Wayman Mitchell
Wayman O Mitchell is the, founder of
Christian Fellowship Ministries aka,
The Door, and
Victory Chapel, and is the senior pastor of the
Potters House Christian Fellowship which comprises aprox 1400 churches in 95 countries
[Potter's House Church Directory.] He has been a
born again Christian since 1953, baptized in the
Holy Ghost since 1954 and has been a
Pentecostal pastor since 1960. Pr Mitchell conducts "healing crusades", for which he has been likened to a modern day
Smith Wigglesworth. Mitchell has preached in many churches in the United States and has also preached in
Perth Western Australiawhere he was senior
pastor for 3 years.
Mitchell was born in the
Great Depression 1933 in
Prescott,
Arizona, where he and his wife Nelda currently reside. Pastor Mitchell was stationed on the Island of
Guam between
1948-
1952 for the
U.S. military during the
Korean war. While there he was head supervisor of the maintenance shop. During this time he was promoted to Staff Sergeant and offered a candidacy at an officer training school. Many have concluded that Pastor Mitchell's style of Christian
discipleship is strongly influenced by his former military training. After his military service he met Nelda Henderson at a dance in Phoenix in
1952. They got married on Feb 7th
1953. Ten months after the birth of their first daughter, she suddenly died of
cot death. During this time Mitchell was unemployed. Jobs were scarce and unemployment was widespread. This was the turning point in his life. George Mitchell, Wayman's brother had been saved at a
Foursquare church and invited the grieving couple to a
church meeting. They both responded to an
altar call and became
born again Christians.
Pastor Mitchell is a
Pentecostal who believes in all
gifts of the Holy Spirit but has often been criticized for his strong stance against
Charismatic emotionalism and extremes such as the
Toronto Blessing, or the
Pensacola Outpouring. Mitchell recalls when he was baptized with the
Holy Spirit: "In
1954 I was in a
denominational church (
Foursquare), I had been saved only for a few months. I went and bowed at an alter and as I did someone put their hand upon me and as they did I heard a rushing mighty wind, I had no idea what was going on, I was filled with the
Holy Ghost, I wept, I cried, snot ran down my face, this was the accelerant that changed my life, and the fire has never gone out hallelujah." (Prescott Conference 2004)
Wayman went to
L. I. F. E. Bible College in
1957-
1960, where he completed his Pastorate. Mitchell felt that he was drained of spirituality during this time, and felt that the school focused on
academics rather than zealous spirituality. He felt that this was a detour. In his own words "Most of the students who go off to
Bible School get their head full of
homiletics and
hermeneutics and are embalmed in
denominational deadness. They leave school, not as powerful
preachers of the Word, but as
Christian educators. They are filled with knowledge and deader than a hammer. Then they wonder why they can't experience
revival."
Wayman Mitchell originally began his ministry under the affiliation of the
Church of the Foursquare Gospel and continued this affiliation for many years until having a disagreement with this church's leaders concerning
ordination requirements for new
ministers. Wayman Mitchell believed that a new
pastor should be trained through "
discipleship" rather than any sort of
higher education such as
Bible college. Mitchell had sent some
disciples to
Bible College only to find that they came back robbed of spiritual life. By the mid-
1980s Wayman Mitchell had a following of well over a hundred newly established
churches, pastored by men who had been
discipled under Wayman Mitchell.
Reluctantly in
1985 Wayman Mitchell officially gave up his affiliation with the
Church of the Foursquare Gospel and took up a practice under
CFM, the
church he had established in
Prescott. When Wayman Mitchell left the
Church of the Foursquare Gospel most of his newer churches went with him and name
The Potter's House was adopted.
In the Late
1960s a
revival swept through the US called the
Jesus Movement. Many nominal
churches rejected the
hippies who were getting saved but Pastor Mitchell accepted them into his
church and saw dramatic church growth. Being inspired by
Chuck Smith and other
ministers, Pastor Mitchell overlooked what the people looked like and smelt like, and saw the potential in each person to be strong
Christians. Much of the headship in the
church today is made up of people who got
saved in this movement.
Mitchell is often invited to be a speaker at numerous international
bible conferences held by
CFM Churches across the globe. Pastor Mitchell
preaches a style that is considered by critics as "
old school" and often cuts across modern cultural trends to present
biblical standards and
doctrines. Mitchell's success in the past 35 years has been due to his focus upon three points:
evangelism,
discipleship, and
church planting, aspects Mitchell feels are often neglected in modern
churches. Mitchell believes that every
believer has a personal responsibility to win souls into
God's Kingdom. Mitchell also believes that a real "
Christian" will be a
disciple, i.e. a learner, as
Christian appears three times in the scriptures whilst "
disciple" appears
http://www.bible-truth.org/msg86.html multiple times. Mitchell believes that the
New Testament pattern for effective
evangelism is to send out workers into cities and regions to start
churches, while
mass evangelism can be of some benefit, Mitchell concludes that at the end of the
revival,
crusade, etc. one must have a local
church where they can grow and learn. Although many consider Mitchell and the
Potter's House Fellowship as
radical, they insist that they are following in the footsteps of other
church movements such as the early
Salavtion Army, early
Methodist movement, early
AoG, early
Elim etc. Mitchell is considered amongst CFM circles as an "
apostle of the faith" and is revered as a great leader, much like
William Booth of the
Salvation Army, or
John Wesley of the
Methodists. The term "apostle" is not to be confused with the "
12 Apostles" of
Jesus Christ. It's not believed that he's the equivalent of the
Apostles Paul,
Peter, or
John, or holds the same office, rather, he's regarded as a great leader of the churches under his authority who visits those
churches to offer encouragement, instruction, and sometimes admonition and
discipline when necessary.
Mitchell has authored a book on
healing which can be read online:
Healing Book.
* -
The Potter's HouseIn Pursuit of Destiny Biography of Wayman Mitchell by Ian Wilson 1996 ISBN 0-9699777-1-9
* -
Info about Wayman Mitchell* -
Potter's House Forum* -
Mitchell's Church in Arizona* -
Audio Sermons* -
CFM Link to many Potter's House churches
