November 7, 2025 · 5:37 pm

Welsh Revival Leader: America Must Do Four Things to Prepare for Revival

This Week in AG History — November 3, 1945

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 06 November 2025

The Pentecostal movement emerged at the turn of the 20th century, resulting from a series of overlapping revivals that occurred around the world. One of those revivals, the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905, witnessed the transformation of the small nation of Wales. In less than one year, over 100,000 people had accepted Christ. Saloons, dance halls, and other places of entertainment emptied out, and churches were filled with people seeking God.

An American journalist, George T.B. Davis, traveled to Wales and wrote a firsthand account of this remarkable revival. An abridgement of his story, titled, “Memories of the Welsh Revival,” was published in the Nov. 3, 1945, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Evan Roberts was the most prominent leader of the Welsh Revival. At 26 years old, Roberts was an unlikely leader of a national movement. He was a coal miner by trade and had just completed three months of ministerial training. Davis recounted that Roberts had an encounter with God that changed the trajectory of his life: “the Spirit came upon [Roberts] in such power that he felt impelled to return to his native village of Loughor and tell the people about God’s love for them.”

Roberts followed God’s leading, and revival broke out. Davis described what happened next: “as [Roberts] spoke, the fire fell from heaven upon the community. The people were so stirred that they crowded into church after church, and remained until four o’clock in the morning. The flame spread from district to district throughout South Wales with almost incredible swiftness, and soon scores of towns were being shaken by the power of God.”

Davis had the opportunity to meet Roberts and asked him if he had a message for America. Roberts grasped Davis’ hand and told him the following: “The prophecy of Joel is being fulfilled. There the Lord says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.’ If that is so, all flesh must be prepared to receive.”

Roberts told Davis that four conditions must be met in order for Americans to be prepared for revival: “(1) The past must be clear; every sin confessed to God, any wrong to man must be put right. (2) Everything doubtful must be removed once for all out of our lives. (3) Obedience prompt and implicit to the Spirit of God. (4) Public confession of Christ.”

News of the remarkable Welsh Revival spread across the Atlantic Ocean and helped to spark the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906. The Azusa Street Revival became one of the focal points of the emerging Pentecostal movement, which gave birth to the Assemblies of God. And it all began because a 26-year-old coal miner listened to the voice of God and told people in his small village about Jesus.

Read the entire article, “Memories of the Welsh Revival,” by George T.B. Davis, on pages 8 and 9 of the Nov. 3, 1945, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Shall We Surrender the Fort?” by P. C. Nelson

• “Upspringing Health,” by Carrie Judd Montgomery

• “The Rescue of a White Slave,” by Cora L. Vinal

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: https://ifphc.org/

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October 30, 2025 · 3:33 pm

Midwest Bible School (Auburn, Nebraska): First School Owned and Operated by the Assemblies of God

This Week in AG History — October 30, 1920

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 30 October 2025

Many people do not know that the first Bible school owned and operated by the General Council of the Assemblies of God was called the Midwest Bible School, located in the small town of Auburn, Nebraska. Unfortunately, it was short-lived and only lasted one school year (1920-21). Still, it paved the way for many other Bible schools that soon were started in the Assemblies of God.

Education has always been important to the Assemblies of God. In fact, one of the five reasons for the 1914 organizational General Council of the AG, held at Hot Springs, Arkansas, was to establish “a general Bible Training School with a literary department for our people.” R.B. Chisolm’s school in Union, Mississippi, and T.K. Leonard’s Gospel School in Findlay, Ohio, were both recognized at the Hot Springs council. D.C.O. Opperman also conducted several short-term Bible schools in the South and Midwest. One district Bible school in California was started in 1919.

In September 1919, George W. Hawley, the local Assemblies of God pastor in Auburn, purchased the former Avenue Hotel, a three-story brick building erected in 1903. The facility was 70 feet by 80 feet in dimension, contained 57 rooms, and had steam heat and electricity. Hawley was 67 years old at the time, and he could have easily retired from the ministry, but instead he decided to launch out on one of the biggest ventures of his life.

He contacted church officials in Springfield, Missouri, and within a couple of months, the Assemblies of God agreed to Hawley’s offer to sell the building and have it converted into a Bible school. Plans were announced for the school to open on Jan. 1, 1920. However, there was an issue with a cracked furnace and a strike which prevented buying coal that winter. Then in February a flu epidemic spread throughout southeast Nebraska. The mayor of Auburn declared all churches and schools closed because of the epidemic.

There were delays in opening the school, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With the added time, the furnace was fixed, and other necessary repairs were made on the building.

After some modifications to better serve the school, the ground floor was made up of a prayer room, classrooms, bathroom facilities, dining room, and kitchen. Samuel A. Jamieson, a minister and the school principal, and his wife, had an apartment on the first floor. The second floor was used for the girls’ dorm, with the third floor being the boys’ dorm. The walk-out basement included a pump house with washing and recreation facilities.

