House of Prayer (denomination)

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House of Prayer
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationWesleyan-Holiness
Restorationism
Communalism
TheologyWesleyan-Arminian
PolityCongregational-Connectional
RegionOhio
Origin1919
Separated fromChurches of Christ in Christian Union (partially)
Congregations2
MembersApprox. 200 (1999)

House of Prayer is a Christian denomination aligned with the conservative holiness movement. It has roots in Christian communalism, Restorationism, and the Wesleyan-Holiness movement.

Background[]

House of Prayer founder Edward Wayne Runyan (1864–1945) followed the example of the "Holy Jumpers" of the Metropolitan Church Association, a Holiness Methodist denomination that taught that Christians should live communally in accordance with the teachings in Acts 2:44–47.[1][2][3]

In 1917, several converts were made among the Churches of Christ in Christian Union including one of the denomination's founders, Henry C. Leeth (?–1967). Leeth started a Christian commune with Runyan. The commune consisted of a farm and a store near Urbana, Ohio.

The Churches of Christ in Christian Union expelled Leeth and 13 other ministers for holding to Runyan's teachings, which denominational leaders found to be too humanistic.[4] Leeth became the House of Prayer's first bishop (or elder) in 1919. The movement and churches went by many names over the years in addition to House of Prayer (HP for short): All Things Common, God's Non-Sectarian Tabernacle, and simply "The Church."

Though the commune failed, the House of Prayer set up many churches and an annual camp meeting which at its peak attracted a thousand visitors per year. It published the periodicals the Herald of Perfect Christianity and Repairer of the Breach, copies of which are lost. Headquarters was in Washington Court House, Ohio—where a church still met as of 2014.

In 1999, the denomination reported two churches and around 200 members, as well as the annual camp meeting.[3]

House of Prayer pastors and congregants have attended the Interchurch Holiness Convention (IHC).

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Rodgers, Darrin J. (27 October 2011). "Holy Jumpers: Evangelicals and Radicals in Progressive Era America (review)". The Catholic Historical Review. 97 (4): 859–860. doi:10.1353/cat.2011.0154. S2CID 162390783. Project MUSE 455149.
  2. ^ Long, Christopher. "Burning Bush Colony". Handbook of Texas Online.
  3. ^ a b "House of Prayer," The A to Z of the Holiness Movement edited by William Kostlevy, Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 https://books.google.com/books?id=23-KTx1iMiIC &pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=HP+Edward+wayne+runyon +house+of+prayer&source=bl&ots=LLqKlg_iZH&sig=wZrO9uVKFhEvatiVBSfR0ziPuwM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t49zVNnfA8mAygTUkoDICw&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepag e&q&f=false
  4. ^ A Goodly Heritage: A History of the Churches of Christ in Christian Union, 1976, pg. 112.

External links[]

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