Christ Community Church facts for kids
Christ Community Church in Zion, Illinois, once known as the Christian Catholic Church, is an evangelical church. It was started in 1896 by John Alexander Dowie. Dowie also founded the city of Zion as a special community. He wanted it to be a place built on the ideas of the Kingdom of God. People who belonged to this church were sometimes called Zionites.
Over the years, the church changed a lot. John Alexander Dowie was known as a faith healer. He began the church and the Zion community with big dreams of a perfect society. After Dowie, Wilbur Glenn Voliva became the leader. Under Voliva, the church was famous for believing the Earth was flat. Later pastors moved the church closer to common Christian beliefs.
In the early 1900s, the Christian Catholic Church was popular worldwide. Its magazine, The Leaves of Healing, was sent to many countries. At its peak, Dowie's movement had about 20,000 followers. Some churches in southern Africa, called Zionist Churches, trace their history back to Dowie's church. Because Dowie focused on faith healing, his church is seen as an early influence on Pentecostalism.
Today, the name Christian Catholic Church is still used for Christ Community Church's global network of churches and mission work. In 2008, it had about 3,000 members in the United States and Canada. Missionaries work in places like Japan, the Philippines, and among the Navajo Nation. They also continue to work with African Zionists through Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa (ZEMA). ZEMA helps these groups learn more about mainstream Christian teachings.
John Alexander Dowie: The Founder
John Alexander Dowie was born in Scotland on May 25, 1847. His family moved to Australia in 1860. Dowie later studied at the University of Edinburgh. In 1876, he got married and began his work as a preacher in Australia.
In 1888, Dowie moved to San Francisco. There, he started the Ministry of Divine Healing. After traveling and preaching for years, he settled in Chicago. In 1893, he set up a church at the World's Columbian Exposition. Over the next seven years, Dowie founded the Christian Catholic Church. In 1900, he bought land near Lake Michigan. He built a religious community there called Zion.
Dowie also started a business called Zion Industries. This business helped support the community. It first made Scottish lace and was quite successful.
Dowie actively shared his beliefs. He used publications like Leaves of Healing to gain many followers. By 1905, the church claimed about 30,000 members worldwide. About 7,500 of them lived in Zion. Dowie taught about faith healing and "holy living." His followers were told to avoid tobacco, alcohol, pork, doctors, and other churches.
Dowie had modern views on race for his time. He welcomed African-Americans into his church. About 200 African-Americans settled in Zion. He later sent some of them as missionaries to South Africa. They started churches there that became very important.
As Zion grew, Dowie began to live a very fancy lifestyle. He built a large mansion and wore expensive robes. Because of this and money problems, the church faced bankruptcy. In 1905, Dowie had a serious stroke. In 1906, his followers removed him from leadership. They chose Wilbur Glenn Voliva as the new leader. Some followers left Zion and became important leaders in the new Pentecostal movement. Dowie died from another stroke on March 9, 1907.
Wilbur Glenn Voliva: The Next Leader
Wilbur Glenn Voliva took over from Dowie in 1906. He renamed the church the "Christian Catholic Apostolic Church." Voliva had strong control over his 6,000 followers in Zion. He even told them who they could marry. All land in Zion was leased for 1100 years. Voliva could end these leases whenever he wanted. Other religions were not allowed in Zion. Police would bother preachers from other groups until they left town.
Voliva expanded Zion Industries. It began making popular Zion brand fig bar cookies and White Dove chocolates. Zion was a "one company town." Workers there were paid very low wages.
Voliva enforced strict rules in Zion. Women were not allowed to wear short dresses, high heels, or lipstick. Ham, bacon, alcohol, and tobacco were banned. Drugstores, medical buildings, and movie theaters were also forbidden. Globes were not allowed because they showed a round Earth, which went against Voliva's flat-earth belief. There was a 10 PM curfew. People could even be arrested for whistling on Sunday. Voliva's police force, called the Praetorian Guard, made sure these rules were followed.
Voliva became well-known for strongly supporting the flat Earth idea. He offered $5,000 to anyone who could prove the Earth was round, but only on his own terms. The church schools in Zion taught that the Earth was flat. His radio station, WCBD, broadcast his speeches against round Earth astronomy and evolution.
Like Dowie, Voliva also started living a very lavish lifestyle. This upset his followers, especially during the Great Depression. The Depression caused Zion Industries, the town's main employer, to go bankrupt. In 1935, Voliva tried to help the church by starting the annual Zion Passion Play. However, in 1937, a worker set fire to the church's large Shiloh Tabernacle, where the play took place. Soon after, Voliva went bankrupt. In 1942, after being told he had terminal cancer, Voliva publicly admitted to misusing church funds. He died on October 11, 1942, and the church almost completely fell apart.
A small group of followers reorganized under Michael Mintern. But another fire destroyed the Zion Auditorium on April 11, 1959. The church in Zion was later renamed Christ Community Church.
