The Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ World-Wide, Inc. is an organization of African-American Pentecostal churches.

The Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ was organized in September of 1957 by Smallwood Edmond Williams, who at the time was the General Secretary of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (COOLJC). Under Williams' leadership, about 70 churches withdrew from that organization to form the new organization, citing the sole-governorship of COOLJC leader, Bishop Robert C. Lawson, as grounds. Williams became the first presiding bishop of the church.

Beliefs of the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ include the inspiration of the Bible as the word of God; salvation made possible only through Jesus; the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues; water baptism by immersion; the premillennial second coming of Jesus; the final judgment of the dead; and the establishment of new heavens and a new earth.

In 1995 the church had about 300,000 members in 350 congregations world wide. The chief officer in the church is the Presiding Bishop, which office was held in 2003 by Chief Apostle Huie L. Rogers. Headquarters are in Brooklyn, New York. The body conducts a general conference annually in July and operates a publishing house in Washington, D.C.

History

Smallwood E. Williams himself had been a part of the Apostolic Pentecostal, or Oneness Pentecostal, movement from the second decade of the 20th century. Though groomed as a son in the gospel by Bishop Lawson, much as Lawson and others were groomed and trained by Bishop G.T. Haywood, Williams was almost a contemporary of these in that he was preaching as a lad, according to an interviewee in W.L. Bonner's biographical collection of Lawson, My Father in the Gospel.

Though not fully accepted

Lawson and Williams were leading figures in an influential Pentecostal organization at a time when Pentecostal churches were rare, which amounted to much at the time within Pentecostal circles. Other contemporary African-American Pentecostal organizations included the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and the Church of God in Christ, as well as smaller "storefront fellowships". Nevertheless, COOLJC leader Lawson worked hard to keep his church at the forefront. Lawson's dynamic preaching style, outstanding teaching ability, and lively Pentecostal hymnody set the pace for the organization and made his name and the organization well known throughout the United States.

Nevertheless, Lawson was found by many to be a hard taskmaster. He would assign full-time ministers to particular areas to plant missions or pastor churches sometimes against their will. Though he was liberal for his time, as far as allowing or encouraging his members to wear ties, play instruments, and sing together in organized choirs, Lawson was also known for his exacting scrutiny when catechizing new ministers (formerly a public affair) and for his uncompromising demand of faithfulness to the apostolic doctrine and to the life of practical holiness it required. For these reasons, Lawson unwittingly put himself at odds with members who would prefer a more congregational and less episcopal forn of church governance.

For further example, for a time, Lawson refused the title

It was just this situation that Smallwood Williams used to his advantage. He and a group of his COOLJC colleagues confronted Bishop Lawson about refusing them the deserved title of "bishop". Disappointed when Lawson still refused them the honor, Williams, an Overseer John Beane of Richmond, Virginia, and others decided to pull out of the organization. Williams used his church's newsletter, the Bible Way Voice, to circulate criticism of Lawson's autocratic approach to governing. Then he sent letters to churches, clergy, and workers throughout the organization, asking them to join his new movement out of the COOLJC. It is both written and said that to some he promised money and that to others he promised titles. The conflict between the Williams revolutionaries and the Lawson faithfuls was bitter, and in the end nearly half of the 177 churches in the organization left and followed Williams. He and four other leading COOLJC ministers were soon formally ordained as bishops in a ceremony performed by a well-known PAW minister.

Today known in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ as "the Bible Way Split," this schism caused emotional pain to the congregants involved and seemed to physically break Lawson, whose health began to decline. Interestingly, some churches returned to the parent organization for various reasons, most notably that the rewards promised to them for leaving were never realized.

Fortunately, the Bible Way organization emerged as a strong, vibrant, and growing organization. Churches were founded throughout the world, and Bishop Williams, a preacher's preacher, became one of the most popular preachers in the Washington, D.C., area. A very influential social figure, he sermonized extensively on racial and social injustice and used his pastoral clout to fight for integrity in the District's juvenile justice system. His sons in the gospel have inherited his preaching dynamo, and the name 'Bible Way' has become associated with contemporary Apostolic Pentecostalism with an old-time flair, much in the same way as could be said for the "whooping" preachers in the Church of God in Christ.

Note

There are now at least two large organizations called Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ World Wide. Both are abridgedly called Bible Way World Wide, since the late Apostle S.E. Williams officially named the church Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ World Wide, because of the congregations he himself started or acquired during the split with the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. One is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, led by Apostle Huie Rogers; the other, led by Apostle Lawrence Campbell, is governed from Danville, Virginia.

The apparent cause for the split appears to be a disagreement about church governance. After the death of Bishop Smallwood Williams, a rotating presidency was incepted among three of the leading clergy of the organization, two of them being Bishops Rogers and Campbell. After a while it happened that, when it was time for the rotation to shift, one of the men would not give up the presidency of the organization for reasons not widely known. This caused a break in the rather large organization, such that, though the Bible Way organizations are similar in structure and doctrine, their ministers belong to separate camps, with the conflict resting upon which of the two leaders is the rightful head (and inheriting son) of the church.

A similar incident occured in Bible Way's cousin church, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, upon the death of leader Sherrod Johnson.

References

• Encyclopedia of American Religions, J. Gordon Melton, editor
• Handbook of Denominations in the United States, by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood
• For the Defense of the Gospel, Arthur Anderson, editor
• My Father in the Gospel, by William L. Bonner