The Church of the Living God was founded in 1903 by Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate. Following her death in 1930, the church divided into three branches, known as the Keith, Jewell and Lewis dominions. The steel guitar was embraced in the worship of two of these dominions, the Keith Dominion (officially known as The House of God Which Is the Church of the Living God the Pillar and Ground of the Truth Without Controversy), headquartered in Nashville,Green, Tony. (2002) "Soul of Steel" in St. Petersburg Times and the Jewell Dominion (officially known as Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Which He Purchased With His Own Blood, Inc.), headquartered in Indianapolis.Robert L. Stone, Sacred Steel: Inside an African American Steel Guitar Tradition (University of Illinois Press, 2010), chapter 8. Brothers Troman and Willie Eason introduced lap steel guitar to worship services in place of the traditional organ."Sacred Steel: The Steel Guitar in the Gospel Blues Tradition" from About.com This new instrument was met with great enthusiasm and taken up by others including the Bishop J.R. Lockley. The three toured together and later Willie put the new style down on record, recording a total of eighteen sides in the 1940s and 50s.
