Pentecostalism

Overview

Pentecostalism is a movement within Protestant Christianity centred on a direct, felt experience of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals believe every Christian should seek a 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' after conversion, usually shown by speaking in tongues, and that New Testament gifts such as healing and prophecy are still given today. It grew out of American Holiness revivals, notably at Topeka, Kansas, in 1901 and Azusa Street, Los Angeles, from 1906. It never formed a single church: it spans denominations such as the Assemblies of God, charismatic groups inside Catholic and older Protestant churches, and countless independent congregations. Counted broadly it has several hundred million followers, most of them in Africa, Latin America and Asia.^{[1, 3, 6, 8–11]}

History

Holiness roots and Topeka 1890s–1901

Late 19th-century Holiness preachers, heirs of Methodism, taught that after conversion a believer could receive a second work of grace that freed the heart from sin. Charles Fox Parham, a former Methodist turned independent Holiness preacher, opened a Bible school in a Topeka mansion called Stone's Folly in 1900. Around New Year's Day 1901 a student, Agnes Ozman, spoke in what the group took to be a foreign language. Parham taught that tongues were the evidence of Spirit baptism and, at first, real languages God would give missionaries for the last days.^[12–15]

Azusa Street 1906–1909

William J. Seymour, a Black Holiness preacher, took in Parham's teaching at a Houston Bible school in 1905, where segregation laws kept him in the hallway outside the classroom. In 1906 he moved to Los Angeles, and from April his meetings filled a run-down former church, lately a stable, at 312 Azusa Street. Black, white and Latino worshippers met there under a Black pastor. The mission's paper and a stream of visitors carried the revival across the country and abroad; by 1907 Azusa missionaries had reached India, and others South Africa.^[16–19]

Many beginnings 1905–1911

Azusa was not the only source. At Pandita Ramabai's Mukti mission in India, a revival from 1905 brought tongues before news of Azusa arrived; Pyongyang, Korea, had its revival in 1907; Methodists in Chile, inspired by reports from India, followed from 1909. Thomas Ball Barratt, a Methodist pastor from Oslo baptised in the Spirit while visiting America in 1906, spread the movement across Scandinavia, and Swedish missionaries founded what became Brazil's Assemblies of God at Belém in 1911. In Johannesburg, American missionaries founded the Apostolic Faith Mission in 1908, but within about a year baptised Black and white believers separately.^[20–23]

Denominations and the colour line 1907–1930s

Shunned by older churches, Pentecostals formed their own. Charles H. Mason, back from Azusa, led the Church of God in Christ from Memphis from 1907, and the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) joined the movement. Disputes followed: a 'finished work' view of sanctification, taken up by the Assemblies of God, founded at Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1914; and from 1913 a 'Oneness' teaching that baptised in Jesus' name alone. Aimee Semple McPherson's Foursquare Gospel grew from Angelus Temple, opened in 1923. The early interracial fellowship faded, and by the 1930s the main camps had split along racial lines.^[24–29]

Healers and charismatic renewal 1947–1980s

After the Second World War, healing evangelists such as Oral Roberts toured with huge tents and moved onto television. In 1960 Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal rector in Van Nuys, California, told his parish he had spoken in tongues, and a charismatic renewal spread through mainline Protestant churches; by 1967 it reached Catholic students at Duquesne and Notre Dame. From the 1970s Word of Faith teachers such as Kenneth Hagin promised health and prosperity, and independent networks such as the Vineyard took up spiritual gifts without the Pentecostal name.^[30–33]

A faith of the Global South 1970s–present

The fastest growth came in Latin America, Africa and Asia, largely through local leaders. In Brazil, Edir Macedo founded the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in 1977; in Nigeria, the Redeemed Christian Church of God became thoroughly Pentecostal under Enoch Adeboye from 1981; in Seoul, Yoido Full Gospel Church, begun in 1958, became the world's largest congregation. In Latin America, at least 90% Catholic until the 1960s, about one adult in five was Protestant by 2014, and most Protestants identified as Pentecostal.^[34–38]

Pentecostals and politics 1970s–present

Early Pentecostals, expecting Christ's return, mostly kept out of politics. From the 1970s many white American Pentecostals joined the religious right and backed Pat Robertson's 1988 bid for the Republican presidential nomination, while Black Pentecostals were more engaged in civil rights. In Brazil, Pentecostals entered politics after military rule ended in 1985, forming an evangelical caucus in Congress. Pew's 2006 survey found many Pentecostals wanted religious groups to speak out on political questions and favoured leaders with strong Christian beliefs.^[39–42]

Key moments

1. 1906 CEAzusa Street Revival · Los Angeles
2. 1952 CEThe Redeemed Christian Church of God · Ebute-Metta, Lagos, Nigeria
3. 1958 CEYoido Full Gospel Church · Seoul, South Korea

