May 19, 2023 · 8:34 am

Minnie Abrams: Lessons from the Early Pentecostal Revival in India

Minnie Abrams (right), sitting next to Jivubai, an Indian woman

This Week in AG History — May 19, 1945

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 18 May 2023

Minnie Abrams (1859-1912), in many ways, was a typical woman in the American Midwest in the late 19th century. However, everything changed when she heeded God’s call to the mission field. Abrams was reared on a farm in rural Minnesota and, in her early twenties, became a schoolteacher. After a few years in the classroom, however, she sensed that God was leading her in a new direction. She attended a Methodist missionary training school in Chicago and, in 1887, set sail for Bombay, India.

In Bombay, Abrams helped to establish a boarding school for the children of church members. Not content to stay within the walls of missionary compound, she learned the Marathi language so that she could engage in personal evangelism. Ultimately, she became a full-time evangelist and began working with Pandita Ramabai, a leading Christian female social reformer and educator. Abrams worked with Ramabai at her Mukti Mission, a school and home for famine victims and widows.

After hearing news of revival in Australia (1903) and Wales (1904-1905), Abrams, Ramabai, and others began seeking a restoration of the spiritual power they read about in the New Testament. They formed a prayer group, and about 70 girls volunteered to meet daily, study the Bible, and pray for revival. Beginning in 1905, several waves of revival hit the Mukti Mission. The prayer group grew to 500, and many of the girls reported spiritual experiences that seemed to repeat what they found in the Book of Acts. Some prophesied, others received visions, and yet others spoke in tongues. Abrams wrote about the revival, which became the foundation for the Pentecostal movement in India, in the July 1909 issue of the Latter Rain Evangel. Her account was republished in the May 19, 1945, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

According to Abrams, the revival came to India because of deep prayer, consecration, and repentance. During the daily prayer meetings, the girls memorized Scripture, became deeply aware of their own sinfulness, and hungered for righteousness and an outpouring of God’s Spirit.

Abrams recalled, “I cannot tell you how I felt in those days of repentance at Mukti when the Holy Spirit was revealing sin, and God was causing the people to cry out and weep before Him.” The girls who had been touched by revival did not stay put; they fanned out into surrounding villages and brought the gospel to anyone who would listen.

Abrams recounted that revival at the Mukti Mission included not just remorse over sin, but also incredible joy that followed repentance. She wrote that “ripples of laughter flowed” in prayer meetings, that some of the girls began dancing in the back of the room, and that they were filled with a “deeper joy.”

According to Abrams, the early Indian revival provided valuable lessons for Christians everywhere. She also gave a warning to readers that is just as applicable today as it was in 1909: “the people of God are growing cold and there is a worldliness and an unwillingness to hear the truth and to obey it.”

How can we have revival today? Abrams offered the following admonition: “If you want revival you have to pour your life out. That is the only way. That is the way Jesus did. He emptied Himself; He poured out His life; and He Poured out His life’s blood.” Minnie Abrams wrote convincingly and convictingly from experience. She and countless other Pentecostal pioneers followed Christ’s example and poured their lives into serving others and building God’s kingdom.

Read the entire article by Minnie Abrams, “How Pentecost Came to India,” on pages 1 and 5-7 of the May 19, 1945, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Speaking in Tongues,” by Howard Carter

• “The Tarrying Meeting,” by Stanley H. Frodsham

• “An Anniversary Testimony,” by A.H. Argue

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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May 12, 2023 · 8:04 am

Glenn Renick and the 1928 Revival in Hannibal, Missouri

Glenn Renick, Sr. (bottom left) conducting a baptism in the Middle Fabius River near the Gilead Bridge, east of Ewing, Missouri; 1922.

This Week in AG History —May 13, 1973

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 11 May 2023

When Glenn Allen Renick, Sr. (1895-1973) set out in January 1928 to plant a church in Hannibal, Missouri, conditions were not ideal. He had to contend with frigid weather, a poor meeting location, and a car that barely worked. But God brought dozens of people into the small mission, and the healing of a local woman attracted additional attention and favor in the community. Renick served as pastor in Hannibal for 37 years and also pioneered several other churches in northeast Missouri, including Nelsonville, Edina, and Ewing. He went on to serve as a district official and left his mark on the Assemblies of God in the Midwest.

Renick grew up in Franklin County, Missouri. After finishing high school, he served in World War I. He graduated from Southern California Bible Institute and was ordained June 9, 1923, at Long Beach, California. On April 18, 1929, he married Nina Christina Englund, who also was an ordained AG minister. She had served previously as a missionary in Brazil and pastored churches in northeast Missouri and Illinois. She was part of an evangelistic group with Adele and Richard Carmichael that started Bethel Assembly in Quincy, Illinois. Nina also attended the Midwest Bible School in Auburn, Nebraska.

A couple of testimonies stand out from Glenn Renick’s years of pastoring in Hannibal. Two Christians living on a farm near Hannibal rented an old store building on North Main Street and invited Renick to come and start a church. The rent was paid for two months, and then he would be on his own. He would have to live by faith.

