Reverend Peter Wiley Philpott | |
|---|---|
 Philpottc. 1925 | |
| Born | (1865-11-25)25 November 1865 |
| Died | 1 April 1957(1957-04-01) (aged 91) |
| Burial place | Hamilton, Ontario |
| Occupation(s) | blacksmith, Salvation Army officer,minister |
| Years active | 1892–1956 |
| Known for | Founding the United Christian Workers (1892)[a] |
| Spouse | Jessie Menzies |
| Children | 13, including |
| Religion | Christian |
| Church | Associated Gospel Churches |
| Ordained | 30 September 1892 byChristian & Missionary Alliance |
Congregations served |
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Offices held |
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Peter Wiley Philpott (1865–1957), a CanadianChristian fundamentalist andevangelist, founded the United Christian Workers, aworking-class religious movement later known as theAssociated Gospel Churches of Canada.
Philpott was born in 1865 on a farm inElgin County, Ontario. He attendedgrammar school till the age of 13, and was thenapprenticed to ablacksmith inChatham for a few years.[2]: 103
He joined theSalvation Army in 1884 after experiencing areligious conversion at an Army rally inDresden, Ontario, where he was mainly raised.[2]: 103 The Army had recently formed acongregation there.[3]: 15
Philpott rose to the highrank ofbrigadier, and was appointed a member of the CanadianCommissioner's advisory committee.[4]: 124 He married Jessie Menzies, a fellow Army officer, in 1887;[2]: 103 they went on to have 13 children.[2]: 107
In 1892, after a prolonged and public dispute focused oncongregational autonomy, Philpott resigned from the Army, precipitating a significantsecession ofofficers andsoldiers.[2]: 104–106 The secessionists created a new religious organization, the United Christian Workers, with Philpott its elected president.[5]: 108
Later that same year, Philpott was ordained by theChristian & Missionary Alliance,[6]: 359 and went on to establish congregations of Christian Workers inHamilton andToronto. The Hamilton church was known as the Gospel Mission;[5]: 108 migrant Scottishsteelworkers were a significant part of its congregation.[7]
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).[5]: 108–109 A 1903 Hamilton newspaper referred to the Christian Workers as:[8]
[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 theChristian & Missionary Alliance, serving successively as itssuperintendent forWestern Canada (1899–1900) and associate superintendent forEastern Canada (1901–1902).[5]: 109
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From 1922 to 1929, Philpott waspastor of theMoody Church inChicago,[9] overseeing the construction of a massive new church building as a memorial toDwight Moody.[6]: 359
In October 1929, he became the third pastor of theChurch of the Open Door inLos Angeles, resigning, due to ill-health, in October 1931.[10]: 51, 146 On many occasions thereafter, he spoke duringservices at the church, including in 1956, when he was ninety.[10]: 52
After retiring in 1932, Philpott settled inToronto, where he sometimes filled in forThomas Shields atJarvis Street Baptist Church. In 1943, he was appointed associate minister atOswald Smith'sPeoples Church.[5]: 112 He made extensive speaking tours throughout North America until a few years before he died in 1957.[2]: 108
In 1916, when minister of the Gospel Tabernacle inHamilton, Philpott was one of severalclergymen, together with the mayor and other officials, in amediation committee tryingto avert astrike byunionisedmachinists. Along with other ministers, he expressed sympathy for the machinists, commenting that while they, as employees, had made many concessions in negotiations, their employers had made none.[11]: 26–27
Draper (2003), drawing on Philpott'ssermons and articles, observes that Philpott made many references to the importance of "honest toil and labouring" and saw "all of life as a 'service' to God". Draper adds that the vocabulary of the Christian Workers made considerable reference to waged employment in its metaphors and imagery.[2]: 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 sermon he delivered in 1921:[2]: 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.
In early 1920, Philpott appeared beforeHamilton'sboard of education to appeal for "support in the work of educating the many foreigners in the city". He referred to ongoing, volunteer-run classes where "the aliens were being taught the principles of Canadian citizenship", of whose "morals and standards", he stated, they were "densely ignorant."[12]
His intervention came amidst debates in Hamilton about how best to "Canadianize" (assimilate) its many immigrants. Failing to win over the board of education, he turned to the city's newly establishedchamber of commerce, which secured funding for English-language evening classes.[13]
Philpott was a speaker at the1919 World Conference on Christian Fundamentals. In his presentation, he said that critics of theBible should be ignored, and asserted the importance ofconversion and aKeswickian approach to living a moreholy life.[6]: 359
He belonged to theWorld's Christian Fundamentals Association,[6]: 360 which advocatedpremillennialism andcreationism.[14] At its seventh annual convention in 1923, along with the American politicianWilliam J. Bryan, the Canadian fundamentalist leaderThomas Shields, and others, he signed a statement of fundamentalist principles that concluded:[15]: 14–15
The time has come when Fundamentalists and Modernists should no longer remain in the same fold, for how can two walk together except they be agreed? Therefore we call up upon all Fundamentalists of all denominations to possess their souls with holy boldness and challenge every false teacher, whether he be professor in a denominational school or state school; whether he be editor of a religious publication or the secretary of a denominational board; and whether he be a pastor in a pulpit in the homeland or a missionary on the foreign field.
Pietsch (2015) labels Philpott a "dispensational modernist" – someone who did not view the Bible as literally true, but saw it as a text requiring methodical, systematic analysis and interpretation in order to reveal its meaning.[16]: 4 He notes[16]: 168, 170 that Philpott, addressing a conference onbiblical prophecy in 1918, insisted that the dates of theend times and theSecond Advent could not be accurately known, and that this necessitated the scanning of current events for signs to help gauge the closeness of the end:[17]: 195–196
Now, it is not only our privilege but it is our duty to read in the light of prophecy the events that are now transpiring. ... Let us keep in mind that while we cannot fix a date for His appearing, yet the Scriptures gives us approximate signs of the end of this age – I say approximate, mark you – because I believe that they enable us only to approximate – certainly not to calculate – the time of the end. ... [W]e might classify [the signs] as Political, Commercial, Social, Moral, Spiritual, and National or Jewish[.]
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