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| Robert Clarence Lawson, ThB, DD, LLD, founder of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. |
Some 60 years ago almost, Bishop Robert Clarence Lawson suffered a brief illness and died. While his body remains interred, his memory has resurrected, bringing with it information that might have been lost forever. Fortunately, we are able to rescue much information from going over the great waterfall of oblivion by online research and reading what others have written before in books and other original documents. It is the honor of this writer to attempt to contextualize for contemporaries and for posterity the significance of Lawson and to describe, as best he can, body life as experienced in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
I was a 12-year-old when Bishop Lawson passed. I attended John S. Bean's church until the infamous split in the organization. I remember the trauma it caused initially, but upon reflection I feel the outcome was provincial. I admired Bishop Lawson for the impact he had upon the life and communities of his followers. Own property, have a business, and adopt children who need a family, this was the culture created in churches around the country whose leaders were progressive enough to model a church agenda in an expansive perception of: "greater works shall ye do."
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful tribute. I pray more leaders and lay members recover this vision.
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