The building had a potbelly stove for heat, and Renick would need to furnish it. He erected a platform out of tile and planks. He was able to get folding seats from an old tent, and he found a rug to place in the altar area.

On a cold day in January 1928, while driving an old Model T Ford (with no heat or windows), Renick had several stops to make in town to get things ready for the opening day, and he discovered that the brake shoe was ruined on one of his rear wheels, and only one lug was left to hold the wheel in place. The car had wooden spokes with steel rims. He took off the damaged brake shoe, but he was unable to repair the wheel, and his trip was only half over, but after praying the prayer of faith, he survived the bitterly cold weather and arrived home safe, with only one lug holding.

Renick started services on Jan. 25, 1928. Thirty-five people came to the altar and professed salvation at that first meeting. Many with evil habits professed that they were delivered after prayer. Later the meetings were moved to a house that had been converted into a church. The pulpit and altar were in the middle, and the preacher faced people sitting in two different rooms. The setting was primitive, but God answered prayers.

One Baptist woman, Mrs. Crawford Adams, was afflicted with a toxic goiter and had a rapid heartbeat. She often would faint and lay unconscious for periods of time. One night she asked her husband if she could come to the Pentecostal services, and he consented. She came forward and was anointed and prayed for. Then it seemed as if she fainted and appeared to be in a coma.

Renick, Mrs. Adams’ husband, and others were concerned. After a while she lifted her hand and color came back into her face. She began to speak in a beautiful language.

Afterwards she testified, “When I was anointed with oil and hands were laid upon me, I felt the power of God strike me, and it seemed as though crystal-clear water flowed through my body, beginning at my head. The same power reversed itself and came through my body again, beginning at my feet. When it reached my throat, I felt something snap. My heartbeat became normal. I was healed.”

That healing was widely known and discussed in the community. It led many people to the church services in the coming days, and others were healed and delivered through prayer.

The radio and newspaper became friendly toward the Pentecostals, and many doors opened for ministry. Renick was able to move the services from the house to a vacant downtown theater, and the Assembly of God in Hannibal continued to grow. In later years, a number of evangelists came to the church including Dolores Dudley, Anna Charlotte Berg, Frank Lummer, Harvey McAlister, and many others.

Renick also served as assistant superintendent of the West Central District (now divided into the Iowa and Northern Missouri districts) for several years, and then served as superintendent of that district from 1951 to 1952. He was superintendent of the Northern Missouri district from 1964 to 1967. He served as a general presbyter for many years. He also traveled for many years as an evangelist, and started churches in Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri.

While in Hannibal, he was active in community affairs, serving as Missouri department chaplain of the American Legion. As a veteran of World War I, he became a lifetime member of Hannibal Post 55 of the Legion. He also served as the president of the Hannibal Ministerial Alliance.

Glenn Renick passed away March 8, 1973, at the age of 78. His wife survived him and lived to be 103. They had two sons, Harry and Glenn Renick Jr. Glenn Renick Sr. and his wife, Nina, are both buried in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, Springfield, Missouri.

When Glenn Renick arrived in Hannibal, Missouri, to plant a church in 1928, it initially seemed that everything went wrong. But God turned a situation that did not seem very promising into a testimony of God’s power to transform hardship into something beautiful.

Read, “Former District Leader is With Christ,” on page 26 of the May 13, 1973, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Evangelism Begins at Home,” by Ruth Steelberg Carter

• “Pentecostal Balance,” by Thomas F. Zimmerman

• “The Sounding of a New Day,” by Ray Gannon

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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May 4, 2023 · 2:53 pm

Dr. Wang Yun Wu: The Leading Chinese Scholar Who Abandoned Atheism after Witnessing a Miracle

This Week in AG History — May 2, 1931

By Darrin J. Rodgers

Originally published on AG-News, 04 May 2023

A prominent Chinese scholar, Dr. Wang Yun Wu (1888-1979), abandoned atheism in 1924 after he witnessed the miraculous healing of his sister’s eyesight. Dr. Wang later became Vice Premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan). His story was recounted by W. W. Simpson (1869-1961), pioneer Assemblies of God missionary to China, in the May 2, 1931, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Wang’s sister was healed in an unplanned revival. Simpson and fellow Assemblies of God missionary Florence Hanson were in Shanghai for the purpose of printing a Chinese-language hymnal. Their business trip quickly turned into a spiritual awakening. Hanson prayed for someone whose name is now lost to history, that person was healed, and residents clamored to find out what happened.

Local Christians organized services and invited Hanson to share the Pentecostal message. Numerous residents, including community leaders, flocked to the meetings. Many were healed or baptized in the Holy Spirit. One of the first people swept up in this move of God was Wang’s sister, Mrs. Ching. Not only was she baptized in the Holy Spirit, but God also corrected her eyesight! For 10 years she had been dependent upon her eyeglasses for daily life and for her writing duties at work. She was employed at the Commercial Press, a large publishing house where her brother, Dr. Wang, served as editor-in-chief.

