Pentecostal Pomp and Circumstance
The Installation Service of General Superintendent Kenneth Haney
By Kent d Curry
January 22, 2002
It hasn’t happened in a generation, so it wasn’t a
surprise that the Installation Service of Reverend Kenneth Haney as the United
Pentecostal Church’s General Superintendent was a major event. As the largest
Oneness Apostolic organization in the world, the UPCI had constituents
descending from around the nation (and perhaps the world) on January 17, 2002 at
Life Christian Church in St. Louis to experience organizational history.
Upon arrival, each
attendee was given a program and a small flashlight. In front, a 175+-member
choir, and a 25+-person orchestra sat on the platform, beneath a huge screen of
a map of the world. The words on it read: One God * One World * One Church * One
Vision, the service theme.
The crowd offered a warm
standing ovation as Bro. Kenneth Haney and First Lady Joy Haney stepped into the
auditorium and took their front row seats on the floor, along with his family
and other dignitaries, at 7:03 p.m. As dual Masters of Ceremony T.F. Tenney and
Paul Mooney took their places in front of the choir, the service rolled forward
like a well-oiled worship machine, the results of extensive planning, preparing
and praying.
The choir and orchestra
opened with a rousing rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” with
Reverend Murrell Ewing singing the verses.
Assistant General
Superintendent Jesse Williams then offered an official welcome and prayer before
Indiana District Superintendent Paul Mooney had the microphone two minutes
later, leading the congregation in the first of many one minute worship sprints.
He spoke briefly upon the
introductory One God theme before introducing Ewing, who palmed a microphone
again and sang “How Great Thou Art.” As the Spirit slowly built, individual
congregates began standing to worship, cacti in the desert. Soon the entire
crowd was singing in unison, and Ewing ended up leading the congregation through
the finale. At that point, wild clapping and worship ensued.
Louisiana District
Superintendent T.F. Tenney urged everyone to shout, “Worthy is the Lamb!”
“Worthy is the Lamb!” “Worthy is the Lamb!” as the Spirit flowed, then
subsided as he related how Scripture recorded Abraham lifting up his eyes three
times¾first
to see the Land, then to see the Lord and finally to see the Lamb.
His four minutes segued into
Reverend Hugh Rose singing “Down From His Glory.” Rose, who also directed
the choir, used large gestures throughout the song and ended with both hands
raised triumphantly, as if he were Jesus post-resurrection. It could’ve felt
overdone, but it wasn’t.
Next, Bro. Mooney reappeared
and insisted, “We’ve got time…We’ve got time to praise Him…for He’s
got a name above every name.” This led to instinctive, standing worship.
“Those who are afraid to say the name…they say ‘Gawd’ and
‘Faaather’…somebody please say the name of Jesus!” The crowd echoed the
Name. “We are standing on one promise.. ‘that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he
is’…” “Lord!” said
the believers. “That He is…” “Lord!” “Make the devil mad…say that
name one more time!” “Jesus!”
It was admirable how
these men balanced encouraging God to move through a tightly scripted event that
had to stay on schedule or it would careen late into the night. This entire
exchange lasted about four minutes before it bowed to the Gleason Family singing
“Tell Me His Name Again” a capella.
Bro. Tenney then spoke
briefly upon a One Church theme, mentioning Joel’s prophecies of the Day of
Pentecost, Peter’s impulsive message in Acts 2, and the outbreak of Apostolic
revival in Topeka, Kansas, and upon Azusa Street in Los Angeles at the start of
the 20th Century.
The choir accentuated this
message by singing a soaring “Church Triumphant,” which opened with an
accordion solo by Mark McClintock of Bridgeton, Missouri. Throughout the song,
different geographic areas began glowing, then filling the backdrop with the
statistics of UPCI churches and preaching points throughout the world. The
different continents totaled 32,826 churches and preaching points.
In three minutes, Bro.
Mooney raced with this One Church theme by imploring everyone to
“Preach…Preach the gospel” and proclaiming the power of God’s anointed
Word.
The McGruders followed,
singing “God’s Word Cannot Fail,” with lead singer Sis. Priscilla McGruder
(and sister of Joy Haney) waving a Bible about for emphasis. Reverend Carroll
McGruder then announced a new verse had been written, and an intense, red-faced
Priscilla marched down the stairs singing the installation-themed verse,
exhorting the enthusiastic congregation to stand on God’s Word no matter the
situation.
Using the theme of One
Vision, the actual installation ceremony came next.
First, Texas
District Superintendent James Kilgore shared some personal observations, both
moving and hilarious, about the merger that created the UPCI in 1945. As a Bible
School student in Tulsa, he had raced up to St. Louis on $5 (eating hamburgers
and milkshakes for 15 cents each), in a car full of students to hear the
deliberations, preaching and ultimate merging of the PCI (Pentecostal Church
Incorporated) and the PAJC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ). “That was
a great experience,” said Kilgore. “Not the hamburgers.”
He insisted Bro. Haney was
the right man for this job, creating spontaneous applause when he said, “We
feel you are in the perfect will of God.” After comparing the size of the
organizations at the merger (sample statistic: 3,000-4,000 constituency in 1945,
2.8 million now), he ended with,
“We were in the will of God then, and we’re in the will of God now.”
Honorary General Board
Member and long-time friend of the family Paul Price then spoke of Bro.
Haney’s California cowboy roots through his father and pastor, Clyde Haney. He
also introduced the immediate family.
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