Baltimore `Pack Rat' Helps Scholars Trace Roots of Pentecostalism

c. 2000 Religion News Service

BALTIMORE -- Robert McGoings admits he's a pack rat, but at age 83 he's proud that his habit has proven beneficial for scholars of Pentecostalism.

The retired railroad worker was honored during the recent annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies in Kirkland, Wash.

Little did he know when he started collecting materials seven decades ago that his Sunday bulletins, convention programs and songbooks would help scholars tracing the history of the Pentecostal faith of African-Americans.

"At that time, Pentecostalism wasn't fully accepted," he recalled. "Some people called it a cult."

Pentecostalism, a religious movement stressing direct inspiration by the Holy Spirit and often associated with such "gifts" of the Spirit as healing and speaking in tongues, now has gained wider acceptance.

At the society's 29th annual meeting, McGoings was presented with a bound set of papers that were read during the conference, an honor bestowed on those who have made significant contributions to members of the organization.

"He's not a member of our society but has been a very significant influence on a number of the young African-American scholars in the society," said Bill Faupel, executive secretary of the group. "It's being presented in recognition of his mentoring these scholars."

McGoings, who studied history for two years at what was then Baltimore's Morgan State College but never earned a degree himself, said he's "excited" about being recognized by the scholarly group.

As a regular attender of an annual meeting of Pentecostal "old-timers" in New York, he realizes his knowledge and memories are hard to come by.

"There's just a few of us left who can recall much of the history without getting it mixed up," said McGoings, a member of First United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) in Baltimore since 1968. "And so far I'm satisfied that I can still tell some history."

In recent decades, he's helped researchers track the educational backgrounds and theological beliefs of Pentecostal leaders as well as the growth of particular congregations.

Growing up in Baltimore, McGoings was a member of First Apostolic Faith Baptist Church, which was part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World organization.

"As a child, quite a number of the preachers coming through to visit my church would come to my house ... for dinner or even to stay," he said. "In those days, the African-Americans could not stay in a hotel."

McGoings' collection began mostly because he was impressed with the persuasive preaching of Bishop R.C. Lawson, the founder of the Pentecostal organization called Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith.

"I just liked his mannerism and his ability and style of delivery, even though I was only eight years old," McGoings recalled of the first time he heard Lawson preach at his church in 1925. "I fell in love with him. ... I was taken. I was a follower of him until he passed and I'm called a Lawsonite."

McGoings, a distinguished gentleman who jumps up to refer to nearby pamphlets and booklets to answer questions more specifically, still recalls the past and current street addresses of Pentecostal churches where the bishop preached.

After hearing Lawson again in 1932, McGoings started to keep newspaper articles and programs related to the church official and eventually expanded his clippings to other leaders of the Oneness branch of Pentecostals.

Members of the Oneness division believe there is one person in the Godhead -- rather than the Trinity -- and baptize converts in the name of Jesus rather than in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

McGoings explained the Oneness tradition on baptism, which occurs when possible in the same service where converts respond to a preacher's altar call.

"You get baptized then and there," he said. "You don't get a chance to think about it."

By the 1940s, McGoings and his late wife, Florence, traveled to New York regularly to hear Lawson preach, attending the bishop's Refuge Temple more than their Baltimore church. McGoings enjoyed the anthems and hymns at the "conventional church service," a departure from the traditional hand-clapping, foot-stomping worship of other Pentecostal congregations.

"Lawson and I became personal friends and that added more to it," he said of his collection.

Sherry DuPree, a Gainesville, Fla., author who has researched African-American Pentecostal groups, said she met McGoings in 1982 through contacts at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington.

"He was just an eye-opener for Oneness groups," said DuPree.

She said McGoings took her personally to interview people she included in her "Biographical Dictionary of African American Holiness Pentecostals: 1880-1990."

"He spent many hours with me in the '80s, carrying me places and introducing me to folk that I could interview," recalled DuPree.

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