View source for Pillar of Fire International

{{Short description|Methodist sect}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
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| name                = Pillar of Fire International
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| orientation         = [[Methodist]]
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| theology            = [[Wesleyan-Arminian]]
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| leader_title        = General superintendent
| leader_name         = Joseph Gross
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| headquarters        = [[Zarephath, New Jersey]], [[United States of America|U.S.]]
| origin_link         = 
| founder             = [[Alma Bridwell White]]
| founded_date        = {{Start date and age|1901}}
| founded_place       = [[Denver, Colorado]], [[United States of America|U.S.]]
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| branched_from       = [[Methodist Episcopal Church]]
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| churches            = 76<ref name="KurianLamport2016"/>
| hospitals           = Zarephath Health Center
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| primary_schools     = [[Alma Heights Christian Schools]], [[Westminster Castle|Belleview Christian School]], Eden Grove Academy, Sycamore Grove School
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| tax_status          = [[501(c)(3)]]<ref>"[https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo&Id=184268&ein=237075340&country=US&deductibility=all&dispatchMethod=searchAll&isDescending=false&city=&ein1=&postDateFrom=&exemptTypeCode=al&submitName=Search&sortColumn=orgName&totalResults=11&names=Pillar+of+Fire&resultsPerPage=250&indexOfFirstRow=0&postDateTo=&state=All+States Pillar of Fire]". "Tax Exempt Organization Search". ''Internal Revenue Service''. Retrieved July 9, 2018.</ref> 
| tertiary            = [[Belleview College]], [[Somerset Christian College|Pillar College]]
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| website             = {{URL|http://www.pillar.org/}}
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{{Methodism}}
The '''Pillar of Fire International''', also known as the '''Pillar of Fire Church''', is a [[Methodist]] [[Christianity|Christian]] denomination with headquarters in [[Zarephath, New Jersey]].<ref name="pof">{{cite web|url=https://www.pillar.org/index.html|title=Pillar of Fire International|publisher=Pillar of Fire International|access-date=January 19, 2017|archive-date=June 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623193757/https://pillar.org/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Pillar of Fire Church affirms the [[Articles of Religion (Methodist)|Methodist Articles of Religion]] and as of 1988, had 76 congregations around the world, including the United States, as well as "Great Britain, India, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, the Philippines, Spain, and former Yugoslavia".<ref name="KurianLamport2016">{{cite book |last1=Kurian |first1=George Thomas |last2=Lamport |first2=Mark A. |title=Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States |date=10 November 2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4432-0 |page=1808 |language=English}}</ref>
[[File:Alma White 01b.jpg|thumb|Bishop [[Alma Bridwell White]] (1862–1946), founder of the Pillar of Fire Church]]
The denomination runs radio stations, a printing press, and educational institutions including a seminary.<ref name="KurianLamport2016"/>
[[File:Norton PillarOfFire 100 0871.JPG|thumb|Zarephath Christian Church in [[Zarephath, New Jersey]]]]
In the early 20th century, Pillar of Fire was known for its support for [[women's rights]];<ref name="KurianLamport2016"/> in the same century, it was known for supporting the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and its racist platform.<ref name="Lock2020">{{cite book |last1=Lock |first1=Norman |title=American Follies |date=7 June 2020 |publisher=Bellevue Literary Press |isbn=978-1-942658-49-8 |language=English |quote=As for the second exception, Alma Bridwell White, founder and bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, New Jersey, was a zealot of the Klan during th 1920s and 1930s.}}</ref><ref name="Otterman2017"/> In 1997 and 2009, Pillar of Fire repudiated the denomination's former association with [[racism in the United States|racism]] and requested [[Forgiveness#Christianity|forgiveness from God]] for formerly holding this position.<ref name="Otterman2017"/><ref name="Bellview2009"/><ref name="Parsons1997"/> In the present day, worshippers at the [[mother church]] in Zarephath are "young, old, white, black, Asian, Hispanic".<ref name="Otterman2017"/>

<!--[[File:Zarephath.jpg|thumb|[[Zarephath, New Jersey]] in ''[[Heroes of the Fiery Cross]]'', 1928]]-->
[[File:PIllar 01.jpg|thumb|right|Pillar of Fire missionaries, November 25, 1914]]
[[File:assemblyhallza.JPG|thumb|Assembly Hall service c. 1965 in Zarephath, New Jersey]]
[[File:pofmissionaryhomes1966.jpg|thumb|right|Missionary homes of the Pillar of Fire Church in 1966]]

