Christian Holiness Association Leaders and Evangelists (late 19th cent.)
Sitting (Left to Right): George Asbury McLaughlin, Amanda Berry Smith,
Milton Lorenzo Haney, Unknown, and Charles Joseph Fowler
Standing (Left to Right): Margaret Jenkins Harris, John Millard Harris,
Image Used Courtesy of The Church of the Nazarene Archives
As many of the traditional camp meetings were fading in their spiritual vitality, others were rethinking the role of the camp meeting in American spirituality. In 1866 a small group of Methodist leaders connected to the Holiness Movement, including Rev. John A. Wood, William B. Osborn, and Rev. John S. Inskip, met and organized the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness. They held their first national camp meeting in July of 1867 at Vineland, New Jersey and Rev. John S. Inskip was elected as president. It is estimated that 10,000 people attended. The second national camp meeting in 1868 at Manheim, Pennsylvania drew close to 25,000 people, and the third national camp meeting held in 1869 at Round Lake, New York solidified the movement as a major spiritual force.
In 1870, the organization purchased a tent and planned three major camp meetings in strategic areas of the country. They also began production of a periodical, The Advocate of Christian Holiness, in the same year. After Inskip’s death in 1884, William McDonald, the editor of The Advocate for Christian Holiness was named the new president of the organization. In 1894, Charles J. Fowler was named the third president. In 1899 the organization became the National Association for the Promotion of Holiness and continues today as the Christian Holiness Partnership.
At the center of the photograph of the Douglas Camp Meeting of 1890, a number of important figures can be seen. The bearded Methodist missionary Bishop William Taylor (1821-1902) is standing with his son, Ross Taylor on his left. To his right is Rev. I. T. Johnson, an evangelist of the period. Standing one person over from Ross Taylor is Dr. Edgar M. Levy (1822-1906), a well-known Baptist leader who experienced sanctification and advocated for this experience in that tradition. One person over from Rev. I.T. Johnson is Deacon George M. Morse, another Baptist who had experienced sanctification and founded the Douglas Camp Meeting. It was under Morse that Charles Fowler experienced entire sanctification.
