10 Facts About RE McAlister

Rev Robert Edward McAlister was a Canadian pastor and evangelist who was one of the founding members of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.

RE McAlister's sermon concerning baptism in the name of Jesus at the Apostolic Faith World-Wide Camp-Meeting played a significant role in spreading the belief that God is not a trinity of persons, as well as baptism in the name of Jesus Christ contradicting the historical position of the church that baptism is in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

RE McAlister was born in 1880 in Township of Ross, in Renfrew County, Ontario.

In 1891, the McAlister family moved to Cobden, Ontario where McAlister became a Christian in the Holiness Movement church were his father was an elder.

Later, in Autumn of 1906, RE McAlister was traveling as an evangelist and decided to travel to Los Angeles, California after hearing about the Azusa Street Revival.

At Azusa Street, it is believed RE McAlister became the first Canadian to receive the Holy Spirit.

Scott asked RE McAlister to attend the event and give a sermon on baptism.

RE McAlister felt that it was the perfect opportunity to preach about his new understanding of the baptismal formula that was presented in Matthew 28:19.

Haywood and Harry Morse, would become staunch advocates for baptism in the name of Jesus and would later become the impetus in the spread of the teaching of Rev RE McAlister's teaching and the formation of religious organizations such as the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and other Oneness Pentecostal and Apostolic religious organizations.

Later in 1919, RE McAlister was named the Secretary-Treasurer of the new church.