Bishop Floyd I. Douglas is one of the less celebrated names in Pentecostal Assemblies of the World circles, yet he had a profoundly significant, steadying influence on the organization during one of its most turbulent periods.

A son of the south, Floyd Ignatius Douglas was born in 1887 in Nelson County (KY). An only son, his mother passed when he was five years old and his father passed when Douglas was ten. Afterwards, he was raised on a 180-acre farm owned by his grandmother. After the death of his grandmother, when he was fifteen, Douglas moved to nearby Louisville.

His early learning had come in the home of a nearby school teacher and then later at St. Joseph’s Catholic School, in the Nelson County town of Bardstown (KY). He received his first communion when he was ten years old at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and remained a devoted Catholic until the age of 23.

Once in Louisville, Douglas leaned heavily on his faith and training while coping with the devastating family losses he had suffered. During these years, he met a young Louisvillian named Anna Belle Davis, who (along with others) had left the Christian Faith Band Church, after hearing Elder Garfield T. Haywood preach about the Finished Work of Calvary. Douglas would marry Davis in August 1910.

Anna Belle Davis-Douglas was converted first and filled with the Holy Ghost. Early the following year, Floyd Douglas was also converted and filled with the Holy Ghost. He was called to the ministry in December 1911.

August 1912 marked the opening of Douglas’ first church, a congregation of roughly 35 that had grown from that Christian Faith Band remnant. He affiliated that congregation with the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, which was still headquartered in Los Angeles. Through this association, Douglas became a respected colleague of Haywood and Elder Alexander R. Schooler (both of whom would be among the first five PAW Bishops).

Sometime after the 1913 Arroyo Seco Camp Meeting, Douglas (like the PAW) accepted baptism in the name of Jesus.

Interestingly, the Christian Faith Band (from which Mother Douglas had come) later became the Church of God (Apostolic). The COGA adopted Jesus Name baptism sometime between 1915 and its incorporation in 1919, due to the influence of Elder Robert C. Lawson of the PAW, who befriended their leader, Rev. Thomas J. Cox.

An articulate man, Douglas became a PAW Field Superintendent in 1918 and was a primary leader in establishing the first district council meeting of Kentucky in 1922. Haywood and Schooler presided over that first business meeting, in which Douglas was elected Chairman and Lucy Cureton of Frankfort was elected Secretary. By 1923, there were 13 churches affiliated with the “Kentucky State Council,” its “mother church” - Bethel Temple, and the PAW. This district eventually evolved into what we know as the “First Apostolic Council of Kentucky and Tennessee.”

Meanwhile, in August 1923, Elder William A. Carson officially incorporated The Apostolic Faith Home Assembly in Los Angeles. Knowing that his health was deteriorating, he summoned Elder Floyd Douglas to preach the dedication service. Before his demise in July 1924, Carson received affirmation from his church board to select Elder Douglas to succeed him as pastor at Home Assembly.

Elder and Lady Douglas arrived in Los Angeles in August 1924 to assume the pastorate of this heavily mortgaged church. He turned over control of the Louisville congregation to PAW Presiding Bishop G.T. Haywood, shortly after his arrival in L.A. In turn, Haywood tapped Elder David Schultz of Kansas City to pastor Bethel Temple in Louisville. However, Douglas returned to Louisville every seven months to attend to matters with the Kentucky Council, until 1927.

In 1928, Elder Floyd Douglas became Bishop Floyd Douglas.

Shortly thereafter, in 1931, Bishop Haywood passed away and the PAW was in a tenuous state. Ministers that had participated in a contentious split from the organization in 1924 convinced the majority of PAW leaders and churches to again merge with them, and to form a new organization – the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ. Bishop Douglas and Bishop A. William Lewis of Ohio were the only PAW Bishops that rejected the merger.

The two remaining Bishops (Douglas and Lewis) convened a meeting at Bethesda Temple in Dayton (OH) to re-establish the PAW with the remnant that objected to the merger late that same year. Bishop Lewis, with assistance from other loyalists, retrieved the PAW charter from one of the brothers and brought it to the meeting.

Together with Elder Samuel Grimes, Elder Robert F. Tobin, Elder Oscar Sanders, Elder Peter Bridges, Elder E. F. Akers, and others; Douglas and Lewis re-affirmed the continuance of a legally-chartered Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. Elder David Schultz, who succeeded Douglas as pastor of the Louisville church, was also instrumental in pulling the PAW from the brink of extinction.

Bishop Grimes was elected Presiding Bishop of the PAW in 1932, and Douglas was honored as Senior Bishop of the organization in 1934, due to his credentials with the PAW having dated back to 1912.

Over the years, Bishop Douglas’ active influence in the PAW was significant. His Los Angeles church, (Home Assembly) twice hosted the PAW Convention, in 1937 and again in 1946. Both times the local church bore the expense for the event.

Douglas worked closely with Bishop Grimes to establish the California State Council in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s. He also served as Diocesan of the Mountain States District Council (New Mexico and West Texas) from its founding in June 1940 through 1951.

By 1948, Douglas’ leadership had led to the retirement of all debts at the L.A. church. And because of the growth of his congregation, he began a drive to expand the facility. That fund reached cash and pledges of $7,000 on its first night, then grew to more than $10,000. However, the Bishop grew ill and transitioned from labor to reward in April 1951.

Bishop Floyd Ignatius Douglas was a man of great vision, will, and administrative acumen. He was a key cog in establishing at least three PAW districts. He was also a unique steady hand whose unwavering devotion helped save the PAW from oblivion, at a crucial time in our history. Bishop Douglas is a vital contributor to the legacy of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.