Hawley and members of the small Assemblies of God congregation in Auburn rallied together to help the Bible school enterprise, and donations came in from interested persons throughout the Midwest, as well as the AG headquarters in Missouri. Some donated supplies included 75 folding chairs, bedding, bedspreads, dishes, table cutlery, rugs, a bathtub, and a piano.

The Midwest Bible School officially opened its doors on Oct. 4, 1920. The school was less than a block from the county courthouse and just across the street from First Presbyterian Church, which also housed the Assemblies of God congregation.

About 40 students from various states attended the school. Each day started about 7 a.m. with chapel services, and then the students separated to attend their respective classes. In addition to Bible courses, English and music were taught. The school had an orchestra that played on Sundays for church services.

Jamieson had been a district official and a pastor with the Presbyterian Church in Minnesota for many years before he joined the Assemblies of God. Likely, he used his influence to secure use of the Presbyterian church for the local Assemblies of God congregation and the students. Jamieson was a graduate of Wabash College and Lane Theological Seminary. He also attended the founding meeting of the Assemblies of God in 1914. He was an excellent choice to become principal. Other faculty included O.E. McCleary, Louise Albach, Eva Groomes, and Johanna Zou.

After the fall semester, a few of the students left, but about 12 new students and some new staff members arrived for the spring term which opened on Jan. 4, 1921.

During the late fall and early spring, the students held a number of street meetings in downtown Auburn, making quite an impression on the townspeople. Although some people likely did not know what to think of those young Pentecostals who had come to town, it seems that most everyone welcomed the school and the students.

A number of the students found outside work in the evening and on weekends. Some of the boys helped with farm work. The girls did housework and laundry. One student, Lydia Rediger, was sent out from the school as a missionary to India.

The school year closed with a two-week camp meeting conducted by evangelist Jack Saunders, a former prize fighter, and D.W. Kerr, a well-known Bible teacher. The students carried folding chairs from the school over to a big gospel tent for the revival campaign. On June 5, 1921, the meeting ended, and the students dispersed to many parts of the country.

The Midwest Bible School was intended to be a permanent Bible training school, and plans were made for a second year of operation. But, because of financial difficulties, the school was closed after just one year of operation. The building was sold back to George W. Hawley, who sold it again. The building was later turned into the Avenue Apartments.

After closing the Bible school in Auburn, the Assemblies of God went on to found Central Bible Institute in Springfield, Missouri, in 1922. Central Bible Institute became Central Bible College and then later consolidated into Evangel University. The short-lived school in Auburn, Nebraska, became a model for many other schools established by the Assemblies of God throughout the years. The Alliance for AG Higher Education currently recognizes 22 schools in the U.S.

Read “Helping the New School,” on page 11 of the Oct. 30, 1920, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Back to Pentecost.”

• “Politics From the Pentecostal Viewpoint,” by Stanley H. Frodsham

• How to Get a Revival,” by George Jeffreys

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: https://ifphc.org/

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October 23, 2025 · 2:36 pm

J. Narver Gortner: From Methodist Pastor to Assemblies of God Pioneer

This Week in AG History — October 25, 1930

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 23 October 2025

Most people today probably associate the name Gortner with Marjoe Gortner (1944- ), the child evangelist-turned-movie star. Early Assemblies of God members, however, would associate the name with his grandfather, J. Narver Gortner (1874-1961). J. Narver, the son of a Methodist missionary, became a prominent early leader in the Assemblies of God.

J. Narver’s father was an old-fashioned Methodist preacher who taught the importance of holy living and who believed that God still performs miracles. His father yielded to a call to serve as a missionary in Liberia. The Gortner family sailed for Liberia in 1887, but their life as African missionaries was short-lived. J. Narver’s father died in 1888, and his grieving widow and two sons went back to America, where they settled on the family farm in Nebraska.

The sorrowful experience in Liberia might have caused J. Narver to reject the thought of entering the ministry. However, he felt a pull toward the pastorate and enrolled at Garrett Biblical Institute (now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) in Evanston, Illinois. He began pastoring his first church, a Methodist congregation in Inman, Nebraska, at the age of 19.

J. Narver pastored several churches in Nebraska. Numerous people accepted Christ under his ministry and he rose in prominence in the Methodist Church. In 1911, his wife, Della, became deathly sick. J. Narver accepted the pastorate of a church in southern California, hoping that the change in climate would bring a measure of relief to Della.

Della did get better, but her healing did not come from the weather. Rather, she attributed her healing to the prayers of several Christians, including Pentecostal pioneer and medical doctor Finis Yoakum. She often testified that before she was healed, she had subsisted for 14 months primarily on raw eggs and malted milk. After she was healed, she could eat beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and anything else she wanted.

