Gender History in Newfoundland Pentecostalism
Alice Belle Garrigus and Beyond
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ptcs.v15i2.31413Keywords:
Newfoundland, Pentecostal history, Alice Belle Garrigus, gender, visual textsAbstract
This Canadian case study explores how Pentecostal history intersects with questions of gender, authority and power. Alice Belle Garrigus was the founder of Newfoundland Pentecostalism but some have argued that it was the men she recruited who really expanded the movement. This paper sets aside the depictions of Garrigus as a marginalized aging woman to listen instead to her own voice as she recounted her testimony of call and ministry. A 1929 photograph of Pentecostal workers is used to explore gender and leadership. By incorporating congregational histories, autobiographical writings, and an oral history account, a more complete cast of workers emerges and the gendered story of Pentecostalism’s early days in Newfoundland is rendered more complex. Moving beyond a simple binary debate about whether it was “Alice or the men” who really account for the spread of Pentecostalism, the paper argues instead that the best explanation for how Pentecostalism was established in Newfoundland is that the movement relied upon a complex network of both male and female actors. That complexity sometimes has been obscured because of the gendered ways in which the history of Newfoundland Pentecostal history has been written and recounted, with an emphasis on male leadership and their contributions.
References
Ambrose, L. M. “Establishing a Gendered Authority through Pentecostal Publications: The Writings of Zelma Argue, 1920–1969”. Historical Papers: Journal of the Canadian Society of Church History (2009): 69–80, http://historicalpapers.journals.yorku.ca/ index.php/historicalpapers/article/view/39138/35495.
—. “Thinking Through the Methodological and Theoretical Quandaries of Gender and Canadian Pentecostal History”. Canadian Journal of Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity 3 (2012): 70–88, https://journal.twu.ca/index.php/CJPC/article/ view/75/56.
— and L. Payne. “Reflections on the Potential of Gender Theory for North American Pentecostal History”. Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 36.1 (2014): 45–63.
Anderson, A. H. To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Barfoot, C. H. and G. T. Sheppard. “Prophetic vs. Priestly Religion: the Changing Role of Women Clergy in Classical Pentecostal Churches”. Review of Religious Research 22.1 (1980): 2–17.
Brereton, V. L. From Sin to Salvation: Stories of Women’s Conversions, 1800 to Present. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991.
Brusco, E. H. “Gender and Power”. In A. H. Anderson et al. (eds), Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010: 74–92.
—. “Reading the Visual Record”. In A. Cameron (ed.), Looking for America: The Visual Production of Nation and People. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005: 362–70.
Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Eleventh Census of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1945, Volume I: Population. St John’s: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1945.
Coleman, S. “Pilgrimage as Trope for an Anthropology of Christianity”. Current Anthropology 55.S10 (December 2014): S281–91.
Fielding, K. “A Crash Course in Literary Theory: Gendered Readings”. http:// katiefieldingliterature.weebly.com/gendered-readings.html (accessed 25 April 2016).
Flynn, E. A. and P. P. Schweickart (eds). Gender and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts, and Contexts. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.
Forsey, E. H. Great is Thy Faithfulness. Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, 1993.
Gallagher, S. K. and S. L. Wood. “‘Godly Manhood Gone Wild?’: Transformations in Conservative Protestant Masculinity”. Sociology of Religion 66.2 (2005): 135–60
Garrigus, A. B. “Pentecostal Assemblies in Newfoundland”. In J. R. Smallwood (ed.), The Book of Newfoundland, vol. II. St John’s: Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1937: 301.
—. Walking in the King’s Highway. St John’s: Good Tidings, September 1938–December 1942.
Hammond, J. W. The Joyful Sound: A History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and Labrador. St Stephen, New Brunswick: Print ’n’ Press, 1982.
Hartmann, N. “You Deal With What She Sends: Masculine Performances Among Newfoundland Off-Shore Working Fathers”. Regional Language Studies … Newfoundland 24 (2013): 43–9.
Hattie-Longmire, B. “‘Sit Down, Brother!’: Alice Belle Garrigus and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland”. MA thesis, Joint Women’s Studies Program, Mount Saint Vincent University, Dalhousie University/Saint Mary’s University, 2001.
Howson, A. The Body in Society: An Introduction, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.
Inckle, K. Writing on the Body? Thinking Through Gendered Embodiment and Marked Flesh. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007.
Janes, B. K. The Ancient Landmarks of Happy Cove and the Faithful Seven. St John’s: Robinson-Blackmore Printing and Publishing, 2001.
—. From Hinder’s Hall to Emmanuel. St John’s: Robinson-Blackmore Printing and Publishing, 1996.
—. From the Cottage to the Tabernacle. Embree: Glad Tidings Tabernacle, 2006.
