The United House of Prayer For All People ®

of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith

The Honorable Bishop W. McCollough, Successor

The passing of Bishop C.M. ("Sweet Daddy") Grace on January 12, 1960, represented a desolate day in the lives of the House of Prayer membership. The man who meant so much to so many, was now gone, but God did not leave his children comfortless. Bishop W. McCollough, successor bishop to Daddy Grace, took over the reigns of this organization and led it to higher heights and deeper depths in Christ Jesus.

Bishop Walter ("Sweet Daddy") McCollough joined the House of Prayer in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of fourteen. There he served as a Boy Scout. After moving to Washington, DC he served as Boy Scout, Junior Trustee for the Young People, Senior Trustee, Choir Member, Male Usher, Grace Soldier, Junior Elder, Senior Elder Board Chairman, Pastor, Senior Minister, the Bishop, thus giving rise to the familiar phrase, "from Boy Scout to Bishop."

As leader of this great organization, Sweet Daddy McCollough preached the irrefutable Gospel of God backed up by the King James Version of the Holy Bible. His doctrine of hope [the Gospel of Jesus Christ] was accepted by hundreds of thousands. To the world outside of the House of Prayer, a number of our practices seemed "peculiar" - calling our bishop "DADDY"; making red, white, and blue the official exterior colors of the church structures, and praising God with gospel bands. But while he was often maligned, Daddy McCollough, as spiritual adviser and chief executive officer of this organization, continued to "maintain the faith of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ", as required by the Constitution and the By-Laws of The United House of Prayer. As did Daddy Grace before him, Daddy McCollough taught that God had a house, a place where He [God] would come and that God's house had a name. He taught of the promise of deliverance through prayer; he taught of God's Kingdom being a perpetual kingdom; he taught of giving praises to God in dance and with the instruments; he taught of being born again of the spirit, and taught of the promise of eternal life.

Daddy McCollough was concerned about both the "body" and "soul" of man. While he traveled from coast to coast, trying to redeem the souls of men and mankind everywhere, he launched a "Nationwide Building Program" that was unparalleled. Throughout the nation, low-income, affordable housing was being erected, which benefited not only the parishioners, but members of the community wherein they were located. New church structures were being built by their own construction teams and other edifices were receiving major renovations, which were being financed one hundred percent by the church. Day care centers and senior citizens dwellings were also erected. One of the unique features of Daddy McCollough’s building programs was that all of the church structures were completely paid for at the time of dedication.

Daddy McCollough was revered, loved and respected by the House of Prayer membership and by the members of the community who came to know him. Under his dynamic leadership, the House of Prayer acquired a fleet of luxury coach buses that made interstate travel very comfortable; property was acquired for the House of Prayer for use as future development sites; concert and marching bands were organized to march in annual parades and annual competitions; and softball teams were organized, nationwide, for interstate competition. In addition, Daddy McCollough established a scholarship college fund. During an era when youth were disenchanted with education, more youth in the House of Prayer were matriculating in institutions of higher learning than at any other time due to the inspiration received from our leader and the financial support received from the McCollough Scholarship Fund.

At the time of his passing, March 21, 1991, Daddy McCollough left the House of Prayer with a legacy of which we can be proud. So today, as we [the proud members of the House of Prayer] rejoice in the fruits of the Lord under the "Bailey Dispensation", we will be forever grateful to Daddy McCollough for having picked up the mantle from Daddy Grace and for having endured his many "crosses" in order to "crown" us with such a rich heritage.

The Honorable Bishop C. M. Bailey, Leader

Biographies