A Brief Synopsis of the History of the Christ Holy Sanctified Church of America, Inc.

The late Bishop Judge had been a member of the Baptist church and later converted to Methodism. It was after they heard the teachings of “holiness and sanctification” from traveling Methodist evangelists that they sought a more “perfect way” and joined the holiness movement led by Methodist ministers during 1890s. Mother Sarah King wrote in her personal journal that after she and her husband, Judge, had received salvation in the Baptist church, “. . . [We] continued to preach in the Baptist Church, both of us. But, ‘Oh, praise His holy name!’ One of the brothers who went to Lake Charles every Sunday, returned, and we wanted to know where he had been. He told us that he went to preach [in Lake Charles]. He would preach to anyone who would listen. Later the Methodist people and all of us came together and cleaned out an old building. We invited them to come over and they did. They preached sanctification and holiness to us and read the Bible to the people.” The Methodist Episcopal Church, South had sent missionaries and evangelist out after the Civil War and during Reconstruction to convert Blacks, in the South, to Methodism. Their missionary efforts were successful, particularly in the rural areas of Lake Charles, Lafayette, Alexandria, and Keatchie, Louisiana. Some of the early Black converts in the area surrounding Lake Charles and Lafayette was Ell Rigmaiden (Mother Sarah King’s sister), Dempsey Perkins and his family. (Bishop Judge King, and his wife Sarah were later converts.) The “white saints,” as they were called, helped organize churches in many rural communities of Louisiana. However, among this group contention grew out of strong differences in the teachings of holiness and sanctification. Because of segregation and racism in that area, the white saints were not allowed to build churches or assemble with Blacks, so they had to do their missionary work secretly in the fields where blacks worked during the day. They did this out of fear of being lynched, beaten or killed by white segregationist and racist in the area. Some of the white preachers would secretly minister in the homes of some of the workers during the night and then leave just before dawn. This was extremely dangerous for the workers and the white missionaries. Although slavery had ended, still there was a real threat and fear among Blacks of being lynched or having their homes burned to the ground. However, overcome by the power of the Word of God, not even the threat of death would prevent these rural Black communities from hearing the message of salvation and receiving the blessing of sanctification. Encouraged by their efforts nothing would prevent these white saints from spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching sanctification and holiness to anyone who would receive them. Over a period of time, these white saints came to share the gospel of the kingdom of God with this small group of new converts. They were led by people like S. A. York, C. D. McAllister, Sister Graer and others. After a personal experience of being sanctified, an African-American Methodist class leader named, Joseph Lynch was one of the early leaders of this newly formed “sanctified group” who taught holiness and sanctification. Lynch became deeply convinced that he could not be saved without living a holy life. With this conviction, he sought and obtained the blessings of sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. After this experience Lynch immediately began to preach and teach “holiness and sanctification” to everyone he had the opportunity to speak with. Soon others became interested and sought and obtained this blessing of holiness as a distinct and separate blessing from that of justification. In c. 1889, another African-American woman named, Sarah E. Collins also began to labor with Lynch in teaching “scriptural holiness” to the people. Others from time to time, by the grace of God, accepted Christ and the teachings of sanctification taught by Lynch and Collins. As God prospered their work and gave them souls for their labor, their zeal was more than their Minister could endure. Lynch’s teachings, however, were believed by some to be too radical and extreme. The Minister that was assigned by the Methodist District to pastor this small group did not teach holiness and sanctification the way Lynch and his followers believed the Bible taught. Some felt the pastor was an ungodly man and sought his removal. So fifty-one members petitioned the presiding Bishop over the Wilmington Conference to have him removed. This act against their Minister so exasperated him that he dismissed Joseph Lynch from leadership and forbade anyone who signed the petition to hold or conduct any service in his church. The Minister further threatened them against holding any more services, and if they continued to do so he would use his authority to excommunicate them from the church. Under that threat they obeyed and began to hold services outside of the church in a workshop. On February 14, 1892, a committee of ten persons were selected to wait for the Minister at an afternoon service to ask his consent and permission for members of his church to leave the C.M.E. Their names were handed to the pastor by Sarah Collins before the beginning of the service. After prayer, Joseph Lynch asked the pastor to respond to the request, which he rejected. The committee immediately left the church. Two days later, the committee was summoned before the magistrate for trial on a false charge of interrupting public worship. They failed to establish the charge or bring to trial any of the ten persons summoned and from this date the newly organized church was established. The following are the names of the members who signed the petition to form this new work: Sarah E. Collins, Charlotte Gray, J. W. Miller, Charlie Riggs, Alice Cleveland, Jemime Smith, Asher Fisher, Mary Hudson, William Riggs, Eva Riggs, John T. Boyce, P. W. Bowden, Sarah Bowden, Charlotte Lynch, E. K. Leary, John Collins, W. R. Hanley and Dilia Millere. Christ Sanctified Holy Church, Colored was set up and chartered in the State of Louisiana, in 1904. Being new, the teachings of sanctification were not readily accepted. People who confessed being sanctified were persecuted, ostracized and some were even said to have been killed. However, views on the doctrine of church ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper created another schism among the small band of believers. Judge and Sarah King strongly believed that the all of Sacraments (particularly the Lord’s Supper) were to be observed which the Christ Sanctified Holy Church did not practice. In c. 1910, they withdrew their membership and once again, it would be a new beginning for these young saints. This time they changed their name to the Christ Holy Sanctified Church. It was under the dynamic leadership of Bishop Judge and Sarah King that the Christ Holy Sanctified Church made its presence known as a part of the classical pentecostal-holiness movement in America. Sarah was converted first, sanctified and baptized in the Holy Spirit before her husband, Judge. She was also one of the first in their church to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidence by speaking in tongues. Her experience took place while she was teaching in a Methodist Church (woman preachers were not acknowledged in the ministry during this time). Of course, this brought about added persecution to the young church. Religious leaders in the area knew nothing about this new, religious phenomenon and experience. Consequently, those who practiced and believed in the Spirit's baptism were considered heretic. This did not stop them, however. The church grew in numbers and congregations across America. In 1906, news of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that fell on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California had not yet reached Lake Charles, Louisiana. However, a supernatural phenomenon was taking place two thousand miles away. There was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Lake Charles. It did not have the same magnitude and mass effect as the Azusa experience, but it still had the same dynamism of the saints who experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Azusa Street. This once loving community around Lake Charles became hostile towards these young people who openly proclaimed the gospel of the Kingdom. They were preaching and teaching that if a person is truly born again he or she must live a holy and sanctified life. They further taught that when a person was sanctified they were set apart for special ministry. Subsequently, he or she would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. They believed that all Christians are to seek for the fullness of the Spirit. However, the religious community resisted this teaching concerning the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. As time passed, the church grew and waxed strong in the faith. They suffered many hardships as the witnessed for Christ. An encouraging moment came when Elder William J. Seymour stopped in Lake Charles on his way to Tennessee. He heard about this sanctified group in Lake Charles and stopped by Sarah King's mother's home, Mother Mitchell. He taught and explained to them what they had experienced when they received the Holy Spirit. He told them to continue in the work they had begun and God would reveal Himself in more marvelous ways to them. As he was leaving, they were filled with joy and thanksgiving that he came to their community to share his experience with them. Thus, in that area, the pentecostal church grew in the midst of the “sanctified people.” This was just the beginning of a world-wide ministry that would impact the lives of many, leading them to Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God. It was under the leadership, evangelism and missionary endeavors of the late Bishop Judge and Sarah King that the church began to spread across America. Churches were established in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada, California (and after their deaths, Washington and Nigeria)--and it is growing still.