Zarephath, New Jersey
Encyclopedia
Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
-Communities of Franklin Township:The following are census-designated places, unincorporated enclaves, and historical communities located within Franklin Township...
in Somerset County
Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In 2010, the population was 323,444. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Somerville....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was the communal
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
home to the Pillar of Fire Church
Pillar of Fire Church
The Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915...
, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College
Somerset Christian College
Somerset Christian College is a private evangelical Christian college and is owned and operated by Pillar of Fire International, a religious denomination. The college was located in the Zarephath section of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey. Due to the recent flood, all 2011 classes...
, and radio station WAWZ-FM (Farm and Publishing facilities have not been in operation since the late 70's). It is named after Zarephath
Sarepta
Sarepta was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast between Sidon and Tyre. Most of the objects by which we characterise Phoenician culture are those that have been recovered scattered among Phoenician colonies and trading posts; such carefully excavated colonial sites are in Spain, Sicily,...
, the place in the Bible where the "widow woman" sustained the prophet Elijah
Elijah (prophet)
Elijah also Elias ; , meaning "Yahweh is my God";Arabic:إلياس, Ilyās), was a prophet in the Kingdom of Samaria during the reign of Ahab , according to the Books of Kings....
. Zarephath was a group of buildings located between the Delaware and Raritan Canal
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal is a canal in central New Jersey, United States, built in the 1830s that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was intended as an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City,...
and the Millstone River
Millstone River
The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows northward through southern Somerset County into the Raritan River at Manville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by...
. Following the 2011 flood, the College and all Pillar of Fire ministires were ordered to move, and the entire campus is slated for demoliton.
Origins
The site was originally a farm owned by Peter Workman Garretson in Franklin TownshipFranklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
-Communities of Franklin Township:The following are census-designated places, unincorporated enclaves, and historical communities located within Franklin Township...
. Peter married Caroline Van Neste Field and she became a follower of Alma Bridwell White
Alma Bridwell White
Alma Bridwell White was the founder, and a bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church. In 1918, she became the first woman bishop in the United States...
and donated the land to the church after meeting her. The church assumed all debts associated with the mortgage on the property, which were considerable, and in return it was agreed the church would take title to the land upon repayment of the mortgage. Zarephath takes its name from a phrase in 1Kings
Kings
Kings may refer to:*Kings: The Sovereign Heads of states and/or nations*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts**The Shahnama, an 11th century epic Persian poem...
17, because White saw a parallel with the moving to a farm and the story of Elijah and a widow.
Pillar of Fire International
The organization takes its name from a phrase used in Exodus 13:21: "He guided the Israelites on their escape from Egypt by giving them a pillar of fire to light their way across the dark wilderness". It was founded by Alma White in 1901 and originally called the Pentecostal Union. They moved to Franklin TownshipFranklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
-Communities of Franklin Township:The following are census-designated places, unincorporated enclaves, and historical communities located within Franklin Township...
in 1907 or 1908. The organization is also located in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. The name was changed from The Pentecostal Union to Pillar of Fire in October 1917. It is now know as Pillar of Fire International. The buildings on the grounds were built by members of the Zarephath community, as they stressed self-reliance. They farmed a portion of the property.
Education
The Zarephath Bible Institute was founded in 1908 as a "training school for missionaries, preachers, and teachers." It was later renamed the Zarephath Bible Seminary.On September 11, 1912 the Zarephath Academy opened with an enrollment of fifty students, five of them ready for high school. "At this time, the doors were formally opened to all who wanted an education under Christian control, high school as well as elementary." It was later renamed Alma Preparatory School. The first high school graduation exercises for a class of four, were held at the Pillar of Fire Temple on June 12, 1916. The school was accredited by the New Jersey State Board of Education on November 14, 1916.
Informal college level classes were held starting in 1917.
Alma White College
Alma White College
Alma White College was a Bible college in Zarephath, New Jersey from 1921 to 1978. It was an institution of the Pillar of Fire Church.-History:...
was chartered in 1921 and was closed in 1978. In 1923 the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
provided funding for the school, allowing it to become "the second institution in the north avowedly run by the Ku Klux Klan to further its aims and principles."
The first two Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
degrees, one honorary, were conferred in 1927. Arthur Kent White
Arthur Kent White
Arthur Kent White was a bishop, and the general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, New Jersey and the President of Belleview College...
received an honorary one; and Alton Milford Young received the second. Young at one time was the Grand Kaliff of the Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey.
Somerset Christian College
Somerset Christian College
Somerset Christian College is a private evangelical Christian college and is owned and operated by Pillar of Fire International, a religious denomination. The college was located in the Zarephath section of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey. Due to the recent flood, all 2011 classes...
was established on March 23, 2001. Somerset Christian College is licensed by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education
New Jersey Commission on Higher Education
The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education is a government agency in New Jersey that is responsible for providing coordination, planning, policy development, and advocacy for the state's higher education system...
to grant a two-year Associate Degree in Biblical Studies
Biblical studies
Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. For Christianity, the Bible traditionally comprises the New Testament and Old Testament, which together are sometimes called the "Scriptures." Judaism recognizes as scripture only the Hebrew Bible, also known as...
. Starting in the Fall of 2006, they offered a 4-year degree.
Flood of 1999 and 2011
Hurricane FloydHurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd triggered the third largest evacuation in US history when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes as it approached...
in September 1999 brought a record flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
to the areas adjacent to the Millstone River
Millstone River
The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows northward through southern Somerset County into the Raritan River at Manville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by...
, which is located behind the Zarephath campus. Despite maintaining a twelve foot flood levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
, Zarephath was inundated with water from the nearby river and Delaware and Raritan canal
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal is a canal in central New Jersey, United States, built in the 1830s that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was intended as an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City,...
. The flood crest was a record one, over three feet higher than the previously recorded crest in the river basin. The water level in the Zarephath compound was seven feet at the height of the flood. The church's damage from Floyd was estimated at $2.5 million.
Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene (2011)
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...
destroyed much of the campus again in late August 2011
According to the Somerset Christian College website, the Zarephath Campus was ordered to be abandoned, and the school has moved.
Other
- Pillar of Fire Cemetery, Zarephath
- WAWZWAWZWAWZ is a contemporary Christian music radio station located in Zarephath, New Jersey. It is a Listener Supported/commercial radio station owned by the Pillar of Fire Church. The station's target demographic is a 25-34 year old female...
(Star 99.1 FM); Zarephath, New Jersey; Owner: Pillar of Fire - Religious oriented music radio station - Documented Ku Klux Klan Gatherings at Zarephath
Biblical references to the ancient Zarephath
- 1 Kings 17:9-10. "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?"
- Obadiah 1:20. This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev.
- Luke 4:26. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
Further reading
- Alma White's Evangelism Press Reports, compiled by C. R. Paige and C.K. Ingler (1939)
- Kristin E. Kandt; Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White, 8 Am. U. J. Gender, Soc. Pol. & L 753 (2000)
- Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance by Lynn S. Neal; June 2009
External links
- Zarephath Cemetery
- Somerset Christian College
- Pillar of Fire
- Zarephath Christian Church
- Franklin Township Public Library Photo Archive of Zarephath compiled by William B. BrahmsWilliam B. BrahmsWilliam B. Brahms is an American librarian, encyclopedist, author and historian best known for his encyclopedic works on historical "lasts" , in particular, the reference works Notable Last Facts: A Compendium of Endings, Conclusions, Terminations and Final Events Throughout History and Last...