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|name= Charles Fox Parham
|image = Charlesparham.png
|caption=Pioneer of [[Pentecostalism]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1873|6|4|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[Muscatine,
|occupation=[[Evangelism|Evangelist]]
|spouse=Sarah Thistlewaite, 1896–1929, (his death)
|death_date={{Death date and age|1929|1|29|1873|6|4|mf=y}}
|death_place=[[Baxter Springs,
}}
{{Pentecostalism}}
'''Charles
==Personal life==
Parham, one of five sons of William and Ann Parham, was born in [[Muscatine, Iowa]], on June 4, 1873, and moved with his family to [[Cheney, Kansas]], by covered wagon in 1878. William Parham owned land, raised cattle, and eventually purchased a business in town. Parham's mother died in 1885. The next year his father married Harriet Miller, the daughter of a Methodist [[circuit rider (religious)|circuit rider]]. Harriet was a devout Christian, and the Parhams opened their home for "religious activities".<ref name=RestoringtheFaith44>Blumhofer 1993, p. 44.</ref> Charles married Sarah Thistlewaite, the daughter of a [[Quaker]]. Their engagement was in summer of 1896,<ref name="FieldsWhite">{{cite book
| last = Goff
| first = James R. Jr.
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===Christian Faith Movement===
Parham's controversial beliefs and aggressive style made finding support for his school difficult; the local press ridiculed Parham's Bible school calling it "the Tower of Babel", and many of his former students called him a fake. By April 1901, Parham's ministry had dissolved.<ref>Espinosa 2014, p. 46.</ref> It was not until 1903 that his fortunes improved when he preached on Christ's healing power at [[El Dorado Springs, Missouri]], a popular health resort. Mary Arthur, wife of a prominent citizen of [[Galena, Kansas]], claimed she had been healed under Parham's ministry. She and her husband invited Parham to preach his message in Galena, which he did through the winter of
Out of the Galena meetings, Parham gathered a group of young coworkers who would travel from town to town in "bands" proclaiming the "apostolic faith". Unlike other preachers with a holiness-oriented message, Parham encouraged his followers to dress stylishly so as to show the attractiveness of the Christian life. It was at this time in 1904 that the first frame church built specifically as a Pentecostal assembly was constructed in [[Keelville, Kansas]]. Other "apostolic faith assemblies" (Parham disliked designating local Christian bodies as "churches") were begun in the Galena area.<ref name=RestoringtheFaith54>Blumhofer 1993, p. 54.</ref> Parham's movement soon spread throughout Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
During 1906 Parham began working on a number of fronts. In Houston, Parham's ministry included conducting a Bible school around 1906. Several African Americans were influenced heavily by Parham's ministry there, including [[William J. Seymour]].<ref name=RestoringtheFaith55>Blumhofer 1993, p. 55.</ref> Both Parham and Seymour preached to Houston's African Americans, and Parham had planned to send Seymour out to preach to the black communities throughout Texas.<ref>Randall Herbert Balmer, "Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism", Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, page 619</ref> In September he also ventured to [[Zion, IL]], in an effort to win over the adherents of the discredited [[John Alexander Dowie]], although he left for good after the municipal water tower collapsed and destroyed his preaching tent. For about a year he had a following of several hundred "Parhamites", eventually led by [[John Graham Lake|John G Lake]].<ref>B. Morton, 'The Devil Who Heals': Fraud and Falsification in the Evangelical Career of John G Lake, Missionary to South Africa 1908–1913," African Historical Review 44, 2 (2013): 105-6.</ref> In 1906, Parham sent [[Lucy Farrow]] (a black woman who was cook at his Houston school, who had received "the Spirit's Baptism" and felt "a burden for Los Angeles"), to Los Angeles, California, along with funds, and a few months later sent Seymour to join Farrow in the work in [[Los Angeles, California]], with funds from the school.<ref>''The Winds of God'', Ethel Goss, 1958 Word Aflame Press, pages 72-73</ref><ref>''Azusa Street and Beyond'', L. Grant McClung Jr., 1986 Bridge Publishing Inc., page 5</ref> Seymour's work in Los Angeles would eventually develop into the [[Azusa Street Revival]], which is considered by many as the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement. Seymour requested and received a license as a minister of Parham's Apostolic Faith Movement, and he initially considered his work in Los Angeles under Parham's authority.<ref name=RestoringtheFaith55>Blumhofer 1993, p. 55.</ref> However, Seymour soon broke with Parham over his harsh criticism of the emotional worship at
