Pentecostalism

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Pentecostalism is a movement within Evangelical Christianity that places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. Although the day was historically derived from the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot, the account found in the New Testament book of Acts revolutionized the meaning of Pentecost. This account has served as the basis for the Pentecostal movement.

"On the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus' resurrection, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." — Acts 2:1-11

One of Christianity's most idiosyncratic group, Pentecostals are distinguished by their unique belief that an individual can serve as a conduit for supernatural gifts endowed by the Holy Spirit, gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and faith healing.

Although similar to the Charismatic movement, Pentecostalism developed much earlier and separated from the mainstream church. Charismatic Christians, at least in the early days of the movement, tended to remain in their respective denominations.

Albeit many Pentecostal churches are independent, the largest Pentecostal denomination in existence today is the Assemblies of God with a membership of about 51 million worldwide.

Beliefs

Pentecostals are a unique group of Christians who subscribe to the belief that the baptism of the Holy Spirit, marked by the apostles' experience in the book of Acts, is necessary for Christian growth and empowerment. To wit, for many it is one of the key steps in Christian conversion.

Just as important is water baptism, an essential act following one's decision to commit oneself to Christ. Pentecostal water baptism is characterized by a public ceremony where an individual undergoes complete immersion in a body of water. This is separate from the baptism in the Holy Ghost, which is a distinct spiritual experience that all who have belief in Jesus should receive.

As it is with many Christians, Pentecostals believe that one must be saved by believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of sins, then you will receive the Holy Spirit. But, not as common among believers is the Classical Pentecostal assertion that the initial sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. While this is a major point of contention for Christians of other denominations, many large Pentecostal denominations have rejected any connection between personal salvation and the baptism in the Holy Ghost. They teach that it is not necessary for salvation, but a gift from God available to all Christians regardless of denominational affiliation.

Currently, there are two basic streams of Pentecostal churches. The first group has become widely known as of "Jesus Name," or "Oneness" Pentecostals. This group adheres strictly to the text found in Acts 2:38 that believers should repent and be baptized in Jesus' name only, then they will receive the Holy Spirit. The more widespread group, however, is the Trinitarian sect, which upholds the proposal that that the one, true God is comprised of three co-divine, co-equal persons — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Although both Oneness and Trinitarian denominations acknowledge the God of the Bible as the only God in existence, and that Jesus was born, died, and resurrected, Oneness doctrine differs from mainstream Christian denominations in that the traditional concept of the Trinity is rejected as an inadequate and inaccurate description of God. The world's largest Pentecostal denomination, the Assemblies of God, holds to Trinitarian theology — that God is manifested in three distinct beings.

A nuance of Pentecostalism that has had a profound effect on Protestant worship overall is the hyper-emotionalism in worship and prayer. Pentecostals are known for raising their hands while singing, praying aloud in a fervent manner and jubilantly running through the aisles during church services. They tend to be very vocal and expressive in their prayers, with cries of "Yes, Lord!," "Thank you, Jesus!," "Hallelujah!" and other spontaneous expressions of praise.

Many early Pentecostals believed that the revival of the gifts of the Spirit were a sign from God of the latter rain, a period of restoration before the end of the age and the coming millenial reign of Christ. Traditional Protestants believe that one is baptized with or in the Holy Spirit upon regeneration, the work of the Holy Spirit that enables faith and belief in the unbelieving heart. Pentecostals would not deny that regeneration is an activity of the Holy Ghost or that it results in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Instead, they distinguish this indwelling from a subsequent, more intense relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Theology

Theologically, most Pentecostal denominations are aligned with Evangelicalism in that they emphasize the reliability of the Bible and the need for the transformation of an individual's life with faith in Jesus. Pentecostals also adhere to the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. Pentecostals differ from fundamentalists by placing less emphasis on personal spiritual experience and more emphasis on the Holy Ghost's work within a person than other Protestants.

