The Pentecostal Movement

 

  

Pentecostals .

 

“Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity in Africa is over a hundred years old. Today the continent has one of the fastest growing and diverse forms of Pentecostalism in the world. Mega churches in West Africa, segregated churches in South Africa and enormous gatherings of hundreds of thousands of people are features of this phenomenon, but essentially some of the most fascinating features include Pentecostalism’s ability to adapt to different contexts and its relationship with African governments. 

 

 Statistics are notoriously difficult to calculate and verify, and even more so in Africa. But the estimates we have for Christian affiliation at the beginning of the twenty-first century reveal some amazing trends that any casual observer of Christianity in Africa will not find so incredible. According to one estimate, 11% of Africa’s population (including the predominantly Muslim north) was ‘Charismatic’ in 2000. Even if this figure is only roughly approximate, the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements undoubtedly are fast becoming dominant forms of Christianity on the continent. This has been developing for over a century and Africa now has its own distinct contribution to make to the shape of global Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. 

 

NOW NUMBERING OVER 500 million, and probably the fastest growing religious movement in the world, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians are transforming the global religious demographic, especially in Latin America and Africa. They comprise nearly half of Brazil’s population, and 25 percent of the United States is Pentecostal or Charismatic. “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 http://www.sundayschoolcourses.com/denominations/denominations.htm#_Toc147897237

 

 

Formed:	1900
Theology and practice:	Evangelical, Spirit-filled, charismatic, fundamentalist, often Free Will, divine healing, speaking in tongues as a sign of baptism by the Holy Spirit, eschatological.  Early in the movement, many were pacifistic.  (Note: only a very tiny portion of Pentecostals are involved in snake handling)
Baptism:	Believer’s, immersion.  Baptism by the Holy Spirit. Will sometimes do rebaptisms for back-sliders.
Sacraments:	Baptism and Communion
Form of government:	(Very) decentralized
Worship:	Non-Liturgical
Famous members[21]:	Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, John Ashcroft, James Watt, Elvis Presley, Denzel Washington, Anthony Quinn, Pat Boone, Aimee Semple McPherson, Al Sharpton

 

The Pentecostal movement is the largest Protestant denomination in the world today, by some accounts[22], approaching 500,000,000 adherents.  (Note: not all Pentecostal churches have formal membership programs).

 

The Pentecostal movement had its beginnings in the Holiness movement of the mid-19^th century.  The Holiness movement itself grew out of the Spirit-filled Methodist tradition, and resulted in a second wave (the first wave occurred in the 18^th century) of revival meetings sweeping throughout the United States.  One church denomination that came directly out of the Holiness movement is the Church of the Nazarene (1,500,000 members in 2006).  The Church of the Nazarene Web site lists these as the attributes of the Wesleyan-Holiness Churches[23]:

 

• Born out of the 19th-century holiness revivals
• Accepted pietism emphasis
• Reemphasis on sanctification as second work
• Possibility of a sinless life
• Sanctification both instantaneous and progressive
• Revival oriented
• Missionary minded
• Simple worship
• Conservative in theology
• Emphasis on personal ethics
• Appeal to the poor

In the late 19^th century, a Kansas college student named Charles Fox Parham promulgated a theory of glossolalia – speaking in tongues – as evidence of baptism of the Holy Spirit.  In time, his theory would spread like wildfire across the Midwest, and make its way all the way to Los Angeles. 

In 1903, a southern Holiness preacher named William J. Seymour opened the Azusa Street Revival.  His first sermon was on the Pentecost (Acts 2:4), and the modern Pentecostal movement was born.

Pentecostalism reached a mass audience in the 1910s and 1920s when Aimee Semple McPherson became a national sensation as a Pentecostal revivalist.  She drove around in a “gospel car”, with signs on it such as “Where will you spend eternity?”

Key Events

Date	Event
1867	National Holiness Camp Meeting Association formed
1896	Speaking in tongues occurs at a Holiness meeting in North Carolina
1900	Charles Fox Parham opens a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas
1901	Speaking in tongues occurs at a Holiness meeting in Topeka, Kansas
1903	A revival in Galena, Kansas gains thousands of converts to Charles Parham’s message
1905	The Great Revival in Wales published, introducing a larger audience to what would become Pentecostalism
1906	The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, led by William J. Seymour becomes the foundation of the modern Pentecostal movement
1906	First General Assembly of the Church of God, in Cleveland Tennessee
1907	Pentecostal Assemblies of the World organized
1910	Tennessee preacher George W. Hensley handles a rattlesnake in front of his congregation
1913	Pentecostal-Holiness meeting held in Arroyo Seco, Califo rnia, attended primarily by Pentecostal pastors
1914	First General Counsel of the Assemblies of God; receives ordained women into fellowship
1919	Aimee Semple McPherson becomes a national sensation as a Pentecostal revivalist.  She drove around in a “gospel car”, with signs on it such as “Where will you spend eternity?”
1922	Death of William J. Seymour
1926	Aimee Semple McPherson somewhat discredited in what may have been a phony kidnapping
1943	Pentecostal churches join the National Association of Evangelicals
1998	Largest church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea – 240,000 attend weekly worship[24]
2006	Assemblies of God has 12,100 churches in the U.S.; 236,022 churches and outstations in 191 other nations[25]