Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Rise and Rise of Pentecostalism

By Steve Addison

Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane 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.” — Los Angeles Times, 18 April 1906.

We have just passed one hundred years since the Azusa Street Revival (Los Angeles, California, USA) that launched Pentecostalism as a dynamic global movement. Since that time, Pentecostals, Charismatics and associated movements have grown from only a handful of people to nearly 500 million at the turn of the twenty-first century. According to Christian author Philip Jenkins, if current trends continue their numbers could reach one billion by 2050. This is a staggering achievement.

Today, if you are a Pentecostal, chances are you are young, female, poor and living in Africa, Asia or South America—the regions of the world experiencing the fastest population growth. You are also the future face of world Christianity.

Here are five characteristics that help explain the incredible rise and rise of Pentecostalism. They are five lessons we can all learn from.

1. White-hot faith. At Azusa Street, participants met daily from ten in the morning until late into the night. Worship was spontaneous and emotional. Singing in tongues and falling to the ground under the power of the Holy Spirit was common. The experience of God in their midst created the energy and drive that launched and fuelled a global movement. Author Harvey Cox says Pentecostalism succeeded because it rejected institutional religion and the modern gods of rationalism and spoke to the spiritual emptiness of their time.

2. Commitment to a cause. Early Pentecostals were convinced they were experiencing the last great revival before the imminent return of Christ. The message they proclaimed by the power of the Spirit was of the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Their zeal was fuelled by the expectation of the end of all things. That expectation left them unattached to the things of this world; they sacrificed themselves for a cause that was greater than themselves.

3. Contagious relationships. Early Pentecostals were poor domestic servants, janitors and day workers. Their leader, William Seymour, was a partially blind African American preacher, a son of former slaves. Pentecostalism believed the Spirit was present powerfully and could use anyone for ministry regardless of race, education, gender or social status. Charisma was not the possession of a few, it was “diffused” throughout the whole movement. Studies reveal it is not the big events or the big names that are decisive in Pentecostalism’s dramatic growth; the movement grows because people whose lives are dramatically changed tell their friends and family. Recruitment follows pre-existing networks of relationships.

Steve Addison serves as director of Church Resource Ministries Australia. He distills the characteristics of dynamic movements and makes them available to leaders committed to the multiplication of healthy churches around the world. His blog on church planting movements can be found at www.steveaddison.net.