J. Branch and other general officers met at a call-meeting of the independent group of Holy Churches in this city and nearby towns, and organized the churches into a district known as the Northern District Convocation of the United Holy Church of America, Inc. Bishop G.J. Branch of Goldsboro, North Carolina was chosen as the president of the district embracing the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Following this, in 1924, in the city of Columbus, Ohio, at the Gospel Tabernacle Church, whose pastor was Elder John E. Harris, the Northwestern District was organized into a District Convocation by Bishop G.J. Branch, Bishop H.L. Fisher, and Bishop J.D. Diggs, along with other General officers of the Church. Bishop J.D. Diggs of Winston-Salem, North Carolina was chosen as its first president. Other officers were Bishop H.H. Hairston and Bishop S.G. McCoy. The states comprising this district were Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Eastern Illinois.

The New England District, embracing the states of the New England area, was organized in August 1925. Bishop J.W. Houston was chosen as the first president of this district.

The Central Western District was organized in 1930. The organizers were Bishop J.W. Houston, Elder Otis E. Evans, Mother Addie Houston, and Mother Susie Evans.

The United Holy Church district on the Pacific Coast was originally known, in 1924, as the Union of California United Holy Churches. In 1936 this district was named the Pacific Coast District, and later the Western District. The first headquarters for the district was in Los Angeles, and later in San Francisco. Bishop Henry Lee Fisher was the chief organizer of this district.

The West Virginia District was organized in 1935 through the work of Bishop J.D. Diggs after being separated from the Northwestern District the previous year. The Southeastern District, originally known as the Florida-Georgia District, was organized in 1948 by Bishop G.J. Branch.

The Bermuda District, covering the entire island of Bermuda, was organized in 1921 by Bishop Henry Lee Fisher. Associated with him in this effort were Elders Thomas Trott, C. H. Caisey and Patrick Mills, and Miss Majorie Trott.

In the early history of the Barbados District, Evangelist Rosa B. Hawkins of San Francisco, California, organized five churches on the island of Barbados; however, these churches later joined with another Pentecostal body. The churches in Barbados that are presently a part of The United Holy Church of America were organized by the late Bishop Harry Townsend Gentles. He founded Mt. Olive United Holy Church in 1949, and it later became the headquarters church for the District. Bishop Gentles brought together some independent churches and organized new ones as well. These churches grew into the present-day Barbados District.

The Virginia District was organized by Bishop W.N. Strobhar. Bishop Thomas E. Talley was appointed the first president, and Bishop S. G. McCoy served as vice president. The first convocation was held in August 1969 in Portsmouth, Virginia, and Mrs. Elsie Harris served as its first secretary. So December 10, 1969, at Fisher Memorial United Holy Church in Durham, North Carolina, the Western North Carolina District was organized by Bishop W.N. Strobhar and other General officers. Bishop A.W. Lawson was appointed the first president, and Bishop N.M. Midgett was chosen to serve as vice president. The Central Pacific District was founded in March 2005 with Bishop Rafael Fortier, Jr., as its first president. The district began with its headquarters in San Francisco, California.

From January 1927 to March 1975, the Church experienced a breach in its Certificate of Incorporation. Through a Certificate of Rescission and a resolution passed at a General meeting, the Certificate of Incorporation was amended to allow the Church to exist as a perpetual institution. The Church's corporate status as a non-profit religious organization now exists in perpetuity. The Tenth Article of the 1918 Certificate of Incorporation was amended to reflect this change.

In 1977, the Church divided when the Southern District Convocation, located in Goldsboro, North Carolina withdrew from fellowship with the parent body. However, in May 2000 in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina, the Southern District Convocation was reunited with the connectional body at the Quadrennial Session.

Church Affirmation of Faith

The Church states that

We believe in the Father who is God Almighty. The Creator of all things and the Preserver of Light and Life.

We believe in the Son, who is Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. He was human and divine, truly lived, suffered and died, rose again from the dead, ascended on high and is coming again.

