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Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace founded the United House of Prayer for All People in Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1919. This charismatic church has been regarded as one of the most extreme Pentecostal sects in the country. In addition to attention-getting maneuvers such as wearing purple suits with glitzy jewelry, purchasing high profile real estate, and conducting baptisms in city streets with a fire hose, the flamboyant Grace reputedly accepted massive donations from his poverty-stricken followers and used the money to live lavishly. It was assumed by many that Grace was the charismatic glue that held his church together, and that once he was gone the institution would disintegrate. Instead, following his 1960 death there was a period of confusion, restructuring, and streamlining. Today the House of Prayer remains an active church with a national membership in the tens of thousands.Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer seriously examines the religious nature of the House of Prayer, the dimensions of Grace's leadership strategies, and the connections between his often ostentatious acts and the intentional infrastructure of the House of Prayer. Furthermore, woven through the text are analyses of the race, class, and gender issues manifest in the House of Prayer structure under Grace's aegis.Marie W. Dallam here offers both a religious history of the House of Prayer as an institution and an intellectual history of its colorful and enigmatic leader.
E-Book Content
Daddy Grace
Religion, Race, and Ethnicity General Editor: Peter J. Paris Public Religion and Urban Transformation: Faith in the City Edited by Lowell W. Livezey Down by the Riverside: Readings in African American Religion Edited by Larry G. Murphy New York Glory: Religions in the City Edited by Tony Carnes and Anna Karpathakis Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity: An Introduction Edited by Craig R. Prentiss God in Chinatown: Religion and Survival in New York’s Evolving Immigrant Community Kenneth J. Guest Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo Margarite Fernández Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York Peter J. Paris, John Wesley Cook, James Hadnut-Beumler, Lawrence H. Mamiya, Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, and Judith Weisenfeld Foreword by Martin E. Marty Righteous Content: Black Women’s Perspectives of Church and Faith Daphne C. Wiggins Beyond Christianity: African Americans in a New Thought Church Darnise C. Martin Deeper Shades of Purple: Womanism in Religion and Society Edited by Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer Marie W. Dallam
Daddy Grace A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer
Marie W. Dallam
a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London
new york university press New York and London www.nyupress.org © 2007 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dallam, Marie W. Daddy Grace : a celebrity preacher and his house of prayer / Marie W. Dallam. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-2010-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8147-2010-2 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. United House of Prayer for All People. 2. Grace, Daddy, 1882?–1960. I. Title. BX8777.6.A4D35 2007 289.9'4—dc22 2007023496 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction
vii 1
1
The Call of God Brought Him
23
2
The Usual Miracles
46
3
Led by a Convicted Man
75
4
He Ousted God from Heaven