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A number of evangelical services conducted in the Carrington’s Village St. Michael area in the late 1940s provided the spark that gave rise to the existence of the Mount Olive Holy Temple. The evangelist was a young minister, Harry Gentles and his wife, Jestina, both Jamaican by birth, whom Providence led to Barbados. The church thus formed met initially in houses. At one time the believers worshipped in a wooden building, a former dance hall which was acquired by Bishop Gentles to be transformed into a place of worship in 1953 By 1956, however, the foundation was laid for the present Mount Olive Holy Temple which serves as the headquarters of the organization.

The other twelve churches have their several origins, some predating Mount Olive. They became affiliated to the United Holy Church of America over time, mostly in the 1950s. Some of them were fledgling entities when their leaders became acquainted with Bishop Harry Gentles and requested his assistance in organizing them and bringing systematic structure to their programmes. Their individual origins are set out in their history.