Charles W. Conn Lectures Released
Cleveland, TN–In preparation for Pentecost Sunday on May 31, the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center is releasing a series of video lectures former General Overseer Charles W. Conn taught on “A Balanced Church.”
By David G. Roebuck, Ph.D.
Recorded at West Coast Christian College in 1984, topics include The Trinity and the Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Fruit of the Spirit, and Ministry Gifts. According to Conn, no church can be properly balanced without all three of these foundational components—the Fruit of the Spirit, the Gifts of the Spirit, and the Ministry Gifts.
Conn developed these lectures over 35 years of study, preaching, and teaching about the work of the Holy Spirit and the history of the Pentecostal Movement. While president of Lee College, he published them as the acclaimed 1975 Pathway Press book by the same name. Describing the Pentecostal Movement in his Foreword to “A Balanced Church,” Conn wrote, “Distinctives of the movement are the practice of holy living, simplicity of worship and expectancy of Christ to be in the midst of His church.”
Serving at the time as chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America, Ray H. Hughes described Conn as “a Bible teacher of renown and a writer ‘par excellence’” and said in his Introduction to “A Balanced Church”: “In my opinion it will prove to be one of the most significant contributions in this generation to the body of evangelical and Pentecostal thought and literature….. [Charles W. Conn] discusses in a singularly profound manner the depth of the operation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.” Hughes continued, “I commend it to all levels of the ministry, for the work of the ministry and for the perfecting of the saints. It should be taught in all churches, recommended to new converts, and to those who want to be introduced to a life in the Spirit….I earnestly commend this volume to the attention of all who would know more about the fullness of the Spirit….”
The Dixon Pentecostal Research Center will release these historic videos from its collections throughout the month of May. Among his many accomplishments, Charles W. Conn established the Pentecostal Research Center in the Lee College Library in 1971. Former Library Director LeMoyne Swiger and her staff had previously assembled a small collection of books by Church of God authors. When Conn became president of Lee, he saw the potential of developing an extensive collection of resources related to the global Pentecostal movement. According to Conn, the purpose of the Pentecostal Research Center is “to preserve for future generations those things of the past that have made us what we are.”
In 1985, the Church of God designated the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center as the official archives of the denomination. Additional historical recordings are available at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center’s Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/user/DixonResearch. For more information visit www.cogheritage.org.
Dr. David G. Roebuck is director of the Pentecostal Research Center.
