The Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915. While the Pillar of Fire is Methodist in doctrine, Alma White and her followers believed that the Methodist Church had become corrupt. Alma White and the members of the Pillar of Fire dedicated themselves to holiness in the Wesleyan tradition. Adherents were referred to as "holy rollers", and "holy jumpers", because of their religious frenzy. White was noted for her association with the Ku Klux Klan, her feminism, anti-Catholicism, antisemitism, anti-pentecostalism, racism, and hostility to immigrants.
Following the death of the founder, under the leadership of her son, Arthur Kent White, the religious fervor declined, and the emphasis on outreach evangelism and church planting ended, and the organization branches in America fell from a high of around 52 to the current 6.
Today the Pillar of Fire has branches in Zarephath, New Jersey; Denver, Colorado; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Los Angeles, California and Pacifica, California. It primarily operates four ministry focuses: local church, radio, education, and missions.
The Pillar of Fire name comes from Exodus 13:21–22 which states: "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." The organization's theological position is self described as Wesleyan–Arminian.
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Famous quotes containing the words pillar of fire, pillar of, pillar and/or fire:
“The LORD went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 13:21,22.
“In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“It haunts me, the passage of time. I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a process of burning oneself out and time is the fire that burns you. But I think the spirit of man is a good adversary.”
—Tennessee Williams (1914–1983)