Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press When Edmund Creffield and his "Holy Roller" religious cult made headlines in 1903, it was page one news - not just in the Pacific Northwest, but around the nation. Yet few people in the region today have heard Creffield's name or his story. In fact, the descendants of the people who were involved still refuse to discuss those events of a century ago.

Rock music today is universal and its popular history is well known. Yet few know how and why it really came about. Taking a fresh look at events long overlooked or misunderstood, this book tells how some of the most disenfranchised people in a free and prosperous nation strove to make themselves heard--and changed the world. Describing the genesis of rock and roll, the author covers everything from its deep roots in the Mississippi Delta, key early figures, like deejay "Daddy-O" Dewey Phillips and gospel star Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and the influence of so-called "holy rollers" of the Pentecostal church who became crucial performers--Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press When Edmund Creffield and his "Holy Roller" religious cult made headlines in 1903, it was page one news - not just in the Pacific Northwest, but around the nation. Yet few people in the region today have heard Creffield's name or his story. In fact, the descendants of the people who were involved still refuse to discuss those events of a century ago.

Julie Lyons was working as a crime reporter when she followed a hunch into the South Dallas ghetto. She wasn’t hunting drug dealers, but drug addicts who had been supernaturally healed of their addictions. Was there a church in the most violent part of the city that prayed for addicts and got results? At The Body of Christ Assembly, a rundown church on an out-of-the-way street, Lyons found the story she was looking for. The minister welcomed criminals, prostitutes, and street people–anyone who needed God. He prayed for the sick, the addicted, and the demon-possessed, and people were supernaturally healed. Lyons’s story landed on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald. But she got much more than just a great story, she found an unlikely spiritual home. Though the parishioners at The Body of Christ Assembly are black and Pentecostal, and Lyons is white and from a traditional church background, she embraced their spirituality–that of “the Holy Ghost and fire.” It’s all here in Holy Roller–the stories of people desperate for God’s help. And the actions of a God who doesn’t forget the people who need His power.

From #1 Essence bestselling author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, a touching and funny story of faith, love, and tenacious friendship. Lifelong friends Coco, Nita, and Tia are fed up with their bad luck in love. The beautiful and demure Coco has endured years of physical abuse from her boyfriend but can’t seem to drum up the courage to leave him. Tia, a single mother, has dated her fair share of slackers and cheaters and yearns for a stable companion who will be a father figure to her son. Meanwhile, the feisty and seductive Nita is getting fed up with her club-hopping lifestyle and wants to settle down. She just has to find someone worth coming home to. Tia decides to take action and encourages Nita and Coco to try a new approach—holy rolling. Masquerading as God-fearing churchgoers, the three women don their Sunday best and attend a local conference for ministers, hoping to find reliable, responsible men. Their results are varied—Nita settles down quickly with Marshall, a hot young minister who she loves but whose lifestyle proves too sedate for her tastes. Tia thinks she has met the perfect man, only to discover he has a fiancée waiting for him in Atlanta. And Nita finds the man of her dreams and, most importantly, the courage to stand up for herself. In her signature style, ReShonda Tate Billingsley once again combines spiritual themes and real-life drama in a compelling story of humor, heart, and hope that her fans are sure to relish.

Recounts the author's childhood as an organist's daughter for tent revivalist David Terrell, describing her witness to his mass "miracles" and his morally corrupt activities behind the scenes.

"Holy Rollers"—with this epithet most people dismiss members of the Pentecostal sect as wild religious fanatics. In this new study, folklorist Elaine Lawless draws on fieldwork among Pentecostal congregations in the limestone region of southern Indiana to offer a sympathetic view of the Pentecostals as a special group distinguished by their own folk traditions and religious expression. From her findings she describes the members' codes of dress and behavior, their attitudes toward themselves and others, their special use of words, and their distinctive religious practices. Focusing on the activity of a particular church, she then analyzes the structure of the service and shows how its elements—singing, praying, testifying, preaching, and speaking in tongues—exhibit, not a formless display of fervor, but rather an ordered and traditional sequence that creates a unique religious expression. Important to the study is the attention given the role of women. Although the Pentecostal interpretation of Biblical teachings accords men dominance, women occasionally preach in the church and during the testifying part of the service they are often able to exercise control and religious authority. Many of the women have relatives in the dangerous work of the limestone quarries, and for these women the personal experience and close relationship fostered by the Pentecostal church, Lawless finds, offers welcome emotional support. This readable study affords a new understanding of one Pentecostal sect and an appreciation of the role of women in fundamentalist religious practices.