His commitment to racial segregation and his support of [[British Israelism]] have often led people to consider him as a racist.<ref name="RestoringtheFaith47" /> However, some have noted that Parham was the first to reach across racial lines to African Americans and Mexican Americans and included them in the young Pentecostal movement.{{By whom|date=January 2024}} He preached in black churches and invited [[Lucy Farrow]], the black woman he sent to Los Angeles, to preach at the Houston "Apostolic Faith Movement" Camp Meeting in August 1906, at which he and W. Fay Carrothers were in charge. This incident is recounted by eyewitness [[Howard A. Goss]] in his wife's book, ''The Winds of God,''<ref>''The Winds of God'', Ethel Goss, 1958 Word Aflame Press, page 97-98</ref> in which he states: "Fresh from the revival in Los Angeles, Sister [[Lucy Farrow]] returned to attend this Camp Meeting. Although a Negro, she was received as a messenger from the Lord to us, even in the deep south of Texas."<ref name=Hyatt>Eddie L. Hyatt (Fall 2004), [http://www.pneumafoundation.org/article.jsp?article=EHyatt-AcrossTheLines.xml "Across the Lines: Charles Parham's Contribution to the Inter-Racial Character of Early Pentecostalism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727180844/http://www.pneumafoundation.org/article.jsp?article=EHyatt-AcrossTheLines.xml |date=2011-07-27 }}, ''Pneuma Review''.</ref> Nonetheless, Parham was a sympathizer for the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and even preached for them.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hollenweger |first1=Walter J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5H2xCwAAQBAJ&q=Klan |title=The Black Roots and White Racism of Early Pentecostalism in the USA |last2=MacRobert |first2=Iain |date=1988-10-10 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-19488-9 |pages=XII; 62 |language=en |quote=Parham (1873-1929), often described as a pioneer of pentecostalism, was also a sympathizer of the Ku Klux Klan and therefore he excluded Seymour from his Bible classes. Seymour was only allowed to listen outside the classroom.....when Parham arrived back in Texas he was charged with homosexuality and subsequently went off to look for Noah's Ark. During the mid 1920s he was writing for a racist, antiSemitic periodical and preached for the notorious Ku Klux Klan...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Grady |first=J. Lee |title=Pentecostals Renounce Racism |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/december12/4te058.html |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=ChristianityToday.com |language=en |quote=The "father of American Pentecostalism," Charles Parham, continued to endorse the Ku Klux Klan as late as 1927, Robeck said.}}</ref>
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==Death==
As a boy, Parham had contracted a severe [[rheumatic fever]] which damaged his heart and contributed to his poor health. At one time he almost died. Parham recovered to an active preaching life, strongly believing that God was his healer. While he recovered from the rheumatic fever, it appears the disease probably weakened his heart muscles and was a contributing factor to his later heart problems and early death.<ref name= "FieldsWhite" /> By 1927 early symptoms of heart problems were beginning to appear, and by the fall and summer of 1928, after returning from a trip to [[
In early January 1929, Parham took a long car ride with two friends to [[Temple, Texas]], where he was to be presenting his pictures of
==Beliefs==
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==Legacy==
Parham originated the doctrine of initial evidence—that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidenced by [[speaking in tongues]].<ref name=RestoringtheFaith56/> It was this doctrine that made Pentecostalism distinct from other holiness Christian groups that spoke in tongues or believed in an experience subsequent to salvation and sanctification. In a move criticized by Parham,<ref name=Enrichment/> his Apostolic Faith Movement merged with other Pentecostal groups in 1914 to form the [[General Council of the Assemblies of God in the United States of America]].<ref>Creech, Joe (1996). "Visions of Glory: The Place of the Azusa Street Revival in Pentecostal History". ''Church History'' 65, no. 3. Pages 415—417.</ref> Today, the worldwide [[Assemblies of God]] is the largest Pentecostal denomination. In 1916, the fourth general council of Assemblies of God met in St. Louis, MO to decide on the mode of baptism they would use.
==Notes==
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*{{cite book| last =Blumhofer| first =Edith L.| title =Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture| publisher =University of Illinois Press| year =1993| location =Urbana and Chicago| pages =56| isbn =978-0-252-06281-0| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKuTIfCPeJwC}}
*{{cite book|last1=Espinosa|first1=Gaston|title=William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism|date=2014|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-5635-6|page=46}}
* Goff, James R.
===Primary sources===
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*''Selected Sermons of the Late Charles F. Parham'', ed Sarah E. Parham (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1941)
{{Authority control}}
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