==History==
===Founding===
In 1901, the Church was founded as a [[Methodist]] denomination by [[Alma Bridwell White]] in [[Denver, Colorado]]. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from [[Pentecostalism]] in 1915.<ref name=almaobit>{{cite news |title=Bishop Alma White, Preacher, Author. Founder Of Pillar Of Fire Dies At 84. Established Several Schools and Colleges|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/06/27/archives/bishop-alma-white-preacher-author-founder-of-pillar-of-fire-dies-at.html&legacy=true |quote=<!--[[Bound Brook, New Jersey]], June 26, 1946 ([[Associated Press]])-->Bishop Alma White, founder of the Pillar of Fire Church and author of thirty-five religious tracts and some 200 hymns, died here today at the headquarters of the religious group at near-by Zarephath. Her age was 84. |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=June 27, 1946 |access-date=August 21, 2007 }}</ref>  While the Pillar of Fire is [[Methodism|Methodist]] in doctrine, Alma White and her followers believed that the mainline Methodist Church had become corrupt.<ref name=eb>{{cite news |title=Alma Bridwell White |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9126064/Alma-Bridwell-White |quote=Née Mollie Alma Bridwell. American religious leader who was a founder and major moving force in the evangelical Pentecostal Union, which split from mainstream Methodism in the early 20th century. Alma Bridwell grew up in a dour family of little means. She studied at the Millersburg (Kentucky) Female College and in 1882 moved ...|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date= August 21, 2007 }}</ref>  Alma White and the members of the Pillar of Fire dedicated themselves to the [[holiness movement]] in the [[Wesleyanism|Wesleyan]] tradition. Adherents were referred to as "[[Holy Roller]]s" and "holy jumpers" because of their religious frenzy.<ref name="almaobit"/><ref>{{cite news |title='Holy Jumpers' An Old Religion Headed By A Woman. Something About This Curious Sect Which Lillian Allen Crossed the Sea to Join and Was Stopped by Immigration Authorities |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/12/11/archives/-holy-jumpers-an-old-religion-headed-by-a-woman-something-about.html |quote=When Lillian Alien, the English girl, was halted by the immigration authorities last week at the cabled request of her well-to-do father, it was disclosed that she had come here to join a religious sect called the "Pillar of Fire", or the "Holy Jumpers". |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 11, 1910 |access-date= December 16, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How They Jump, Where They Jump, When They Jump, Why They Jump, and Who They Are |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/08/18/archives/how-they-jump-where-they-jump-when-they-jump-why-they-jump-and-who.html |quote=Hidden on a little New Jersey farm, a community of sixty persons, one-half of them children, are trying to vitalize a complete reaction against money greed, hypocrisy, and the present-day Christian Church and to keep it alive by religious hysteria. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 18, 1907 |access-date=August 21, 2007 }}</ref><ref name=klan>{{cite news |title=Bound Brook Mob Raids Klan Meeting: Thousand Hostile Citizens Surround Church and Lock In 100 Holy Rollers |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C15FF3C5416738DDDAB0894DD405B838EF1D3 |quote=Until the arrival of eight State troopers to reinforce the local police here at 1 o'clock this morning about one hundred members of the Holy Rollers were locked up in their church, the Pillar of Fire, in Main Street, surrounded by a mob of nearly 1,000 hostile citizens, several hundred of whom broke up a meeting held by the Holy Rollers to organize a Klan here last night. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 2, 1923 |access-date=September 22, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mitchinson |first=Cyril Edwin |title=The Babbitt Warren |year=1927 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wIIa_yVC9KAC }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Poor Aimee |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732031,00.html?promoid=googlep |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930045728/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732031,00.html?promoid=googlep |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |quote=Worst of all, there came a rival female evangelist from New Jersey, a resolute woman with the mien of an inspired laundress—the Reverend "Bishop" Mrs. Mollie Alma White, founder and primate of the Pillar of Fire Church. Bishop White, who has thousands of disciples ("Holy Jumpers") in the British Isles, clearly regarded Mrs. McPherson as a poacher upon her preserves or worse. |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=October 22, 1928 |access-date= August 21, 2007 }}</ref> White was noted for her association with the [[Ku Klux Klan]], her [[feminism]], [[anti-Catholicism]], [[antisemitism]], anti-pentecostalism, [[racism]], and [[nativism (politics)|nativism]].<ref name=kandt>{{cite journal| first= Kristin E. |last= Kandt | year=2000| title=Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White| journal=Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law| volume=8| quote=Alma White and the Pillar of Fire were unique, however, in their public alliance with the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, the Pillar of Fire was the only religious group to publicly associate itself with the Klan.| pages=753}}</ref> With its founder being the first woman bishop in the United States, the ''Pillar of Fire'' is a supporter of [[women's rights]], printing the periodical ''Women's Chains'' to propagate support for the movement until 1970.<ref name="KurianLamport2016"/>

===Support for Ku Klux Klan and repudiation===
[[File:klanatcampmeeting.jpg|thumb|right|Klanswomen gather on August 31, 1929 in front of Assembly Hall, Zarephath, New Jersey, for "Patriotic Day" during annual Camp Meeting.
<ref>
{{cite journal  
| first1       = L.S. 
| last1        = Lawrence  
| editor-first = Alma
| editor-last  = White
| page         = 10 
| title        = Patriotic Day at Zarephath Camp-Meeting 
| journal      = [[The Good Citizen]] 
| url          = https://www.flickr.com/photos/8629844@N02/5965849098/sizes/l/in/set-72157627134215437/ 
| quote        = The Assembly Hall was filled in the evening, with about 100 klanswomen and a few klansmen in robes.  The first speaker of the evening was Bishop White.  She gave a fiery message on the topic of [[Race (human categorization)|race]] and social equality. ... She expressed hope that the Klan would do its part in keeping the blood of America pure 
| date         = October 1929 
| publisher    = [[Pillar of Fire Church]] 
}}
</ref>]] 
In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the Pillar of Fire Church was vocal in its support of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], to an extent which was unique for a religious denomination.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal  |doi=10.1017/S0009640709000523  |first=Lynn  |last=Neal  |title=Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance |quote=White's words and Clarke's imagery were combined in various ways as a means to spread a message of religious intolerance which was both persuasive and powerful.  |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture  |date=June 2009 |volume=78  |issue=2  |pages=350–378 |s2cid=162426152 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal  |first=Kristen  |last=Kandt  |title=Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White  |url=http://www.law.georgetown.edu/glh/publishedlist.htm  |quote=[[Alma White]] and the Pillar of Fire were unique, however, because of their public alliance with the [[Ku Klux Klan]].  In fact, the Pillar of Fire was the only religious group which publicly associated itself with the Klan.  |journal=Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law  |year=2000  |access-date=2009-09-16  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316225516/https://www.law.georgetown.edu/glh/publishedlist.htm  |archive-date=2009-03-16  |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite book  |first=Kathleen  |last=Blee  |title=Women of the Klan |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tcEyMwIpgRMC&q=women+of+the+klan |quote=Bishop White's transformation from minister to Klan propagandist is detailed in voluminous autobiographical and political writings.  [Bishop] White's anti-Catholic, anti-semitic, and [[Racism|racist]] message fit well into the Klan's efforts to convince white Protestant women that their collective interests as women. ... were best served by joining the Klan. |year=1991 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07876-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book  |first=Alma  |last=White  |title=Heroes of the Fiery Cross |quote=I believe in white supremacy. |year=1928 |publisher=[[The Good Citizen]] |title-link=Heroes of the Fiery Cross }}</ref> Alma White prolifically spoke and wrote of both her and the Pillar of Fire Church's support of the Klan and many of the Klan's principles including [[anti-Catholicism]], [[white supremacy]], [[antisemitism]], [[Nativism (politics)|nativism]], and [[wikt:temperance|temperance]]. In 1943, shortly before her death, she and the Pillar of Fire Church significantly but not completely distanced themselves from the then discredited and nearly bankrupt Klan organization, but they still continued to promote many of the Klan's intolerant principles.  In a 1920s sermon which she republished in 1943, she said <blockquote>We have no connection with the Klan organization.  We endorse them in the principles for which they stand.  However there is no room in our hearts for racial prejudice.<ref>[[Guardians of Liberty]], Vol. 1, Alma White, page 120.</ref></blockquote>

