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The Life and Ministry of Evangelist Louise Nankivell
Louise Nankivell
By Heather-Gail Rhoden Belfon
Do you have the heart of an evangelist? Do you dream of God-given opportunities to address thousands of people in standing-room only halls and theaters? Hear about a woman with a full calendar, ministering coast-to-coast, speaking to current issues, and seeing the sick healed under her ministry. With thousands of people coming to Christ during one crusade, Louise Nankivell was a woman to inspire any woman with a passion for the lost.
The Second Aimee Semple McPherson
Evangelist Louise Nankivell was often compared with Aimee Semple McPherson, Pentecostal faith healer and pastor of Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. Newspaper articles across the country which publicized her campaigns, frequently dubbed her as “the Second Aimee Semple McPherson.” One such comparison was made in 1926 when she preached a two-week evangelistic campaign in the Pittsburgh Memorial Hall. The article that covered this meeting in the Pittsburgh Sun described Nankivell as displaying “the same dominating personality, the same magnetism that wins crowds, the sweeping hypnosis of a well-modulated voice that whispers a message and shouts its joy.” To such comparisons of McPherson, Nankivell would simply respond, “Of myself I am nothing …. All I can do is point the way to God.” 1 Despite her sincere effort to wave off such public scrutinizes, as newspapers continued to give attention to her meetings, her fame nonetheless continued to sweep across the nation.
Campaigns and Healing Services
In every city she traveled, her campaigns were advertised primarily through the medium of newspapers, church announcements, admission tickets, and word of mouth. Tickets would be distributed beforehand for free admission for all denominations. Her sermons were usually dramatic with many illustrations. On occasion she preached from an 8‑foot cross, from a coffin, with a monkey, and also while wearing sackcloth. 2 For weeklong campaigns, her sermon topics followed a standard format:
• Monday: Challenge to believers
• Tuesday: End‑times focus
• Wednesday: Healing service
• Thursday: Personal testimony answering the question, "What authority has a woman to preach?"
• Friday: Christological focus: His work on the cross or His imminent return.
• Saturday: Musicale duets with husband
• Sunday: Story of her conversion 3
On one occasion, Nankivell anointed a 12‑year‑old girl’s handkerchief and prayed that she might be healed of tumors. She supported this healing method by referencing Acts 19:12wherein God used Paul to work a special miracle through the medium of a handkerchief.
Because the crowds believed these gifts through which the evangelist operated laid resident in only specific individuals, many flocked to her meetings in desperate hope of receiving a touch from her hands. 4The Pittsburgh Gazette in 1926, described one meeting held at the Pittsburgh Memorial Hall where – while the evangelist scanned the crowd with wild gesticulations and loud prayers – many crippled, paralytic, deaf, and blind were divinely touched. 5
The news report goes on to explain that, "Although the audience was amazed by the stories of seemingly unbelievable cures narrated by persons healed from various ailments at previous meetings, remaining skepticism apparently disappeared when a girl whose name was given as Miss. Lenora Morrow, aged 18, of Morningside, interrupted the evangelist by suddenly rising to her feet and discarding the crutches said to have been used since an attack of infantile paralysis experienced 15 years ago.
She would name illnesses and call people from the audience to come before her for prayer and healing.
"The audience had hardly recovered from the shock when Mrs. J. L. Yonkers mounted to the rostrum and vigorously swung in a circle her right arm, which had been limp until Thursday because of neuritis. Mrs. Yonkers attended Wednesday night’s service and was anointed with oil and prayed over, the regular procedure followed by the evangelist.” 6
During healing services in the 1940s, the evangelist’s ministry was enhanced by the spiritual gifts of discernment and prophecy. She would name illnesses and call people from the audience to come before her for prayer and healing.
In one meeting, which took place at the Carmichael Auditorium in Clarksburg, West Virginia, with seating to accommodate 3,000, the auditorium was packed to the point where there was only standing room. Many, who could not enter, listened from the streets outside the auditorium. Many who came unable to walk or stand left that meeting miraculously healed. A total of 1,500 came forward for salvation within a 2‑week period.
In that same year the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore, which seated 3,000, was filled as a result of another campaign held by Nankivell. And after three weeks and some days 1,100 responded to her call for salvation. Many, who were previously confined to cots and ambulance beds, left that meeting with the ability to walk about freely.
