Azusa Street and the Future of Pentecostalism
“Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no same mortal could understand, the newest religious sect has started in Los Angeles. Meetings are held in a tumble-down shack on Azusa Street. . . and the devotees of the weird doctrine practice the most fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories and work themselves into a state of mad excitement in their peculiar zeal.â€Los Angeles Times, 18 April 1906
In order to deal with the challenge of its success, Pentecostalism must learn from its formative years and continually renew itself by making “an innovative return to tradition.â€
God gives every movement for the renewal and expansion of the Church a “founding charism†or gift of grace for the whole church. It is a movement’s unique expression of the Kingdom.
What can we learn about Pentecostalism’s unique identity from the formative years of the Azusa Street revival?
1. Power
At Azusa Street they met daily from ten in the morning until late into the night. Worship was spontaneous and emotional. Singing in tounges, falling to the ground under the power of the Holy Spirit was common.
Harvey Cox argues, Pentecostalism succeeded because it rejected institutional religion and the modern gods of rationalism and spoke to the spiritual emptiness of our time.
2. Urgency
Early Pentecostals were convinced they were experiencing the last great revival before the imminent return of Christ. Their urgency, spontaneity, commitment and zeal were fuelled by their encounter of God through the Holy Spirit and the expectation of the end of all things that left them unattached to the things of this world.
3. People
Led by William Seymour, a partially blind African-American preacher, a son of former slaves, its followers were poor domestic servants, janitors, and day workers— both black and white. The Spirit was present powerfully and could use anyone for ministry regardless of race, education, gender or social status. Women became the primary carriers of one of the fast growing religions in the world.
4. Mission
Hundreds came from around the world to Azusa Street and returned home with the “Baptismâ€. Missionaries were sent out from Azusa Street to China, India, Japan, Egypt, Liberia, Angola, South Africa. Within six months 38 missionaries had left. Within two years 25 different nations had been reached.
5. Innovation
According to Grant Wacker, Pentecostalism flourished because it held together two competing drives. “Primitivismâ€â€”a return to the first century where the Holy Spirit reigned; and “Pragmatismâ€â€”a freedom to do whatever is necessary to achieve the movement’s aims.
This enabled the movement to combine a clear and universal core mission with great flexibility. Almost instantly Pentecostalism became Russian in Russia, Chilean in Chile, African in Africa. Today two thirds of Pentecostals are in the Majority World and only a quarter of them are white.
Pentecostalism’s freedom in the Spirit has created grass-roots movements that are at home in almost any context.
Final words. . .
From its humble beginnings at Azusa Street, Pentecostalism has become a global movement of massive proportions.
To Pentecostals and Charismatics your challenge is to take this movement into a new millenium by remaining true to your God-given heritage as you continually allow Him to renew you in response to a changing world.
To those who will remind me of the shortcomings of this movement—don’t miss what God is saying to you about the nature and mission of the Church through Pentecostalism.