Mrs. Ching’s healing astounded her family. Wang asked to speak to Simpson, who had prayed for his sister. Simpson gladly consented to this invitation. Simpson recalled how Wang ushered him into a rich library stocked with books in many languages and espousing many religions and philosophies.

Wang explained that he was reared “a strict Confucianist, believing in no God and worshiping his ancestors not as gods but simply to show his respect for them.” He had also studied Western philosophies extensively and had accepted the modern theory of evolution. He had not discovered anything that “could not be explained by evolution” or which “required a God in order to exist.” But all that changed once he witnessed his sister’s healing.

Simpson wrote, “I shall never forget that afternoon in the library with one of China’s greatest scholars, and that moment when he said he was forced by the reception of the Spirit by his sister to admit there must be a living and a true God.”

Wang began the day a Confucian atheist and ended the day convinced of the deity of Christ. Wang went on to become a noted scholar of history and political science and also invented Shih Chiao Hao Ma, a form of Chinese lexicography. He opposed the communists during the Chinese revolution, entered politics, and served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1958 to 1963.

According to Simpson, Wang’s story demonstrates how the “baptism in the Spirit is more effective in combating atheism than all the learned disquisitions of the Fundamentalists, for it is God giving a sign to this unbelieving modern world.”

Read W.W. Simpson’s entire article, “A Confucian Atheist Convinced of the Deity of Christ,” on pages 1 and 7 of the May 2, 1931, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “See and Hear,” by P.C. Nelson

• “To Seekers after the Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” by Donald Gee

• “My Pentecostal Experience,” by E.S. Williams

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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April 27, 2023 · 2:16 pm

Louise Nankivell: Pioneer Assemblies of God Evangelist

This Week in AG History — April 29, 1951

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 27 April 2023

Louise Nankivell (1896-1972), a female Assemblies of God evangelist, was frequently dubbed by newspaper articles as “the second Aimee Semple McPherson.” Her public ministry stretched from 1923 until 1962, when illness forced her to retire from travel. She continued to write for the Pentecostal Evangel until just a month before her death in 1972.

A native Chicagoan, Nankivell had no formal theological education. After her marriage to Alfred Nankivell in 1916, the two worked together in street evangelism, with Louise playing an organ while her husband sang. After hearing her address the crowd in one meeting, her husband began urging her into full-time ministry with him as her musical support.

After receiving ordination with the World’s Faith Missionary Association (WFMA) in 1924, the Nankivell duo traveled around the United States often drawing crowds in the thousands. In one meeting in Clarksburg, West Virginia, a crowd of more than 3,000 attended with many gathering outside the auditorium to listen through the doors. Many healings took place in these meetings and thousands professed faith in Christ as a result.

Nankivell was known for preaching a strong holiness message against the ills of society — divorce, common-law marriages, evolution, and other fundamentalist causes of the day — and often wore a long white robe with one single rose pinned to her dress. In one newspaper advertisement she advised the readers of the Brooklyn Daily Times that, “Bright lights, white lights, footlights, dancelights, spotlights, cannot illuminate the way to heaven. Jesus Christ is the greatest light that ever came into the world, and He is the remedy for all our ills.”

A typical week’s meetings included the topics of the end times, the work of Christ on the cross, focus on physical healing, and the inclusion of her testimony along with a defense of women’s authority to preach, posing the question, “Why were spiritual powers given to women if not for use?” Often she would leave out a “question box” for attendees and take time in her meetings to personally address their questions and concerns. Services always included her husband leading in worship or providing musical accompaniment.

In 1940, Nankivell transferred her ordination to the Assemblies of God. After attending the 1941 General Council, she became gravely ill and was not given much hope to recover. She was out of the pulpit for more than a year until one Saturday night Christ appeared to her in a vision. From that time on, she vowed to never preach in any attire other than sackcloth. While many did not understand this vow and she was often criticized as “dramatic,” she believed that standing on the platform in a sackcloth dress was a reminder to herself of her humility and dependence on Christ and a reminder to those around her of the need for repentance.

In the April 29, 1951, Pentecostal Evangel, a report was given by Pastor Leonard Norville of First Assembly of God in Fort Worth, Texas: “For nearly three weeks in February we witnessed many wonderful works at the hand of our mighty Christ in saving the lost, delivering the bound, and healing the sick and afflicted. We were privileged to have evangelist Louise Nankivell with us … We thank God for these meetings … Our faith has been strengthened to a great degree and God is more real than He has ever been in our lives.”

While there were many reports of miraculous healing in Nankivell’s meetings, Pastor Kopp of Los Angeles commented, “Lest any should think that the preaching of the Word is neglected … let me say that she brought powerful and informative messages from the Word of God, which resulted in great altar calls.”