Dr. Jackie David Johns, in his work on Pentecostal formational leadership, states that the Scriptures hold a special place in the Pentecostal world view because the Holy Ghost is always active in the Bible. For him, to encounter the Scriptures is to encounter God. For the Pentecostal, the Scriptures are a primary reference point for communion with God and a template for reading the world.

Unlike most other Christians, some Pentecostals believe that there is a second work of the Holy Ghost, in which the Holy Ghost dwells more fully in them, and which opens a believer up to a closer fellowship with God, empowering them for Christian service. Other Pentecostals believe that Holy Ghost baptism is the actual event of the Holy Ghost taking up residence in the believer's heart rather than a "fuller dwelling" or "second filling."

Pentecostals vary in their beliefs of the types of glossolalia (1 Cor. 12:28). The following are some possible distinctions. First, there is the evidence at the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. This is when a believer speaks in tongues when they are baptized by the Holy Ghost. This may or may not be the only time an individual ever speaks in tongues. Secondly, there is the gift of tongues. This is when a person is moved by God to speak in tongues during a church service or other Christian gathering for everyone to hear. The gift of tongues may be exercised anywhere; but many denominations believe that it must only be exercised when a person who has the gift of "interpretation of tongues" is present (whether that be another person or the one who gives the tongue). The interpreter may interpret the tongue into the language of the gathered Christians so that they can understand the message (1 Cor. 14:13, 27-28).

Critics charge that Pentecostal doctrine does not mesh well with what they believe to be Paul's criticism of the early Corinthian church for their obsession with speaking in tongues. It is argued that Paul stated that speaking in tongues is only one of the gifts of the Spirit and is not gifted to all (1 Cor. 12:12-31). However, the recognition of different types of tongues more accurately represents the entirety of the biblical account. For example, the tongues of Spirit baptism are mentioned in Acts 2:38-9 and Acts 10:44-46, the gift of tongues is discussed in 1 Cor. 12:10 and 1 Cor. 14:5, and tongues as a prayer language in 1 Cor. 14:14-15.

Another trait that most often distinguishes Pentecostals, and many Charismatics, from other Evangelical Christians is their openness to new prophecy. Although identified as one of the gifts of the Spirit, most Protestants generally believe that Christian prophecy ended sometime shortly after the apostolic age. It is not uncommon for today's Pentecostal church leaders and even congregants to use this gift within the context of a church service to exhort a fellow brother or sister.

Pentecostal church services are often punctuated with prophetical messages in addition to acts of speaking in tongues, interpretations of tongues with prophetic undertones and the laying of hands. Anointing with oil, as in the early Christian church, is a practice in Pentecostal churches performed during the consecration or ordination of pastors and elders as well as during healing of the sick.

The word "anointing" is also frequently used by Pentecostal Christians to refer to the power of God or the Spirit of God residing in a Christian — a usage that occurs from time to time in the Bible. A particularly popular expression is "the anointing that breaks the yoke," which is derived from Isaiah 10:27.

"And it shall come to pass on that day, that his burden shall be removed from upon your shoulder, and his yoke from upon your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of oil."

The aforementioned events, which Pentecostals profess are led by the Spirit, can happen spontaneously during normal service with no forewarning, by direct guidance from the leader of the service, or more often at massive altar calls where the entire congregation is encouraged to come and pray together for various purposes at the altar.

History

Pentecostalism traces its original roots to the day of Pentecost when a week after Jesus ascended into Heaven, there were 120 believers waiting for the promise of the Father in the form of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:4, when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers they all spoke in tongues.

Throughout the last 2000 years there have been many references to the in-filling of the Holy Spirit and outward sign of glossolalia.

The Holiness movement was the first to begin making numerous references to the term "Pentecostal," such as in 1867 when the movement established The National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Christian Holiness with a notice that said: [We are summoning,] irrespective of denominational tie...those who feel themselves comparatively isolated in their profession of holiness…that all would realize together a Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost....