However, White and the Pillar of Fire still advocated [[white supremacy]] in the same 1943 book-set which asserted their distaste for racial prejudice.  In her chapter which was titled "White Supremacy" she wrote<blockquote> The slaveholder, in many instances, was as much to be pitied as the slaves.  He, too, was a victim of the system. ... .Where the slaves were well treated they were happy and contented ... But some radicals could never see this side of the question.  They dwelt continually on the cruelties of a few hard taskmasters and ignored the good people who had the welfare of their dependents at heart.  No matter what the better class of slave owners might do, they had to bear the stigma of cruelty with the worst of tyrants. ... .Where property rights are involved, supported by the government, the only safe and sane way to make wrongs right is by cool-headed procedure.<ref>[[Guardians of Liberty]], Vol. 3, Alma White, Chapter 7, White Supremacy, page 103.</ref></blockquote>She also said to the New Brunswick Daily Home News,  <blockquote>
"My people are not members of the Klan, but we agree with some of the things that they stand for to assert our American right of free speech.  We have always stood for one hundred percent Americanism and so does the Klan, so naturally we agree there."<ref>[[Guardians of Liberty]], Vol. 1, page 119</ref></blockquote>

Additionally, the Pillar of Fire's pulpit and its printing operation were both extensively used to advocate many of the Klan's most intolerant values.  In 1922, Bishop Alma White promoted the Klan in a sermon which she preached at the Pillar of Fire Church in Brooklyn, New York (which was coincidentally incinerated in the [[1960 New York air disaster]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/cityroom/201012_CRASH_ARTICLES/transition.pdf| first=Clarence| last=Dean| title=Brooklyn Scene: A Quiet Byway Is Invaded by Death and Chaos| newspaper=New York Times| date=December 17, 1960| access-date= December 18, 2010 | quote=The gray stucco church into which the plane rammed was a three-story, gabled structure known as the Pillar of Fire Church.}}</ref>) and published that sermon in ''The Good Citizen''. The speech was titled "Ku Klux Klan and Woman's Causes" and one section was subtitled "White Supremacy".

<blockquote>The Klansmen stand for the supremacy of the white race, which is perfectly legitimate and in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Writ, and anything that has been decreed by the Almighty should not work a hardship on the colored race ... It is within the rights of civilization for the white race to hold the supremacy; and no injustice to the colored man to stay in the environment where he was placed by the Creator. ... When the black man was liberated it was time for women to be enfranchised, without which the colored man with his newly-acquired rank became her political master.  ... The white women bore the sting of humiliation for more than half a century in being placed in an inferior position to the black men in the use of the ballot and the rights of citizenship ... To whom shall we look to champion the cause and to protect the rights of women? Is there not evidence that the Knights of the Klu {{sic}} Klux Klan are the prophets of a new and better age?</blockquote>

The Pillar of Fire Church strongly argued against social and political equality for [[Black people|Blacks]] and it also advocated [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]] and the repeal of the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|fifteenth amendment]].<ref>{{cite journal  |first=Alma  |last=White  |journal=[[The Good Citizen]] |page=3 |title=America---the White Man's Heritage |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/8629844@N02/5965844550/sizes/l/in/set-72157627134215437/ |quote=Where people seek for social equality between the black and white races, they violate the edicts of the Holy Writ and every social and moral code ... Segregation is our only hope. Social and political equality would plunge the world into an Inferno as black as the regions of night and as far from the teachings of the [[New Testament]] as heaven is from hell.  The presumption of the colored people under such conditions would know no bounds ... This is white man's country by every law of God and man, and was so determined from the beginning of Creation.  Let us not therefore surrender our heritage to the [[Curse of Ham#Racism and slavery|sons of Ham]].  Perhaps it would be well for white people to take the advice of a great American patriot, Dr. [[Hiram Wesley Evans]] and repeal the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]].  The editor of ''[[The Good Citizen]]'' would be with him in this. |date=August 1929 |publisher=[[Pillar of Fire Church]] }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite journal  |first=Alma  |last=White  |page=4 |journal=[[The Good Citizen]] |title=America---the White Man's Heritage |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/8629844@N02/5965847070/sizes/l/in/set-72157627134215437/ |date=August 1929 |publisher=[[Pillar of Fire Church]] }}</ref> The Pillar allowed the Klan to hold meetings or [[cross burning]]s on at least several of the church's numerous properties including numerous documented Klan gatherings in Zarephath, New Jersey; [[Brooklyn, New York]]; [[Bound Brook, New Jersey]]; [[Longmont, Colorado]]; and [[Westminster, Colorado]].<ref name=klan/><ref>{{cite book  |last= Donato |first= Rubén  |title=Mexicans and Hispanics in Colorado Schools and Communities, 1920–1960|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8ILlFFAsu8wC&q=pillar%20of%20fire&pg=PA50 |quote=On New Year's night in 1924, the Klan in Longmont placed an eight-foot cross with red flaming lights in front of the Pillar of Fire Church, located on the corner of Main Street and Sixth Avenue.  Because the church was on private property, Klan members asserted, 'there can be no objection to its location.' |year=2007 |page=50 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |isbn=978-0-7914-6967-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Albin |last=Wagner |title=Westminster University Princeton of the West|url=http://www.co.adams.co.us/documents/page/history/westminster_university.pdf |quote=The church established a junior college and bible seminary there, which after 1925 was called [[Belleview College]]. The campus of the school was frequently used for meetings of the Ku Klux Klan during its hey-day in Denver, and residents recall [[Cross burning|burning crosses]] high on the hill. |access-date= November 21, 2009 }}</ref> White participated directly in many of these meetings. During this time, the Pillar of Fire Church published ''[[The Good Citizen]]'', a monthly 16 page political magazine and three books, ''[[The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy]]'', ''[[Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty]]'', and ''[[Heroes of the Fiery Cross]]'', all of which heavily promoted the Klan and its agenda from 1921 until 1933. Ideologically, in these publications, the Pillar of Fire Church promoted anti-Catholicism, [[antisemitism]], [[Nativism (politics)|nativism]], and white supremacy, all primarily under the guise of patriotism.