Nankivell continued to hold ordination with the Assemblies of God while also being closely associated with the Voice of Healing ministry of Gordon Lindsay in the 1950s. She was the only woman included in his book of evangelists, Men Who Heard From Heaven. While drawing large crowds, she avoided many of the pitfalls that can come with large-scale evangelistic ministries.

After traveling together for more than 40 years, Alfred and Louise Nankivell retired from full-time evangelism due to health concerns. Alfred died in 1970, after having been a faithful companion and ministry support for 54 years. Louise followed him in death two years later. Her last article in the Pentecostal Evangel called for readers to live lives full of faith, completely surrendered to the will of God, no matter the cost.

Read Leonard Norville’s report of the Nankivell meetings on page 13 of the April 29, 1951, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Sufficiency of Simple Trust in God,” by James Salter

• “A Chinese ‘Cornelius,’” by Glenn Horst

• “’Until,’ or Christian Persistency,” Elizabeth Sisson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

For more information on the ministry of Alfred and Louise Nankivell, see Heather-Gail Rhoden Belfon’s article, “The Life and Ministry of Louise Nankivell,” in the Summer 2004 issue of Assemblies of God Heritage Magazine.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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April 20, 2023 · 4:30 pm

Lula Bell Hough: Assemblies of God Missionary to China and Japanese P.O.W.

This Week in AG History — April 21, 1934

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 20 April 2023

Lula Bell Hough (1906-2002) did not take the easy road in life. She sensed God’s call to ministry and was credentialed as an Assemblies of God missionary at the age of 23. She left her comfortable life in America and devoted herself to sharing the gospel in China, where she spent the next 45 years. As an unmarried woman in her 20s and 30s, she endured great deprivation and the ravages of war.

Hough’s greatest challenge on the mission field came during World War II, when she spent seven and one-half months as a Japanese prisoner of war. She did not know whether she would survive the ordeal, which began in December 1941. She later recalled that soldiers kept placing their bayonets to her throat, threatening to kill her. Women around her were raped, and thousands died from starvation. Some resorted to eating human flesh to survive. For the first two weeks of her captivity, she lived on nothing but wheat that was wormy and moldy. After that, she was given small food rations. The food was enough to keep her alive, but she lost 38 pounds in about six months. She was freed in a prisoner exchange — American prisoners were swapped for Japanese prisoners of war.

Living in difficult circumstances for over a decade in China had prepared Hough for the hardship of the prisoner-of-war camp. Hough sent regular letters to her supporters back in the United States. One of these letters, published in the April 21, 1934, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, described a trip to areas in south China where there were no Christians.

Hough humorously described having to share her accommodations with loud farm animals:

“When we reached the inn we were soaking wet and cold. After warming ourselves by an open fire in the center of the room we retired to our room. Cobwebs were hanging everywhere, and one corner was occupied by geese, which entertained us with special music at intervals during the night. Our room was really a hall where people had to pass through, and our bed was only a board. The next night we spent in Sha Hoh, and were thankful to find no geese in our room, but soon discovered there were pigs in the room just below us.”

New Christians often suffered for their faith. Hough described several instances of persecution in heart-wrenching detail. She wrote that one 18-year-old woman was beaten by her husband because of her newfound faith. Her mother-in-law scratched the young woman’s face until there were “deep sores and scars.” The villagers joined in the persecution, encouraging the family to sell the young wife into slavery if she didn’t recant her faith in Christ.

Why did Hough and other early missionaries leave their homes in the West and endure difficulties? They were motivated to be faithful to Christ in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Hough explained, “In some of these villages we were the first foreigners the villagers had ever seen, and in many, the first to preach the gospel. God has promised that His Word shall not return unto Him void, so we believe that if we are faithful in proclaiming the gospel, He will be faithful in drawing souls unto himself.”

Lula Bell Hough’s life illustrates the early Pentecostal worldview that encouraged full consecration to Christ and His mission. Hough and countless other Assemblies of God missionaries spent their lives sharing the gospel, at great personal cost, and helped to lay the foundation for a worldwide Fellowship that now numbers over 70 million adherents.

Read the entire article by Lula Bell Hough, “Missionary Travels, S. China,” on pages 8-9 of the April 21, 1934, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “A Revelation of the Love of God,” by Kate Knight

• “Spiritual Awaking Follows Earthquake,” by Hilda Wagenknecht

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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April 13, 2023 · 9:25 am

The Revivaltime Choir: Over 1,300 Central Bible College Students were “Young Evangelists” in this Radio Ministry

This Week in AG History —April 15, 1962

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 13 April 2023

When people reflect on Revivaltime, the long-standing weekly radio broadcast of the Assemblies of God, they often think of the much-acclaimed speakers, C.M. Ward and Dan Betzer. But the ministry of the Revivaltime choir, made up of students from Central Bible College (CBC) who volunteered to sing on the program each week, was just as important. 

