Black Roots of Pentecostalism
The first "Pentecostals" in the modern sense appeared on the scene in 1901 but it was not until 1906, however, that Pentecostalism achieved worldwide attention through the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles led by the African-American preacher William Joseph Seymour. In 1906, Seymour opened the historic meeting in April, 1906 in a former African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church building at 312 Azusa Street in downtown Los Angeles.
For over three years, the Azusa Street "Apostolic Faith Mission" conducted three services a day, seven days a week, where thousands of seekers received the tongues baptism. Word of the revival was spread abroad through The Apostolic Faith, a paper that Seymour sent free of charge to some 50,000 subscribers. From Azusa Street Pentecostalism spread rapidly around the world and began its advance toward becoming a major force in Christendom.
The interracial aspects of the movement in Los Angeles were a striking exception to the racism and segregation of the times. The phenomenon of blacks and whites worshipping together under a black pastor seemed incredible to many observers. The ethos of the meeting was captured by Frank Bartleman, a white Azusa participant, when he said of Azusa Street, "The color line was washed away in the blood." Indeed, people from all the ethnic minorities of Los Angeles, a city which Bartleman called "the American Jerusalem," were represented at Azusa Street.
Books on Black Pentecostalism
Afro-Pentecostalism by
Black Christians have been integrally involved in every aspect of the Pentecostal movement since its inception and have made significant contributions to its founding as well as the evolution of Pentecostal/charismatic styles of worship, preaching, music, engagement of social issues, and theology. Yet despite its being one of the fastest growing segments of the Black Church, Afro-Pentecostalism has not received the kind of critical attention it deserves. Afro-Pentecostalism brings together fourteen interdisciplinary scholars to examine different facets of the movement, including its early history, issues of gender, relations with other black denominations, intersections with popular culture, and missionary activities, as well as the movement’s distinctive theology.
ISBN: 9780814797303Publication Date: 2011-05-16
Black Fire by
Black Fire remedies lack of historical consciousness of black contributions to Pentecostalism by recounting the story of African American Pentecostal origins and development. In this fascinating description she coverswhat Pentecostalism retained from African spiritualitythe legacy of the nineteenth-century black Holiness movementWilliam J. Seymour and the Azusa Street RevivalAfrican American trinitarian and oneness Pentecostal denominationsthe role of women in African American PentecostalismAfrican American neo-Pentecostals and charismatic movementsblack Pentecostals in majority-white denominations theological challenges of black Pentecostalism in the twenty-first century.
Call Number: BR1644.3 .A45 2011ISBN: 9780830825868Publication Date: 2011-05-03
Blackpentecostal Breath by
Examining the whooping, shouting, noise-making, and speaking in tongues of Black Pentecostalism--a multi-racial, multi-class, multi-national Christian sect with one strand of its modern genesis in 1906 Los Angeles--Blackpentecostal Breath reveals how these aesthetic practices allow for the emergence of alternative modes of social organization. As Crawley deftly reveals, these choreographic, sonic, and visual practices and the sensual experiences they create are not only important for imagining what Crawley identifies as "otherwise worlds of possibility," they also yield a general hermeneutics, a methodology for reading culture in an era when such expressions are increasingly under siege.