The radical belief in human equality which is at the heart of the Christian message eventually caused the organization to  repudiate its historical relationship with the KKK on its website in 2009:
<blockquote>
Much talk has also arisen over her brief but significant association with the KKK, which has also been publicly condemned and repented of by the POF leadership with a request for full forgiveness.  Despite these and other errors in its history, the Lord in His grace and mercy has chosen to bless the ministry.<ref name="Bellview2009">{{cite web |url=http://www.belleviewchapel.com/new/index.php/about-us/history-of-the-pillar-of-fire?ee3664fec4055f0d1c295438eea7b2bb=043bef1668076cce10734953d840c166 |title=The History of the Pillar of Fire |access-date=March 26, 2009 |publisher=[[Belleview College]] |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707222836/http://www.belleviewchapel.com/new/index.php/about-us/history-of-the-pillar-of-fire?ee3664fec4055f0d1c295438eea7b2bb=043bef1668076cce10734953d840c166 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
</blockquote>

And in its local paper in 1997:
<blockquote>
We regret, repudiate and repent, and ask for full forgiveness for anything in our past that is short of Christian standards based on God's Word, following Jesus' model prayer that teaches us to ever pray and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. ({{Bibleverse|Luke|11:4}})  We specifically regret mistakes and bad judgement by previous generations or anyone in our membership of the past.<ref name="Parsons1997">{{cite news |first=Monique |last=Parsons |title=Zarephath repents its past |quote=We regret, repudiate and repent, and ask for full forgiveness for anything in our past that is short of Christian standards based on God's Word, following Jesus' model prayer that teaches us to ever pray and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. ({{bibleverse|Luke|11:4}})  We specifically regret mistakes and bad judgement by previous generations or anyone in our membership of the past. |work=[[Home News Tribune]] |date=April 24, 1997 }}</ref>  
</blockquote>

While the Pillar of Fire's repudiation of its association with the Klan characterized it as "brief," it continued to promote the Klan's ideologies of intolerance for religious and racial minorities along with the Klan's belief in the equality of all white Protestant women for several decades. In 1943, 22 years after the church started to publicly work with the Klan, it republished Alma White's pro-KKK books as a three-volume set under the title ''[[Guardians of Liberty]]'', reaffirming its positions in support of anti-Semitism, white supremacy, nativism and most notably, anti-Catholicism. Volumes II and III of ''Guardians'' contained introductions by [[Arthur Kent White|Arthur White]], affirming his support of his mother's intolerant ideologies, primarily but not exclusively in regard to anti-Catholicism. After his mother died in 1946, he was the Pillar of Fire's general superintendent until 1981.

Robert Saydee, the presiding elder of a Pillar of Fire congregation and an immigrant from the [[Africa]]n nation of [[Liberia]], stated in 2017 with respect to the denomination's former association with the Ku Klux Klan that "We are not proud of it at all. But it happened in history, and things happen to people, and the organization changed tremendously after that, and we never looked back" and with regard to Bishop Alma White, the Liberian American presbyter stated: "There is no reason to discuss her. We know she is the founder, but there is no discussion or preaching about her. No, we don't do that."<ref name="Otterman2017">{{cite web |last1=Otterman |first1=Sharon |title=A Booming Church and Its Complicated, Ugly Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/nyregion/zarephath-christian-church-new-jersey-pillar-of-fire.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=17 May 2021 |language=English |date=15 September 2017|quote=Pillar of Fire long ago moved away from the hate of the Klan, and its leaders have issued statements denouncing and regretting the church's historic involvement with it. In a sign of how different the modern church is, the local presiding elder of the denomination, Robert Saydee, is an African refugee.}}</ref> In the same vein, Richard Flory, senior director of research and evaluation at the [[University of Southern California]], stated that the Pillar of Fire Church had essentially been "jettisoning their history in favor of looking like essentially everybody else".<ref name="Otterman2017"/> In 2017, ''[[The New York Times]]'' stated that members "don't know about the church's history" and that "leaders [of the Pillar of Fire Church] have issued statements denouncing and regretting the church's historic involvement" with the KKK.<ref name="Otterman2017"/>

===1950s–present===
Following the death of the founder, under the leadership of her son, [[Arthur Kent White]], the religious fervor declined and the emphasis on outreach [[evangelization]] and [[church planting]] ended; the organization branches in America fell from a high of around 52 to the current six. The Pillar of Fire, as of 1988, had churches in the United States, as well as "Great Britain, India, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, the Philippines, Spain, and former Yugoslavia".<ref name="KurianLamport2016"/> In the United States, the Pillar of Fire has branches in Zarephath, New Jersey; Denver, Colorado; [[Westminster, Colorado]]; [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], [[Los Angeles, California]]; and [[Pacifica, California]].

It primarily operates four ministry focuses, namely local church, radio, education, and missions.<ref name=pof/> Its radio stations have [[contemporary Christian music]], [[Christian gospel music]] and [[Christian hip hop]] music.<ref name="Otterman2017"/>

In the present-day, as of 2017, worshippers at the Pillar of Fire [[mother church]] in Zarephath are "young, old, white, black, Asian, Hispanic".<ref name="Otterman2017"/>

==Name==
The name of Pillar of Fire comes from {{Bibleverse|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 (theophany)|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."

==Beliefs==
The organization's doctrinal position is self-described as [[Wesleyan-Arminian theology]] in common with other Methodist denominations.<ref name=doctrine>[http://www.belleview-college.org/at/PillarofFireDoctrinalStatement.htm Pillar of Fire Church: Doctrinal Statement in Brief], accessed August 31, 2006</ref> The central beliefs of the Pillar of Fire are as follows:  [[biblical inerrancy]], [[Trinity|Trinitarianism]], the physical [[resurrection of Jesus]], the [[consubstantiality]] of the [[Holy Spirit]], the "universal [[fall of man|depravity of the human race]]", the necessity of "[[penance|repentance]] toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ", belief in "[[sola fide|justification by faith]] and in [[Christian perfection]], or entire sanctification, as a second definite work of grace", the [[Soul#Christian beliefs|immortality of the soul]], the [[resurrection of the dead]], and [[premillennialism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pillar.org/what_we_believe.shtml |title=Pillar of Fire: What We Believe. |access-date=April 14, 2008 |publisher=Pillar of Fire Church |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927082521/http://www.pillar.org/what_we_believe.shtml |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>

==Continued work of the Pillar of Fire==
The Pillar of Fire continues its work today working in three main areas: radio, education, and missions, both local and overseas.<ref>[http://www.pillar.org Pillar of Fire]</ref>

===United States congregations===
* Alma Temple, [[Denver]]
* [[Westminster Castle|Belleview Community Chapel]], [[Westminster, Colorado]]
* Coastside Community Church, [[Pacifica, California]]
* City Church Cincinnati, [[Cincinnati]]
* Pillar of Fire Church, [[Los Angeles]]
* Zarephath Christian Church, [[Zarephath, New Jersey]]

