Peter Wiley Philpott
Reverend Peter Wiley Philpott | |
|---|---|
 Philpott c. 1925 | |
| Born | 25 November 1865 |
| Died | 1 April 1957 (aged 91) |
| Burial place | Hamilton, Ontario |
| Occupation(s) | blacksmith, Salvation Army officer, minister |
| Years active | 1892–c. 1953 |
| Known for | Founding the United Christian Workers (1892)[a] |
| Spouse | Jessie Menzies |
| Children | 13, including |
| Parents |
|
| Religion | Christian |
| Church | Associated Gospel Churches |
| Ordained | 30 September 1892 by Christian & Missionary Alliance |
Congregations served |
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Offices held |
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Peter Wiley Philpott (1865–1957), a Canadian Christian fundamentalist and evangelist, founded the United Christian Workers, a working-class religious movement later known as the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada.
Biography
Early life
Philpott was born in 1865 on a farm in Elgin County, Ontario. He attended grammar school till the age of 13, and was then apprenticed to a blacksmith in Chatham for a few years.[1]: 103
Salvation Army
He joined the Salvation Army in 1884 after experiencing a religious conversion at an Army rally in Dresden, Ontario, where he was mainly raised.[1]: 103 The Army had recently formed a congregation there.[2]: 15
Philpott rose to the high rank of brigadier, and was appointed a member of the Canadian Commissioner's advisory committee.[3]: 124 He married Jessie Menzies, a fellow Army officer, in 1887;[1]: 103 they went on to have 13 children.[1]: 107
United Christian Workers
In 1892, after a prolonged and public dispute focused on congregational autonomy, Philpott resigned from the Army, precipitating a significant secession of officers and soldiers.[1]: 104–106 The secessionists created a new religious organization, the United Christian Workers, with Philpott its elected president.[4]: 108
Later that same year, Philpott was ordained by the Christian & Missionary Alliance,[5]: 359 and went on to establish congregations of Christian Workers in Hamilton and Toronto. The Hamilton church was known as the Gospel Mission;[4]: 108 migrant Scottish steelworkers were a significant part of its congregation.[6]
In 1896, Philpott became minister of the Hamilton church, a position he held till 1922. He changed its name to the Gospel Tabernacle, and organised the construction of a large new church that opened in 1906 (it was renamed the Philpott Tabernacle in 1926).[4]: 108–109 A 1903 Hamilton newspaper referred to the Christian Workers as:[7]
[A] religious body without pope, primate, metropolitan, bishop or president. Each branch is self-governed, self-supported; it settles all matters for itself. There is no creed, dogma or confession of faith to perplex the members, who appear to be well satisfied, and are doing much good in the places where branches have been established – not only doing much good individually, but adding to their membership and erecting churches, "to which everybody is heartily welcome".
While ministering in Hamilton, he remained affiliated with the Christian & Missionary Alliance, serving successively as its superintendent for Western Canada (1899–1900) and associate superintendent for Eastern Canada (1901–1902).[4]: 109
Moody Church and Church of the Open Door
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From 1922 to 1929, Philpott was pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago,[8] overseeing the construction of a massive new church building as a memorial to Dwight Moody.[5]: 359
In 1929, he became pastor of the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles.
Later life
After retiring in 1932, Philpott settled in Toronto, where he sometimes filled in for Thomas Shields at Jarvis Street Baptist Church. In 1943, he was appointed associate minister at Oswald Smith's People's Church.[4]: 112 He made extensive speaking tours throughout North America until a few years before he died in 1957.[1]: 108
Beliefs and outlook
Philpott was a speaker at the 1919 World Conference on Christian Fundamentals. In his presentation, he said that critics of the Bible should be ignored, and asserted the importance of conversion and a Keswickian approach to living a more holy life.[5]: 359
Draper (2003), drawing on Philpott's sermons and articles, observes that Philpott saw "all of life as a 'service' to God", and in his writings made many references to the importance of "honest toil and labouring". Draper adds that the vocabulary of the Christian Workers made considerable reference to waged employment in its metaphors and imagery.[1]: 109
Draper also states that Philpott's self-identification as a "blacksmith preacher" persistently framed his discourse as a pastor, quoting, as an example, this anecdote from a 1921 sermon:[1]: 114
One day a clergyman in this city called to see a man and wife and asked why they did not come to his Church, which was nearby. They said, "We go to the Tabernacle to hear Philpott." He said, "You go up there to hear that man! Why do you not go to a real Church?" "Why? What is the matter there? Is there anything wrong?" "Well," the clergyman replied, "if you were going to call a doctor, you would call in a real doctor would you not? You would not call in a quack." "Well," said my friend, "There are a lot of sick sinners being saved up there." "Yes, but look at that man. He is not a preacher at all. He is just a blacksmith." I sometimes think I spoiled a pretty good blacksmith to make a poor preacher. His wife could not stand it any longer, and said, "Well, Jesus was a carpenter, and I guess they make a pretty good pair," and she left the room.
