Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Pentecostal Religion Turns 100

This is the church where it all started in Los Angeles

100 years Pentecostal

A century after L.A.'s Azusa Street Revival, the Pentecostal movement remains strong.

Linda Leicht
News-Leader

As the music begins, the room fills with people — young, old, black, white and brown.
They clap, sway, dance and jump. Some hold themselves as they cry quietly.

A woman calls out "hallelujah," while the constant murmur of prayers — in English, Spanish and the unmistakable sound of "tongues" — continues.

The description could be of the Azusa Street Mission 100 years ago during what has become the focal point of the modern Pentecostal movement. There, for three years, people crammed into a rundown church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles to witness the new worship experience, where people were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Instead, it is a description of a recent Wednesday night service at El Faro Assembly of God in Springfield.

El Faro is a modern example of a movement that eventually gave birth to the Assemblies of God, the Church of God in Christ, the Pentecostal Church, the Vineyard and many other expressions of a belief that the Holy Spirit will fill believers with the power to do miraculous things. For many believers, the ability to speak in tongues — glossolalia — or in other languages — xenolalia — was the evidence of that Holy Spirit anointing.

For full article click here.

For an explanation and definition of Pentecostalism click here.

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