Around 1901, Pentecostalism was given a public platform when Agnes Ozman received the gift of tongues during a prayer meeting at Charles Fox Parham's Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Parham, a minister of Methodist background, formulated the doctrine that tongues was the "Bible evidence" of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Parham later left Topeka and began a revival meeting ministry. In 1905, Parham started preaching in Texas and began a Bible College in Houston, where a black preacher named William Joseph Seymour, a son of freed slaves, was allowed to listen to Parham’s lectures outside the classroom through a half-opened door. In spite of this act of racism, he became convinced of Parham's views. The leadership of the movement was soon to pass to Seymour and take on international dimensions.

In 1906, Seymour spearheaded the watershed of the Pentecostal movement in the U.S. and the world - The Azusa Street Revival. It began on April 9 in Los Angeles, California, at the home of Edward Lee, who claimed the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Seymour claimed that he was overcome with the Holy Ghost on April 12, 1906. On April 18, 1906, the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on the revival, "Weird Babel of Tongues, New Sect of fanatics is breaking loose, Wild scene last night on Azusa Street, gurgle of wordless talk by a sister". By the third week in April, 1906, the small but growing congregation rented an abandoned African Methodist Episcopal Church at 312 Azusa Street and subsequently became organized as the Apostolic Faith Mission. Almost all mainline Pentecostal denominations today trace their historical roots to the Azusa Street Revival.

The movement's inception was counter-cultural to the social and political norms of society. Record numbers of African-American men and women were initial leaders.

During the first year of the revival in Los Angeles, a group of African-American elders appointed by the General Overseer of the newly formed Holiness Church of God in Christ, Charles Price Jones was sent to investigate reports of Azusa Street. At the helm was Elder C.H. Mason. Struck by what he witnessed there, Mason began preaching and teaching the Pentecostal Holiness message with power and the fire of the Holy Ghost upon his return to Tennessee. Unconvinced by this new doctrine, Overseer Jones continued to lead his COGIC adherents as a Holiness church, changing the name in 1915 to the Church of Christ, Holiness (USA). Mason, however, called a conference in Memphis, Tennessee and reorganized the Church of God in Christ as a Holiness Pentecostal body.

As the Azusa Revival began to wane and the pressure from social, cultural and political events of the time waxed, doctrinal differences began to surface more and more.

In approximately 1913, a number of pastors and leaders and separated themselves form the Church Of God In Christ. This split was due, in part, to racial tensions and societal laws requiring segregation. These members, who were mostly White, organized into the Assemblies of God. When they left, COGIC became a mostly-black denomination, as it is today. Notably, it is now the largest African-American Pentecostal body in existence. Although there was major debate over the Trinitarian-Oneness doctrine at the time, especially within the Assemblies of God, this had little or no impact on many African-American Trinitarian Pentecostal churches like COGIC. Regardless of doctrinal difference, these churches maintained cordial relationships with newly organized African-American Oneness organizations.

As a result of varied splits in the church, isolationism, sectarianism and even the increase of extremism became apparent. Wanting not to affiliate with the Assemblies of God, a group of ministers from predominantly white churches formed the Pentecostal Church of God in Chicago, Illinois in 1919. George Went Hensley, a preacher who had left the Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee when it finally ceased the practice of snake handling, is credited with creating the first church dedicated to this extreme practice in the 1920s. Snake handling became widely practiced in poor, rural areas of the Appalachians. In urban African-American communities of the 1940s, there were Father Divine and Daddy Grace, claiming divinity, encouraging their followers to practice the a more cultist form of Pentecostalism.

Prior to the split in 1923, The Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee, made significant inroads across racial divides, with missionary ministry to the Bahamas and elsewhere. After the 1923 divide, the bulk of the black membership followed Overseer A.J. Tomlinson into the Church of God of Prophecy. Another watershed within the Pentecostal movement is the Memphis Miracle, a meeting by Anglo Pentecostal leaders and African-American Pentecostal leaders. This unification occurred in 1998 in Memphis, Tennessee at the headquarters of the largest African-American Pentecostal body, the Church of God in Christ. The unification of Anglo and African-American leaders led to the restructuring of the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America to become the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America.

