Father Divine

International Peace Mission Movement

If You Can Get Something Good in the Heart It Will Produce and Manifest in Your Whole Physical System

Excerpt of Father Divine’s Remarks made at 1887-1889 Madison Avenue, New York City, N.Y. July 11, 1939

Remarks by Archbishop William H. Francis.

The Reaction Will Give Blessings

When you get this Love in your heart, when it is once established in reality in your heart from the depths of your soul, to you, God, the reaction of such a real conviction will give desirable blessings such as you may be seeking whensoever you concentrate in that direction. Can you not see the mystery?

Then I say, it is a privilege to know, by reiteration you produce and bring into outer expression and into conscious consideration and realization that which you are reiterating:

“I feel mighty happy when I love the Lord!”

Then you feel happy when you love everybody, for it puts a ban on discord and puts a ban on prejudice, it puts a ban on every expression that would motivate the act of violence or any destructive enactment within yourself. It cause the Christ within to express and be resurrected, that you might know definitely, Christ is Risen!

You do not know Christ is risen, only theoretically, until He has risen within you. But when He has risen within you, you can say for sure, “I know that my redeemer liveth for he liveth in my soul.”

I need not say more. I had arisen merely especially to say, we have visiting friends with us and as usual we are pleased to have any stranger or visitor, regardless to your religious affiliation, regardless to your political or social affiliation. The Spirit of my presence in these, my true and faithful, is endeavoring to be, and it is really hospitable, hence you can be entertained at all times.

Now I would like to say, we also have the special honor this morning or this afternoon, whichever, of having the Archbishop Francis with us and one of his staff in the priesthood. We appreciate their presence and always do. We hope that he will have something to say as he usually does. I am sure he will if he cares to, because he knows we are accustomed to allowing everybody to speak according to the dictates of their own conscience without criticism.

If any others would like to speak, they are welcome to speak as well as he, but I am sure we all would be pleased to hear from the Archbishop Francis this afternoon. I thank you. I thank you. I thank you.

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Excerpt of an interview Granted to Dr. Peter Love by Archbishop William Henry (Father) Francis

At the Church of Christ on the Mount, Woodstock, New York on May 27, 1975 between 1:15 and 4:00 p.m.

Comment: A brief conversation had taken place outside the parish entrance, and now seated in the Archbishop’s Study, the following conversation took place, recorded in part. The whole interview can be seen in the issue of The New Day, August 25, 1979. Pages 17-18.

Father Francis asks Dr. Peter Love, “And do you know how I got to know Father Divine? I’ve never told any individual. I happen to have known Jack Lait. Jack Lait was the managing editor of all of the Hearst publications. You know William Randolph Hearst.

Dr. P. Love: Yes.

Father Francis: I knew him too – I’m ashamed of it. I knew his wife very well.

Dr. P. Love: Yes.

Father Francis: Jack Lait, I knew him in Chicago, then I came to New York – he came to New York to be the head of the whole Hearst syndicate. He heard I had been to one of Father Divine’s Meetings and he came to see me one night. I remember the room that I was in and how he misbehaved that night – Jack Lait – and he offered me a sum in five figures if I would write an expose of the Father Divine Movement for the Hearst papers. And Father Victor was with me and Father Victor is still alive in California – we correspond – and we’d often talk about Father Divine now with us, and I said, “Vicky, let’s go and find out about Father Divine. Let’s find out.” We went to the Police Department in Harlem – I said, “Let’s be perfectly fair,” I said, “five figures is a lot of money,” (to Father Victor) I said, “we could use it for a good cause.” And the Police Department, the head of the Police Department told me – this was in 1929 or thereabouts – he said, “You know, since Father Divine Movement has gotten under way our work has been reduced by one-half.” I said, “Well, that wouldn’t sound nice in Hearst’s paper, would it?” We went to the Board of Education and a woman said, “Father Divine is a nuisance, and infernal nuisance!” Why? She said, “Because He insists on all of His children having the equal to a high school education and consequently we have had to put on extra teachers.” “Oh?” And one thing after another. That’s how it all started, through a negative thing, through the Hearst people offering to pay me this vast sum of money. I went to see lack Lait and I said, “Jack, you are playing with fire. Playing with fire!” And that’s how it started.

Comment: After telling another incident, Father Francis continued saying:

Father Francis: These are the little multiple incidents that came in the life, you see. And I often told   them publicly, I say, “Answer it if you can. Tell me, if you can, whether He is God or not. If you say HE is not, it isn’t a negative thought, you haven’t found out yet.

Dr. P. Love: Yes.

Father Francis: I said, “But is He doing God’s Work?” That’s the important thing.

Dr. P. Love: Yes.

Father Francis: And I could prove in a thousand ways that He has, you see.

Dr. P. Love: Yes.