Beliefs

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Pentecostals believe the Spirit who came on the apostles at Pentecost (Acts 2) is offered to every believer in a distinct experience after conversion, giving power to witness. Classical Pentecostals hold that tongues are its 'initial evidence'. Many Protestant and all Catholic charismatics instead see it as a release of grace already given in baptism, and reject the initial-evidence teaching.^[43–44]

Speaking in tongues · γλωσσολαλία

glossolalia, 'tongue-speaking'

Pentecostals treat tongues as a gift Paul names in 1 Corinthians 12–14, used as private prayer or, when interpreted, as a message to the church. Early Pentecostals expected real foreign languages; most came to speak of heavenly ones. Linguists generally hear speech-like sound rather than a language.^[45–46]

Gifts of the Spirit · χαρίσματα

charismata, 'gifts'

Pentecostals hold that all the gifts of the New Testament church are for today: prophecy, healing, interpreting tongues, miracles and casting out demons. Many Pentecostals report having seen or experienced an exorcism, Pew's 2006 survey found.^[47–48]

Divine healing

Most Pentecostals believe Christ's atonement brings healing for the body as well as forgiveness; they lay hands on the sick and anoint them with oil. Some early Pentecostals refused medicine. Pew's survey found that most Pentecostals had experienced or witnessed divine healing, though the share varied widely from country to country.^[49–50]

The latter rain

Early Pentecostals read their revival as the 'latter rain' foretold by the prophet Joel, a last outpouring of the Spirit before the end. Most expect Christ's imminent return: Pew's survey found large majorities of Pentecostals believed in the rapture, and many expected Jesus back in their own lifetime.^[51–52]

Practice

Spirit-filled worship

Pentecostal services centre on lively praise: raised hands, clapping, loud and simultaneous prayer, dancing, tongues and prophecy. Larger white denominations in North America have grown quieter, while the older, freer style flourishes across Africa, Latin America and much of Asia.^[53–54]

Altar calls and prayer for healing

Services often end with an altar call, calling anyone who wants salvation, healing or the Spirit's baptism to the front to be prayed over; the sick are anointed with oil, and many churches pray for deliverance from evil spirits. Pew's survey found many Pentecostals said their services often included tongues, prophecy or healing prayer.^[55–56]

Believer's baptism

Most Pentecostal churches dedicate infants with prayer and baptise by full immersion those old enough to profess faith; people baptised as babies are usually urged to be baptised again. Oneness churches baptise in Jesus' name only.^[57–58]

Holiness of life

Early Pentecostals shunned alcohol, tobacco, dancing, cinemas, jewellery and make-up. Many Western Pentecostals relaxed these codes after the Second World War, while Oneness churches and many congregations elsewhere keep them. Pew's survey found that most Pentecostals said drinking alcohol is never justified.^[59–60]

Holy days

Pentecost Sunday

Seventh Sunday after Easter (May or June)

Pentecostals have no festivals of their own, but many give special attention to Pentecost, which recalls the coming of the Spirit on the apostles in Acts 2 and gives the movement its name.^[61]

Holy Ghost Service and Congress

Monthly night vigil; Congress each December

Nigeria's Redeemed Christian Church of God holds an all-night Holy Ghost Service each month and a week-long Holy Ghost Congress each December at Redemption Camp on the Lagos–Ibadan expressway, where a million or more are reported on the climactic night.^[62]

COGIC national convocation

Annually, in the autumn

The Church of God in Christ's yearly national gathering, held since 1907 and for much of its history in Memphis, draws tens of thousands for worship, healing prayer and church business.^[63]

People

Charles Fox Parham

founder

An independent Holiness preacher in Kansas who first taught, in January 1901 at his Bible school in Topeka, that speaking in tongues is the evidence of Spirit baptism. He carried his Apostolic Faith movement to Missouri and Texas, where William Seymour sat in on his classes.^[64]

William J. Seymour

founder · 1870–1922

The Black Holiness preacher who led the Azusa Street mission in Los Angeles from 1906, drawing Black, white and Latino worshippers and sending missionaries abroad. As the revival faded his influence waned, and he died in 1922.^[65]

Charles Harrison Mason

founder

A Holiness preacher who received Spirit baptism at Azusa Street in 1907 and led the predominantly African American Church of God in Christ, now the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. He is entombed in Mason Temple, Memphis.^[66]

Aimee Semple McPherson

founder · 1890–1944

A Canadian-born evangelist and healer who preached to thousands at Angelus Temple, Los Angeles, and broadcast from its own radio station. She founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, incorporated in 1927. Her showmanship and a claimed kidnapping in 1926 made her famous and controversial.^[67]