Still, many maintain that African-Americans can be credited with much of the movement's success. In fact, there are several theories that say because the pioneers of Pentecostalism were from churches rooted in the the nineteenth century African-American culture, the religious expressions of Pentecostalism are themselves a reflection of the African religious culture from which Black slaves had been wrenched.

Seymour himself was deeply affected by black slave spirituality. Black pentecostal scholar Leonard Lovett said that "black Pentecostalism emerged out of the context of the brokenness of black existence... their holistic view of religion had its roots in African religion"(MacRobert 1988:77-78).The main features of this African American spirituality are considered oral liturgy, narrative theology and witness, the maximum participation of the whole community in worship and service, the inclusion of visions and dreams into public worship, and understanding the relationship between body and mind manifested by healing through prayer. Furthermore, rhythmic hand clapping, the antiphonal participation of the congregation in the sermon, the immediacy of God in the services and baptism by immersion may all be "survivals of Africanisms." These expressions were fundamental to early Pentecostalism and remain in the movement to this day. The African roots of Pentecostalism help explain its significance in Third World countries, such as Jamaica, Haiti and Guatemala.

In the last part of the 20th Century the Word of Faith movement, the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville movement became some of the better known splinter groups who have appropriated the mantle of Pentecostalism to lend credence to the more extreme, non-traditional practices in the movement. These include the practice of divine laughter, Dominionism, ecstatic barking, Creative Visualization, Fetishism, and making Seed Money donations in order to yield divine reward.

In the United Kingdom, the first Pentecostal church to be formed was the Apostolic Church. This was later followed by the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, later to be known as the Elim Pentecostal Church, founded in 1914 by George Jeffreys.

From the late 1950s onwards, the Charismatic movement, which was to a large extent inspired and influenced by Pentecostalism, began to flourish in the mainline Protestant denominations, as well as the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, fostered in Britain by organizations such as the Fountain Trust, founded by Michael Harper in 1964. Unlike "Classical Pentecostals," who formed strictly Pentecostal congregations or denominations, Charismatics adopted as their motto, "Bloom where God planted you."

In Sweden, the first Pentecostal church was Filadelfiaförsamlingen in Stockholm. Pastored by Lewi Pethrus, this congregation, originally Baptist, was expelled from the Baptist Union of Sweden in 1913 for doctrinal differences.

The history of Pentecostalism in Australia has been documented by Dr Barry Chant in Heart of Fire (1984, Adelaide: Tabor).

Pentecostal denominations and adherents

Estimated numbers of Pentecostals vary widely. Christianity Today reported in an article titled World Growth at 19 Million a Year that according to historian Vinson Synan, dean of the Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia Beach, about 25 percent of the world's Christians are Pentecostal or charismatic.

The largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States are the Assemblies of God, the Church of God in Christ, New Testament Church, Church of God (Cleveland), Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the United Pentecostal Church. According to a Spring 1998 article in Christian History, there are about 11,000 different Pentecostal or charismatic denominations worldwide.

The size of Pentecostalism in the U.S. is estimated to be more than 20 million including approximately 918,000 (4%) of the Hispanic-American population, counting all unaffiliated congregations, although the numbers are uncertain, in part because some tenets of Pentecostalism are held by members of non-Pentecostal denominations in what has been called the charismatic movement. Toronto Canada, has a large Pentecostal population. The influence of immigrants from Jamaica, Africa, Latin America, Korea and basically everywhere, have created diverse churches throughout the city.

In Australia, Hillsong is the largest church with a membership exceeding 19,000. Many of their songs are sung around the world.

Pentecostalism was estimated to number around 115 million followers worldwide in 2000; lower estimates place the figure near to 22 million (eg. Cambridge Encyclopedia), while the highest estimates apparently place the figure between 400 and 600 million. The great majority of Pentecostals are to be found in Developing Countries (see the Statistics subsection below), although much of their international leadership is still North American. Pentecostalism is sometimes referred to as the "third force of Christianity." The largest Pentecostal Christian church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea. Founded and led by David Yonggi Cho since 1958, it had 780,000 members in 2003.

