Pentecost ‘Upper Room’ S/Heroes… part 2

Cham invites us to the final reflection in our Pentecost series, and honours another pioneering ‘Upper Room’ leaver and leader…

Let’s travel over to Los Angeles!  To the very place that triggered the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 which set in motion more of what would become known as the global Pentecostal movement. Our ‘Upper Room’ leaver and leader is its founder William J. Seymour, a black holiness preacher, the child of former slaves, who taught himself to read and write.  I just love knowing that I have something in common with him!

Here’s a flavour of the services…  Traditional formats of church were disrupted, with very little or no structure – imagine no pre-planning, or pre-arranged programme or hymn sandwich formats!   For Seymour, and others present, God Himself would direct the meetings. People came to pray, to receive prayer, and to experience God. Sometimes Seymour would preach, and at other times, guests would stand up and preach. The meetings would alternate from preaching to prayer, to singing, all spontaneously, with extended periods of simply seeking God.

The Azusa Street Revival was a paradigm shifting event on so many levels.  It embraced diversity.  Racial, cultural and economic divisions were broken down.  No big deal you might say but let’s remember this was 50 years before the Civil Rights Movement, at a time where the Jim Crow era ruled supreme!     Women were actively involved in the mission (6 out of 12 elders on the board of the mission were women).  Women were considered equal to men and encouraged to lead and preach – this was 14 years before women received suffrage in the US.

It was Seymour’s counter-cultural vision that set the scene for the early stages of the revival.  He led a movement that defied the spirit of the age.  People from all walks of life came together to participate in this revival. And new voices emerged to carry the gospel message to the ends of the earth. 

The Azusa Street Revival produced an unprecedented number of missionaries.  Within the first 5 months 38 missionaries went out from Azusa.  Within 2 years, it had spread across 50 nations and began to change the landscape of Christianity.

However, sadly, a number of factors contributed to its decline in 1909.  Seymour’s fiercest critic was his mentor Charles Parham who objected to the collapsing of racial divisions at Azusa Street.  Eventually, Pentecostals lost sight of the world changing message and conventional patterns of church began to re-emerge as the message of equality and empowerment became muted. 

Thank Jesus for all your ‘Upper Room’ leavers and leaders!...