That old time religion: Classic Pentecostals

May 19, 10:06 AMColumbus Pentecostal ExaminerBurton Campbell

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Although Pentecostalism now comprises a myriad of groups with particular and distinctive doctrines and practices, the movement that started it all is referred to as "Classic Pentecostalism."  Classic Pentecostals represent both the foundation of the movement in it’s earliest days and also some modern groups that are working hard to stay true to what they see as the pure roots of Pentecostalism.  So...who are the Classic Pentecostals?

In the late Eighteen-Hundreds, former Methodist lay speaker ,Charles Parham, broke from the Methodist movement over a growing frustration with what he perceived to be undue organizational control.  He began to speak as an evangelist across a large spectrum of ministries (though mostly those comprised under the loose umbrella of the "holiness churches").  He eventually founded a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas.  As part of the on-going study, he commissioned the students to investigate the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" in order for them to reach a conclusion regarding it's nature, effect, and evidence.  In other words, how could one know if he or she has been baptized in the Spirit?

The students determined, based on their study of the Acts of the Apostles, that the evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit was the sudden ability to speak in tongues.  They began to fervently pray for this experience and gift.  On Jan. 1, 1901, after an extended time in prayer, student Agnes Ozman began speaking in tongues.  This "breakthrough" prompted numerous additional prayer gatherings until many other students, and Parham himself, also began to share in this gifting.  Among the students who came to comprise Parham's school was a young African-American man, William Seymour.  At first, Seymour was not allowed to participate with the other students because of the color of his skin, but was permitted to sit out in the hall within ear-shot of the studies.  Seymour's hunger to learn and eagerness of heart propelled him on, and he too became convinced of the authenticity of the gift of tongues as the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Seymour embraced this new teaching, and went to Los Angeles to share the message in 1906.  The churches there, however, were not immediately receptive.  Eventually, a local resident allowed Seymour to conduct meetings in her home.  As Seymour shared, the power of God seemed to fill the room.  Many began to speak in tongues, several felt overcome by the presence of God and would fall to the floor.  Others would shake and moan.  The impact was immediate, and soon large crowds would gather night after night, with standing room only for the meetings.  It was not long until the small home's front porch collapsed under the weight of the people gathered and a new location had to be found.  Soon, the gatherings began making use of a former African Methodist Episcopal church building on Azusa Street...and the Azusa revival was born.

The re-dubbed "Azusa Street Mission" conducted three meetings a day, seven days a week, for more than three years.  Thousands of people from across the United States came to be part of the revival.  Accounts of the gatherings were shared in a paper called The Apostolic Faith, with more than 50,000 subscribers.  As a result of this revival, numerous new church structures sprang forth, including The Church of God in Christ, The Assemblies of God, The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, and the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) among numerous others.

The essential doctrine for a Classic Pentecostal concerns the gift of tongues and it's necessity for one to be "baptized in the Holy Spirit."  Doctrinal frustrations about this concept, the doctrine of the Trinity, and particular behavior/holiness issues would eventually cause the movement to split in various subgroups including "holiness" Pentecostals, "Oneness" Pentecostals and Neo-Pentecostals (the latter of which would numerically far surpass it's parent group).