Call Number: BH39 .C734 2017ISBN: 9780823274543Publication Date: 2016-10-03
The Dictionary of Pan-African Pentecostalism by
This volume is the first in a series of volumes surveying the important names, movements, and institutions that have been significant in forging black renewal movements in various contexts worldwide. In this volume the entries cover the more than 150 identifiable Holiness, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Neo-Pentecostal, and quasi-Pentecostal bodies within the United States and Canada. In addition, the dictionary contains entries on the important people, places, events, and theological and secular issues that shaped these groups over their histories, some of which go back more than a century. This and subsequent volumes will be invaluable tools for students and scholars of the history of Pentecostalism. --
ISBN: 9781498284776Publication Date: 2018-01-01
The Labor of Faith by
In TheLabor of Faith Judith Casselberry examines the material and spiritual labor of the women of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc., which is based in Harlem and one of the oldest and largest historically Black Pentecostal denominations in the United States. This male-headed church only functions through the work of the church's women, who, despite making up three-quarters of its adult membership, hold no formal positions of power. Casselberry shows how the women negotiate this contradiction by using their work to produce and claim a spiritual authority that provides them with a particular form of power. She also emphasizes how their work in the church is as significant, labor intensive, and critical to their personhood, family, and community as their careers, home and family work, and community service are. Focusing on the circumstances of producing a holy black female personhood, Casselberry reveals the ways twenty-first-century women's spiritual power operates and resonates with meaning in Pentecostal, female-majority, male-led churches.
Call Number: BR1644.3 .C37 2017ISBN: 9780822363835Publication Date: 2017-05-05
Spirit on the Move by
Pentecostalism is currently the fastest-growing Christian movement, with hundreds of millions of followers. This growth overwhelmingly takes place outside of the West, and women make up 75 percent of the membership. The contributors to Spirit on the Move examine Pentecostalism's appeal to black women worldwide and the ways it provides them with a source of community and access to power. Exploring a range of topics, from Neo-Pentecostal churches in Ghana that help women challenge gender norms to evangelical gospel musicians in Brazil, the contributors show how Pentecostalism helps black women draw attention to and seek remediation from the violence and injustices brought on by civil war, capita list exploitation, racism, and the failures of the state. In fleshing out the experiences, theologies, and innovations of black women Pentecostals, the contributors show how Pentecostal belief and its various practices reflect the movement's complexity, reach, and adaptability to specific cultural and political formations. Contributors. Paula Aymer, John Burdick, Judith Casselberry, Deidre Helen Crumbley, Elizabeth Mca lister, Laura Premack, Elizabeth A. Pritchard, Jane Soothill, Linda van de Kamp
Call Number: BR1644.3 .S65 2019ISBN: 9781478000327Publication Date: 2019-04-05
William J. Seymour by
These are just some of the descriptions of Seymour, who proved to be an effective leader, writer, teacher, and reviva list. His impact continues to be felt around the world today. Seymour's early work has opened the door to millions of people finding the fullness of the Holy Spirit since the Azusa Street Revival, which both "Life" and "USA Today" have listed as being one of the top-100 nation-impacting events of the 20th century. This book is more than the life story of William J. Seymour. It provides us with his original sermons, analyses of his teachings, and the complete and original version of Seymour's final book. Doctrines and Discipline of the Apostolic Faith Mission of Los Angeles, originally published in 1915. The pioneer and messenger of Azusa Street continues to speak to our hearts today with messages that are as timely now as when he first uttered them. His confident and steady voice calls us to holiness, repentance,' faith, and racial reconciliation. "The Pentecostal power, when you sum it all up, is just more of God's love. If it does not bring more love, it is simply a counterfeit" (William J. Seymour). It was this love that led Seymour to the unity of Christ that opened the doors of ministry to women and people of all races. Book jacket.
Call Number: BX8762.Z8 S397 2012ISBN: 9780882708485Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Links to Resources
- ORU Black Heritage Week Chapels Recognizing Black Heritage is a tradition at ORU. This collection contains many audio files and transcripts of past Black Heritage chapels.
- Read The Apostolic Faith from the Azusa Street Mission The Azusa Street Mission published a newspaper, The Apostolic Faith, which reported on the revival in Los Angeles and emerging Pentecostal movement. The newspaper, which featured letters and articles from around the world, shared the excitement and passion of these early Pentecostals. The Apostolic Faith is an essential resource for those interested in better understanding the themes, beliefs, people, and events that helped to shape the contours of the global Pentecostal movement.