— [as BKJ]. “Garrigus, Alice Belle (1858–1949)”. In R. H. Cuff (ed.), Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador Biography. St John’s: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd., 1990.
—. History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland. St John’s: Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland, 1996.
—. A Journey of Faith and Grace. St John’s: Elim Pentecostal Tabernacle, 2011.
—. The Jug in the Window. St John’s: Print Atlantic, 2003.
—. The Lady Who Came: The Biography of Alice Belle Garrigus Newfoundland’s First Pentecostal Pioneer, Volume One (1858–1908). St John’s: Good Tidings Press, 1982.
—. The Lady Who Stayed: The Biography of Alice Belle Garrigus Newfoundland’s First Pentecostal Pioneer, Volume Two (1908–1949). St John’s: Good Tidings Press, 1983.
—. “‘Miss Garrigus Paid a Little Attention to Me’: An interview with Joseph R. Smallwood”. Newfoundland Quarterly 105.4 (2013): 30–33.
—. Reflections From Ship Cove to the Harbour Hills. Port de Grave: Pentecostal Tabernacle, 2000.
—. Where the River Flows: The History of Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle. Bishop’s Falls: Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle, 2013.
Kee, K. Revivalists: Marketing the Gospel in English Canada, 1884–1957. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006.
Keough, W. “(Re-)Telling Newfoundland Sealing Masculinity: Narrative and Counternarrative”. Journal of the Canadian Historical Association new series 21.1 (2010): 131–50.
Lawless, E. J. “‘The Night I Got the Holy Ghost …’: Holy Ghost Narratives and the Pentecostal Conversion Process”. Western Folklore 47.1 (Winter 1988): 1–19.
—. “Rescripting their Lives as Narratives: Spiritual Life Stories of Pentecostal Women Preachers”. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 7.1 (Spring 1991): 53–71.
McKinney, J.2015 Sects and Gender: Reaction and Resistance to Cultural Change. Seattle, WA: Winnifred E. Weter Lectures, Paper 30, 2015.
Morgan, C. M. The Skipper: Remembering Pastor Frank “FG” Bursey. Belleville, ON: Guardian Books, 2013.
Payne, L. Gender and Pentecostal Revivalism: Making a Female Ministry in the Early Twentieth Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Pinsent, W. P. “The Institutionalization of Experiential Religion – a Study of Newfoundland Pentecostalism”. MA thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998.
Porter, M. “‘She Was Skipper of the Shore-Crew’: Notes on the History of the Sexual Division of Labour in Newfoundland”. Labour/Le Travail 15 (1995): 105–23.
Rollmann, H. “Indigenization and Cultural Participation of the Newfoundland Pentecostal Movement”. www.mun.ca/rels/pent/texts/essay.html (accessed 17 August 2016).
Scott, J. W. Gender and the Politics of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
Vaters, E. “Pentecostal Work in Newfoundland: The Story Told for the First Time”. The Pentecostal Testimony (May 1936): 19–20.
Wacker, G. America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
Wilkinson, M. “Pentecostalism in Canada: An Introduction”. In M. Wilkinson (ed.), Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation. Montreal: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2009.
—. “Thinking Through the Methodological and Theoretical Quandaries of Gender and Canadian Pentecostal History”. Canadian Journal of Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity 3 (2012): 70–88, https://journal.twu.ca/index.php/CJPC/article/ view/75/56.
— and L. Payne. “Reflections on the Potential of Gender Theory for North American Pentecostal History”. Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 36.1 (2014): 45–63.
Anderson, A. H. To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Barfoot, C. H. and G. T. Sheppard. “Prophetic vs. Priestly Religion: the Changing Role of Women Clergy in Classical Pentecostal Churches”. Review of Religious Research 22.1 (1980): 2–17.
Brereton, V. L. From Sin to Salvation: Stories of Women’s Conversions, 1800 to Present. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991.
Brusco, E. H. “Gender and Power”. In A. H. Anderson et al. (eds), Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010: 74–92.
—. “Reading the Visual Record”. In A. Cameron (ed.), Looking for America: The Visual Production of Nation and People. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005: 362–70.
Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Eleventh Census of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1945, Volume I: Population. St John’s: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1945.
Coleman, S. “Pilgrimage as Trope for an Anthropology of Christianity”. Current Anthropology 55.S10 (December 2014): S281–91.
Fielding, K. “A Crash Course in Literary Theory: Gendered Readings”. http:// katiefieldingliterature.weebly.com/gendered-readings.html (accessed 25 April 2016).
Flynn, E. A. and P. P. Schweickart (eds). Gender and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts, and Contexts. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.
Forsey, E. H. Great is Thy Faithfulness. Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, 1993.