Her Demeanor
In addition to these spectacular healings associated with Nankivell’s ministry, she also distinguished herself by her mannerism and poise which so easily captivated any audience to which she preached. Before her vow to the Lord to wear sackcloth, whenever preaching, she would often be described as "appearing on the platform clad in white, with sometimes a tint of color added by a fresh rose." 7
Nankivell proposed that if she were going to die, she would die praying.
Many described her as a thin figure in white "hovering over the edge of the stage, darting side to side, arms stretched, then lowered ... as her voice trembled and wafted forth a message of hope." 8
She proclaimed, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness." It was a plaintive cry. All the sadness and sweetness of a lifetime seemed crowded into those words. A convulsive shudder swept through the crowd. People listened acutely. Then sweeping shrilly into the climax of her address, the evangelist shouted: "Confess ye the Lord. Repent ... Repent!" To this, individuals from the crowd would "hit trail," one by one rising from their seats and belting down the aisle toward the stage where they would fall to their knees, weeping in desperate pleas for forgiveness. People marveled at her spiritual power and the eloquence of her speech. 9 Her exceptional delivery moved many to sincerely seek God.
Affiliations
After Nankivell first accepted her call to preach, she became an ordained minister with the World’s Faith Missionary Association (WFMA). During her application with the Assemblies of God (AG) in 1940, questions regarding her affiliation with the WFMA came into question. The deliberation was ended when J. Roswell Flower, general secretary of the fellowship during that time, recommended her ordination with the acknowledgment, "While the ministers who took part in the ceremony were not known to us, yet we are ready to recognize their action, and so will accept you for the credentials of the General Council. You have already had some ministry among our churches, and know a large number of our ministers. We trust that now ... your ministry may have a wider scope, and be crowned with much blessing from the presence of the Lord." 10 In effect, she was given retroactive ordination through the AG based on the year she first was ordained by the WFMA, January 3, 1924. Nankivell remained an ordained ministry of the AG until her death in 1972.
Sermon Topics
Though Nankivell did not attend a Bible school, she took advantage of her academic shortcomings by devoting many spare hours to the study of Scripture. Her personal study served as a basis for many of the ideas she often preached. In terms of her fundamentalist persuasion, she often addressed current issues of her time, which she referred to as "ills," finding biblical prescriptions for the treatment of these "diseases." Among such "ills" were divorce, companionate marriage (or common‑law marriages), and the theory of evolution." 11 Among the many polemics she preached on, she also taught that divorce and companionate marriages are evil in the eyes of God. She spoke of education as a necessary good, yet quickly added that "it does not necessarily make a man good."
The theory of evolution was another major issue for Nankivell. In an illustrated sermon in Akron, Ohio, she used a monkey, named Rosie, to illustrate her view on evolution. Before a crowd largely made up of fundamentalists, she revived an old issue made famous by William Jennings Bryan.
In her sermon titled, "Monkey Business," she posits, "No scientist ever climbed into the sky, to take a star in his hand to examine it and find out what makes it hang in the heavens .... With all their science and propositions there is still a big question.
And yet they expect us to believe that a bit of protoplasm, or whatever it is called, grew tired of being so small, expanded to be a frog. Then the frog climbed into a tree and became a monkey, and from the monkey sprang man.... That, my friends is monkey business." 12
Even before Nankivell accepted ordination from the AG, she already had a good reputation among its ministers.
Another issue that took Nankivell’s interest was faith healing, which had already been evident in the ministries of Carrie Judd Montgomery and Maria Woodworth‑Etter, as well as other evangelists of her time, namely, William Branham, F. F. Bosworth, brothers Rudy and Morris Cerullo, T. L Osborn, Richard Vinyard, and others.
The title of one sermon she preached in Ohio, according to The Springfield Daily News, June 13, 1930, was "How Much Faith Does It take for Healing?" Though not opposed to doctors, she cited instances from the Bible as well as her personal life wherein the Lord honored prayers of faith with healing. "That there is healing for the soul ... most people are willing to admit. It requires only a little more faith, she said, to extend that principle to the healing of the body .... When we place our faith in Christ’s atonement for sin we receive salvation, so likewise when we place our faith in Christ for the body, so we receive healing." 13
Even with this position concerning faith healing, she never went as far in her ministry as to embrace the prosperity and positive confession doctrines prevalent at that time. It might be concluded that her eventual affiliation with the AG in 1940 was an effort to protect her reputation from such excesses.
