The History and Spirit of the House of the Lord Church
This week, the House of the Lord church will be observing our 70th Holy Memorial ceremony. It is a time that we remember all of the members of good standing. We have a ceremony where we remember the local members with the founding members, those who started the House of the Lord church with my dad. Then on the weekend, we make our holy pilgrimage to Augusta, Georgia where our church started in 1930.
The ceremony consisted of reading the names of the members and lighting the candles in their memory. Since technology has arrived, we show their pictures on a screen. Their names are put on a bronze plaque to be remembered forever.
We also call the names of people who were once members but for various reasons decided they no longer wanted to worship with us. There is a place where we still remember them and there is a part in the ceremony for recognition of supporters. They never joined our church but maintained substantial support for the church.
The ceremony commenced with the death of the founder, Bishop Alonzo Austin Daughtry, who made his transition in 1952 at only 56 years old. Mother Inez Conry, who became the Bishop, instituted the memorial ceremonies remembering Bishop Daughtry. When I became the Bishop in 1960, I included all of our members of good standing in our church.
In the following weeks, we will continue studying the House of the Lord Church and the legacy that Bishop Daughtry left behind.
Bishop Alonzo Austin Daughtry, son of Dr. William Van Daughtry, who was presiding Elder Of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born February 17, 1896. He was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost in Savannah, Georgia about the year 1926 under the ministry of Bishop C.M. Grace, founder of the House of Prayer for All People.
In the latter part of the same year, Bishop Daughtry felt the call to the ministry and immediately demonstrated unusual spiritual power. It was obvious that the Lord’s hand was upon him and that he was destined to do exploits in the Name of the Lord. It was probably for this reason Bishop Grace sent him to pastor in Augusta, Georgia.
Upon arriving in Augusta in 1929, Bishop Daughtry found an old wooden building, a very small congregation, and a city - like most cities at that time - not all receptive to pentecostal preachers. In fact, Bishop Grace had been shown such hostility that he was forced to leave the city, which opened the way for the appearance of Bishop Daughtry. It was not long, however, before God began to show himself mighty. Through the ministry of Bishop Daughtry, multitudes were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. Captives were set free and the sick were healed.
But it came to pass that with the growth of the House of Prayer in Augusta as well as in other cities, there began to emerge a tendency to exalt Bishop Grace above that which was normal. Whether this was done at the instigation of Bishop Grace or whether it was initiated by well-meaning misguided souls, we shall not discuss. But the fact that it did exist is beyond question. The truth is evident in the developments that took place, in the following.
At a service in the year, 1929 Bishop Daughtry made an attempt to correct this tendency while it was still in its early stages. He read from the Scripture, I Corinthians 1: 12-15 “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.”
Bishop Daughtry’s lesson centered around the Lordship of Jesus Christ and not ascribing divine prerogatives or positions to any man. Some felt that Daughtry had committed the unpardonable sin by questioning the authority of Bishop Grace, but others shared his concern. Together, they left The House of Prayer and founded The House of the Lord and Church on the Mount.
In 1930, the Church was incorporated and the congregation purchased land at the corner of Tenth and Perry Streets in Augusta. God blessed the Church wonderfully so that it grew, and spread to neighboring cities. Around 1942, Bishop Daughtry came north and founded churches in Harlem and Brooklyn, New York.
In 1952, a desperately ill Alonzo placed the responsibility of the Church in the hands of Elder Inez Conry (1897-1977), whom he had ordained several years earlier. Elder Conry served as our National Presiding Minister for eight years. (We use Bishop and National Presiding minister interchangeably, we only have one Bishop of our church who is also the National Presiding Minister and Chief Prelate.) The National Presiding minister is my preference which I instituted at the start of my administration.
In 1958, in fulfillment of his father’s prophecy, Herbert Daniel Daughtry (1931-), the fourth son of Bishop Alonzo Daughtry, was ordained and installed as Pastor of the Brooklyn church. Approximately two years later, he became the Church’s third National Presiding Minister. In 2019, Bishop Daughtry resigned. During his tenure, the Church has expanded its reach, establishing congregations in various cities throughout the United States.
Under the leadership of Reverend Herbert Daughtry, The House of the Lord has continued its legacy as a “beacon on the hill,” a sterling example of faith in action, living the Scripture: “be ye not hearers of the word only, but doers also. . .”
After the resignation of Reverend Daughtry, the Reverend Leah Daughtry became the National Presiding Minister of the House of the Lord Church. She is the firstborn of the Reverend Dr’s Herbert and Karen Daughtry.
To be continued…