Pentecostalism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes the experience of Spirit baptism, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The name derives from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1–4. In addition to speaking in tongues, Pentecostals emphasize the other gifts of the Spirit listed in I Corinthians 12. Pentecostalism is widespread in America, but is also strong in Indonesia, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America and Europe.
Classical Pentecostalism
What is sometimes called classical Pentecostalism grew out of the late 19th-century Holiness Movement in the United States. Holiness preacher Charles Fox Parham taught that speaking in tongues was the initial evidence of baptism in the Spirit. One of his disciples named William Seymour spearheaded the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles in 1906, and the movement quickly spread around the world. Over the next two decades the movement split along doctrinal and racial lines. Of the many Pentecostalist denominations in the United States today, the largest are the Church of God in Christ, with about 5.5 million members (2000); the Assemblies of God, with about 2.5 million members (2000); the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, with about 1.5 million members (2000); and the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.), with about 870,000 members (2000).
Church of the Foursquare Gospel
The Charismatic Movement
A second form of Pentecostalism arose in the 1960s after many non-Pentecostals became aware of Pentecostalism when an Episcopal minister declared to his congregation in Van Nuys, California that he was spoke in tongues. Following Bennett’s confession the Charismatic Movement appeared in nearly all the Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic church, and, to a lesser extent, in Eastern Orthodox communions. In 1951 the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, founded by California dairy farmer Demos Shakarian, provided lay support for the healing crusades of Oral Roberts and others, which paved the way for the movement.