The '''Holiness Movement''' among [[MethodismMethodist Episcopal Church|American Methodists]] in the 1830s-1880s was part of the [[Third Great Awakening]]. By the 1880s tensions between the Holiness advocates and more traditional Methodist bishops led to seceding groups forming new Holiness denominations, especially the [[Church of the Nazarene]] (1908) and the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) (1881).
==Phoebe Palmer==
The chief leader was [[Phoebe Palmer]](1807-1874), a Methodist lay leaderand the most influential Methodist woman of her generation. In 1840, during a period of spiritual struggle and doubt, Palmer discovered through reading the Bible the calling to spread the doctrine of holiness. This discovery led her to leave the traditional woman's sphere and become a pivotal leader in the Holiness movement. Palmer led revivals in the United States, Canada, and Britain, wrote extensively, and became editor of the ''Guide to Holiness.'' She helped found the Hedding Church and established the Five Points Mission in New York City, which housed and educated needy families. After her death her followers broke away from the Methodists and set up their own Holiness and Pentecostal churches. Palmer's theology produced a laicized ministry and offered both parents and children of the second and third generations of believers a formula to gain assurance of total sanctification as a gift from God. Her "Altar Covenant" linked Scripture, sacred song, and physical setting to form the way to full redemption. The altar in Holiness became the focal point of worship, in accordance with Palmer's beliefs.<ref> Charles Edwin Jones, "The Posthumous Pilgrimage of Phoebe Palmer," ''Methodist History'' 1997 35(4): 203-213; Charles Edward White, ''The Beauty of Holiness: Phoebe Palmer as Theologian, Revivalist, Feminist, and Humanitarian'' (1986); Kendra Weddle Irons, Phoebe Palmer: Chosen, Tried, Triumphant: An Examination of her Calling in Light of Current Research. Methodist History 1998 37(1): 28-36. 0026-1238 </ref> The Holiness movement rejected the middle class formalities of the mainline Methodists and sought an authentic religious experience.
==Late 19th century==
The movement reached a wide audience through Holiness Camp Meetings, beginning in 1867 at Vineland, New Jersey. Though still mainly The Holiness movement influenced the transformation of the Methodistcamp meeting in the later 19th century. The frontier camp meeting that had focused on the conversion experience during the first part of the century ultimately evolved into a system of summer camps and conferences. Holiness camps were established on permanent campgrounds in natural surroundings. Here families could escape the evils of urban life and renew spiritual values. The focus was on nurturing the faith of those already converted. The camps also emphasized religious education.<ref> Charles H. Lippy, it spread to other Protestant denominations"The Camp Meeting in Transition: The Character and Legacy of the Late Nineteenth Century." ''Methodist History'' 1995 34(1): 3-17.0026-1238 </ref>
Though still mainly Methodist, it spread to other Protestant denominations, while meeting stiff resistance from the established leaders of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] The hostility between such people as Hiram Mattison (representing the traditionalists in the Methodist Episcopal Church) and George Woodruff (representing the upstart holiness movement within that church), during 1867-87 may be attributed to their differing approach to worship. The issues at stake were the definition of holiness and what it means to be holy. For holiness advocates, especially those of the National Camp-Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness, the pattern of their gatherings was testimony, shared feeling, and spontaneous or spirit-guided evangelism. The mainstream members of the church, however, preferred the pattern of joint specialized, rationally deliberated, and centrally coordinated benevolent activity. The National Camp-Meeting Association sought to provide a firm ground for the empowerment of people who would go forth to conquer the world for Christ. The mainstream church sought the same goal but operated on bureaucratic and organizational principles alien to holiness advocates.<ref> A. Gregory Schneider, "A Conflict of Associations: The National Camp-Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness Versus the Methodist Episcopal Church." ''Church History'' 1997 66(2): 268-283. in [[JSTOR]]</ref>
The Holiness Movement transformed Wesleyan teaching by emphasizing revivalist techniques of invitation, decision, and testimony, and by insistence on visible evidence. By the 1890s physical healing was commonly expected, and the experience of sanctification was called "baptism with the Holy Spirit". Divided by the rise of [[Pentecostalism]] after 1900, the surviving Holiness groups became less exuberant.
Bays (1997) places the development of the Oriental Missionary Society (OMS) and its missionary work in Japan in the context of a convergence during the 1890's of three forces: the dynamic growth of the Holiness movement in the United States, the beginnings of the faith mission movement, and the institutionalization of the Holiness movement. The origins of OMS are rooted in the work of Japanese religious leaders Juji Nakada and Tetsusaburo Sasao, whose desire to develop a Holiness movement in Japan converged with the missionary interests of Americans Charles Cowman and E. A. Kilbourne. The bible school and evangelistic network developed under Japanese leadership in 1901 soon became a Japanese-foreign joint venture. By 1917 the trend toward internationalization and institutionalization had placed the missionary endeavor under foreign control. The attempt to maintain foreign control also delayed the creation of the independent Japan Holiness Church until 1917.<ref>Daniel H. Bays, "The Early Years Of The Oriental Missionary Society: Foreign Missionaries and Native Evangelists in Japan, 1901-1917." ''Fides Et Historia'' 1997 29(1): 15-27. 0884-5379 </ref>
==Further reading==
* Brasher, J. Lawrence. ''The Sanctified South: John Lakin Brasher and the Holiness Movement.'' (U. of Illinois Press, 1994). 260 pp.
* Jones, Charles Edwin. ''Perfectionist Persuasion: The Holiness Movement and American Methodism, 1867-1936'' (1974)
* Kostlevy, William C. ''Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement'' (2001)
* Sanders, Cheryl J. ''Saints in Exile: The Holiness-Pentecostal
Experience in African American Religion and Culture.'' (Oxford U. Press, 1996). 177 pp.
* Stanley, Susie C. ''Holy Boldness: Women Preachers' Autobiographies and the Sanctified Self.'' U. of Tennessee Press, 2002. 336 pp.
* Synan, Vinson. ''The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century.'' (Eerdmans, 1997). 340 pp.