Oral Roberts

other · 1918–2009

An Oklahoma preacher of the Pentecostal Holiness Church who led tent healing crusades from the late 1940s and pioneered religious television. He founded Oral Roberts University in 1963 and was an early prosperity preacher with his 'seed-faith' teaching.^[68]

David Yonggi Cho

other · 1936–2021

A Korean Assemblies of God pastor who founded Yoido Full Gospel Church with Choi Ja-shil in 1958 and led it until 2008. He organised members into lay-led cell groups and taught a 'threefold blessing' of soul, body and circumstances that critics link to the prosperity gospel.^[69]

Scripture

The Bible

The only scripture Pentecostals regard as sacred, read by most as the inspired and literally true word of God. They give special weight to Acts, whose account of the first Pentecost they take as a pattern for the church, and to Paul's teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12–14.^[70]

The Apostolic Faith

from 1906

The newspaper of Seymour's Azusa Street mission. Its few pages carried testimonies and reports of 'Pentecosts' abroad, helping early Pentecostals see themselves as one worldwide movement.^[71]

Places

Azusa Street Mission site, Los Angeles

USA

The Apostolic Faith Mission stood at 312 Azusa Street in what is now Little Tokyo. The building was torn down in 1931; the site lies in the plaza of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, where a city marker recalls the revival.^[72]

Angelus Temple, Los Angeles

USA

Aimee Semple McPherson's domed church in Echo Park opened in 1923 as the mother church of the Foursquare Gospel. She preached there for almost twenty years and broadcast her services from its radio station.^[73]

Mason Temple, Memphis

USA

Completed in 1945 as the national centre of the Church of God in Christ, it was then the largest Black-owned church building in the United States. Mason is entombed there, and Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last speech in it on 3 April 1968.^[74]

Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul

KOR

In 1973 the church moved to a new auditorium on Yeouido, a then little-built-up island in Seoul's Han River. Guinness recognised it as the world's largest church in the 1990s, when membership passed 700,000; it counted about 580,000 members in 2023.^[75]

Where it spread

Numbers

Pentecostals and charismatics worldwide

c. 660 million counted broadly (2025)^[9]

Depends on definition: 124m (`low`) are Pentecostal denominations alone (2020); `count`/`high` use CSGC's broadest figure (charismatics, independents): CSGC's two sources give 623.8m-644m for 2020, ~664m by 2025. Pew: 279m+305m for 2010.

Where Pentecostals live

Mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas^[11]

General pattern reported by Britannica and the Encyclopedia of Religion; charismatics in other churches are most numerous in the Americas, per Pew's 2010 analysis.

National censuses

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, 'Religious affiliation in Australia' (Table 4), CC BY 4.0. Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0342-01 Religion by visible minority and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts, released 2022-10-26. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census, licensed by Stats NZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

How we know

One origin or many?

Pentecostals long told their story as one fire lit at Azusa Street, and Parham called himself the movement's founder. Historians such as Allan Anderson and Adam Stewart argue instead for several near-simultaneous beginnings: tongues were spoken at Mukti in India before news of Azusa arrived, revivals in Wales and Korea fed the same hopes, and Chile's movement traced its inspiration to India. Most now treat Azusa as the most influential centre rather than the only one.^[76–77]

Common misconceptions

Glossary

Glossolalia

Speaking in tongues: fluent, speech-like utterance in a language unknown to the speaker, which Pentecostals regard as a gift of the Spirit (Greek glōssa, 'tongue', and lalia, 'talking').^[45]

Initial evidence

The teaching, set out by Parham in 1901 and held by most classical Pentecostal denominations, that speaking in tongues is the first outward sign of Spirit baptism.^[14]

Charismatic

A Christian in a Catholic, Orthodox or older Protestant church who embraces Spirit baptism and spiritual gifts while staying in that church; from Greek charis, 'gift'.^[82]

Neo-charismatic

Independent and indigenous churches, many in Africa, Asia and Latin America, that practise spiritual gifts and Pentecostal-style worship outside the Pentecostal denominations.^[83]

Oneness Pentecostalism

A non-Trinitarian branch, emerging in 1913–16, that baptises in Jesus' name only and teaches that Father, Son and Spirit are titles of one God whose name is Jesus. Its bodies include the United Pentecostal Church.^[27]

Prosperity gospel

The teaching, also called 'health and wealth' or Word of Faith, that faith expressed through positive confession and giving brings health and riches in this life.^[84]

Aladura

Yoruba for 'people of prayer': Nigerian independent churches stressing prayer and healing from the 1920s, from which some Pentecostal churches, such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God, emerged.^[85]