===Zarephath Health Center===
The Zarephath Health Center was opened in 2003<ref>[http://www.zhcenter.org/ Zarephath Health Center]</ref> and utilizes volunteer physicians, nurses and support people to meet the health care needs of the poor and uninsured on the campus at Zarephath, New Jersey. The Health Center sees 300–400 patients per month who otherwise would not be able to obtain affordable health care. Dr. Eck testified to the Joint Economic Committee on Health Insurance on April 28, 2004, to demonstrate the sustainability of this model.<ref>{{cite web |title=Testimony of Alieta Eck, MD - "Rethinking Insurance" |url=https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/f88cb536-78cb-4ce9-9f7b-3796fbd72f33/ecktestimony04282004.pdf |website=jec.senate.gov |access-date=August 11, 2021 |date=April 28, 2004}}</ref>
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===International missions===
There are missions in India, Costa Rica and Liberia as well as:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pillar.org/where_we_serve.aspx |title=Missions |access-date=January 23, 2010 |publisher=Pillar of Fire Church |archive-date=August 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801162533/http://www.pillar.org/where_we_serve.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

*The oldest of their missions was in [[Hendon]] [[London, England]], and was established in 1904 by Alma White.  The mission organized a [[Charitable Trust]] on 19 September 1992, and was registered as a [[Charitable organisation|charity]] in December 1992 (Charity No. 1015529). In response to a complaint received by the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales|Charity Commission]] in 2002, an inquiry was held, the charitable trust dissolved and transferred its assets to the U.S. organization, and the charitable trust was removed from the registry as it had ceased to exist.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Pillar of Fire, Registered Charity No. 1015529 |publisher=Charities Commission |date=March 16, 2005 |url=http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/investigations/inquiryreports/pillar.asp |access-date=August 30, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030820152740/http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/investigations/inquiryreports/pillar.asp |archive-date=August 20, 2003 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Pillar of Fire Mission |quote=[[London, England]]. Mrs. Alma White, president of the American organization 'The Pillar of Fire,' which aims at curbing present tendencies in women's dress, and supports a 'dry' program, recently opened her ...|publisher=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |date=May 21, 1920 }}</ref> One of the stated aims of this mission was to evangelize the local Jewish population in the vicinity of the mission.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pillar.org/missions_england.html |title=Missions: Great Britain |access-date=March 30, 2011 |quote=Hendon is predominantly a Jewish area. This makes the subject of Jewish evangelism a priority to us in Hendon. |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723082642/http://www.pillar.org/missions_england.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ironically, after the mission was sold, the property became a kosher boutique hotel<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thepillarhotellondon.com/ |title=Thepillarhotellondon.com |access-date=2011-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012210730/http://www.thepillarhotellondon.com/ |archive-date=2010-10-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |title=Last orders as shuls buy pubs |author=Leon Symons |url=http://www.thejc.com/node/40329 |newspaper=The Jewish Chronicle |date=October 28, 2010 |access-date=March 30, 2011}}</ref>
*Reverend Smallridge was given permission to start a Pillar of Fire Church in Nigeria in 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pillar.org/countries/nigeria/default.aspx |title=Pillar Missions in Nigeria |access-date=January 23, 2010 |quote=Reverend Smallridge introduced Essien to Pillar of Fire leadership, and in 1974, was given permission to start a Pillar of Fire Church in Nigeria. |publisher=Pillar of Fire Church |archive-date=June 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614080157/http://www.pillar.org/countries/nigeria/default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*The Pillar of Fire was established in Malawi in 1984 by Reverend Moses Peter K. Phiri.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pillar.org/countries/nigeria/default.aspx |title=Pillar Missions in Malawi |access-date=January 23, 2010 |quote=The Pillar of Fire Church was established in Malawi in 1984, when Reverend Moses Peter K. Phiri, a native of Malawi, contacted Pillar of Fire to discuss African missions. |publisher=Pillar of Fire Church |archive-date=June 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614080157/http://www.pillar.org/countries/nigeria/default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Schools==

===Primary and secondary===
* [[Alma Heights Christian Schools]] in Pacifica, California<ref>{{cite news |title=Local Church and Partner in Ministry. |url=http://www.almaheights.org/about/ministry.htm#pillar |quote=Our school and church belong to a group of national and international ministries founded and directed by the Pillar of Fire, International. The Pillar of Fire provides us with oversight, advice, and material support, and gives us opportunities to participate in congregational, educational, media, and missions ministries around the world. |publisher=Pillar of Fire Church |access-date=September 25, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071008085020/http://www.almaheights.org/about/ministry.htm#pillar <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = October 8, 2007 }}</ref>
* [[Westminster Castle|Belleview Christian School]] in Westminster, Colorado
* [[Eden Grove Academy]] in Cincinnati<ref>[http://www.edengrove.com/overview.html An Overview of Eden Grove Academy School], accessed August 30, 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813224847/http://www.edengrove.com/overview.html |date=August 13, 2006 }}</ref>
* [[Sycamore Grove School]] in Los Angeles<ref>[http://sgs-la.org/ Sycamore Grove School: A Ministry of the Pillar of Fire Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930085801/http://sgs-la.org/ |date=2007-09-30 }}, accessed August 30, 2006</ref>

===Colleges===
* [[Alma White College]] in Zarephath, New Jersey (1917–1978)<ref name=Colleges>[http://www2.westminster-mo.edu/wc_users/homepages/staff/brownr/NewJerseyCC.htm Institutions that have closed, merged, or changed their names] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213030522/http://www2.westminster-mo.edu/wc_users/homepages/staff/brownr/NewJerseyCC.htm |date=February 13, 2015 }}, accessed September 3, 2006</ref><ref name=almaklan>{{cite news |title=Klan Buys College Close to Princeton |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=422729 |quote=Bishop Alma White, the founder of the Pillar of Fire Church, and an author of various religious works, is President of the institution under the new regime. In an interview for the Princetonian today Bishop White deplored the present indifference of the undergraduate to the Klan and predicted that in the near future "it will sweep through the intellectual student classes as through the masses of the people." |work=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |date=October 31, 1923  |access-date=July 6, 2009 }}</ref>
* [[Belleview College]] in Westminster, Colorado<ref>[http://www.belleview-college.org/bc/BCIntro.htm Introducing Belleview Christian College], accessed August 30, 2006</ref>
* [[Somerset Christian College]], now known as Pillar College and has campuses in Somerset and Newark, NJ and looking to span across the state.<ref>[http://www.somerset.edu/about_us/history.htm Somerset Christian College: History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217063957/http://www.somerset.edu/about_us/history.htm |date=2007-02-17 }}, accessed August 30, 2006</ref>

==Pillar Media==
Pillar Media is the parent organization for several media outlets geared toward Christians.

