EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; LUCY TURNER SMITH P/63

In this post I will focus on a woman named Lucy Turner Smith. She lived from 1875- 1952. Lucy was born in Woodstock, Georgia. She was one of six children and was raised by her mother alone. 

Lucy married William Smith in 1896, and together they had nine children. The family moved to Athens, Georgia, in 1908. Shortly thereafter, her husband left, and Lucy began to earn a living by taking in sewing. She moved to Atlanta, and then to Chicago, where she arrived in 1910. Her husband rejoined the family in Chicago.

Lucy had joined the Baptist Church when she was twelve years old. In Chicago she discovered Pentecostalism, and by 1912 was attending Stone Church, a Pentecostal Assembly. She believed she had a gift for faith healing, and in 1916, she started prayer meetings in her home with two other women. As the meetings grew, Lucy established the Langley Avenue All Nations Pentecostal Church in 1920. At first the church did not have a permanent building but was modelled as a “tent meeting.” In the mid-twenties, Lucy decided to build a new church building on Langley Avenue, and construction was completed in December 1926. This would be the first church in Chicago ever established by a woman pastor.

In addition to her faith healing ministry, Lucy was a dynamic preacher. She developed an active community outreach program, feeding thousands during the Great Depression. She also developed a robust gospel music ministry. All Nations was one of the first African American churches to broadcast worship services on the radio. 

Lucy sold the Langley Avenue church building in 1938, and built a new church building. At the height of its popularity, All Nations had a membership of 3,000. By the end of her ministry Lucy estimated that she had prayed for more than 200,000 people, during her weekly faith healing sessions.

Lucy died in 1952. Over 60,000 people attended her funeral. 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; FLORENCE CRAWFORD P/62

In this post I will share the story of a woman named Florence Crawford. She lived from 1872 - 1936. The following is her personal story.

I was brought up in a home of unbelief. I never knew what it was to hear my mother pray and I never laid my hand on a Bible until I was a grown woman, but God looked down into my heart and saw that I wanted something real.

One night as I was dancing in a ballroom I heard a voice speak out of Heaven and say:”Daughter, give Me thine heart.” I did not know it was the Voice of God so I went on dancing. Again the Voice spoke. It seemed my feet became heavy and the place was no longer beautiful to me. Again the Voice spoke much louder, “Daughter, give Me thine heart.” The music died away and I left the ballroom; and for three days and nights I prayed and wept, wrestling against the powers of atheism and darkness. The enemy would tell me there was no God, and that the Bible was a myth. I could hardly eat or sleep, and it seemed there was no hope for me, but I thought: “Why did God speak out of Heaven if there were no hope?” Again the Voice spoke much louder,”Daughter, give Me thine heart.”

At last I remembered a woman who was a Christian, and I went to her home. When she opened the door and looked at my face, she said, “You want God.” I said, “I want Him more than anything else in the world.” Right there I fell on my knees, and as she prayed for me, God came into my heart.

Oh, the rest, the peace, the quietness that flooded my soul was wonderful! As I wept for joy, I said, “I must go and tell the others.” I went to the home where some friends were waiting for me to join them in a card game. They had cards on the table and were ready to play but I told them, “No cards for me; I have found Jesus!” They saw the light of another world on my face, and the cards were put away.

What a change God made in my heart! Everything I had loved that was of the world was taken out of my heart; but, oh, how I loved lost souls. Often I wept as I saw those who looked sad, and many times I would stop and tell them the story of Jesus.

How I thank God when I heard of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He led me to a little mission. It was not a fine hall, but just an old barn-like building with an old board laid on two chairs for an altar. The floor was carpeted with sawdust; the walls and beams blackened by smoke. I looked around to see if anyone saw me go in, but I would not have cared if the whole world saw me go out. I had found a people who had the experience I wanted. The first “Hallelujah ” I heard echoed down in my soul. When I went out of there that day, the only thing I wondered was: Can I ever get it?

From Monday till Friday I sought God and read my Bible at every possible moment between my duties. That Friday afternoon at the mission, the preacher stopped and said, “Somebody in this place wants something from God.” As I sat in my chair, the power of God shook my being, and rivers of divine love flooded my soul. My tongue began to praise God in another language.

I had many afflictions of my body but I had never thought to pray for my healing. However, one day I prayed that God would heal my lungs and He did. Furthermore, as a young girl I had been thrown from a carriage and as a result had to wear a brace with straps and a metal plate. One night the prayer of faith was offered for me, and God instantly healed me. I walked twenty -three blocks that night and had no pain. From that day to this, I have never had a tinge of pain from that problem.

Florence led the Apostolic Faith work from 1907 until her passing on June 20, 1936.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800: OTELIA MARIA CARRINGTON CUNNINGHAM P/61

                                                                                                                                                                         

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Otelia Maria Carrington Cunningham. She lived from 1867 -1934. As Otelia travelled the state for her job, she also spoke about suffrage to local groups and attended suffrage meetings and convention at the state as well as the national level. She was also a delegate at the 1920 Democratic Convention in San Francisco - one if not the first woman delegate from North Carolina.

