H aywood, G arfield T. (1880–1931)

Abstract

Abstract The African American G. T. Haywood, pastor, evangelist, bishop, editor, gospel song writer, and author, was one of the most influential leaders in early Pentecostalism in the United States and a friend of W. J. Seymour. Being black, he was a symbolic figure with whom people of the African Diaspora could identify. He was born in Greencastle, Indiana, on July 15, 1880, to a poor family, descendants of slaves. Early he discovered his educational zeal and his particular talent for cartooning, which helped his ministry and turned him almost into a professional journalist. His Christian background was predominantly Baptist, but he received the Pentecostal experience in a small interracial storefront church connected with the Azusa Street Revival. Against his own intentions, he felt, after an accident, called to the ministry and became a pastor in 1909. This marks the beginning of a success story of the Apostolic Assembly in Indianapolis which soon moved from the black ghetto to the more integrated north of the city, building Christ Temple in 1924 with space for 1,500 members of all races, cultures, and professions. Thus Haywood rose from an obscure “Jack Leg Preacher” to the presiding bishop of a large interracial Pentecostal church. He was known as the “walking bible,” a “mighty sledge hammer in the circles of Christian journalism,” a dynamic preacher, a progressive leader, a friend of the outcasts, and a man of tolerance and an infectious smile.