The Apostolic Faith Temple of the Apostolic Faith
COOLJC is an Apostolic Pentecostal organization organized
in 1919. The Apostolic Faith Temple, as it is most commonly known,
was organized by Robert C. Lawson. Lawson, a protégé of G.T. Haywood,
began to evangelize throughout the Midwest soon after he received
salvation and the baptism of the Holy Ghost in 1913. In 1998 the
church had about 30,000 members in 450 churches in the United States.
There are also congregations in Africa, the British West Indies,
the Dominican Republic, England, Haiti, and the Philippines. Its
U.S. membership is predominantly African-American. Headquartered
in New York City, the church operates W.L. Bonner College in Columbia,
South Carolina and the Church of Christ Bible Institute in New York
City. The Apostolic Faith Temple has been very influential among
African-American Pentecostal churches, and has given rise to several
spin-off bodies. COOLJC, located in Riviera Beach, Florida is among
the hundreds of churches around the nation. |