Della’s healing caused the Gortners to view Pentecostals favorably. Pentecostals were generally considered part of the broader Holiness and Wesleyan movements, with which the Gortners also identified. However, Pentecostals also placed an emphasis on the baptism in the Holy Spirit with an evidence of speaking in tongues, which was not emphasized in Gortner’s Methodist church.

In 1914, J. Narver read about a Pentecostal camp meeting slated to be held in Cazadero, in the California Redwoods. Carrie Judd Montgomery, an early Pentecostal healing evangelist, was going to minister at the camp. He had read Montgomery’s periodical, Triumphs of Faith, and wanted to experience a Pentecostal service for himself.

J. Narver attended the camp and received a powerful experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. He also was healed of a long-standing painful spinal condition after evangelist Smith Wigglesworth, another speaker at the camp, prayed for him.

The 40-year-old Methodist pastor was both exhilarated and in a quandary. He wanted to testify about his baptism in the Holy Spirit and his healing. However, he thought it would likely cost him his position as a Methodist pastor and denominational official.

Gortner went home and the next Sunday morning told his Methodist congregation in Arroyo Grande what had happened to him. They listened with interest, Methodist officials did not remove him from the pastorate, and his fears subsided. He remained in the Methodist church until 1919, when he decided to become more involved in the young Pentecostal movement.

Gortner transferred his ordination to the Assemblies of God and quickly rose in prominence in his new church. In 1920, he became the first superintendent of the Central District of the Assemblies of God, and the following year he became a member of the Executive Presbytery, a position he held for 26 years. He also served as a pastor in Oakland, California (1927-1937), and president of Glad Tidings Bible Institute in San Francisco (1941-1947). He authored five books and over 250 articles published in the Pentecostal Evangel.

According to historian Carl Brumback, Gortner was a very influential theologian and church leader in the Assemblies of God from the 1920s through the 1940s. Brumback viewed J. Narver Gortner, Samuel A. Jamieson, and P.C. Nelson as a “doctrinal trio” which had “a great part in molding the conservative nature of the Assemblies of God.” In 1927, Gortner championed the idea of changing the name of the Assemblies of God to The Pentecostal Evangelical Church. Gortner was not ashamed of being Pentecostal and thought the term Pentecostal should be in the name of the Fellowship. He also built bridges across the denominational divides and played a significant role in the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals.

In its early decades, the Assemblies of God benefited significantly from an influx of veteran ministers from other denominations whose lives had been touched by the work of the Holy Spirit. J. Narver Gortner was one such minister, and his influence can still be felt through the countless lives that he touched through his ministry and writings.

Read Gortner’s testimony, “Methodist Preacher Filled With the Spirit,” on pages 6 and 7 of the Oct. 25, 1930, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit a Necessity?” by P.C. Nelson

• “The Initial Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit,” by Donald Gee

• “Was the Apostle Paul a Madman?” by Charles A. Shreve

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: https://ifphc.org/

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October 16, 2025 · 1:22 pm

The Assemblies of God and the Latter Rain Movement of the 1940s

Photo of the 1949 General Council, Seattle, Washington

This Week in AG History — October 15, 1949

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 16 October 2025

Pentecostalism was born in revival fire. From Azusa Street onward, Assemblies of God believers have celebrated the Spirit’s power to transform lives and empower the Church for witness. Yet as the Fellowship grew in size and structure, a recurring tension emerged: How can the church remain open to the Spirit’s freedom while maintaining biblical order and sound doctrine?

That question came into sharp focus in the late 1940s with the rise of the New Order of the Latter Rain — a movement that swept through North America, promising a restoration of all the gifts and ministries of the New Testament church. Its brief but intense impact tested the Assemblies of God’s discernment, unity, and commitment to Scripture.

By the mid-1940s, the Assemblies of God had matured into a well-organized fellowship. Headquarters, credentialing, and educational systems had brought structure to a once-scattered movement. Yet some Pentecostals began to worry that institutional organization might be restricting the moving and leading of the Holy Spirit. They feared that Pentecostal zeal and power had declined and longed for a fresh revival — a restoration of the supernatural life of the New Testament Church. That hunger found expression when revival broke out in Saskatchewan, Canada, in early 1948.

At the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, students and teachers entered extended fasting and prayer. In February 1948, they reported an outpouring of the Holy Spirit marked by prophecy and the laying on of hands to “impart” spiritual gifts.

Revival meetings spread quickly to the United States, where many Pentecostals attended both to seek refreshing and to discern whether this new movement was truly of God.

