Rev. Oliver F. Fauss

Oliver Franklin Fauss was born May 22, 1898, in Gage, a small town in northwestern Oklahoma. His family was converted in a Methodist revival meeting when he was just a boy. Many of his memories of his early days are of prayer meetings, revivals and church services.

Around 1905 or 1906 there was a "holy-roller" meeting that was held fifteen miles from their home in Gage. They were curious and traveled the distance by wagon. The "holy-rollers" they saw were people who preached and believed this Pentecostal message! Young Oliver Fauss could not forget what he heard and saw in that meeting.

In March 1911 the Pentecostal message came to Ganado. His mother was the first in the family to receive the Holy Ghost. In September 1911 Oliver received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. A few days later, Oliver’s family moved to Houston, Texas. Once there, they attended church at the now famous Brunner Tabernacle.

When O. F. Fauss was seventeen years old, he left home to preach. One of his first brush arbor meetings was in Trinity, Texas, in 1915. He also assisted in and attended many camp meetings and revivals in Texas and Louisiana.

In the late fall of 1915, Oliver Fauss attended a Bible conference held in Elton, Louisiana, that lasted for several weeks. During this meeting, there was much prayer and study on the New Issue and the Oneness of the Godhead. This New Issue was based upon the baptismal formula in Acts 2:38. Oliver Fauss preserved notes taken from Bible studies during the Elton Bible Conference. The truth of the Word of God had come to light, and the Scripture did not teach a trinity of persons in the Godhead but that the Lord our God was one Lord.

No one in the South had even heard of or believed this message at this point. Then, on December 19, 1915, O.F. Fauss was baptized in Jesus' Name, along with twelve other workers. Robert LaFleur and Oliver Fauss were the first two to wade into a nearby creek and baptize each other. Brother Fauss then baptized Brother S. L. Wise.

On July 10, 1916, just before going to service in a brush arbor meeting, Oliver Fauss and Miss Jewel Smith were united in marriage. Brother Fauss received his first license to preach on September 2, 1916, from the General Assembly of the Apostolic Assemblies, signed by Daniel C. O. Operrman and Howard A. Goss. He was ordained by the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, by Brother L. C. Hall on August 3, 1917. This ordination bears the signatures of J. J. Frazier, G. T. Haywood, and Brother Opperman.

The first nine years of Brother Fauss ministry were spent almost entirely in the evangelistic field in Texas and Louisiana. Brother and Sister Fauss traveled, preaching and conducting revivals in small towns, communities, sawmill camps, and settlements.

Brother Fauss served as chairman of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ for two years. He served as chairman over at least two annual conferences of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ (now the UPCI). In 1924 he founded the Pentecostal Witness and was editor for four years. He remained on the editorial staff until his death. (The Pentecostal Witness later became The Pentecostal Outlook, which later became The Pentecostal Herald). He was a member of the Board of Presbyters of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ from its beginning. He also served as chairman of the South Central Council of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ for four years.

In 1944 the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ appointed committees of three to meet jointly and take preliminary steps toward effecting a merger. W. T. Witherspoon, S. R. Hanby, and Oliver Fauss were appointed from the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated. As the Merger was finalized several months later, the official name of the organization became the United Pentecostal Church.

After the Merger, Brother Fauss held the position of assistant general superintendent from 1947 to 1971. He also served as general superintendent, serving out the unexpired term of A. T. Morgan in 1967. At the 1971 General Conference, he was appointed honorary General Board member and held this position until his death on July 8, 1980.

He successfully pastored a number of great churches: First Pentecostal Church of Port Arthur, Texas; First Pentecostal Church in Bay City, Texas; Calvary Tabernacle in Indianapolis, Indiana; First Pentecostal Church in Pensacola, Florida; and a church in Newcastle, Indiana. He moved to Houston, Texas, in 1928 with a burden for a work for the name of the Lord.