===Radio stations===
*[[KPOF]], [[KFCO]] and [[KJHM]] in Denver, Colorado<ref>[http://www.am91.org/about/history.shtml AM91 & Castle History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820005243/http://www.am91.org/about/history.shtml |date=2006-08-20 }}, accessed September 1, 2006 - "KPOF is the oldest station of the Pillar of Fire Network, which is the oldest network of Christian Stations in the World."</ref>
*[[WAWZ]] in Zarephath, New Jersey<ref>[http://www.star991fm.com/star_jobs.html Star 99.1 Jobs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214163633/http://www.star991fm.com/star_jobs.html |date=2006-12-14 }}, accessed September 1, 2006 – "STAR 99.1 is a radio-ministry of Pillar of Fire"</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The airwaves of New York |year=1998 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qr_W5B1SAQC&q=Alma%20White%20College&pg=PA36 |isbn=0-7864-0343-8 |author1= Jaker, Bill |author2= Sulek, Frank |author3= Kanze, Peter |publisher=McFarland }}</ref>
*[[WAKW]] in Cincinnati<ref>[http://www.wakw.com/ 93.3 Cincinnati Ohio Christian Radio], accessed September 1, 2006 - "93.3 WAKW is a service of Pillar of Fire, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization"</ref>

===Discontinued periodicals===
*''Pillar of Fire''
*''Pillar Magazine''
*''The Dry Legion''
*''[[The Good Citizen]]''
*''Rocky Mountain Pillar of Fire''
*''London Pillar of Fire''
*''The British Sentinel''
*''The Occidental Pillar of Fire''
*''Woman's Chains''<ref name="KurianLamport2016"/>
*''Pillar of Fire Junior''
*''Pillar of Fire Bay Chronicle''
*''The Alma White Evangel''

==Notable members==

===General superintendents===
*[[Alma Bridwell White]] (1862–1946), the founder and first general superintendent from 1901 to 1946.<ref name=almaobit/>
*[[Arthur Kent White]] (son of the founder) 1946 to 1981, second general superintendent.<ref name=arthurobit>{{cite news |title=Bishop Arthur White, 92, Dies. Headed Pillar of Fire Church. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7D71739F93BA2575AC0A967948260 |quote= Bishop Arthur K. White, president and general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church in [[Zarephath, New Jersey]], died Monday at his home in Zarephath. He was 92 years old. |work=[[New York Times]] |date=September 18, 1981 |access-date=July 21, 2007 }}</ref>
*[[Arlene Hart Lawrence]], granddaughter of the founder, 1981 to 1984, third general superintendent.
*[[Donald Justin Wolfram]], great-nephew of the founder, 1984 to 2000, fourth general superintendent.<ref name=denver>{{cite news |title=Donald Wolfram moved souls during street services |url=http://www.belleview-college.org/at/DJWMinistry/DenverPostObit.html |quote=Donald Wolfram, who was an early participant in religious street meetings in Lower Downtown Denver, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. Wolfram, 83, was a lifelong member of the Pillar of Fire Church, and as a young man, he joined other members for religious meetings in downtown [[Denver]]. The meetings resembled those of the [[Salvation Army]], with a band and speaker. Wolfram usually played the trumpet or trombone, said his daughter, Suzanne Wolfram. Eventually, he learned to play about a ...|publisher=[[Denver Post]] |access-date=July 21, 2007 }}</ref>
*[[Robert Barney Dallenbach]] (born 1927), husband of granddaughter of the founder, 2000 to 2008, fifth general superintendent.<ref name=racer>{{cite news |title=Preacher, racer are two of a kind. Dallenbach brothers follow different roads that intersect with love. |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DP&p_theme=dp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB1D1A24D5E1A01&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |quote=It's quite a spin from Wally's life as a race-car driver to the Rev. Robert Dallenbach's small Pillar of Fire Church, where drinking, dancing and smoking are forbidden. While Wally directs Denver's Grand Prix races this August, his older brother likely will be a few blocks away, preaching at Alma Temple. The Reverend Bob wears a charcoal-gray suit and Roman collar. His 8-year-old, church-owned Ford station wagon bears license tag ... But things aren't always what they seem with the brothers Dallenbach ...|publisher=[[Denver Post]] |date=April 30, 1990 |access-date= July 21, 2007 }}</ref>
*[[Joseph Gross]], 2008 to present, sixth general superintendent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Somerset Christian College|url=http://www.somerset.edu/pages/page.asp?page_id=80731|publisher=[[Somerset Christian College]]|access-date=2009-10-17|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906193854/http://www.somerset.edu/pages/page.asp?page_id=80731|archive-date=2009-09-06}}</ref>

===Other leaders and notable members===
*Reverend Robert K. Cruver, Jr.
*Reverend Stephan P. Nash
*Bishop [[William Cruver]]
*Reverend [[Branford Clarke]]
*Reverend [[Pauline White Dallenbach]]
*Reverend Thomas A. Goode, he sued the church in 1920 saying the church "had alienated the affections of his wife and defrauded him of his property"<ref>{{cite news |title=Minister Sues Pillar of Fire. Charges Organization With Alienating Wife. Reveals Secrets and Requirements of the Cult. Avers Head Has Amassed Fortune from Gullible |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/330702552.html?dids=330702552:330702552&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+31%2C+1920&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=MINISTER+SUES+PILLAR+OF+FIRE.&pqatl=google |quote=Charging that the Pillar of Fire, an organization of nation-wide scope, of which Alma White of Bound Brook, N.J., is founder, had alienated the affections of his wife and defrauded him of his property, the Rev. Thomas A. Goode, a former member of the organization, today filed suit in the District Court for $100,000 damages. |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 31, 1920 |access-date=2010-01-11 |archive-date=2011-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604033626/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/330702552.html?dids=330702552:330702552&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+31,+1920&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=MINISTER+SUES+PILLAR+OF+FIRE.&pqatl=google |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*Bishop Wilber Konkel
*Bishop E. Jerry Lawrence
*Bishop A. R. Stewart
*Reverend [[Johannes Maas]], ordained by Bishop Arthur White in 1956, international president, Worldwide Faith Missions<ref>[https://www.scribd.com/doc/23973894/Dr-Johannes-Maas-Biography Scribd.com]</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/93216529/Dr-Johannes-Maas-Biography |title = Dr. Johannes Maas Biography &#124; Holiness Movement &#124; Methodism}}</ref>
*Reverend [[Kathleen Merrell White]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWSlAAAAMAAJ |title=Who's who in American education|access-date=2009-07-07 |publisher=[[Who's Who in American Education]] |year=1966 }}</ref>
*Reverend [[Gertrude Metlen Wolfram]] (1888–1959) was the dean of Alma White College<ref>{{cite book |author=Gertrude Metlen Wolfram |title=The widow of Zarephath |year=1954 |publisher=Pillar of Fire Church | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmfUAAAAMAAJ |author-link= Gertrude Metlen Wolfram}}</ref>