Testimony of Personal Healing
At the close of the General Council in Minneapolis, September 1941, Nankivell collapsed from what the doctors described, at that time, as "labored breathing." Her body was completely failing, her internal organs were "burned out," and she was literally dying. She had collapsed six weeks earlier, and was unable to sit, eat or sleep. She had suffered with an acute burning sensation on her right side, somewhere about her waistline. However, this episode at the General Council gave clear indications that her condition had worsened. This was the same illness that caused her aunt’s death at the ripe age of 80, except Nankivell was barely half that old.
Up to this point, she had prayed for thousands who were subsequently healed of many fatal and otherwise serious diseases, yet now she was in desperate need of a divine touch. There was no treatment for her except shots in the arm to help quiet her at night and constant supervision by a nurse. Because her condition was so grave, she remained in Minneapolis until able to travel by plane back to Chicago with her husband. The illness was diagnosed as chronic inflammation of the gallbladder and liver disease.
With this prognosis, she immediately began to focus her prayers toward her healing. She now had to put into practice what she had preached to thousands concerning faith healing. The result, however, was that her spirit sank low, and she became bitter as her condition remained the same. Even with drugs, she was still unable to sleep as her life was being maintained by artificial means. In desperate attempt to prove that her faith could bring healing according to what she always preached, she would lay aside all artificial aids. And so she suffered, unable to sit, eat or drink. After consulting her doctor about whether she had cancer, he finally advised her that she had pernicious anemia with complications that were fatal. He did not expect her to live much longer. This news now drove her to serious thinking and desperate conversations with God.
Nankivell purposed that if she were going to die, she would die praying. Though the pain was unbearable and she felt too ill to pray through, she would not retract this resolve. After a year and nine months of praying, still there was no change. And then, in complete desperation, she offered God this plea, "... Oh, Lord, if you will bring me out of my hopeless condition in a short time by some supernatural act of Divine intervention, so that all can see that YOU have done this, I’ll go out and preach your gospel dressed in sackcloth." 14 After two or three weeks with no change, one Saturday night she prayed again, "Lord, all I am, all I have, my life, my health is in Your hands; I rest it all with you."
With that simple prayer on the night before Palm Sunday, the Lord appeared to her in a vision, which she explains in detail in the original account titled, "The Appearance of Christ to Me." Three days later, her health improved and she was feeling like a new person. She again consulted her doctor who confirmed her healing. Alter speaking with her husband, her pastor and his wife; they all concluded that in obedience to the vow made at the lime of her illness, she should wear a dress of sackcloth every time she preached. 15
This dramatic event in NankiveIl’s life taught her the significance of completely and humbly submitting herself to the will of God. After the episode, she all the more firmly believed in divine healing as many evangelists during her time also did. Except this time, she began to understand that the condition of one’s heart before God was really the critical factor in whether or not one received requested healing. She later wrote articles on this subject that would include five conditions for healing. Included in her articles were testimonies of how God spared her life on another occasion and also of how he healed her of a small growth on her face. 16
HER INFLUENCE
Reputation among Other Ministers
Even before Nankivell accepted ordination from the AG, she already had a good reputation among its ministers. However, it was not until after her affiliation with the AG and her healing from pernicious anemia thereafter that the AG General Council began to take particular interest in her ministry. As seemed customary, ministers would inquire of the reputation of those who were invited to speak to their congregation as a safeguard against some of the more controversial movements like, the New Order of Latter Rain and positive confession movements that had become popular.
Such need for scrutiny was the motivation behind a letter dated September 8, 1949, from E. N. O. Kulbeck, pastor of Bethel Tabernacle in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Wesley R. Steelberg at the AG General Council office. Kulbeck had previously extended an invitation for Nankivell to preach at his Assembly. In this letter, however, he writes, "I am anxious to know from you on a confidential basis, if her ministry is healthy and leaves a good aftermath, and whether or not there are any special peculiarities about it that would seem to be out of harmony with this dispensation, or possibly of a ’stunt nature’ such as the vow to preach in sackcloth."
This inquiry on the part of Kulbeck is very telling of the close association that existed between members of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) and the AG. In addition, his reference to "this dispensation" separates the doctrinal position the PAOC and AG were willing to embrace from those of other movements during that time. Even more telling is the pastor’s next statement in the form of a question: "Also, is she in any way connected with the new movement of Mrs. Beall and Hawtin?" 17
To this letter Steelberg – who in the meantime was elected general superintendent – replies on November 14, 1949, making mention that one pastor had "expressed considerable displeasure with her determination to preach in sackcloth," though he was not sure if the pastor knew the details of her vow. In the same letter, he also mentions another pastor who "reported that there had been an effectual work accomplished" by Nankivell’s ministry. 18 Such correspondences were common within the AG and served to ensure a good reputation among AG ministers and other affiliated groups.
