“P” is for Pike, John Martin

“P” is for Pike, John Martin [1840-1932]. Clergyman, editor, publisher. A Canadian and ordained Methodist clergyman, Pike was invited to preach at Columbia’s Washington Street Methodist Church. He subsequently moved to the state and served churches in in Lynchburg, Sumter, Summerville, and Charleston. In 1893 he became editor of a periodical, The Way of Faith. Through his involvement with the Oliver Gospel Mission in Columbia, Pike became a pivotal figure in the spread of Holiness and Pentecostal strains of Protestantism in South Carolina.  After Pentecostal revivals in Los Angeles in 1906, Pike and The Way of Faith became major conduits in publicizing the new movement throughout the South. In his later years, John Martin Pike added a significant social component to his work in Columbia, founding the Door of Hope, a ministry for women victimized by sexual predators, poverty, and domestic violence.