HISTORY and TIMES of THE KINGDOM

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Glossary

Uniqueness is a facet or feature of cults and sects which almost goes without saying.  The Kingdom developed its own unigue jargon and colloquial-isms.  Mr Sandford had a penchant for re-naming people and things with Biblical terminolgy.  This page will attempt to demonstrate them for the sake of the not heretofore initiated, as well as other terminolgy used on the website which may not be immediately recognizable.

Antinomian: One who holds that faith alone is necessary to salvation, and that the moral law is of no use or obligation. (Websters New Collegiate Dictionary)

Armory: The large meeting hall at the rear, or northeast side of the Shiloh complex.

Bethesda:  The hospital building located about 500 feet east of the Shiloh complex.  Long since abandoned, its remains were demolished in the sixties, and only fragments of its foundation remain today.

Convention: In addition to feasts, meetings, sometimes lasting several days, where all Kingdom members from around the country were expected to attend. Usually held at the year's mid-point or end.   See also Feast

Cult: By its primary dictionary definition, the term cult just means a system of religious beliefs or rituals. It is based on a farming term in Latin meaning cultivation. Sociologists and anthropologists sometimes use the term cult to describe religious structure or belief patterns with meanings (usually non-pejorative) unique to their disciplines. In modern usage, the term cult is often used by the general public to describe any religious group they view as strange or dangerous. Thus, cult can describe religious leaders or organizations that employ abusive, manipulative, or illegal control over their followers' lives. In addition to these usages, Christians generally have a doctrinal component to their use of the word. Cult in this sense, is a counterfeit or serious deviation from the doctrines of classical Christianity. (definition from the Watchman Fellowship website)

Cult (totalist type): A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.), designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders, to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. (West & Langone, 1986, pp. 119-120)  The AFF website

Cut-Out Service: A service held at the end of the week, Saturday evening, to "cut-out" or commit the week ahead within God' will.

D.V. : Lord willing

Divine Authority: The leadership principle put forward by Sandford and adopted wholly by Abram, that maintained their spiritual proximity to God, enabled them to readily know God's will on virtually any topic.   Put another way, in the hierarchy of church leadership, their position situated them just beneath the Supreme Being, but a long way from the rank and file.  A member could, however, approach them regarding any question from the spiritual to the mundane, and know with a certainty as they left they now had entertained God's perspective on the subject.

Ebenezer: A large room on the fourth floor of Shiloh, three stories below the crown (Jerusalem turret) Used for small group meetings.Mr. & Mrs. Leger, Shiloh's first occupants, utilized this as living space.

Elim: A brownstone townhouse/apartment building at 545&547 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA. Sandford initially envisioned Elim as his world headquarters, but ultimately it was used by the sect primarily for "feasts" until 1950, when the Fairwood center was acquired.

Fairwood: The current headquarters for The Kingdom, comprising a large estate in Dublin New Hampshire at the foot of Mt. Monadnock. A sanctuary seating approximately 600, together with dormitories, dining hall, gymnasium, elderly care facility, and staff living quarters.

Feast: Any one of three Old Testament Feasts Sandford declared as restored from old Israel, that is, the feast of Passover, held in  March, the Feast of Pentecost, held in May, and the Feast of Ingathering, held in September and ending on Mr. Sandford's birthday, October 2. Frequently referred to in Kingdom jargon as a convention.

"Gearing up": An idiomatic expression used repeatedly by Kingdom leadership to suggest or empasize the differences in mind-set, mores, behaviour patterns, etc. between the lay person's attitudes and perspectives on religious issues and the "real" religion practiced by hundred folders and church leadership.

Glossolalia: The language spoken when in the Spirirt  which only God or heavenly beings may understand.

Goshen: The Kingdom center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Heading Up: The action of looking to the next up the ladder in the hierarchial chain of authority.  One must always "head up" to their immediate superior in faith before taking any initiative, spiritual or otherwise.

The Hills: or Holy Hills, as referred to in Sublimity of Faith.  Property in Hobart, New York where Sandford spent most of his "retirement", and was buried in 1948.

  Hundred Folder: One who has given all his earthly wealth and assets away and is living (perhaps with their entire family) on the largesse of  the Kingdom, as opposed to sixty and thirty folders who were gainfully employed "outside" the church.  The hundred folders were completely dependent on faith for their sustenance.

In Close: Those members on whom the light of favor was shown.  Their spiritual condition, as judged by Sandford, was deemed to be of a quality high enough to associate freely at the highest levels of the Kingdom hierarchy.