Influence on the Role of Women in Ministry
The dramatic nature of Nankivell’s ministry did by no means go unnoticed by both laypeople and clergy. While she was in good health, this "handmaiden of the Lord" was always being requested to preach in churches from coast to coast. Her ministry did not, however, go without criticism by skeptics. There were always those who held that women ought not to preach the gospel in public. Because of this tension created by her opponents, it became her custom to preach on the topic, "What Authority has a Woman to Preach?" in every city she ministered.
In 1930, one accuser came forward during a Bible class in Westwood, New Jersey. As a result of his research, he cited chapter and verse of the Bible to support his view that "women in particular are susceptible to the wiles of Satan" and that their involvement in politics and public life is a menace to mankind." 19
Because of [critics who opposed women preachers] it became her custom to preach on the topic, “What Authority has a Woman to Preach?” in every city she ministered.
In response, the evangelist wrote a full‑page article categorically explaining the role of women in society and ministry. She concluded the article with the thought, "Christ always did honor and respect women … though a woman’s accusers were many, Christ was always first in her defense. And how they loved Him – last at His cross, first at the tomb." She leaves this provoking question at the end of the article: "Would it seem likely that the Lord would endow woman with talents which could be effectively used to His glory, and then deny her the privilege of using them? 20
At one campaign in Elizabeth, New Jersey, within the same year, it was again necessary for her to defend the role of women in ministry. She poses the question: "Why were spiritual powers given to women if not for use?" 21 There are no reports of anyone ever stepping forward to attempt an answer to this question.
Contribution to the Pentecostal and Healing Movements
Of all the voices that have proclaimed the gospel across the United States, Louise Nankivell was included as one of America’s leading evangelists associated with the Voice of Healing organization. Along with 22 other well‑known evangelists, she was the only woman featured in a book published by Gordon Lindsay called Men Who Heard From Heaven. Though her name was not among the ranks of men such as Oral Roberts, William Branham, Jack Coe, and A. A. Allen, she earned her right and title as "the most famous woman evangelist of the early healing revival." 22
She gained her fame by the contemporary issues on which she preached, the healing crusades, and the strong testimony of her own personal healing. What makes her stand out among the other evangelists of the Pentecostal and healing movements is her attire while preaching in the latter part of her ministry. She kept the promise made before God to preach in a dress of sackcloth, a symbol of humility and contrition, which she believed Americans also needed to embrace. She always remained steadfast in this promise, though questioned at times for such in extreme stance. 23
Voice of Healing president Gordon Lindsay, in the early 1950s, sought out men and women of high integrity and character in ministry. Yet many joined this organization to gain popularity and then left a
year or two later. By 1960, Lindsay, in response to this trend, became more selective of those evangelists whose preaching schedules he included in the Voice of Healingmagazine. Among those names he kept on his list were, Morris Cerullo, W. V. Grant, Joseph De Grado, John and Olive M. Kellner, "Little David" Walker, and Louise Nankivell. 24
During Nankivell ’s time, the Pentecostal and healing movements were not classified in the manner they are today. But the individual contributions of both men and women who gave their lives to pursue the work of the Lord stand to present‑day church historians, evangelists, preachers and teachers as a vivid example of what these movements were truly all about. Among such ministers was Louise Nankivell. She preached boldly and passionately. She was well‑known as a person of ministerial integrity. Her dramatic testimony of divine healing and the gifts of discernment, prophecy, and healing were some of the characteristics that also defined other evangelists among the Pentecostal and healing movements. Her dress of sackcloth and illustrated sermons were the kind of unusual thing many preachers in her ranks might also do to enforce their evangelistic points.
CONCLUSION
Louise Nankivell was truly a dynamic preacher of the gospel. Her ministry emerged within the pages of American history when many issues that had seemed unthinkable were suddenly making daily headline news. Many ministers like Nankivell, who are recognized among the Pentecostal or healing movements, were affiliated with various mainline denominations. Like these ministers, Nankivell’s life and ministry took a turn to such an extent that brought her face to face with faith healing and prophetic gifts. In almost all her meetings, her husband, Alfred, was there to sing duets with her and provide other kinds of support to her.