Gallagher, S. K. and S. L. Wood. “‘Godly Manhood Gone Wild?’: Transformations in Conservative Protestant Masculinity”. Sociology of Religion 66.2 (2005): 135–60
Garrigus, A. B. “Pentecostal Assemblies in Newfoundland”. In J. R. Smallwood (ed.), The Book of Newfoundland, vol. II. St John’s: Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1937: 301.
—. Walking in the King’s Highway. St John’s: Good Tidings, September 1938–December 1942.
Hammond, J. W. The Joyful Sound: A History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and Labrador. St Stephen, New Brunswick: Print ’n’ Press, 1982.
Hartmann, N. “You Deal With What She Sends: Masculine Performances Among Newfoundland Off-Shore Working Fathers”. Regional Language Studies … Newfoundland 24 (2013): 43–9.
Hattie-Longmire, B. “‘Sit Down, Brother!’: Alice Belle Garrigus and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland”. MA thesis, Joint Women’s Studies Program, Mount Saint Vincent University, Dalhousie University/Saint Mary’s University, 2001.
Howson, A. The Body in Society: An Introduction, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.
Inckle, K. Writing on the Body? Thinking Through Gendered Embodiment and Marked Flesh. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007.
Janes, B. K. The Ancient Landmarks of Happy Cove and the Faithful Seven. St John’s: Robinson-Blackmore Printing and Publishing, 2001.
—. From Hinder’s Hall to Emmanuel. St John’s: Robinson-Blackmore Printing and Publishing, 1996.
—. From the Cottage to the Tabernacle. Embree: Glad Tidings Tabernacle, 2006.
— [as BKJ]. “Garrigus, Alice Belle (1858–1949)”. In R. H. Cuff (ed.), Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador Biography. St John’s: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd., 1990.
—. History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland. St John’s: Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland, 1996.
—. A Journey of Faith and Grace. St John’s: Elim Pentecostal Tabernacle, 2011.
—. The Jug in the Window. St John’s: Print Atlantic, 2003.
—. The Lady Who Came: The Biography of Alice Belle Garrigus Newfoundland’s First Pentecostal Pioneer, Volume One (1858–1908). St John’s: Good Tidings Press, 1982.
—. The Lady Who Stayed: The Biography of Alice Belle Garrigus Newfoundland’s First Pentecostal Pioneer, Volume Two (1908–1949). St John’s: Good Tidings Press, 1983.
—. “‘Miss Garrigus Paid a Little Attention to Me’: An interview with Joseph R. Smallwood”. Newfoundland Quarterly 105.4 (2013): 30–33.
—. Reflections From Ship Cove to the Harbour Hills. Port de Grave: Pentecostal Tabernacle, 2000.
—. Where the River Flows: The History of Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle. Bishop’s Falls: Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle, 2013.
Kee, K. Revivalists: Marketing the Gospel in English Canada, 1884–1957. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006.
Keough, W. “(Re-)Telling Newfoundland Sealing Masculinity: Narrative and Counternarrative”. Journal of the Canadian Historical Association new series 21.1 (2010): 131–50.
Lawless, E. J. “‘The Night I Got the Holy Ghost …’: Holy Ghost Narratives and the Pentecostal Conversion Process”. Western Folklore 47.1 (Winter 1988): 1–19.
—. “Rescripting their Lives as Narratives: Spiritual Life Stories of Pentecostal Women Preachers”. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 7.1 (Spring 1991): 53–71.
McKinney, J.2015 Sects and Gender: Reaction and Resistance to Cultural Change. Seattle, WA: Winnifred E. Weter Lectures, Paper 30, 2015.
Morgan, C. M. The Skipper: Remembering Pastor Frank “FG” Bursey. Belleville, ON: Guardian Books, 2013.
Payne, L. Gender and Pentecostal Revivalism: Making a Female Ministry in the Early Twentieth Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Pinsent, W. P. “The Institutionalization of Experiential Religion – a Study of Newfoundland Pentecostalism”. MA thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998.
Porter, M. “‘She Was Skipper of the Shore-Crew’: Notes on the History of the Sexual Division of Labour in Newfoundland”. Labour/Le Travail 15 (1995): 105–23.
Rollmann, H. “Indigenization and Cultural Participation of the Newfoundland Pentecostal Movement”. www.mun.ca/rels/pent/texts/essay.html (accessed 17 August 2016).
Scott, J. W. Gender and the Politics of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
Vaters, E. “Pentecostal Work in Newfoundland: The Story Told for the First Time”. The Pentecostal Testimony (May 1936): 19–20.
Wacker, G. America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
Wilkinson, M. “Pentecostalism in Canada: An Introduction”. In M. Wilkinson (ed.), Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation. Montreal: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2009.
Published
2016-11-16
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Ambrose, L. (2016). Gender History in Newfoundland Pentecostalism: Alice Belle Garrigus and Beyond. PentecoStudies, 15(2), 172–199. https://doi.org/10.1558/ptcs.v15i2.31413