The Assemblies of God released the first Revivaltime broadcast on Easter Sunday, 1950. Three years later, on Dec. 20, 1953, the program was broadcast from the Bowie Hall auditorium at CBC and began airing on the ABC Radio Network with C.M. Ward as the speaker. Through the years, it is estimated that more than 1,300 people ministered as choir members and musicians under the leadership of Cyril McLellan, Revivaltime’s longtime music director. Although McLellan trained for and expected musical excellence, the emphasis of every practice and broadcast was prayer and a desire for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

The choir practiced during the week. Then on Sunday afternoons, beginning in January 1962, a bus transported the students from CBC to the auditorium at the Assemblies of God national office. After rehearsing, the choir was joined by the rest of the team for prayer, and then C.M. Ward (and later Dan Betzer) would offer a few inspirational thoughts to the choir before starting the live broadcast. Two songs which became a hallmark of every program were “All Hail the Power” and “There’s Room at the Cross.” 

A variety of songs and traditional hymns rounded out the musical selections for the Revivaltime program, with the choir often presenting a sermon in song which augmented the preaching. Whether it was a live radio broadcast in the Assemblies of God national office auditorium or when the choir was on tour, the choir members often dispersed into the congregation, connect with people, and pray for their needs. Ward often referred to the choir as “these young evangelists.” 

Each year, two or three times as many talented CBC students auditioned for the choir than could be used. Those selected willingly gave up many hours each week to prepare for the half-hour broadcast. The students only met a small fraction of their audience, and they seldom would see the results of their ministry in music and prayer. Yet there are many testimonies of persons who have been saved, healed, encouraged, and helped by their singing.

An article in the Pentecostal Evangel from 55 years ago titled, “Why They Sing for Revivaltime,” gave some background on why the students gladly sang for Revivaltime. The article includes testimonies from choir members as well as people in the audience. 

Why did they sing for Revivaltime? One factor listed, in addition to their love for singing, is that the students found that “working with the talented choir director, Cyril McLellan, is a rewarding experience.” They also caught on to the vision of the ministry they could have through Revivaltime. 

Gwen Hestand, a sophomore, testified, “I chose Revivaltime as an outlet for ministry because the broadcast’s very foundation is to meet human need wherever it exists and to present Christ as the answer to that need.” 

“There’s no other ministry where so many people in so many places can be reached at one time,” said Carl Guiney, another sophomore.

David A. Ferrell, a student who had served as an evangelist, shared: “The Revivaltime choir is the greatest opportunity I have ever had to help so many. To read letters from those in distress and to go before the throne of God with these requests is the most rewarding work I’ve done.” 

A listener in Alabama reported, “I receive a wonderful blessing from the message and beautiful music.” From Oregon came this testimony: “I enjoy the singing so much. I like to sing along with the choir.” 

Revivaltime was not just a radio broadcast, it was a ministry that touched lives through the message and songs. The choir prayed often. Their focus was not on performance, but on ministering the gospel through song. 

Read, “Why They Sing for Revivaltime,” on pages 16-17 of the April 15, 1962, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel. 

Also featured in this issue: 

• “The Cross in Christian Experience,” by Gordon D. Fee 

• “The Last Supper,” by Violet Schoonmaker

And many more! 

Click here to read this issue now. 

Pentecostal Evangel archive editions courtesy of Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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April 10, 2023 · 11:04 am

Consortium of Pentecostal Archives: Upgraded Website Launched

April 10, 2023

The Consortium of Pentecostal Archives (CPA) has a new, upgraded website, thanks to a generous grant from Alletha M. Barnett and the Christian Fidelity Foundation. The upgraded CPA website (https://pentecostalarchives.org), which is the largest online repository of digitized Pentecostal publications, was launched on March 18, 2023, at the annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.

The CPA was founded in 2011 by Pentecostal archives for the purpose of making their digital research resources (e.g., searchable PDF documents) accessible at no cost to end users on a single website platform.

The CPA website makes the heritage and testimony of the Pentecostal movement accessible to new generations and is an invaluable research tool for students, church leaders, and other researchers. The website provides access to almost 500,000 pages of digitized publications, ranging from the Apostolic Faith newspapers from the Azusa Street revival to over 90 other periodical runs, as well as books and pamphlets.

From its beginning the CPA was interdenominational in scope. The first executive committee consisted of the directors of the archives of the Assemblies of God USA (Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center), Church of God, Cleveland, TN (Dixon Pentecostal Research Center), International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (Foursquare Church Archives), and International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC Archives and Research Center).

The upgraded website is attracting attention and new archives are joining the CPA. In early March, the Dr. Mattie McGlothen Library Museum joined the CPA and placed 33,000 pages of digitized Church of God in Christ periodicals and souvenir journals on the CPA website. Additional archives in the United States and in other countries are in the pipeline to become CPA members.

Emma Clark, director of the McGlothen Library Museum in California, is excited that African-American Pentecostal resources will be more widely accessible to researchers: “This is historic – the Pentecostal movement emerged in an interracial revival at Azusa Street, and now Black and White Pentecostal archivists are cooperating to make their stories accessible alongside each other.”