We believe that Jesus was sent by God to man. That whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

We believe in the Holy Ghost, who was sent from God the Father and the Son. That the Holy Spirit convicts and converts sinners, dwells in the believer, keeps the believer from the power of sin and leads him to the father, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We believe the Bible is the word of God, given by inspiration through holy men. That in the bible, God seeks to reveal his will to man and man seeks to respond to God's revelation.

We believe that the union of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are revealed through His church. That all believers are united into one body - the Church.

We believe that Christ is coming back for His holy Church, without spot or wrinkle.

That without holiness in Spirit, soul and body, no man shall see the Lord. Amen."

Districts

Africa-Ghana District
Barbados District
Bermuda District
Central Pacific District
Central Western District
Kentucky District
New England District
Northern District
Northwestern District
South Carolina District
South Eastern District
Southern District Goldsboro
Southern District Henderson
Virginia District
Western District
Western North Carolina District
West Virginia District
St. Lucia-West Indies District

United Holy Church of America Governance

General President, General Vice-President, and General 2nd Vice-President, Bishops' Council, General Board of Bishops, Board of Elders (district and general church levels), District Board of Presbytery, District Presidents, District Elders, District & General Departments of Evangelism & Extension, Missions, Ushers, Music, YPHA (Young Peoples' Holy Association), BCS (Bible Church School), Publications, and the Holiness Union . The United Holy Church is broken down into districts, sub-districts and then local churches.

Episcopal hierarchy

Bishops, Pastors, Elders (Ordained Ministers), Licensed Ministers (Evangelists, Reverends, Ministers,etc.) District Board of Presbytery handle the applicants for ministerial licensing and ordination. While in cases of ordination some of the applicants are also tried before the District Board of Elders as well.

Miscellaneous information

The United Holy Church of America holds the distinct honor of being the oldest African American Holiness-Pentecostal body in the world. As a result, many organizations have been influenced by the UHCA. Mount Calvary Holy Church of America split from the United Holy Church in 1929 to form their own holiness Pentecostal body. Mount Sinai Holy Church of America separated from the mother church in 1924 to form an organization to create gender equality in episcopal ordination. The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas and the United Holy Church consider each other as sister organizations. The United Holy Church was one of the first churches that ordained women to become pastors and elders and later on bishops. United Holy Church's annual "Holy Convocation" is held every May. District convocations are held at set times within the district. The Holiness Union is the official church organ and magazine of the United Holy Church of America. There is no solid stance on Pentecostal doctrine. The United Holy Church of America has the United Christian College Goldsboro, NC as one of the main educational and training institutions in the body.

Standards of conduct

The Church has the following general rules:

Clothing and articles of jewelry should be modest and without ostentation.

All local churches are exclusively places of worship, not for activities such as fairs, worldly festivals, other worship programs, or any other kind of untoward activity.

Mission Statement

The Church is the mystical union of all believers with Christ as its head through which He operates, saves souls, reveals God's nature and will to men, and does mighty works, thus glorifying the Father who is in Heaven. (Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:32; Galatians 1:25; Romans 12:14-21; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
The Christian Church, according to the New Testament, is an inclusive company of baptized believers, called out from the world and organized on a definite plan in order to accomplish God's divine purposes, and through which the ordinances and sacraments are administered.
Therefore, the mission of the United Holy Church of America Inc., is to promote Christian doctrine, values and fellowship for the purpose of extending holiness throughout the world through the teaching and preaching of the Word of God, and the establishing of programs and activities which minister to the temporal as well as the spiritual needs of humankind.
To implement this mission, we believe that it is necessary to set forth appropriate organizational structures, to exercise discipline, to elect and sustain officers, to acquire, hold and bequeath property, and to superintend the distribution of financial resources as we bear witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in obedience to His Great Commission.

