The very first service of the Pentecostal movement was held in a church on the Azusa street in California in the 1906.

This revival meeting extended from 1906 until 1909, and became the subject of intense investigation by more mainstream Protestants.

Some left feeling that Seymour’s views were heresy , while others accepted his teachings and returned to their own congregations to expound them.

The resulting movement became widely known as “Pentecostalism”, likening it to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit recorded as occurring in the first two chapters of Acts as occurring from the day of the Feast of Pentecost onwards.

Pentecostal and charismatic movements are generally agreed to have been in part outgrowths of Seymour’s ministry and the Azusa Street Revival.

William Seymour died of a heart attack in 1922.

The Pentecostal movement was connected to the protestant movement because it originated from it, but because of doctrinal differences it also became a movement of its own.

Seeking a return to the operation of New Testament gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as evidence of the “baptism of the Holy Ghost” became the leading feature. Divine healing and miracles were also emphasized.

Pentecostalism swept through much of the Holiness movement, and eventually formed hundreds of new denominations in the United States and the world at large.

By Apostle A Ngabo