The CPA website also includes Hispanic Pentecostal publications, as well as materials representing Pentecostals from other national, ethnic, and language groups.

Over the years the CPA website became an important online hub for Pentecostal historical research; it has also become an important point of collaboration between the various archives. David G. Roebuck, director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, has served as chairman of the CPA executive committee since 2011. The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC) hosted the CPA site from 2011 until 2023. The CPA, according to FPHC director Darrin J. Rodgers, “has fostered deepening relations between the archives and the archivists.”

The upgraded CPA website provides a great search experience with preview images in the search results list, similar to newpapers.com. The old CPA site only provided access to periodicals; the new site also includes books and other publications. Steve Zeleny, director of the Foursquare Church Archives, predicted, “The new consortium website is going to change the way Pentecostal scholarship is done!”

Veridian Software created and hosts the upgraded CPA website. Veridian, a world leader in developing and hosting PDF full text search websites, hosts websites for national libraries around the world and state historical societies in the United States.

The CPA website launch was on the program of the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, which is the largest Pentecostal academic society in the world. The meeting was held at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Rodgers emceed the event and Roebuck spoke about the history and significance of the CPA.

David Barnett, chairman of the Christian Fidelity Foundation, traveled from Dallas with his wife, Juliana, to attend the event. Barnett’s father, C. Lawrence Barnett (1931-2013), served as longtime president and CEO of Christian Fidelity Life Insurance Company. The Christian Fidelity Foundation and the Barnett family have given millions of dollars to support Assemblies of God ministries. The Christian Fidelity Foundation and C. Lawrence Barnett’s widow, Alletha M. Barnett, provided a $100,000 grant to the FPHC to upgrade its online resources. The FPHC used $30,000 of the grant to upgrade the CPA site. At the website launch, David Barnett shared that he believed their financial underwriting of the upgraded CPA website is an important investment in the future of Pentecostal scholarship. Barnett, an Assemblies of God minister and educator, also offered a prayer of dedication for the website.

CPA leaders are enthusiastic about the future. “We’ve created the technical infrastructure and business plan to allow the CPA to grow quickly,” Rodgers states. “I believe this will happen, as it gives archives around the world a platform to place their materials on a top tier site at a minimal cost.”

Harold D. Hunter, director of the IPHC Archives and Research Center, predicts that the new CPA website “will make Global South voices better accessible alongside Global North voices, making it easier for church leaders and scholars to better understand the emerging global Pentecostal movement. It will also make it easier for ministerial education in Global South contexts to utilize materials from their own countries and in their own languages, making them less reliant on Global North and English-language sources.” Hunter believes that the new CPA site “will become an increasingly important backbone of Pentecostal scholarship and ministerial education worldwide.”

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April 6, 2023 · 1:44 pm

Dr. Anthony Palma (1926-2023): Assemblies of God Minister, Educator, Author

This Week in AG History —April 3, 1955

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 06 April 2023

Anthony David Palma (1926-2023) was a beloved Assemblies of God minister, college and seminary professor, administrator, and author. He was born into a nominal Roman Catholic household to Italian immigrants Philip and Maria Palma on Dec. 22, 1926, in Moonachie, New Jersey. One of five children, he spent his early childhood in the Italian neighborhood in Hoboken, New Jersey.

At the age of 12, his family moved to Jersey City. Living nearby were three Italian immigrant ladies who attended a local Italian Pentecostal church. Because of their encouragement and evangelistic efforts, Anthony, his parents, and his older sister, Susan, began attending the church and accepted Christ. Anthony was 14 at the time of his salvation. Three years later he was baptized in the Holy Spirit (1943).

Palma placed great value on education and enrolled at Central Bible Institute (later Central Bible College) in Springfield, Missouri, in 1944. From 1945 to 1947 he attended Eastern Bible Institute (now University of Valley Forge). He returned to CBI from 1948 to 1949, graduating with a BA in Bible. Next he earned an MA in education from New York University in 1957. He also earned the Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB) from New York Theological Seminary in 1960, and the STM (1966) and ThD (1974) from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

Palma joined the U.S. Navy in 1950, serving during the Korean Conflict. He wrote articles for the Christ’s Ambassadors Herald while he was in the service. He viewed the military as a “tremendous mission field” with close to 5,000,000 men serving in the armed forces at that time. After his military service, he married Betty J. Leskela of Waukegan, Illinois, in August 1959, and they had two children. Palma later served as a chaplain in the U.S. Naval Reserve, attaining the rank of Commander.

While in the Navy, Palma said he “experienced a spiritual revolution which culminated in a deeper appreciation for our Pentecostal heritage.” This led him to pioneer a church in Hoboken, New Jersey, a city where he lived as a boy and “never once heard the message of salvation or saw a Bible.” Through his efforts souls were saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Palma pastored this home missions church for three years while he was attending seminary. He was ordained with the New Jersey district on May 19, 1960.

