William wade harris biography
- Independent church founder; after attracting over 100 000 followers his movement was repressed by the French, but left a legacy of Christian conversion.
- William Wadé Harris was a Liberian Grebo evangelist, who preached in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.
- Trained by the PEC to be a schoolmaster, a catechist, an evangelist, and an ecclesiastical “knight in armor,” Harris fought several battles for both tribe and.
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Harris, William Wade
HARRIS, WILLIAM WADE (c. 1865–1928), was the leader of a mass movement to Christianity in Africa that inspired creation of an African Christian church. The prophet Harris created the largest mass movement to Christianity in the history of the African continent and revolutionized the religious life of the southern Ivory Coast. He paved the way for the growth of the Catholic church and the establishment of the Protestant church and for the creation of several indigenous religious institutions. Most significant among these is the Harrist Church of the Ivory Coast, which institutionalized his teachings. His impact was unique among the movements to Christianity led by African prophets in that it reflected totally indigenous initiative in a population not previously Christianized by missionaries.
A Grebo from southeastern Liberia, Harris was familiar with Western customs and literate in both English and Grebo as a result of mission schooling. He became an Episcopalian lay preacher, taught in a mission school, directed a boarding school, and worked as a g
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William Wadé Harris
William Wadé Harris | |
|---|---|
William Wadé Harris dressed in a white robe and turban, carrying a Bible and bamboo cross. | |
| Born | 1860 Graway Village, Liberia |
| Died | 1929 |
| Nationality | Liberian |
| Occupation | Religious preacher |
| Known for | Prophet-Evangelist of West Africa |
| Spouse | Rose Badik Farr |
| Children | 6 |
William Wadé Harris (c. 1860 – 1929) was a Liberian Greboevangelist, who preached in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.[1] He has been described as the "most extraordinary one man evangelical crusade that Africa has ever known"[2] and is considered one of the originators of today's prosperity gospel.[3]
Early life
Harris was born in 1860 as a Kru man of the Grebo tribe in Liberia. He was born to a "heathen father", at a time when the heathens and Christians lived in separate parts of the village. His mother lived as a Christian in the midst of a family life that was associated with traditional sacrifices and witch doctoring.[2]
When Harris was 12, he served as a ward to Rev. Jesse
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Harris, William Wadé (A)
All articles created or submitted in the first twenty years of the project, from 1995 to 2015.
1865-1929
Harrist Church
Liberia , Ghana , Côte d’Ivoire
Independent church founder; after attracting over 100 000 followers his movement was repressed by the French, but left a legacy of Christian conversion.
He was of Grebo origin, born near Cape Palmas in Liberia. At the age of about twelve Harris went to live with a Grebo Methodist minister at Sinoe, who educated him in English and a written form of Grebo. Afterwards Harris worked on ships plying the west African coast. He returned to Cape Palmas where he became a bricklayer, married, and joined the Episcopal Church (c.1885). In 1892 he became a teacher and catechist, and eleven years later was put in charge of a school nearby. In 1904 he was suspended for unknown reasons, but was reinstated at a different school in 1907, working also as a government interpreter. During that time he became known as a defender of Grebo rights against the Liberian government.
In 1908 Harris was dissmissed
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