Word and Witness

I have some further clarity on the dates of the shift from the naming of the periodical from "The Apostolic Faith" to the "Word and Witness." It looks like Bell maintained the name "Apostolic Faith" until at least mid-June 1912.

Bell did not typically publicize subscription numbers other than reports on unpaid subscriptions and shortages of newspapers. Bell only reported total subscribership two times in the publication’s history. In June 1913, Bell claimed, “GOD IS GREATLY BLESSING THE PAPER EVERYWHERE, and with the help of all the workers and the Lord, we are aiming to put the paper in 25,000 homes before the summer is over. We started April one year ago (this would be April 1912), printing only 2,000, and have so wonderfully grown that for several months we have regularly gotten out 16,000, and in May we ran short, this number not being enough. For June we are printing 20,000 papers in Double size.” See Bell, “Editorial,” Word and Witness, June 20, 1913, 4. This exponential growth is perhaps the single most important factor that led to the successful formation of the Assemblies of God as well as the reason for Bell’s leadership of the movement. After the meeting at Hot Springs in April 1914, the paper planned to “get out four times as many as our best heretofore. At low figures, 75,000 have already been subscribed for and we can, if all will help, get out and send out in May a 100,000 copies.” See “Big Edition in May,” Word and Witness, April 20, 1914, 1. “Glory and Unity at the Eureka Springs Camp,” Word and Witness, August 20, 1912, 1-2. This article referenced a previously unrecognized 1911 meeting since it stated that “the attendance [at the 1912 meeting] far surpassed that of one year ago at the same place.” There is newfound evidence of a 1911 meeting in Eureka Springs. See “Camp Meeting a Success,” Eureka Springs Times, July 28, 1911, 5, Arkansas State Archives.

Word and Witness publication history

This is the Description at the Pentecostal Archives for the Word and Witness (highlighted in bold is the subject of this post):

Description:
Word and Witness, published by E. N. Bell, served as the primary periodical of the Church of God in Christ, a group sometimes referred to as Church of God in Christ (white) to distinguish it from Bishop Charles H. Mason's largely-African-American organization with the same name. Most members of the Church of God in Christ (white) were located in the South and initially consisted of ministers who held credentials with Charles Parham's Apostolic Faith Movement. Sometime after mid-1907, this group of ministers left Parham to form their own organization. The new organization continued using the name Apostolic Faith Movement and its periodical continued the name and enumeration of Parham's periodical, The Apostolic Faith. In late 1910 or 1911, this group changed its name to Church of God in Christ. In 1911 or 1912, Bell changed the name of the periodical to Word and Witness. In the December 20, 1913 issue of Word and Witness, Bell published "The Call" to Hot Springs, Arkansas, which was an open invitation for Pentecostal ministers to attend the April 1914 founding convention of the Assemblies of God USA. Delegates at the first general council elected Bell to serve as chairman, and Word and Witness became one of two official periodicals of the Assemblies of God (along with the Christian Evangel. Word and Witness merged into the Weekly Evangel on January 1, 1916. Places of publication: Malvern, Arkansas (1912?-1914); Findlay, Ohio (1914-1915); St. Louis, Missouri (1915).

​I haven’t seen other historical references to it or a clear explanation of why Bell changed the name. The newspaper also could have called it their own name instead of the proper name Bell gave it. Newspapers in Malvern and Green Forest, for instance, favored the “apostolic faith” term over any others. 

Question: How great do you think are the possibilities we find the first issues in the historical record?