According to Christianity Today, Pentecostalism is "a vibrant faith among the poor; it reaches into the daily lives of believers, offering not only hope but a new way of living." [1]. In addition, according to a 1999 U.N. report, "Pentecostal churches have been the most successful at recruiting its members from the poorest of the poor." Brazilian Pentecostals talk of Jesus as someone real and personal, providing them essentials like food and shelter.

Outside the English speaking world

Pentecostal and charismatic church growth is rapid in many parts of the world. Missions expert David Barrett estimated in a Christianity Today article that the Pentecostal and charismatic church is growing by 19 million per year.

Jeffrey K. Hadden at the Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia collected statistics from the various large pentecostal organizations and from the work by David Stoll (David Stoll, "Is Latin American Turning Protestant?" published Berkeley: University of California Press. 1990) demonstrating that the Pentecostals are experiencing very rapid growth as can be seen on his website. In Myanmar, the Assemblies of God of Myanmar is one of the largest Christian denominations. The pentecostal churches Igreja do Evangelho Completo de Deus, Assembleias de Deus, Igrejas de Cristo and the Assembleias Evangelicas de Deus Pentecostales are among the largest denominations of Mozambique.

According to last census in Brazil, 25 percent are Protestants, most of them are Pentecostals or Charismatics (Eg. Assemblies of God, Christian Congregation of Brazil, Foursquare Gospel, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Charismatics Baptists) The largest denomination is the Assemblies of God (Assembléia de Deus) - about 10 million members.

Among the Indian charismatic denominations are Apostolic Church of Pentecost, Apostolic Pentecostal Church, Assemblies of Christ Church, Assemblies of God, Bible Pattern Church, Church of God (Full Gospel) in India, Church of God of Prophecy, Church of the Apostolic Faith, Elim Church, Nagaland Christian Revival Church, New Life Fellowship, The Pentecostal Mission (New Testament Church), Open Bible Church of God, Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, Pentecostal Holiness Church, Pentecostal Mission,United Pentecostal Church in India, India Pentecostal Church of God, Sharon Fellowship Church, Kerala, India (Founded by Pr. Thomachayan) has planted numerous Churches throughout the world.

Statistics

See List of Christian denominations by number of members. The list indicates there may be 150 million Pentecostals with the largest Pentecostal denominations (claiming 2 million or more adherents) being:

Denomination Statistics

  • Assemblies of God - 51 million
  • Independent - 50 million
  • Church of God in Christ - 9 million
  • The Apostolic Church - 6 million
  • The Pentecostal Mission -6.7 million
  • Church of God (Cleveland) - 5 million
  • United Pentecostal Church International - 4 million
  • Christ Apostolic Church - 2.8 million
  • Christian Congregation of Brazil- 2.5 million
  • Zion Christian Church - 2.5 million
  • Church of the Lord Aladura - 2.5 million
  • International Church of the Foursquare Gospel 2 million
  • Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - 2 million
  • Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada - 1 million
  • Christian Outreach Centre - less than 1 million
  • Christian City Church = less than 1 million
  • World Christian Ministries Association - less than 1 million

While not as large as some of the above organizations the following have made quite an impact on Pentecostalism:

  • Northgate Pentecostals (Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas, USA [Colleyville, TX 76034])
  • Church of Jesus Christ of Prophecy (AKA Mercy Tabernacle, Benton Tennessee)
  • International Church of Jesus Christ (Columbus, Ohio)
  • Potter's House Christian Fellowship (Prescott, Arizona)
  • Apostolic Brethren (Columbus, Ohio)
  • United Christian Church (Cleveland, Tennessee)
  • Igreja Pentecostal e Apostólica Missão Jesus (São Paulo, Brazil)
  • Revival Centres International and The Revival Fellowship in Australia

Geographical distribution

Leaders

Precursors

  • William Boardman
  • John Alexander Dowie (1848-1907)
  • Edward Irving
  • Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843-1919)

