UNITED HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE

Pentecostal Holiness church founded by Bishop Charles Emmanuel (Sweet Daddy) Grace (1881/84?1960). After leaving a job as a cook on a Southern railway, he began to preach, assuming the name Grace and proclaiming himself Bishop. He established a house of worship in 1926 in Charlotte, N.C., and later moved to Newark, N.J. He claimed to be an emissary of God with authority to grant or withhold salvation. The death of Grace led to temporary difficulties for the group over tax litigation and the succession to Grace's leadership. The key to the success of this cult was that the many offerings went directly to Daddy Grace to advance the sale of his healing-power products: soap, stationery, tea, coffee, cookies, toothpaste, facial creams, talcum powder, hair dressing, and the Grace Magazine. The church is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a reported membership of 50,000.