Ingram, James Henry (1893-1981)

Foreign Missions Field Representative for the Church of God (CG) (Cleveland, Tennessee)

As an overseer of the CG for California and Arizona, Ingram was long interested in Latin America and was appointed in 1921 to serve the CG as foreign missions field representative. In 1931 he recruited Maria W. Atkinson, the Mexican-born wife of an American businessman, to the CG; along with her came several congregations that she had formed in the state of Sonora, Mexico. In Guatemala in 1934, he annexed the work of Charles T. Furman when the latter was released by his mission. In 1940 he negotiated the incorporation of eighty congregations of the National Christian Church of the Assemblies of God (AG) (a group that had broken away from the AG of Mexico in 1934) as well as the independent Pentecostal groups associated with Fredrick Mebius in El Salvador. The same year he annexed groups in Costa Rica and Panama. In June 1940, on a trip through South America, he met Marcos Azzucco, whose Isla Maciel church had recently seceded from the Swedish AG. Mazzucco affiliated his work with the CG and became the CG overseer for Argentina. Ingram also established relations with Pentecostal groups in Europe, Asia,and the  Middle East. He died in California.

Everett A. Wilson, “Ingram, James Henry,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, edited by Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 318.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Primary

Ingram, J. H. Around the World with the Gospel Light. Cleveland, TN: Church of God Publishing House, 1938.

Secondary

Conn, Charles W. Where the Saints Have Trod. Cleveland, TN: Pathway Press, 1959.

Dominguez, Roberto. Pioneros de Pentecostes, vol 2. Madrid: Literatura Evangelica, 1971.

Scarborough, Peggy. J. H. Ingram: Missionary Dean. Cleveland, TN: Pathway Press, 1966.

Waldrop, Richard E. “An Historical and Critical Review of The Full Gospel Church of God of Guatemala.” D.Miss. dissertation, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1993.