M. P. Ferguson

Manie Payne Ferguson United Kingdom 1850-1932. Born in Carlow, Ireland, in 1883 she married Theodore Pollock Ferguson, a past Presbyterian minister from Ohio, who had become an itinerant evangelical preacher. They moved to Los Angeles, CA, in 1885. He became a pioneer leader in the American Holiness Movement, a Christian evangelist, and social worker, founding, along with her husband, the non-denominational Peniel Mission in 1886. In 1894 they received a significant financial donation from George Studd allowing them to expand the mission. They constructed a 900-seat auditorium and ministry centre there in Los Angeles. They partnered with Studd and Phineas Bresee, each acting as a superintendent of the mission organization. In 1894 Dr. Joseph Widney, President of USC, led the dedication Praise service, and Bresee preached the later service. Widney and Bresee separated from the mission in 1895 to form the Church of the Nazarene, and Manie Fergusion provided primary leadership of the Peniel Mission. The mission provided ministry especially for single women, who lived in rented rooms near the auditorium, where evangelical services were held. The Fergusions managed to live on income from three small houses they owned, and mission rents and donations covered mission expenses. Street-corner meetings were held in the afternoon, evangelical services at night, and a meal was served afterward. Converts were asked to join a local church of their choice. Manie continued the mission work after her husband's death until her own death. In 1947 the mission became part of the World Gospel Mission enterprise. Manie wrote many poems and also authored hymn lyrics. She died in Los Angeles.

John Perry