  Legalism: A faith system based largely on one's personnel performance against a set of idealized standards.  One's faith is strengthened and supported through the comparison to and knowledge of requirements prescribed by the system's promulgators.

Movement: Synonym for the Kingdom.

Olivet:  The children's building, located southeast of the Shiloh complex.

O.S. Our Shepherd, i.e. Mr. Frank W. Sandford. This was actually in the form of a code, that is, it had a double meaning.  It is seen in many communiques in substitution for Mr. S's signature.   Should someone not thoroughly familiar with the institution or Mr. S. ask, the acronymn was also said to mean "on still" that being an abbreviation for the expression "On, still on", an inspirational way of ending the document under consideration.

Peniel: The small waiting room just below the Jerusalem turret in Shiloh proper, and above Frank Sandford's bedroom.

Pentecostalism: Some define Pentecostalism strictly on a doctrinal basis. The most commonly accepted doctrinal definition is that Pentecostals are those who hold to glossolalia as the "initial physical evidence" of Spirit Baptism. The problem is that not all within classical Pentecostalism are comfortable with that definition. Robert M. Anderson, defines Pentecostals as "the groups, by whatever name they may use, whose origins can be traced to that revival [Azusa]"; Vision of the Disinherited, p. 4. Both definitions challenge Charles Conn's claim. First, the evidence is weak that the Church of God believed that glossolalia was the biblical evidence of Spirit Baptism, and that this baptism was for all believers, until after January, 1908. Secondly, using Robert Anderson's definition, the oldest Pentecostal denominations would be Apostolic Faith (Baxter Springs, Kans.), Apostolic Faith Mission (Portland, Ore.), The Church of God in Christ, and The Pentecostal Holiness Church. All of these denominations can trace their origins to Azusa Street as early as 1906. (from Robert Horton's article "The Holiness Connection" Lee College, Cleveland, Tenn. March 1996)

Post-millenialist: One who holds that gradual spiritual and social improvement that will lead to a heaven on earth after which Christ’s second coming and Day of Judgement will occur. (Hiss p.72)

Pre-millenialist: One who holds that things will grow worse and worse until God sends Christ as warrior King to defeat the forces of evil and rule over the earth in a new and perfect age. (Hiss p.72)

Quitter:  Any individual who, for reasons of conscience or personal behavior chose or was asked to leave the Kingdom.

Restoration: The doctrine, as preached by Sandford, that defined his ministry and movement as the embryonic kernel of restored Israel as it will be with sundry attributes after the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Restored Sabbath: the seventh day of the week, set aside by God in the book of Genesis as the day of rest.  Sandford believed that he had been chosen of God to "restore" specific features of the Hebrew faith to the 20th century believer, as Christ will do for all when He returns to earth.  A person in Kingdom fellowship was expected to do no labor, among other things, on the seventh day.

(The) Scattering:  On March 9, 1920, Mr. Sandford said God told him "Work" and "Can work".  This marked the breakup of the Shiloh community.

(The) Shepherd: One of Mr Sandford's assumed name/titles, drawn from his claim to being the second "David"

(The) Six Hours: The six hour period from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. observed every Thursday to commemorate Christ's crucifixion. Kingdom centers and the families living there usually observed this period of time each week in a worship service without breaking for meals or rest. Unlike mainstream Christianity, Frank Sandford believed the crucifixion to have occured on Thursday, from the reference referring to Jonah as 3 days and nights in the belly of the whale, so also shall Christ be in the tomb prior to His resurrection. Counting backwards from His resurrection onSunday, the first day of the week, we arrive on Thursday.

The Temple:  A wood frame building originally constructed by the Kingdom in Auburn, Maine, but later dis-assembled, moved to Durcm, and reassembled in the pine grove northwest of the Shiloh complex.

Top Sails: Pronounced "top sills".  These are head pieces worn by the women of the Kingdom should they desire to pray or speak in church during a testimony service, in accordance with the Bible directive for women to keep their heads covered.

Whither-so-evers:  Young, dedicated female  workers, usually Bible class students or graduates, sent to various locations throughout the organization to work, help or otherwise assist those families living at Kingdom Centers with chores and life.  This was done for indefinite periods of time with no compensation beyond the roof over their heads.

Working out: A condition applied to those who did not lead the hundred fold life, but chose instead to support themselves and their families.   Working out could also carry with it the not-so-cloaked stigma of not quite measuring up spiritually, especially prior to the Scattering

Xenolalia: Actual foreign language spoken by a Spirit filled individual who under normal conditions has no knowledge, understanding or experience in that tongue.