==Timeline==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*1862 Birth of Alma White as "Mollie Alma Bridwell" in [[Lewis County, Kentucky|Kinniconick, Kentucky]]<ref name=eb/>
*1887 Marriage of Alma Bridwell to Kent White
*1896 Church established in Denver<ref name=StanleyReview>[http://www.bethelcollege.edu/academics/library/Archives/reflections/v3n2p30_32.pdf#search=%22%22woman's%20chains%22%22 Book Review of Susie Cunningham Stanley's "Feminist Pillar of Fire: The Life of Alma White"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915145616/http://www.bethelcollege.edu/academics/library/Archives/reflections/v3n2p30_32.pdf#search=%22%22woman's%20chains%22%22 |date=2006-09-15 }} [[Bethel College (Indiana)]], accessed September 2, 2006</ref>
*1901 Methodist Pentecostal Union Church dedicated in Denver in December<ref name=almaobit/>
*1902 Alma White ordained an elder<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010424181636/http://www.alabaster-jars.com/timeline1900s.html Time Line 1900s], accessed September 2, 2006</ref>
*1904 ''Pentecostal Union Herald'' changed to ''Pillar of Fire''<ref name=ColoradoSprings>[http://www.springsgov.com/pln/historic3/WalkingTour.ASP?WCI=CityHall&WCE=189&Click=Short Historic Downtown Colorado Springs] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070928061520/http://www.springsgov.com/pln/historic3/WalkingTour.ASP?WCI=CityHall&WCE=189&Click=Short |date=2007-09-28 }}, accessed September 2, 2006</ref>
*{{Circa|1905}} Pillar of Fire separates from [[Methodist Episcopal Church]]
*1907 Creation of community at Zarephath, New Jersey<ref name=almaobit/>
*1909 Alma White separates from husband after he converts to [[Pentecostalism]]<ref name=StanleyReview /><ref name=famous>{{cite book |author=Robert McHenry |title=Famous American women |publisher=Dover |year=1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/famousamericanwo00mche |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/famousamericanwo00mche/page/438 438] |quote=Alma White College 1917. |isbn=0-486-24523-3 |author-link= Robert McHenry}}</ref>
*1913 Begins publishing ''The Good Citizen'', which is in print until 1933
*1915 Publishes "Why I do not eat meat"
*1917 Name of church officially changed to "Pillar of Fire"<ref name=ColoradoSprings />
*1917 Alma White College founded in Zarephath, New Jersey<ref name=Colleges />
*1918 White becomes the first woman ordained as a bishop in the United States<ref name=almaobit/> by William Godbey<ref name=StanleyReview />
*1920 Acquires Westminster University of Colorado property in Westminster, Colorado<ref name=Westminster>[http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/city/history/Princeton.htm Historic Westminster, Colorado: The Princeton of the West] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005135219/http://ci.westminster.co.us/city/history/Princeton.htm |date=2006-10-05 }}, accessed September 2, 2006</ref>
*1924 Publishes ''Woman's Chains'', which is in print until 1970<ref name=StanleyReview />
*1925 Westminster University renamed Belleview College and Preparatory School<ref name=Westminster />
*1925 Publishes ''[[The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy]]''
*1926 Publishes ''[[Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty]]''
*1928 Publishes ''[[Heroes of the Fiery Cross]]''
*1928 KPOF radio station in Westminster, Colorado<ref>[http://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/docs/fs046.html Denver Radio: 80 Years of Change] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519024229/http://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/docs/fs046.html |date=2009-05-19 }}, accessed September 1, 2006 – "On March 9 [1928], KPOF went on the air and was owned by a religious movement called the Pillar of Fire.</ref>
*1931 WAWZ radio station in Zarephath, New Jersey<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/piratejim/njamhistory8.html|title=New Jersey AM Radio History, Page 8 (1300 to 1380)|work=Radio-History.com|access-date=17 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405181136/http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/piratejim/njamhistory8.html|archive-date=2014-04-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1932 Church established in [[Morrison, Colorado]]<ref>[http://town.morrison.co.us/history/buildings/Church.php The Town of Morrison, Colorado: Pillar of Fire Church], accessed September 2, 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829100040/http://town.morrison.co.us/history/buildings/Church.php |date=August 29, 2006 }}</ref>
*1936 Property estimated at $US 4M with 4,000 adherents in 46 congregations<ref name=famous/>
*1943 Republishes ''[[Guardians of Liberty]]'' as a three volume set
*1946 Death of Alma White on June 26<ref name=almaobit/><ref>{{cite news |title=Fundamentalist Pillar. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778753,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930050153/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778753,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |quote=[She] built a sect called Pillar of Fire — with 4,000 followers, 61 churches, seven schools, ten periodicals and two broadcasting stations. Last week, as it must even to 'the only woman bishop in the world,' Death came to the Pillar of Fire's 84-year-old founder. |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 8, 1946 |access-date=2007-09-25 }}</ref>
*1946 Death of [[Ray Bridwell White]] on November 5<ref>{{cite news |title=Ray Bridwell White; Pillar of Fire Church Leader, Son of Late Bishop, Dies. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/11/06/archives/ray-bridwell-white-pillar-of-fire-church-leader-son-of-late-bishop.html |work=[[New York Times]] |date=November 6, 1946 |access-date=2007-08-21 }}</ref>
*1946 Arthur Kent White begins tenure as second general superintendent
*1978 Alma White College closes<ref name=Colleges />
*1981 Arthur Kent White ends tenure<ref name=arthurobit/>
*1981 Arlene White begins tenure as third general superintendent
*1984 Arlene White ends tenure
*1985 Donald Justin Wolfram begins tenure as fourth general superintendent<ref name=Wolfram>{{cite web |url=http://www.belleview-college.org/at/Sermons/djw/djw-obituary.html |title=Promoted to Glory: Donald Justin Wolfram, 83, Bishop |access-date=2007-08-26 |quote=Dr. Donald J. Wolfram left this life on August 25, 2003, after a brief bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 83. He was immediate past president and general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire International Christian denomination, an office he held from 1985 through 2000. He was laid to rest at Belleview Cemetery, Westminster, Colorado, on the campus where he had labored so faithfully for the Lord. Dr. Wolfram was born November 13, 1919, at [[Zarephath, New Jersey]], to Rev. Albert and Rev. Gertrude Metlen Wolfram, pioneer missionaries in the Pillar of Fire. He was ordained to the ministry at age 16, later was consecrated a bishop, and spent his life working for the cause of Christ and holiness of heart and life.  |publisher=[[Belleview College]] }}</ref>
*2000 Donald Justin Wolfram ends tenure<ref name=Wolfram />
*2000 Robert B. Dallenbach begins tenure as fifth general superintendent
*2003 Donald Justin Wolfram dies on August 25<ref name=denver/><ref name=Wolfram />
*2008 Robert B. Dallenbach loses vote of confidence at 2008 camp meeting.  Vice Superintendent Joseph Gross becomes sixth general superintendent.
*2009 Somerset Christian Academy, formerly Alma Preparatory School, closes
{{div col end}}

