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Mr & Mrs Milas C Helms

NB: I am seeking information on other early members, If you know anything and to assist with filling in the gaps in our history, please send to me.

Some information from the Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong:

“Shortly after returning to Salem from the convention in Seattle, a death occurred in the family of a young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Milas C. Helms, who lived near Jefferson. Parents of both of them were members of the Church of God. Their baby son, Richard Leon, born November 23, 1930, had died on Monday, January 12, 1931” (p. 362)

“That brief sermon from the Scriptures, together with the grief of losing their little son, deeply affected and moved Mike and Pearl Helms, and resulted in bringing them to repentance and con[1]version through Christ as their Saviour. It was the beginning of a very close friendship, and Christian fellowship between us for several years to come. I have always had a very special warm spot in my heart for Mike Helms, and I feel sure it is mutual. We were to go through many rough experiences together in God's Work — experiences which brought us together like two close brothers. Mike was a vegetable gardener, and a very successful one. He was a natural leader. Inevitably, you will read quite a lot about him if you continue reading this story of my life, for he became closely connected with it and the many experiences I must relate from this point on.” (p.363)

“It was during the midst of the winter, December 1932 or January 1933, that Milas Helms appeared in Astoria one night. He finally located me at one of the "movie" offices, where I was picking up an "ad" at around 10:00 p.m. His little son, James, was stricken with a most serious case of pneumonia, and was in extremely critical condition. Mike had driven his pickup truck all the way from his farm, southwest of Jefferson. He asked me if I would not drop everything and go with him to anoint and pray for his boy's healing.” (p. 411)

“One day, late in February, 1933, Mike Helms drove his pickup truck up to our house. He had come to take us back to the Valley. The church Conference had now accumulated a small balance. Mike was now president of the conference. He said they would be able to pay us only $3 per week, but farmer brethren would supply us with vegetables, and the members would buy other food for us. Behind him, he said, was coming one of the men from the Valley with a large truck to haul our small amount of furniture and furnishings back to the Valley. At last God had answered our prayers to allow me to be put back into His ministry! Mrs. Armstrong got into the truck with Mr. Helms, and they drove downtown in search of me. I was overjoyed at the news.” (p. 413)

“At the same time, Mike Helms had come to tell me that Mr. Oberg and Mr. Ray had gone around to a number of the brethren in the valley, and set up an accusation against me, in a secret plot to get me out of the ministry.” (p. 425)

“They had brought enough pressure to force Milas Helms, as president of the Conference, to call a business meeting for the following Sunday at the church in Harrisburg. "They plan to discredit you," explained Mr. Helms, "by charging that your wife is not a neat housekeeper — and then turning to the Biblical qualifications for an Elder, for ruling well his own household. Since they will claim that you are not ruling your wife sternly enough to be a better housekeeper, they will claim that you are not Scripturally fit to be a minister, and must be put out of the ministry."” (p. 426)

“One day Milas Helms came to me with the offer to give me a very large tree on his farm if I would chop it down, saw it up and split it for our winter's fuel supply. This tree was six feet in diameter at the trunk — a huge” (p. 428)

“During the course of the Salem meetings Milas Helms brought us a number of eggs one day — perhaps a dozen or so. "We have decided to start tithing our eggs, as well as money income," he said to us. It was the off-laying season. This incident has been reported Back Into the Ministry before in The Plain Truth, but it properly belongs at this point in the Autobiography. Even though it was out of season for Mike's hens, they immediately went on an egg-laying campaign. Never, it seemed, had they laid so many eggs.” (p. 429)