Pentecostal Church of God History

The origin of modern Pentecostalism can be traced to Bethel Bible College, founded in October 1900 by Charles Fox Parham.  The school was located in Topeka, Kansas in an elaborate unfinished mansion known as “Stone’s Folly.”  In his monthly publication, The Apostolic Faith, Parham announced that anyone who prayed and diligently studied the Word was welcome to attend.  Since this was a “faith school,” no tuition was charged, Parham was the only instructor and the Bible the only textbook.

Before leaving for a speaking engagement in Kansas City, Parham assigned the student body the task of determining from their study of Scripture, the evidence of receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  When Parham returned he was amazed to learn that the students had reached the conclusion: the indisputable proof of one receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was speaking with other tongues.

The conclusion was of tremendous importance, for it marked the occasion when speaking in tongues was first considered to be the initial physical evidence of one being filled with the Holy Spirit.

On the night of January 3, 1901, many others, including Parham, received the mighty infilling of the Spirit.

After this glorious experience, Parham carried this Pentecostal message from Topeka, Kansas to: Kansas City, Missouri; Lawrence, Kansas; Nevada, Missouri; El Dorado Springs, Missouri; Galena, Kansas; Joplin, Missouri; and Orchard, Texas.

In the fall of 1905, Parham moved his headquarters to Houston, Texas and once again established a short-term Bible school.  William J. Seymour, a black holiness preacher from Louisiana, audited the classes taught by Parham. He believed the teaching but did not receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Among the people from the Houston area who visited the services and received the Pentecostal experience was a lady, Miss Neely Terry, who was visiting from Los Angeles, California.  When she returned home to the holiness missions she attended on Santa Fe Street, she suggested that they invite Seymour to preach for them with the possibility of becoming their pastor.  The invitation was extended and Seymour accepted.  Here he preached the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and declared that speaking in tongues was the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  This proved unacceptable to the church leadership.  As a result Seymour moved his meeting to the home of Richard and Ruth Asbury, 214 North Bonnie Brae Street.  Thus on April 9, 1906 the great Pentecostal revival of Los Angeles began.

The prayer services continued in the Asbury home.  On the evening of April 9, 1906 Seymour and seven other men were waiting before the Lord when suddenly, as though hit by a bolt of lightning, they were knocked from their chairs to the floor.  The seven men with Seymour began to speak in diverse kinds of tongues magnifying God.  The shouts were so fervent and loud that news spread quickly of the unusual events on Bonnie Brae Street.  A few days later Seymour finally received the Holy Spirit.  Soon huge crowds began to gather.  Since the house could not begin to accommodate the people, the services were moved outside into the street with the front porch being used for the pulpit.  The people came from everywhere.  Many would fall under God’s power as they neared the house.  The whole city was stirred.  They shouted until the foundation of the porch collapsed, without injuring anyone.  During these days, many people who came because of curiosity were baptized in the Holy Spirit.  The sick were healed and sinners were saved.

To further accommodate the crowds, an old dilapidated, two-story frame building at 312 Azusa Street in the industrial section of the city was secured.  This building, originally built for an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, had more recently been used as a livery stable, storage building and tenement house.  In this humble Azusa Street mission, a continuous three-year revival occurred and became known around the world.

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