Cecil M. Robeck, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival: The Birth of the Global Pentecostal Movement (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006). Pp. 352. $16.99
Cecil M. Robeck is Professor of Church History and Ecumenics at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is widely published on issues of historical, theological, and ecumenical importance. For numerous years, his research has focused on the Azusa Street Mission and revival. The significance of Azusa Street to the over 500 million member strong Pentecostal and Charismatic movement cannot be overstated. In fact, numerous televangelists and broadcasters well-known today, such as Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, and T.D. Jakes, attribute their inspiration to Azusa Street. Moreover, the Azusa Street Mission and revival continues to serve as an example of successful and fruitful outreach to frequently marginalized groups such as the poor, minorities, and women. Understanding this fact, within this text Robeck gives one an depth look at the development, extension, and sustenance of said revival, which first arose in Los Angeles, California, in the year 1906, and continued seven days a week until 1909.
Robeck begins this text by highlighting the life and ministry of William Joseph Seymour, the leader of the Azusa Street revival. Born in 1870 into a Catholic home, by 1905 Seymour had become a participant in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. In January, 1906, Seymour began to study with Charles Fox Parham, and shortly thereafter he relocated to Los Angeles. Two days after arriving in Los Angeles, he began to preach, and the unparalleled growth of the movement was ignited. Being aggressively evangelistic, the Azusa Street Mission, by midsummer, 1906, had developed a large following that led to the establishment of numerous other congregations in Los Angeles as well as surrounding communities. From the beginning, Seymour desired his new congregation to be multiracial, and in large part, he was successful in that endeavor, a characteristic of Pentecostal and Charismatic movements that is noticeably continued even unto this day.
A man of much prayer, Seymour was unselfish and unassuming. However, he was a strong and able leader. Though ever open to the spontaneous prompting of the Spirit, he nevertheless was a man who led by great planning. Robeck paints him also as a man who not only led others, but also empowered others to lead by mentoring, and thereafter delegating authority unto them. Being a student of the Scriptures, Seymour exposited them with great rigor and confidence, which inspired his listeners to grant spiritual authority unto him. Being a gifted orator, Seymour regularly transitioned from lofty exhortation, to soft and subtle speech, only to thereafter thunder with fiery talk.
Throughout this title, Robeck quotes directly from local newspaper articles that covered the Azusa Street revival. Robeck takes no steps to delete or alter the often prejudicial and arrogant positions of the writers toward the budding movement, choosing instead to present accurately how the movement was perceived from the ‘outside’. I find this to be a tremendous strength in that views from both sides of the movement, so to speak– from the participants and the skeptical public – are represented. In sum, Robeck here gives an illuminating and insightful look into the Azusa Street Mission and revival, a movement that inculcated God’s promise to pour out his Spirit onto all flesh, man or woman, regardless of ethnicity, thereafter allowing those so in-filled to minister unto the masses. May we go and do likewise. Robeck is extremely readable in this text, which is a strong point regarding it. My only concern is the lack of bibliography, and the rather minimal footnotes. However, this title is nevertheless unreservedly recommended for laity who desire a deeper understanding of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement, as well as to upper undergraduate students who are looking for the same. Robeck is thorough and fair, and as such, should be read widely.
Bradford McCall
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.