A notice about Anthony Palma planting an AG church in Hoboken, New Jersey, is featured on page 16 of the April 3, 1955, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Feeling a call to teach, Palma had an extensive ministry in education. He began teaching at South-Eastern Bible College (now Southeastern University) in Lakeland, Florida. He then taught at Central Bible College (1962-70); Evangel College (now Evangel University) (1970-73); and the Assemblies of God Graduate School (now Assemblies of God Theological Seminary) (1973-81), all located in Springfield, Missouri. He also taught at Valley Forge Christian College (now University of Valley Forge) in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania (1981-86), and Anthony and Betty both taught at American Indian Bible College (now SAGU American Indian College), Phoenix, Arizona (1990-1993).

As an administrator, he served as dean of theology at AGGS (1974-80), academic dean at VFCC (1981-86), and administrator/principal at Calvary Temple Christian Academy (1987-89) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also served as president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies in 1978.

In addition, from 1993 to 2004, he and his wife filled preaching assignments and ministered as short-term teachers at overseas Bible colleges and seminaries in Belgium, Italy, the Philippine Islands, Korea, Nigeria, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil.

In 1993, Palma was honored by the General Council of the Assemblies of God with the Distinguished Educator Award in recognition of his distinguished service to Christian higher education.

A prolific writer, Palma authored a number of articles and books. His theses include: Glossolalia in the Light of the New Testament and Subsequent History (S.T.B. thesis, 1960); Tongues and Prophecy: A Comparative Study in Charismata (S.T.M. thesis, 1966); and The Holy Spirit in the Corporate Life of the Pauline Congregation (Th.D. thesis, 1974). He published several articles in the Pentecostal Evangel and “Spiritual Gifts — Basic Considerations” in Pneuma. His books include: The Writings of John: A Study Manual For Youth (1966); Knowing Your Bible (1970); The Spirit: God in Action (1974); Truth: Antidote for Error (1977); Baptism in the Holy Spirit (1999); and The Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Perspective (2001).

Through his teaching, preaching, and writing, Anthony Palma made important contributions in the training of Pentecostal ministers and educators. He considered his teaching ministry as a professor of New Testament Theology and Greek (especially his work at AGTS) as the most important aspect of his life calling. One of his students said, “He opened my mind and my heart through his teaching of Bible scriptures. His life and that of his lovely wife were examples to us.”

Anthony Palma passed away on Feb. 23, 2023, in Media, Pennsylvania. His wife, Betty, passed away on April 14, 2020. Both are buried in Washington Crossing National Cemetery, Newtown, Pennsylvania.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Love’s Triumph in Gethsemane,” by Robert W. Cummings

• “Cheap Crosses,” by Edwin Raymond Anderson

• “Revival Among the Young People in Japan,” by Robert W. Frivold

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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March 30, 2023 · 4:16 pm

Pandita Ramabai: Prominent Female Scholar, Social Reformer, and Pentecostal Pioneer in India

This Week in AG History — April 1, 1916

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 30 March 2023

Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922), widely regarded as one of India’s most prominent female social reformers and educators, played a significant role in pioneering the Pentecostal movement in India. Ramabai came from a privileged family, and she used her education and resources to help the underprivileged of her society.

Despite a cultural proscription on educating girls, Ramabai’s father, an educator and social reformer, taught her to read and write Sanskrit. By the age of 12, she memorized 18,000 verses of the Puranas, which were important Hindu religious texts. She became a noted Hindu scholar and was fluent in seven languages.

At a young age, Ramabai devoted her life to helping widows and orphans, who were often despised and mistreated in her society. Ramabai attended college in England, where she joined the Church of England. While traveling in the slums of London, she learned to distinguish between the institutional church and what she termed the “religion of Jesus Christ.” She returned to India and established homes for dispossessed widows and children. She also fought for social reform, including provision for quality healthcare and education.

Despite being marginalized by other social reformers who argued that her agenda was too radical, Ramabai continued to promote her social vision for India, which was consistent with her Christian testimony. She weathered criticism and even became bolder in her efforts, founding additional orphanages and a home for prostitutes. Importantly, Ramabai’s social ministries cared for both the body and the soul. They sheltered, educated, and fed women and children, and they also taught Christian doctrine and nurtured a generation of new Christians.

Ramabai realized that some things only change through prayer, and she used her significant influence to encourage women to pray for spiritual and social change in India. In January 1905, she issued a call to prayer, and 550 women began meeting twice daily for intercessory prayer. That summer, Ramabai sent 30 young women out into the villages to preach the gospel. These young female preachers were successful, and they reported an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on June 29, 1905, which included several being “slain in the Spirit” and experiencing a burning sensation. This Indian revival continued for several years. By 1906, participants also began receiving the gift of speaking in tongues.

According to Ramabai, the girls at the orphanage in Mukti prayed each day for more than 29,000 individuals by name. They prayed, among other things, for them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to become true and faithful Christian witnesses.