As the revival gained attention, troubling trends began to emerge. Alongside an elitism that was developing among the movement’s leadership, erroneous teachings brought concern:

   • The modern church must be built on present-day apostles and prophets

   • An overemphasis on identifying and imparting spiritual gifts through human hands and prophecy

   • Tongues as a special gift for missionary service

   • “Personal words” of knowledge or wisdom used to dictate life decisions

   • Confessing sins to, and receiving deliverance from, men rather than directly from God

While many were sincere in seeking renewal, these excesses threatened both doctrinal soundness and fellowship unity.

The General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God investigated the movement and brought its findings to the 1949 General Council in Seattle, Washington. The resulting document, Resolution No. 7, titled, The New Order of the Latter Rain, became a defining statement in Pentecostal history.

Adopted in September 1949, the resolution reaffirmed the Fellowship’s belief in the gifts and ministries of the Spirit but rejected the movement’s doctrines as unscriptural because they “serve only to break fellowship of like precious faith and tend to confusion and division among the members of the body of Christ.” It addressed six areas:

1. Affirmation that spiritual gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit, not imparted by human hands or prophecy.

2. Rejection of the claim that modern apostles and prophets hold authoritative foundational office in the universal Church.

3. Confession of sin to man and the need for a human agent for spiritual deliverance claims prerogatives which belong only to Christ.

4. The gift of tongues is not a gift that negates the study of language for missionary service.

5. Personal prophecy should not be used as directive revelation for ministry assignment or life decisions.

6. Rejection of the divisive spirit against established churches.

This decisive action preserved the unity and doctrinal integrity of the Fellowship. A report of the adoption of Resolution 7 appeared in the Oct. 15, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

The Assemblies of God’s response in 1949 sought to protect doctrinal truth without extinguishing spiritual passion. The Fellowship’s leaders did not deny the possibility of fresh outpourings of the Spirit — they simply insisted that every move be tested by the unchanging Word of God. More than 75 years later, the Assemblies of God continues to live in the creative tension between the freedom of the Spirit and the order of Scripture. The events of 1949 remind us that spiritual hunger must be guided by Scripture and that discernment requires humility and love.

Read, “Diary of a Delegate,” on page 2 of the Oct. 15, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “In Appreciation of the Retiring Editor”

• “Our Divine Task” by E. Elsworth Krogstad

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: https://ifphc.org/

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October 10, 2025 · 8:45 am

The Story Behind Speed-the-Light: How Assemblies of God Youth Raised Almost $400 Million for Missions Since 1944

An airplane (“Old Sikorsky”) purchased with Speed the Light funds, circa 1946. Pictured (l-r) are: E. L Mason; H. B. Garlock; unidentified; Warren Straton; Fred Merian; unidentified; J. Robert Ashcroft.

This Week in AG History — October 11, 1953

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 09 October 2025

“Never mind, it will soon blow over.” These skeptical words greeted the enthusiasm of Christ’s Ambassadors (CA) Director Ralph Harris when he recounted that Assemblies of God young people had given over $100,000 in 1945 to the new missions fund, “Speed the Light.” Not many adults believed that the youth of their churches could sustain their excitement for providing missionary transportation vehicles in far-off countries.

The idea for the fund had come to Harris only a month after taking his new post as national youth director. It was 1944 and young people were beginning to come to grips with the changes in their world following World War II. Vehicles had been hard to come by as many automobile manufacturers stopped producing civilian vehicles in favor of military vehicles.

Harris knew the youth of America could identify with those who were without transportation. Harris also knew that the war had exhibited to young people the power of vehicles being used for destructive purposes. They had watched news reels of airplanes, jeeps, and boats destroy and be destroyed. Was there a way to show the world that the same vehicles that had been used to bring desolation to a nation could also be used to bring the good news of the hope of the gospel? Could the young people of the Assemblies of God lead the way in this effort?

General Superintendent E.S. Williams offered a less-than-positive response to Harris’s idea of using offerings from CA groups to purchase airplanes and motorcycles for missions. Williams later reported that his first thoughts were, “Jesus didn’t use a motorcycle. And Paul didn’t fly a plane.”

However, while Williams was very conservative in his approach to money, he was also a man in touch with God. While Harris was still trying to sell his idea, Williams felt the Holy Spirit reminding him that Jesus and Paul might not have used those vehicles, but they likely would have if they had been available. Within an hour of approaching his boss, Harris had the approval to begin promoting his new idea.

The program needed a name so Harris offered a prize to the young person that submitted the best name. Ernestine Houston of Arizona sent in the moniker “Speed-the-Light” (STL) and was awarded $15 in Gospel Publishing House materials for coining the new name, which is still used 81 years later.

Harris set the astronomical goal of $100,000 for their first year, 1945. CA members were told that if they each gave $1 their goal could be met. It was greeted with skepticism on the part of some leadership, but the Assemblies of God youth came through with $113,375.39. Their first major purchase was a small amphibian plane for the work in Liberia. It was the first non-military plane to ever fly into that country and caused quite a stir. The Liberians were so excited to see the plane that for many years they charged no duty fees on any STL equipment brought into the country.