- Azusa Street Mission Anniversary Program This is a program from the Fourteenth Anniversary of the Azusa Street Outpouring in 1920 put together by William J. Seymour. It was one of the last events at Azusa. Seymour died in the summer of 1922 from a heart attack. This program contains an outline of Seymour's teaching on the soon coming of Christ and a number of songs that were sung during the meeting.
- Bio of G.T. Haywood Undoubtedly, nearly every Apostolic knows the name of Bishop Garfield Thomas Haywood. Bishop Haywood’s early alignment with the Oneness camp during the difficult years when the “New Issue” was dividing the Pentecostal Movement along doctrinal lines, is a well-known chapter in our unique history. He was a revered Bible teacher, apologist, and hymn writer. The church that Bishop Haywood founded and pastored until his death in April 1931, Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, was a center of Apostolic revival and was seminal in the establishment of other Oneness Pentecostal churches and ministries throughout Indiana and the entire Midwest.
- The Quiet Rise of Black Pentecostalism: Charisma Magazine Many people think the Assemblies of God is the largest Pentecostal denomin ation in the United States. It is also commonly thought that the oldest Pentecostal denomination in the nation is the Church of God, headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Black Pentecostal Resources
Martin Luther King's Last Speech from Mason Temple
Martin Luther King Jr.'s last speech was delivered at Mason Templein Memphis, Tennessee, the flagship church of C.H. Mason's historically black Pentecostal denomination, theChurchof God in Christ.
Read more about Mason Temple: http://www.cogic.org/foundersweek/mason-temple/
Oral Roberts and Racial Reconciliation
- Healing for All Races: Oral Roberts’ Legacy of Racial Reconciliation in a Divided City - Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology
This article explores Oral Roberts’ legacy of racial reconciliation in the backdrop of the racial history of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oral Roberts was a pioneer of racial integration of his meetings during the Healing Revival of the 1950s. But his racial vision came to maturity as Oral Roberts University became a center for social uplift for African Americans in the Spirit-empowered movement. Today, that legacy continues to shape Oral Roberts University as a shining example of racial diversity among Christian universities in America.
Oral Roberts was a pioneer within the Christian community for his views on racial inclusion in American Society. In the 1950's, Roberts took a bold stand and refused to segregate his tent crusades, even in the Jim Crow South. This stance was unpopular even among many of his supporters in the Pentecostal community. But Roberts declared, "I will not segregate the altar of God."
in the 1960's, Roberts started ORU during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Roberts and often took public stances against segregation and racism. Here is an open letter Roberts published in his magazine, The Abundant Life, in March of 1968.
in 1968, Roberts was invited by black pastors from Harlem to discuss how his crusades could help bring hope and healing to the black community. You can see the photo of his meeting with these pastors below. You can listen to Roberts talk about this meeting here. Oral Roberts' racial vision continues today at ORU, which has continued to be a place of racial diversity and inclusion.
Notable African American Alumni
- Clifton Taulbert
According to Clifton L. Taulbert, noted author and entrepreneur businessman, he could have failed had he not encountered community builders and entrepreneurial thinkers early on in his life. Taulbert was born on the Mississippi Delta during the era of legal segregation where he completed his secondary education. Though opportunities were few and barriers were plentiful, Taulbert managed to dream of being successful, not knowing the shape that success would take. Today Taulbert is the President and CEO of the Freemount Corporation (a human capital development company) serving clients nationally and internationally-Fortune 500 Companies, small businesses, federal agencies, professional organizations, community colleges and K-12 leadership.
- Robert Goodwin
From 1966 until 1970, Robert Goodwin attended Oral Roberts University, where he earned his B. A. degree. At Oral Roberts University Goodwin was a member of the student ministering team and traveled around the world preaching. In 1973, Goodwin earned his M. A. degree in philosophy from San Francisco Theological seminary.
Upon completing his master’s degree, Goodwin was summoned back to Tulsa by his father to run the family-owned newspaper, The Oklahoma Eagle. Goodwin operated the paper until 1981; during his tenure he increased the readership and converted the printing to a more efficient, cost effective process.