The question still remains, however: "Why is it that most people are not familiar with Louise L. Nankivell’s name as they are with personalities such as Maria Woodworth‑Etter, Aimee Semple McPherson, and of course, Kathryn Kuhlman?" May I submit two reasons? First, fame often has a lot to do with public perception. If the public perceives a person as interesting or controversial, that person becomes the topic of what is otherwise known as "gossip." Aside from her vow to wear sackcloth, there really was no big controversy associated with her ministry; neither were the denominations nor agencies with which she was associated controversial or heretical in any way.
Second, almost everything available on Nankivell’s life comes from primary sources. There has been no biography or documentary of her life; she cannot be studied in any church history text. Aside from the healing testimony published in Gordon Lindsay’s Men Who Heard From Heaven and brief mention in David Edwin Harrell’s All Things Are Possible, other references to her life and ministry are gleaned from articles she submitted to the Pentecostal Evangel and the Voice of Healing, newspaper articles, correspondence, and personal papers.
It is critical that women like Louise Nankivell be chronicled within the pages of Pentecostal history for it is they who helped make up the fabric of this heritage. I trust that Nankivell’s memory and the spirit through which she preached will serve as encouragement and inspiration for many emerging women preachers within the Pentecostal tradition.
Heather-Gail Rhoden Belfon, born in St. Ann, Jamaica, holds an M.Div. degree from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and is a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God.
ENDNOTES
1. Pittsburgh Sun (Pittsburgh, PA), October 5, 1926.
2. The News‑Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN), December 12, 1927; "See! Hear! Louise Nankivell" advertisements; Gordon Lindsay, ed., Men Who Heard from Heaven (Dallas, TX: Voice of Healing Publishers, 1953), 106; cf. Feeding on Ashes," Pentecostal Evangel, September 16, 1956.
3. "See! Hear! Louise Nankivell" advertisement for big tent services held at 1st and Adams, August 5‑11, and 18th and Grand, in Granite City, IL, Sept. 9‑15 [ca. 1928].
4. Brochure announcing meeting at Lakeside Assembly of God, Milwaukee, WI, January 13 to 20 [year unknown].
5. Pittsburgh Gazette Times, October 10, 1926.
6. Ibid., October 9, 1926.
7. The Long Beach Telegram (Long Beach, CA), August 24, 1923.
8. Pittsburgh Sun, October 5, 1926.
9. The Bridgeport Post [location unknown], June 12, 1925.
10. J. Roswell Flower, letter to Louise Nankivell, July 12, 1940.
11. The Youngstown Daily Vindicator (Youngstown, OH), March 19, 1928; The Daily Republican (Belvedere, IL), September 10, 1928.
12. The Akron Times‑Press (Akron, OH), February 24, 1932; Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, OH), February 24, 1932.
13. St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), May 7, 1925.
14. In a previous campaign, Nankivell preached a sermon titled "Feeding on Ashes" on America’s sinful condition. To illustrate her point, she wore a custom‑designed dress made of sackcloth. Her point was that Americans everywhere should repent, humble themselves, and return to biblical standards. She made the vow to wear sackcloth to show her willingness to practice what she preached.
15. Louise Nankivell, "The Appearance of Christ to Me: Why I preach in Sackcloth," The Voice of Healing, October 1949; republished in Gordon Lindsay, Men Who Heard from Heaven, 101‑106.
16. See Pentecostal Evangel articles: "How to Receive Healing," May 11, 1946, 2‑5; "Feeding on Ashes," September 16, 1956, 5,21; "The Healing Touch," November 4, 1956, 22‑24; and "A Divine Recipe for Health," June 23, 1957, 6‑7,27.
17. E. N. O. Kulbek, letter to Wesley Steelberg, September 8, 1949, in Louise Nankivell file, Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. Myrtle D. Beall, whose Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit, Michigan, became a center for the Latter Rain Movement, and brothers George and Ern Hawtin were leaders of the controversial Latter Rain Movement which began in Canada in 1948. Nankivell was not associated with the Latter Rain Movement.
18. Wesley R. Steelberg, letter to E. N. O. Kulbeck, November 14, 1949, in Louise Nankivell file, Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.
19. The American Weekly [tabloid] (New York, NY), 1930.
20. Ibid.
21. Elizabeth Daily Journal (Elizabeth, NJ), July 29, 1930.
22. David Edwin Harrell, All Things are Possible. The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1975), 80.
23. B. N. O. Kulbeck, letter to Wesley Steelberg, September 8, 1949; letters to J. Roswell Flower in Louise Nankivell file, Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.
24. Harrell, 166.
Originally published in Assemblies of God Heritage, Summer 2004, pp. 5-12. Used by permission of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. For additional historical information about women in ministry visit www.iFPHC.org.