Appeals soon began to pour in from all over the world. Boats were needed in the Bahamas, a jeep in Costa Rica, mules were requested in Nigeria, and bicycles in Upper Volta. The Assemblies of God discovered that one missionary, properly equipped, could do the work of 10 who lacked resources. Missionaries were going farther, faster, and easier than they ever had before.

Harris knew he had to keep the challenge fresh so he proclaimed the third Sunday of October “Dollar Day” when a special offering would be sent in from each CA group totaling $1 for each young person who attended the church. The Pentecostal Evangel lent its support to the project, running articles highlighting STL on that Sunday.

One young man, Loren, was 17 when STL was born. He later testified that STL built a bridge for him to different parts of the world as he read the updates in the Evangel articles and had the opportunity to contribute to something that was larger than himself. He was learning that he could impact an entire world for the good. He later became a pastor in Nebraska who supported STL in his local church until God called him to spend 12 years in Nicaragua, using his own STL vehicle. He later served as the field director for Latin America and, in 1997, Loren Triplett retired as executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions. It started with giving $1 to Speed the Light’s Dollar Day.

Since that first year in 1945, the youth of the Assemblies of God have given over $395 million to STL. The third Sunday of October is still STL Day in the Assemblies of God. J. Philip Hogan, referring to the skeptic who told Harris that this excitement in the youth would “soon blow over,” wrote on STL’s 40th anniversary in 1984, “He was right! It has blown all over the world!”

Read stories and view photos from “Dollar Day” in the article, “Keep ‘Em Rolling,” on page 7 of the Oct. 11, 1953, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Family Worship and the Promise of Power,” by Norman V. Williams

• “Pentecostal Principles,” by James D. Menzies

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: https://ifphc.org/

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October 3, 2025 · 3:32 pm

W. I. Evans: Pioneer Assemblies of God Educator

This Week in AG History — October 1, 1972

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 02 October 2025

W.I. Evans, an early leader in the Assemblies of God, was a popular conference and camp meeting speaker, and he served as dean and as a faculty member at Central Bible Institute (now Evangel University) for 25 years. He is best remembered for his prayer life and spiritual influence.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to devout Methodist parents, William Irvin Evans (1887-1954) came to Christ at age 11 while kneeling at his mother’s knee in the kitchen of their home. After his conversion, he felt called into full-time ministry. He considered training in a Methodist seminary, but in 1906 he ended up enrolling in a Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) school — Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York. The next year at the CMA’s convention in Nyack, he and many others were baptized in the Spirit and spoke in tongues.

He continued with the CMA and pastored in Richmond, Virginia. He also studied for three years at the University of Richmond. During this time, he met his future wife, Hilda Mae Lindberg. They were married in 1914.

After his marriage, he traveled briefly as a song leader with Dr. Parr, a Baptist minister. In order to better support his wife and himself, he made plans to pastor a Baptist congregation in Philadelphia, where his mother and brother lived.

Once Evans arrived in the city, his mother, Frances, invited David McDowell to come for dinner and visit with her son and his wife. McDowell, a classmate from Nyack who had become an early Assemblies of God minister, happened to be in the area. When McDowell was ready to leave, he prayed a simple prayer, but the Holy Spirit began working, and the prayer continued. W.I. Evans’s unsaved brother, Albert Evans, and his wife were also there, and they both came under conviction and were converted in Frances’ living room.

W.I. Evans was also touched by the prayer. McDowell’s prayer helped to convince W.I. Evans that he wanted to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. He decided to go with McDowell to Tottenville, New York, where McDowell was the pastor. Under McDowell’s influence, he rekindled his Pentecostal experience.

In January 1915, Evans pastored the Gospel Assembly in Ossining, New York, for a short time, and then moved to Newark, New Jersey, where he joined the faculty of Bethel Bible Training School (BBTS). This school was sponsored by Bethel Pentecostal Assembly in Newark. Many of its faculty members and students were members of the Assemblies of God.

W.I. Evans was ordained by Bethel Pentecostal Assembly on April 30, 1915, and transferred his credentials to the Assemblies of God on Dec. 24, 1917. In addition to serving on the faculty, Evans served as principal of BBTS in the last years of the school’s existence (1923-1929).

Bethel Bible Training School merged with Central Bible Institute (CBI) in Springfield, Missouri, and Evans moved to Springfield to serve on the faculty. Evans not only served as faculty, but he was the principal and dean of students at CBI for 25 years (1929-1954).

