Abstract
The life and work of the Welsh evangelist George Jeffreys resulted in the planting of two denominations in the UK between 1915 and 1962, when he died. The Elim churches continue to this day to be one of the larger classical Pentecostal denominations in the UK, while the Bible Pattern Fellowship dispersed on Jeffreys’ death. The disputes that led to Jeffreys’ departure from Elim were said to have arisen from his adherence to British Israel doctrine, though his supporters believed they arose from his championing of local church ownership and democracy. This paper considers sociological and other reasons for Jeffreys’ remarkable success in the interwar years and his eventual departure from a denomination he founded. It concludes by reflecting on topics (such as the importance of debate and law) that have relevance for contemporary Pentecostalism.
Highlights
George Jeffreys (1889–1962) has been called the greatest British evangelist since John Wesley and George Whitfield (Cartwright 2002, p. 808). He self-identified as a Pentecostal. He preached throughout the British Isles during his adult life and planted the Elim Pentecostal denomination, which continues to flourish to this day
Without Jeffreys, there would have been no Elim, since it is impossible to believe a movement of its type would have arisen spontaneously or through the variable effects of culture
During regular summer trips to France and Switzerland, he had seen plentiful conversions, though without forming any new congregations there. As part of his drive to pay off debt, he proposed dividing the Elim churches into two sections, the best and most prosperous led by experienced pastors in a ‘Jubilee Concentration’, and the rest in a ‘Forward Movement’
Summary
George Jeffreys (1889–1962) has been called the greatest British evangelist since John Wesley and George Whitfield (Cartwright 2002, p. 808). He preached throughout the British Isles during his adult life and planted the Elim Pentecostal denomination, which continues to flourish to this day. While the analysis of historical causation is fundamentally problematic, given the interaction between indeterminate human agency and social and cultural factors that can be theorised according to a variety of positions, this paper will outline the stages in the life of Jeffreys and end by adducing possible causes of his successes and failures, some of which utilise sociological theory. Without Jeffreys, there would have been no Elim, since it is impossible to believe a movement of its type would have arisen spontaneously or through the variable effects of culture. We may be able to infer traces of his inner life with reference to his position within a particular social group at a particular point in time (e.g., in his attitude to debt), but, we may be wrong in making these inferences, since Jeffreys was atypical, as is borne out by the remarkable achievements of his life
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