Azusa Street Revival

 Azusa Street Revival is not commonly considered one of America’s great revivals like the First (1730-1755) and Second (1790-1840) Great Awakenings because it did not affect the nation on a broad scale. However, it may have had the largest worldwide impact of any revival that began in the country.

The catalyst to the revival was a determined desire to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as understood by some. The idea of the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes from Acts1:1, when Jesus told His disciples, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

His words about being baptized with the Spirit were fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4 when the disciples “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Christians have different interpretations regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but the view that led to the Azusa Street revival was that every Christian should experience the same post-conversion filling of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in other tongues, just like the first disciples experienced it in Acts: 2-4 on the day of Pentecost.

            In the early 1900s, this particular view was strongly promoted by a minster named Charles Parham (1873-1929). Parham did not have immediate influence on Azusa Street but one of his students, William Seymour (1870-1922), did. Seymour emphasized Parham’s teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues and that is what sparked the Azusa Street revival.

 William Seymour’s parents were African-American emancipated slaves. It is amazing that he was able to exert leadership and influence at a time when Jim Crow laws prevailed in the United States. (These were State and Local laws introduced in Southern United States in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries that enforced racial segregation).

Seymour was originally from Louisiana and travelled about the Midwest, South, and Texas as a labourer, but his passion was ministry. While in Texas, he was invited to Los Angeles, California to preach. He accepted the invitation for what was to be a brief ministry trip, but it turned out to be a providential relocation that led to the revival.

The path that led to the Azusa Street revival was not a smooth one. In fact, the outpouring did not even start on Azusa Street! The Los Angeles church that invited Seymour from Texas rejected him and his message very soon after his arrival there.

Undeterred, the preacher and others from the church continued meeting on their own at a house on Bonnie Brae Street in a relentless pursuit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Finally, 47 days after Seymour had arrived in Los Angeles and three days into a 10-day fast, a small praying group experienced a dramatic event.

Eight men were praying, including Seymour, when suddenly, as though hit by a bolt of lightning, they were knocked from their chairs to the floor. Surprisingly, everyone except Seymour began speaking in tongues. A few days later on April 12, 1906, Seymour himself spoke in tongues.

 News that these Christians on Bonnie Brae Street had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit drew crowds to the location, as they were interested in learning more. People from all backgrounds came to Bonnie Brae Street – white, black, Hispanic, rich, poor, educated, uneducated. 

The gatherings were too large to be held inside the house, so they gathered outside and the front porch served as the leadership platform. Later, the porch could not sustain the heavy use and literally collapsed, leaving the group with no alternative than to find a new place. That was when 312 Azusa Street, an unsophisticated warehouse, became the centre of the famous revival.

Characteristics of the Revival

The same catalyst that initiated the revival – an intense desire to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit, marked the Azusa Street gatherings. Preaching was not central to the revival as it was in the First and Second Great Awakenings.

There certainly was teaching from the Bible, especially as it pertained to the work of the Holy Spirit and the book of Acts, but the emphasis was on the outpouring of the Spirit. The meetings themselves were spontaneous and unpolished in every way. Various speakers could share testimonies, words of wisdom and knowledge.

Music was produced without instrumentation and much direction. The meetings would typically include an altar call for salvation, receiving the Holy Spirit, or for missions. Although Seymour was the leader, he deflected recognition and emphasized the leadership of the Spirit. He was known to put his head in a box during worship services to focus attention on the Lord.

The times of worship were somewhat chaotic. Speaking in tongues and loud noise were regularly heard from the congregants. Worshippers would spontaneously shake, jump, run about, dance, and fall to the ground when they sensed the overwhelming presence of God.

To many outside observers these happenings were strange; hence, they drew criticisms. The Los Angeles Daily Times ran a story about the revival meetings titled, “Weird Babel of Tongues.” Even other Christians derided the Azusa meetings, as is often the case in revivals.

 However, many attendees raved about God’s true work that took place at Azusa Street. They testified to being baptised in the Spirit and experiencing the power of God personally. It was reported that miracles of healing took place such as sight restored and diseases cured, as well as the gift of speaking in known human language. They claimed that an uneducated African-American spoke the language of immigrants in attendance from places like Germany, Latin America, and Yiddish speakers.

Impact of the Revival

The Azusa Street revival was relatively short-lived. Some historians mark its end in 1908, just two to three years after it began, while others suggest that it lasted until as late as 1915. William Seymour continued to pastor the small church until he died of heart attack in 1922.

Thereafter, his wife, led the church until 1931 when the owner of the warehouse at 312 Azusa Street terminated the lease agreement. It is said that there were only 50-60 core members of the Apostolic Faith Mission – the actual name of the church, but anywhere from 300-1500 people would show up during the height of the revival.

         Despite being a relatively minor movement in itself, the Azusa Street revival holds a significant place in church history. This is because it is regarded as the birth of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

These forms of Christian expressions have been called the fastest growing phenomenon in world religious history, as there were less than one million Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians in 1900. As of 2015, there were nearly 650 million of them. This brand of Christianity has had an incredible effect on world evangelization, especially in Latin America, South America, Africa and certain parts of Asia.

The experiences at Azusa Street, more than the teachings, opened the door for Christians to pursue and experience the Holy Spirit for themselves. Charles Parham and others had already been expounding on the Pentecostal experience for every believer, but in Los Angeles, a large number of people were able to testify first hand to its reality.

There has been no revival in contemporary history that has not attracted criticisms from the so-called Cessationists. These are “Christians”, who reject operations and gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church. God cannot be mocked, neither is He obligated to take permission from them to pour out His Spirit on a thirsty world, in line with His promise in Joel 2:28.

*****Culled from What Was the Azusa Street Revival, https://www.cuamerica.org.