Evans is remembered for his life of prayer and keen insight into the moving of the Spirit, including the operation of the gifts of the Spirit during worship. One of his favorite illustrations, which he often shared with freshmen, referred to a trip he took through Kansas. He had observed that the “wheat stalks yielded even to the slightest moving of the air.” To him, this was a picture of what should be true in a Christian’s life. One should be yielded to God, and so sensitive to Him, that the slightest movement of the Holy Spirit would be obeyed.

At CBI, Evans started his daily schedule early, with extended prayer, Bible study, and meditation. Next, he went to his office to pray with the faculty before the chapel service. He was always there 30 minutes ahead of his colleagues and never looked up as they came into the room. However, he sensed that the spiritual atmosphere intensified as the number of prayers and people increased: “As each digit is added, the power is multiplied.”

Prepared now for the morning chapel, the faculty and Evans took their seats on the platform. In leading the service, he encouraged times of prayer and “waiting before the Lord.” When revival came, he kept things moving in the right direction by urging the students to “hold steady” and not to quench the Spirit. He also understood the meaning of “the joy of the Lord.” There were times of Pentecostal blessing when he would begin to “laugh in the Spirit.”

During the summer months, Evans usually laid aside his school responsibilities and went to minister in various parts of the United States and Canada. Multitudes of people — young and old — were enriched spiritually by his camp meeting and conference Bible studies.

After Evans passed away in 1954, a new administration building was built at CBI and named W.I. Evans Hall. It was used for offices and classrooms.

For W.I. Evans, affectionately known as “Pop” Evans, holiness and spirituality went hand in hand. Milton T. Wells, president of Eastern Bible Institute (now the University of Valley Forge) said, “We looked to him as a champion of our Movement in the things of the Spirit and of the old paths of Pentecost.”

Evans was a Spirit-filled educator whose ministry was to bless thousands of students and countless thousands more in conventions and camp meetings where he spoke. Few people in the formative years of our Movement have had a greater influence on the Pentecostal spirituality of the Assemblies of God than W.I. Evans.

Read about W.I. Evans in “Power to Shake the World,” on pages 12-13 of the Oct. 1, 1972, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Be Filled,” by Thomas F. Zimmerman

• “Jesus Is Coming,” by Emil A. Balliet

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

A collection of W. I. Evans’ sermons and writings, This River Must Flow (GPH, 1954), is accessible for free in digital format on the Consortium of Pentecostal Archives website.

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: https://ifphc.org/

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September 26, 2025 · 6:52 pm

Melvin Hodges: A Pentecostal Responds to Racism and World War II

This Week in AG History — September 23, 1944

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 25 September 2025

“Is it possible to maintain calm and serenity in the midst of the world-shaking storms that are raging today?”

Melvin Hodges (1909-1988), an Assemblies of God missionary to Central America, posed this question in 1944 in the Pentecostal Evangel. The Second World War was on everyone’s mind, and Hodges described the seemingly intractable conflicts around the world. “Nations are locked in a struggle for their very existence,” he wrote, and countless people are killed “as opposing systems of government struggle [to maintain] their way of life.”

How should the Christian respond to such conflict? Hodges encouraged believers to exhibit “calmness and steadfastness.” Believers will stay “on a true course regardless of the storms that rage,” according to Hodges, if they have faith in the promises of God and submit to God’s will.

Significantly, Hodges also admonished readers to reject the racism that had permeated vast segments of the world. Hodges wrote, “We must not be moved from the love of God in our hearts toward all men by the spirit of racial hatred being fostered today. Some hold the Jew responsible for all the ills of the world. Others are moved to intense hatred of the enemy nations. Again, some manifest bitterness toward certain racial groups in America.”

According to Hodges, blaming people groups or nations “is a false diagnosis of the ills of this sick world.” Instead, he identified the world’s woes as being rooted in “the evil nature of all unregenerate mankind.”

Hodges is perhaps best known for his promotion of indigenous church missions theory — the belief that churches should be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating, rather than controlled by outside missionaries. Hodges’ article, though, also pertains to what are usually regarded as missionary-sending nations, offering a critique of racism in America and Europe, as well as in non-Western nations.

It would have been easier for Hodges to remain silent when confronted by racial hatred in his own culture. By speaking out, he risked marginalization. But Hodges believed that racial hatred and God’s love were incompatible, and that Christians must not assign blame for social problems to racial or cultural groups. This wise counsel continues to be true today.

Read “Call to Calmness and Steadfastness” by Melvin Hodges on page 8 of the Sept. 23, 1944, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Why I Came to Egypt Thirty-Four Years Ago,” by Lillian Trasher

• “V Day,” by Lester Sumrall

• “Family Worship,” by Walter Scott

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: https://ifphc.org/

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September 19, 2025 · 2:07 pm

Constance Swinfen Eady: Pioneer Assemblies of God Missionary to the Pacific Rim

This Week in AG History — September 19, 1942

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 18 September 2025

Constance Swinfen Eady (1875–1960) is not a household name in the history of Christian missions in India. Unlike Francis Xavier, William Carey, Amy Carmichael, Mark and Huldah Buntain, or Mother Teresa, Eady is little remembered today. Yet it was often lesser-known workers like her who sowed faithfully in India’s soil, preparing the way for others to reap a harvest.