Pandita Ramabai and the revival at the Mukti mission played an important role in the story of the Pentecostal movement’s origin in India. Alfred G. Garr, the first missionary sent by the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, recounted his interactions with Ramabai in a serialized history of the Pentecostal movement published in the April 1, 1916, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Read the article, “The Work Spreads to India,” by A. G. Garr on pages 4 and 5 of the April 1, 1916, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Face to Face,” by D. W. Kerr

• “Letter from a Brother Minister,” by W. Jethro Walthall

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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March 23, 2023 · 3:00 pm

Robert and Mary Craig and the San Francisco Origins of Bethany University

This Week in AG History — March 25, 1951

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 23 March 2023

When it comes to the western half of the United States, Robert (1872-1941) and Mary (1867-1943) Craig were two of the most influential people in the early days of the Assemblies of God. Not only did they serve as founders of the Northern California District Council, but together they built one of the largest churches of their day and started a small Bible class in their kitchen that grew into a university.

Both had been widowed when they married in 1913 – he was 41 and she was 46. Together, they set about pioneering a church in the former Corbett Saloon on O’Farrell Street in San Francisco. Craig had previously pastored a Methodist church before he resigned due to failing health. An experience with the Holy Spirit that healed him of “spiritual impotency” gave him a new lease on life and health and filled him with a passion to see 100,000 souls won to Christ through the sharing of the gospel. Robert and Mary joined the new Assemblies of God fellowship in 1917.

Craig’s marriage to Mary McCulloch proved to be a strong alliance for his evangelistic vision. Recently widowed and financially independent, Mary joined the new mission with passion and zeal for reaching the lost, especially those bound in the addiction of alcohol. When she asked the Lord how the men she was leading to Him would be able to remain steadfast in their faith and sobriety, she felt her instruction was simple: “feed them the Word.” In obedience to the command to “feed them,” she opened up her kitchen in May of 1918 for a new converts class, later saying, “I began Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute with only two students, and one of them was drunk.”

As the church, which came to be known as Glad Tidings Temple, was growing under the leadership of Robert Craig, so was the Bible study under Mary. By Christmas 1918 there were more than 100 students. In 1919, the vision expanded to a two-year structured curriculum as “Pacific Bible and Missionary Training School” (soon changed to “Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute”), focused on providing Pentecostal discipleship, along with preparation for ministerial service. That same year, the Northern California District Council formed with Robert serving as its first superintendent. Mary’s inheritance from her late husband allowed them to serve without taking a salary.

The training institute’s schedule was intentionally designed for immediate application of principles from the classroom through practical ministry experience. The weekday schedule began with prayer before breakfast and classes from 8:45 a.m. to noon. The afternoon was spent working and studying, followed by a 6:45 p.m. class and then evangelistic meetings in the evening where the students took turns leading worship, testifying, preaching, and praying with seekers. Sunday was a highlight of the ministry with a “saint’s meeting” held at 11 a.m., followed by Bible classes at 2 p.m. and a testimony service at 3 p.m. At 6 p.m., the students split into three groups to conduct open-air meetings in different parts of San Francisco while others conducted children’s services at the Temple. All came together at 8 p.m. for the largest evangelistic meeting of the week, when the main auditorium and galleries of the church, which eventually grew to 3,000 people, were packed.

Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute served the Northern California (later Northern California-Nevada) district well, providing training for the majority of their ministers. In 1947, the school came under the direct leadership of the district and in 1950, was moved from the inner-city of San Francisco to the district campground, Bethany Park, in Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz, California. The March 25, 1951, issue of The Pentecostal Evangel reported that “98% of the work” on the new campus was done by people of the district who donated time and labor for their school. During these years, the school acquired accreditation necessitating the enlargement of the library. A call went out to churches and ministers who responded with more than a thousand books, several hundred of which came from J. Narver Gortner’s own personal collection.

With the move to Bethany Park, Glad Tidings Bible Training Institute became Bethany Bible College. When the school became the first in the Assemblies of God to receive dual accreditation as both a Bible school and a liberal arts college, it became Bethany College and later Bethany University. When the school closed in 2011, it had provided training for many Assemblies of God ministers and laity, including a director of Assemblies of God World Missions, a president of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, an editor of The Pentecostal Evangel, the head of Convoy of Hope, an editor of Pneuma, several district superintendents, scores of pastors, missionaries, musicians, evangelists, chaplains, teachers, business officials, law enforcement officers, nurses, and many others who widely impacted the Pentecostal movement.

When two widowed middle-aged people fell in love with Jesus, His work, and each other in 1913, they had a vision to see 100,000 souls won through the preaching of the gospel. This vision was brought to fruition over and over again through the ongoing ministry of the students whose training originally began at Mary Craig’s kitchen table.

Read the report, “Glad Tidings, Our Oldest School, Erects New Modern Buildings” on page 13 in the March 25, 1951, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Death Has Been Defeated” by A.T. Pierson

• “How to Seek God” by Walter H. Beuttler

• “God Stirs Hearts in Cuba” by Henry C. Ball

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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