Works
- New Light: Containing a Full Account of the Recent Salvation Army Troubles in Canada. Toronto: Rose Publishing Company. 1892. OCLC 8444697. An account of the circumstances leading up to Philpott's resignation from the Salvation Army.[b]
- Enter the Inner Circle. Toronto: Evangelical Publishers. 1919. ISBN 978-0-659-90971-8. OCLC 66004181.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) A short homily on relationships between Jesus and his followers and apostles.
- "The Witness of Human Experience to the Inspiration of the Word". God Hath Spoken: Twenty-five Addresses Delivered at the World Conference on Christian Fundamentals. Philadelphia: Bible Conference Committee. 1919. pp. 109–122. OCLC 1059107. Asserts that personal experience of conversion cannot be reasoned against or argued away.
- Is Healing in the Atonement of Christ? Chicago: Bible Institute Colportage Association. c. 1920. OCLC 78391810 Discusses the connection between physical healing and the Christian concept of atonement.
- Is God Still Speaking to Men? and Other Addresses. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company. 1930. OCLC 10773482. A collection of sermons.
- Sixty Wonderful Years. Los Angeles: Bible House of Los Angeles. 1946. OCLC 709793623. In this short booklet, Philpott describes his own religious conversion and how he converted others.
See also
- Associated Gospel Churches of Canada – Canadian evangelical Christian denomination
- Christian fundamentalism – Religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism
- Fundamentalist Christianity in Canada
- Moody Church – Evangelical Christian church in Chicago, United States
- Salvation Army – Protestant Methodist Evangelical church and charitable organization
Notes
- ^ Renamed the Christian Workers' Church in 1922, and in 1925, the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada.
- ^ Co-authored with A. W. Roffe, who also resigned.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Draper, Kenneth L. (1 May 2003). "A People's Religion: P. W. Philpott and the Hamilton Christian Workers' Church". Histoire Sociale / Social History. 71. 36: 99–121. Retrieved 17 August 2025 – via Public Knowledge Network.
- ^ Hyatt, Alice L. (1967). The Story of Dresden 1825–1967. Dresden, Ontario: The Dresden News. OCLC 10817898. Retrieved 17 August 2025 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Moyles, R. G. (1977). The Blood and Fire in Canada: A History of the Salvation Army in the Dominion of Canada, 1882–1976 (1st ed.). Toronto: P. Martin Associates. ISBN 978-0-887-78169-8. OCLC 4230583. Retrieved 17 August 2025 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c d e Elliott, David R. (1989). "Chapter 5: P. W. Philpott (c. 1866–1957): Patriarch of Fundamentalism". Stories of Eight Canadian Fundamentalists (PhD thesis). University of British Columbia. pp. 106–113. doi:10.14288/1.0098291.
- ^ a b c Elliott, David R. (1993). "Knowing No Borders: Canadian Contributions to American Fundamentalism". In Rawlyk, George A.; Noll, Mark A. (eds.). Amazing Grace: Evangelicalism in Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States. Montreal: McGill–Queen's University Press. pp. 349–374. ISBN 978-0-773-51214-6. OCLC 864841900. Retrieved 17 August 2025 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Balmer, Randall (2004). "Philpott, P(eter) W(iley) (1865–1957)". Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (rev. & expanded ed.). Waco: Baylor University Press. p. 540. ISBN 978-1-932-79204-1. OCLC 55131568. Retrieved 17 August 2025 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Christian Workers: One of the Most Recent Additions to the List of Denominations Holding Religious Services in Hamilton". Hamilton Herald. 24 January 1903. Cited by Draper (2003), p. 106, ft 31.
- ^ Flood, Robert G. (1985). "Chapter 4: P. W. Philpott: The Building Years (1922–1929)". The Story of Moody Church. Chicago: Moody Church. pp. 21–27. ISBN 978-0-802-40539-5. OCLC 12664012.
Further reading
- Elliott, David R. (2023). From Anvil to Pulpit: P. W. Philpott's Spiritual Journey, his Family, and his Struggles for Ethical Integrity. Parkhill, Ontario: Theological Resources. ISBN 978-1-927-35773-6. OCLC 1390886733. A biography.