Born into a wealthy family in Surrey, England, Eady enjoyed privilege, education, and a place in high society. She rose to national leadership in the Young Women’s Christian Association. But the Welsh Revival of 1904–1905 awakened in her a hunger for a deeper experience of God. This pursuit eventually led her to the United States, where she received the baptism in the Holy Spirit at a pioneering Pentecostal ministry. Under the influence of E.N. Bell, the first general chairman of the Assemblies of God, she was ordained in August 1914 at the age of 39 and launched into evangelistic ministry.

Her call quickly extended beyond England and America. In 1918 she wrote to Bell from Singapore: “Since I received the certificate of ordination from the General Council of the Assemblies of God, the Lord has taken me to Japan, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji with His message, and has let me see many saved, healed, and baptized in the Holy Ghost.”

Despite fruitful travels, Eady felt God calling her to establish herself in India. Her initial vision was to open a missionary training school in Calcutta where workers from other churches could receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. She believed passionately that “if the Pentecostal fires start to burn who can tell what a spiritual conflagration might sweep over that whole country.”

In 1919 she began her Indian ministry in a missionary home in Bangalore. There, missionaries came for rest and renewal and many were filled with the Spirit. By 1924 she had settled in Yercaud, South India, one of only a dozen Pentecostal missionaries in the region. From a missionary home she established, she ministered to the Tamil people, many of whom came to faith and experienced the fullness of the Spirit.

Her work soon expanded into village ministry. By the early 1930s, Eady was reporting to readers of the Pentecostal Evangel on the growing network of house meetings and village fellowships she had established. In 1931 she described with excitement how she had rented a garage in the Nilgiris hills for services: “I can put some mats down on the floor and some colored pictures on the walls … it will make a splendid meeting hall. Twelve came to the meeting on Thursday and 16 on Sunday. I am believing the numbers will increase.”

Eady’s long-term vision, however, went beyond her own preaching. She became convinced that the future of Indian Christianity depended on national workers.

“The best way to give them the gospel is through the native workers,” she wrote. “If we could do that, we would have Christian village after Christian village. This is our greatest need today.”

Her ministry among South India’s outcaste communities gave that conviction even sharper focus. Meeting countless numbers of India’s 60 million outcastes, she saw their deep hunger for hope.

“They are not allowed to have contact with the caste people at all; they may not have water from their wells, or walk on the same side of the street,” she wrote in 1939. “I have felt strongly led of the Lord to work among the outcaste people, who have renounced Hinduism … the door stands wide open for us to tell them of Jesus.” For the next 11 years she lived among them, sharing Christ and discipling converts.

Even World War II did not stop her. While most Western missionaries were forced to leave, Eady remained and carried oversight of much of the Pentecostal work in South India. She was described by colleague Maynard Ketchum as someone who never recognized “physical limitations. Her body only existed as a means to propagate the gospel. Sleep, rest, food, and physical comfort could be completely forgotten by Miss Eady if she was on the trail of souls!”

At age 80, she officially retired from service in India. But Eady was not finished. She moved to Trinidad to work with Canadian Pentecostals, carrying a heavy teaching schedule until her death at age 85.

Over four decades of ministry, Constance Swinfen Eady led government officials to Christ, pioneered churches, trained national leaders, and demonstrated Christ’s love to people who had never known it. Though her name is not well known, her life was, in Eugene Peterson’s phrase, “a long obedience in the same direction” — devoted to Christ and His cause among those desperate to know His love.

Read Constance Eady’s report, “Eighty-six Saved in Small Convention,” on page 9 of the Sept. 19, 1942, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Answers to Questions Concerning the Baptism in the Holy Spirit,” by P.C. Nelson

• “Emotions Are Not Enough,” by E.S. Williams

• “Mary Hath Chosen,” by Lilian Yeomans

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: https://ifphc.org/

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September 12, 2025 · 4:43 pm

American Indian College: Training Native Americans for Pentecostal Ministry Since 1957

This Week in AG History — September 9, 1973

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 11 September 2025

American Indian College was pioneered in 1957 in Phoenix, Arizona, by a white female Assemblies of God missionary, Alta Washburn, who recognized the urgent need to train Native American leaders. 

At the time, the U.S. census reported about 500,000 Native Americans living in the nation. Many were migrating from rural reservations to urban areas, and various denominations started ministries to Native Americans. 