In a letter to the editor of the Raleigh News and Observer after Tennessee ratified the 19th amendment, Otelia wrote: "If it is right for women to be breadwinners and taxpayers, it surely can be no disgrace for women to know something about their movement and the laws under which they live." Her speeches and quotes were written up in newspapers.

Otelia was president of the women's church group of Holy Trinity Episcopal in Greensboro and in her 60s went to Duke University to study French.

Otelia died in 1934.

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; OTOLIA MARIA CARRINGTON CUNNINGHAM P/60

                                                                                                                                                                               

In this story I will focus on a woman named Otelia Maria Carrington Cunningham. She lived from 1867 1934. Otelia was born in Virginia to privilege and married a wealthy North Carolina tobacco farmer, but experienced hardship in 1910 when her husband's tobacoo business went bankrupt.

Otelia then got a job and sought to make other women's lives better by fighting to give them a voice regarding their own lives and their own future. She believed if women could contribute to society - support the war effort, hold jobs, raise children - they had a right to vote.This despite the fact that in the South women were generally thought to be too ladylike and genteel to have the vote.

Otelia was president of the North Carolina Equal Suffrage Association in 1917 and 1918 when the women's sufrage movement had decided to focus on supporting the war effort. She worked for the state, speaking to schools and other organisations about fire safety. 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; MAY ELEANOR FRAY P/ 59

In this story I will focus on a woman named May Elenanor Edick Frey. She lived from 1865 - 1954. Her father was a bricklayer, her mother was a suffragette. She possessed a gift for story telling and eventually became a reporter.

While covering the story of a revival, she met her future husband Peter Isaiah Frey. He shared the story about how he was delivered from alcoholism after experiencing salvation in Christ. The next night May herself experienced an encounter with God whilst she was writing notes for her story. She sensed an urgency to make a decision for Christ so she surrendered her life to Christ that night and never turned back. 

In the beginning she doubted the validity of women preachers because she never experienced seeing one, but people kept asking her to "take a night" of the campaign. Even through her self-doubts, others saw her gifts, talents and abilities. Those around her took notice and nudged her onward to lead. A group of local pastors within the Baptist Denomination of the Northern states (now American Baptists) urged her to become fully ordained. They met her for about two and a half hours to interview her and unanimously told her they wanted to ordain her as a pastor. With much humility, she accepted and was confirmed as the first ordained woman in the Northern Baptist Convention in 1905.

May was first exposed to Pentecostalism through a friend who called in someone to pray over her when she was dying from tuberculosis. Before the pastor finished praying, she scared her nurses and everyone around her by getting up and walking around. She reported that she was completely and miraculously healed. Though she was an ordained pastor in the American Baptist Denomination, a second Pentecostal experience at the age of 54, led her to seek ordination with the Assemblies of God.

May led a remarkable life because she served selflessly. She pastored, was a chaplain-nurse, travelled overseas for missions work, was a world-famous evangelist and became an accomplished writer.

May died in 1954.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800: EVANGELINE BOOTH P/58

                                                                                                                                                                         

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Evangeline Booth. She lived from 1865 - 1950. Evangeline's only political involvement was to throw the weight of the Salvation Army behind the movement for prohibition and against the later movement for repeal.

On April 10, 1923, Evangeline officially adopted the United States as her homeland when she became a naturalised citizen. 

Her reign as Commander of the American Salvation Army came to an end in 1934 when she was elected as the organisation's International Commander-in-Chief. For five years she led the Salvation Army's work in eighty countries.

Evangeline retired in 1939. In 1950, she died at the age of 84 in Hartsdale, New York.

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; EVANGELINE BOOTH P/57

                                                                                                                                                                               

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Evangeline Booth. She lived from 1865 - 1950. Under Evangeline's leadership, the American Salvation Army expanded its already far-reaching social services. 

She established hospitals for unwed mothers, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, services for the unemployed, homes for the aging adults, and prison work. Evangeline Residences were opened to provide homes for working women.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, disaster relief became part of the Salvation Army's services. The disasters services expanded during World War I to include the Army's famous canteens featuring "doughnuts for doughboys". For the Salvation Army's work during the war, Evangeline was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1919.

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; EVANGELINE BOOTH P/56

                                                                                                                                                                         

In this post I will focus on a woman named Evangeline Booth. She lived from 1865 - 1950. Evangeline was the daughter of William and Catherine Booth, the founders of the Salvation Army. She was educated at home and grew up doing the work of the Salvation Army, assuming a position of responsibility in the Marylbone district of London at the age of 17. Known for both her musical talent and her striking personal appearance, Evangeline soon received the byname "White Angel of the Slums."

In 1889, at the age of 23, Evangeline was given charge of the Salvation Army's International Training College in Clapton, London and put in charge of all Salvation Army forces in the home counties (London and the surrounding area).

Following this, Evangeline became the Commander of the Army's forces in Canada. Because of a family tragedy, her time in Canada only amounted to a few years. In 1903, Evangeline's sister, Emma Booth-Tucker, who along with her husband commanded the American Salvation Army, was killed in a train-acccident. Emma's husband tried to carry on by himself, but was not able to do so. In 1904, Evangeline was appointed to replace him. She served as the Commander of the United States forces for the next thirty years.