Father Francis: That’s the thing that counts. Because I often think over the good of a wonderful Movement like that, you see, but I’m just one of the people on the outside that’s willing to…

Dr. P. Love: You are very much on the inside.

Father Francis: Well…

Dr. P. Love: You are very, very much on the inside.

(Father Francis did not finish his thought because he was interrupted and went to turn on the lights in the Church)

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Jesus Did Not Want To Send Them Away Hungry, Did He?

…In the time of all of the depressions and panics and famines, the Spirit of my presence automatically attracted and drew the necessary food and supplies to fit every desire.

But you must live it. You must be unselfish and unbiased and you must feed the people and do unto others as you would have them do to you. That is the way Jesus did when he fed the five thousand. He did not want to send them away hungry, did He? The same Spirit is speaking today and is just as operative and expressive, but it may appear in a different way. You do not have to sit on the ground here. God has blessed you so you don’t have to sit on the ground now as those did at that time – I mean those who were fed of the five thousand men, besides the women and children. They sat on the ground. But you have been blessed to have comfortable seats, have you not? They had fishes and loaves, but you have chicken and duck, and you usually have turkey, guinea and geese and everything else you desire to eat. You have been blessed in these advanced days of our present civilization.

Therefore, I say, let this Mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus and whatsoever you do be conscientious and be it, do it in all sincerity and God Himself will be with you.

Father Divine

Excerpt from Father Divine’s message given at Pinebrook Hotel, Pine Brook, NJ on May 19 and 20, 1945 at 1:25 a.m.

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You Do Not Have To Take Any Thought What You Are Going To Eat, One Day For The Next

My true followers do not have the slightest thought to take, what they are going to eat, one meal for the next! I am helping you to do what Jesus said. Some thought it could not be done, but I have proven it to the letter scientifically and accurately and I daily demonstrate it for you – “Take no thoughts for yourself, what you shall eat or drink, one day for the next.”

Now by the masses and thousands and thousands here that are sitting and standing by, especially those of you my immediate followers and those who have committed all things unto my keeping, who are consecrated to my service wholeheartedly and under my personal jurisdiction – you do not have to take any thought what you are going to eat, one day for the next, neither what you are going to drink, in that you can fulfill that part of the Scripture accurately – in that you can live Evangelically!

Jesus Did Not Take Much Thought About Eating

But you could not, if you have to be taking thoughts and worrying about what you are going to eat, one day for the next. Even that point is not living Evangelically. To live Evangelical, it means to live exactly according to the Life and the Teaching of Jesus, and Jesus did not take very much thought apparently, for He went out and there was a crowd out there who wanted to eat and at the time the food was necessary, it came forth into expression!

God provides where there is not anything and makes something out of nothing! Can you not see the Mystery? But as I afore said, “I am living an Evangelical life,” you hear some say. If you live Evangelically, you live exactly according to the Life and Teaching of Christ – the Teaching of Christ, as well as the Life of Christ, and He said:

“Take no thoughts for yourself, what you shall eat or drink, one day for the next.”

Now, in that particular instance as Mother Divine said many, many years ago, in crowds that part was fulfilled in her experience since she has been in me. Can you not see the mystery? If I could help you to fulfill the Scripture, to keep that Commandment which is so essential, you can plainly see it is good for all humanity if it is good for an individual. If it has been demonstrated in and among these and thousands of others under my personal jurisdiction who have reckoned my presence and trust me wholeheartedly – you can see definitely and you can see by their experience, it is better to trust in God than to trust in yourself and in others! Can you not see the mystery?

Father Divine

Excerpt from Father Divine’s message given in 1887-1889 Madison Ave., New York, NY on Friday, July 19th, 1940 at 3:54 p.m.

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Our private table…Our system of Our Religious Ritual

Our private Banquet Tables are the places – in other words, our Private Banquet Table is the place where we take our daily Communion. That is our system of our religious ritual. This is God’s Holy Communion Table.

In your churches the ministers and the representatives give the Communion to the immediate members (can you not see the mystery?) – to those who are partakers of the selfsame faith and profession, or those who wish to partake of the Communion, according to the religious conviction of the respective creed or denomination represented.

Communion for Body and Soul

But here we have our Communion as a daily repast, as a Work and as a Mission, sacredly established as something for the sustenance of our bodies and for the benefit of our souls; to keep our bodies and souls together accurately that we might live personally religiously and be true and faithful to our religious conviction personally.

I am not talking about something Supernatural, but the natural religious conviction has been made real, tangible and practical; and My system of serving communion is to feed the hungry when they are hungry; but at our Private Banquet Table especially, we are administering the Lord’s Supper at all of these Tables.

For this cause you see the sign as it hangs across the divers dining rooms where I preside – “God’s Holy Communion Table.” Can you not see the mystery? This is My religious conviction and the way I understand to serve the Communion. I do not understand the way others serve because that is not My calling.

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