Early history

  • Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844 - 1924)
  • Smith Wigglesworth (1859 - 1947)
  • Charles Fox Parham (1873 - 1929) Father of Modern Pentecostalism
  • William J. Seymour (1870 - 1922) Azusa Street Mission Founder (Azusa Street Revival)
  • Bishop R.A.R. Johnson (1876 -1940) Founder of the House of God, Holy Church of the Living God, The Pillar and the Ground of the Truth, The House of Prayer for All People. A Commandment (Sabbath) keeping Pentecostal organization.
  • Bishop Charles Harrison Mason (1866-1961) Founder of the Church of God in Christ
  • George Jeffreys (1889 - 1972) Founder of the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance and the Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship in Britain
  • Aimee Semple McPherson (1890 - 1944) American Female Evangelist and organizer of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
  • Joseph Ayo Babalola (1904 - 1959) Oke - Ooye, Ilesa revivalist in 1930. Also, spiritual founder of Christ Apostolic Church
  • David du Plessis (1905 - 1987) South-African Pentecostal church leader, one of the founders of the Charismatic movement
  • Kathryn Kuhlman (1907 - 1976) American female evangelist who brought Pentecostalism into the mainstream denominations
  • William M. Branham (1909 - 1965) Healing Evangelists of the mid 20th century
  • Jack Coe (1918 - 1956) Healing Tent Evangelist of the 1950s
  • A. A. Allen (1911 - 1970) Healing Tent Evangelist of the 1950s and 1960s
  • Oral Roberts (b.1918) Healing Tent Evangelist who made the transition to televangelism
  • Rex Humbard (b.1919) The first successful TV evangelist of the mid 1950s, 1960s, and the 1970s and at one time had the largest television audience of any televangelist in the U.S.

Theologians

Pentecostal theologians are listed in the article Renewal Theologians.

See also

  • Apostolic Church
  • Apostolic Faith Mission
  • Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship
  • British Israelism
  • Charismatic
  • Christ Apostolic Church
  • Christian Right
  • Christian views of women
  • Elim Pentecostal Church
  • Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost
  • Full Gospel
  • History of Church activities in Zambia
  • List of Pentecostal Denominations
  • Montanism
  • Neocharismatic
  • Oneness Pentecostalism
  • Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
  • Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship
  • Pentecostal World Fellowship
  • Religious pluralism
  • Prophecy
  • Left Behind Series
  • Summary of Christian eschatological differences

Notes

Studies

  • Paul Alexander, (2000), "An Analysis of the Emergence and Decline of Pacifism in the History of the Assemblies of God," PhD Dissertation, Baylor University.
  • Grant Wacker, (2001), Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA - An academic history of early Pentecostalism.
  • Walter Hollenweger, (1972), The Pentecostals: the charismatic movement in the churches, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, ISBN 0-8066-1210-X
  • Walter Hollenweger, , (1997), Pentecostalism : origins and developments worldwide, Peabody, Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, ISBN 0-943575-36-2
  • Clifton, S. J., (2005), An Analysis of the Developing Ecclesiology of the Assemblies of God in Australia, PhD thesis Australian Catholic University
  • Matthew Steel, (2005), Pentecostalism in Zambia : Power, Authority and the Overcomers, MSc Dissertation - an examination of the growth and effects of of Pentecostalism on development, University of Wales
  • Pentecostalism losing its youth? [26]

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References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Faupel, D. William. The Everlasting Gospel: the significance of eschatology in the development of Pentecostal thought. Sheffield Academic Press, 1996. ISBN 1850757615
  • Hollenweger, Walter J. "After twenty years’ research on Pentecostalism." International Review of Mission. LXXV:297, 1986.
  • Hollenweger, Walter J. "The black roots of Pentecostalism". Unpublished paper, Selly Oaks College. 1996.
  • Kelsey, Morton.Tongue Speaking: the history and meaning of charismatic experience. Crossroad, 1980. ISBN 0824500733
  • MacRobert, Iain. The Black Roots and White Racism of Early Pentecostalism in the USA. St. Martin's Press, 1988. ISBN 0312016905
  • Nelson, Douglas J. “For Such a Time as This: the story of William J Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival”. PhD thesis, University of Birmingham, 1981.