Former general presidents and presiding prelates

Rt. Rev. L.M. Mason 1894-1901
Rt. Rev. W.H. Fulford 1901-1916
Rt. Rev. Henry L. Fisher 1916-1947
Rt. Rev. G.J. Branch 1947-1949
Rt. Rev. Henry H. Hairiston 1949-1963
Rt. Rev. Walter N. Strobahr 1963-1980
Rt. Rev. Joseph T. Bowens 1980-1992
Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Talley 1992-1996
Rt. Rev. Odell McCollum 1996-2005
Rt. Rev. Elijah Williams 2005–2016
Rt. Rev. Harry L Cohen 2016-Present

External links

References

Handbook of Denominations in the United States, by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood
The History of the United Holy Church of America, Inc., by Chester W. Gregory, Sr.

US Black church denominations and leaders

General	Black church Religion in Black America Historically African-American Christian denominations Clergy

Methodist	African Methodist Episcopal Church (John Adams Sr. Richard Allen Sarah Allen Benjamin W. Arnett George Lincoln Blackwell Morris Brown Jamal Harrison Bryant John Richard Bryant Richard H. Cain Archibald Carey Jr. Daniel Coker James H. Cone James Levert Davis Jordan Winston Early Floyd H. Flake Carolyn Tyler Guidry Sarah E. Gorham William H. Heard Reginald Jackson Henrietta Phelps Jeffries Absalom Jones Ben Kinchlow Vashti Murphy McKenzie Biddy Mason Lena Doolin Mason Robert Meacham Lyman S. Parks Daniel Payne Charles H. Pearce Clementa C. Pinckney William Paul Quinn Reverdy Cassius Ransom Richard Henry Singleton Charles Spencer Smith Theophilus Gould Steward Henry McNeal Turner William Tecumseh Vernon D. Ormonde Walker Lewis Woodson) African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (Julia A. J. Foote Thomas James John Kinard Jermain Wesley Loguen William Henry Singleton John Bryan Small Jeffery Tribble James Varick Alexander Walters) A.U.M.P. Church (Peter Spencer) Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (William Yancy Bell William H. Miles)

Baptist	National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (Stewart Cleveland Cureton Joseph H. Jackson T. J. Jemison Henry Lyons Benjamin Mays W. J. Simmons) Progressive National Baptist Convention (Ralph Abernathy William Augustus Jones Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gardner C. Taylor) Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (Vernon Johns) First African Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia) (Lucy Goode Brooks) First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia) (David George) First Baptist Church (Petersburg, Virginia) Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (Paul S. Morton) Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association Joint National Baptist Convention Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention (Lott Cary Clinton Caldwell Boone) National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (R. H. Boyd) National Missionary Baptist Convention of America (S. M. Lockridge) National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. Silver Bluff Baptist Church United American Free Will Baptist Church (Benjamin Randall) United American Free Will Baptist Conference

Pentecostal	Church of God in Christ (Charles E. Blake Andraé Crouch Sandra Crouch J. Delano Ellis Robert Michael Franklin Jr. Samuel Green Jr. Edwin Hawkins O. T. Jones Sr. John P. Kee Charles Harrison Mason Chandler David Owens Sr Gilbert E. Patterson J. O. Patterson Jr. Wayne Perryman Ted Thomas Sr. F. D. Washington Dickerson Wells Timothy Wright Lennox Yearwood) Apostolic Assemblies of Christ Apostolic Faith Church (William J. Seymour) Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (Robert C. Lawson) Church of Universal Triumph, Dominion of God (James F. Jones) Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas Mount Sinai Holy Church of America (Ida B. Robinson) Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (Charles H. Ellis III) Reformed Zion Union Apostolic Church United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, Incorporated United Holy Church of America United Sabbath-Day Adventist Church

Other	African Orthodox Church (George Alexander McGuire) Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. (Charles Price Jones) Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America City of Refuge UCC (Yvette Flunder) Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation (George Augustus Stallings Jr.) Interdenominational Theological Center Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge Love Center Church (Walter Hawkins) Original Church of God or Sanctified Church Spencer Churches (Peter Spencer) Spiritual Israel Church and Its Army Trinity United Church of Christ (Otis Moss III) United House of Prayer for All People (Marcelino Manuel da Graca)

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