Howard Carter (early Pentecostal evangelist)
Alfred Howard Carter (1891-1971) was one of the greatest pioneers of the
Pentecostal Christian faith.
Carter was born in
London. During the time of
World War 1, Carter served in a prison in England as a conscientous objector to the war. While serving in prison, he claimed to have received the revelation of the nine
gifts of the Holy Spirit. These teachings, based on the text of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, are still used today as the primary teaching on the gifts of the Spirit within all major
Pentecostal Christian belief systems.
In 1913 an organization called the Crown Mission began in Birmingham. Shortly thereafter, Carter would become the leader of this group. By 1916 he became involved in a second Pentecostal work, and had to quit his regular work to maintain leadership of the two churches.
In 1921 Carter was handed over leadership of
Hampstead Bible School, originally to be on a temporary basis until a more suitable person was available to fill the opening. That never happened, as he held this position for some twenty seven years. Under Carter's leadership the school grew so much that they had to purchase a nearby house and two more Bible schools were opened up.
He took his work so seriously at the school that he did not receive any of the money donated to the school for his own use unless it was marked specifically for him, and he paid his own room and board to the school out of his salary.
Howard Carter later became a founding member of the
Assemblies of God Church in Ireland and Great Britain. He served on the General Council of these groups as vice-chairman from 1929-1934, and as chairman from 1934-1945.
Howard Carter left the
Hampstead Bible School in 1948 and moved to the United States. He spent the rest of his life there and began to travel extensively as a preacher until his death in 1971.
Howard Carter and
Lester Sumrall first met in
Eureka Springs, Arkansas when Carter was in his forties and Sumrall was in his early twenties. They formed an immediate relationship and traveled the world together as missionaries preaching the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sumrall has written about Carter in his books
Adventuring with Christ and
Pioneers of Faith. Sumrall also expounds on Carter's teachings of the nine
gifts of the Spirit in his book
The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit.
