United House of Prayer for All People

United House of Prayer for All People, Pentecostal Holiness church in the United States. It was founded by Bishop Charles Emmanuel Grace (1881/84?–1960), an immigrant from Cape Verde whose birth name was Marcelino Manuel da Graca. After leaving a job as a cook on a Southern railway, he began to preach. Da Graca was called “Daddy Grace” by his followers—he would later adopt the byname “Sweet Daddy Grace”—and proclaimed himself “bishop.” He established a house of worship in 1919 in West Wareham, Massachusetts, and later moved to Newark, New Jersey. 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 church 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 Grace Magazine. The church is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a reported membership of 50,000.