==In popular culture==
Alma White, the Pillar of Fire, and their association with the Klan are dramatized in [[Libba Bray]]'s New York Times best-selling 2012 murder mystery ''[[The Diviners (Young Adult Novel)|The Diviners]]'', in a chapter titled "[[The Good Citizen]]". ''The Diviners'' is being made into a feature film by Paramount Pictures.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

==See also==
*[[List of Methodist denominations]]
*[[Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}} 
*Cyril Edwin Mitchinson; The Babbitt Warren (1927)
*Charles Wright Ferguson; The New Books of Revelations: The Inside Story of America's Astounding Religious Cults (1929)
*Alma White's Evangelism Press Reports, compiled by C. R. Paige and C.K. Ingler (1939)
*Susie Cunningham Stanley; Feminist Pillar of Fire: The Life of Alma White; Cleveland, Ohio; The Pilgrim Press, (1993) {{ISBN|0-8298-0950-3}}
*{{cite book |last=Blee |first=Kathleen M.|title=Women of the Klan |year=1991 |publisher=University of California Press| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcEyMwIpgRMC&q=women+of+the+klan&pg=PP1 |isbn=978-0-520-07876-5  }}
*Randall Balmer; Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (2004) {{ISBN|1-932792-04-X}}
{{refend}}
<!--===Periodicals===
{{refbegin|2}} 
* New York Times; June 15, 1922; Letters to the Editor; p.&nbsp;15. Letter from A. Stevens "May I suggest among the twelve greatest American women: [[Mother Lathrop]] of the Home for Sufferers and Bishop Alma White of the Pillar of Fire Church."
* New York Times; May 7, 1923; p.&nbsp;15. "Armed Men Guard Services At Church: State Troopers at Pillar of Fire Temple While Bishop Alma White Preaches."
* New York Times; April 16, 1926; p.&nbsp;21. "Woman Bishop Calls For Fashion Revolt: Head of Pillar of Fire Church, on Mission to England, Blames Men for 'Cruel' Styles."
* New York Times; August 25, 1928; p.&nbsp;20. "Pillar of Fire Church in Camp."
* [[Chicago Tribune]]; October 10, 1928; p.&nbsp;21. "Bishop Alma And [[Aimee May]] Do Some Spiritual Sparring"
* New York Times; August 16, 1930; p.&nbsp;13. "Pillar of Fire Bishop Back."
* New York Times; August 24, 1936; p.&nbsp;10. "Revival Sect Hails Depression As Boon: Pillar of Fire Group's Founder, 74, Reports Peak of Prosperity to 1,200 at Meeting."
* [[Time (magazine)|Time]]; November 22, 1937; [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190312/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,758421,00.html Legalists & Charismatics.] "A woman, Mrs. [[Alma White]], is bishop of the pentecostal Pillar of Fire church, in [[Zarephath, New Jersey]]"
* Time magazine; December 18, 1939; [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041644/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763099,00.html?iid=chix-sphere Bishop v. Drink.] "'We've been over to Alma Temple and signed the pledge and joined the Dry Legion Crusaders. We shall never drink a drop, and when we're old enough we are going to vote the wicked stuff out of existence.' Author of these plays, written for radio and church performance, and acted last week on the platform in a church in [[Boulder, Colorado]], was a masterful, mannish-voiced gynotheocrat, Bishop Alma White, 77."
* New York Times; August 23, 1950; p.&nbsp;33. "2,000 Revivalists Gather in New Jersey As Pillar of Fire Meeting Nears Climax."
* New York Times; August 24, 1975; p.&nbsp;60. "Faithful Savor Rural Life"
*Kristin E. Kandt; Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White, 8 Am. U. J. Gender, Soc. Pol. & L 753 (2000)
*Christianizing the Klan:  Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance by Lynn S. Neal  ''Church History'' June 2009
{{refend}}-->

==External links==
*{{official website|http://www.pillar.org/}}
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/8629844@N02/page3/ Images of intolerance published by the Pillar of Fire Church] on Flickr
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/8629844@N02/sets/72157627134215437/ Documented Ku Klux Klan Gatherings at Zarephath]
*[https://archive.today/20120713073421/http://richard.arthur.norton.googlepages.com/almawhitebibliography Pillar of Fire bibliography]
*[http://www.belleview-college.org Belleview College]
*[https://youtube/Nj5uJgMLk84 located in Zarephath, New Jersey. It is a listener supported/commercial radio station owned by the E.G.W.]{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Pillar of Fire Church}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillar of Fire International}}
[[Category:Pillar of Fire International| ]]
[[Category:Ku Klux Klan]]
[[Category:Methodist denominations]]
[[Category:Christianity in Denver]]
[[Category:Christian organizations established in 1901]]
[[Category:Holiness denominations]]
[[Category:Methodist denominations established in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Zarephath, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Methodist denominations in North America]]
[[Category:Fundamentalist denominations]]
[[Category:1901 establishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:Protestantism and antisemitism]]
[[Category:Christian denominations founded in the United States]]