Alta Washburn and her husband began serving the Apache Indians on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona in 1946. They understood firsthand the importance of developing indigenous leaders. As whites, their ministry on the reservation was limited. But Native American migration to the cities opened new ministry opportunities. They moved to Phoenix in 1948 and started All Tribes Assembly of God, which became an important spiritual and social refuge for Native Americans from various tribal backgrounds who often felt out of place in their new surroundings.

Washburn believed that she was called to empower Native Americans to become pastors and leaders in their own communities and tribes. She had a vision to plant Native American churches throughout Arizona. An important part of this vision was the establishment of a Bible school to train pastors. The school she founded, initially called All Tribes Indian Bible Training School, opened its doors on Sept. 23, 1957. Washburn remained as president of the school until 1965. 

The Sept. 9, 1973, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel highlighted the history of the school. The article noted that the school emphasized study of the Word of God and training in practical ministry. One of the most visible student ministries was the Tribalaires, a traveling group of students who sang and ministered in churches across the nation.

Simon Peter, a Choctaw, became the school’s first Native American president in 1978. The school changed its name several times over the years — American Indian Bible Institute (1967), American Indian Bible College (1982), and American Indian College (1994). In 2016, American Indian College became a campus of Nelson University, retaining its name and mission, while benefiting from the resources and faculty of the larger school.

Since its origins 68 years ago, American Indian College has grown significantly and now serves nearly 25 tribes as well as other ethnicities. Alta Washburn’s vision for a school to train Native American leaders has made a lasting mark, not only on the deserts of Arizona, but across the nation, wherever its graduates have served as pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and church workers.

Read “Indian Youth Train for Ministry,” on pages 14 and 15 of the Sept. 9, 1973, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “What We can do for our Colleges,” by Albert W. Earle

• “I Like My Problems” by Ralph Cimino

• “Jesus is Always in Vogue,” by J. Robert Ashcroft

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: https://ifphc.org/

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September 5, 2025 · 1:41 pm

Elva Hoover: Minister, Missionary, Assemblies of God Women’s Department Leader

This Week in AG History — September 6, 1959

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 04 September 2025

Elva Johnson Hoover (1919-2017) was one of the pioneer women ministers of the Assemblies of God. She filled many roles in ministry. She was a missionary in the Kentucky mountains during the Great Depression, a pastor and co-pastor, and also served for many years as the national secretary of the Women’s department of the Assemblies of God.

Elva Mae Johnson Hoover was born Nov. 23, 1919, in Holdenville, Oklahoma, and grew up in Coffeyville, Kansas. From early childhood she felt God’s call to Christian ministry. She began attending Southwestern Bible School in Enid, Oklahoma (now Nelson University). In 1939, she interrupted her studies and went as a missionary to the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky. She was one of scores of missionaries who ministered in this primitive area during the Great Depression. Upon leaving for Kentucky, she prayed and said, “Lord, if it would do any good, I’d go.” She didn’t feel she was worthy to go. But it was like God said to her, “Go. That’s what I’ve been trying to get through to you.” So she went, not knowing what lay ahead.

She had a colorful ministry in Kentucky as a missionary, evangelist, and pioneer pastor. Her first assignment was at Bloody Creek, Kentucky, working with Ann Howard (later Ann Ahlf) who had served in the mountains the year before. Elva had a difficult time adjusting to the primitive conditions, and some of the people were feuding with neighbors. Some would spit tobacco on the church floor. She witnessed violence and bloodshed, but she also saw lives transformed by the power of the gospel.

Elva continued her training at Southwestern Bible School and graduated in 1941. Then she returned as a missionary to the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky where she served for five years total. When Elva answered God’s call to go to the Kentucky mountains, she said she had no idea that God would ever lead her anywhere else. “I thought I was there for life,” she said. Elva was in the mountain ministry because she had committed her life to the Lord while attending Southwestern Bible School. She pledged to go anywhere the Lord called her. Soon God opened up other doors of ministry.

Ordained into ministry in 1945 by the Kentucky District, she pioneered an Assemblies of God church in Earlington, Kentucky. In 1949, she was co-pastor in Brooten, Minnesota, along with Juanita Brown Stetz, who became a lifelong friend. During that time, G. Raymond Carlson was the district superintendent. He said Elva “has done nothing but enrich my life.”

In 1950, she was asked by the Assemblies of God to come to Springfield and write Sunday School materials and stories. She later wrote promotional materials for the denomination’s Home Missions and Benevolences Departments. Her writing caught the attention of the editor of the Pentecostal Evangel who invited her to serve as an editorial assistant in the late 1950s.

In 1960, she became the national representative of the Women’s Missionary Council (now AG Women). In that capacity she edited a quarterly leadership magazine called Slant and traveled as a speaker.

In 1963, she married Mario G. Hoover and adopted his three sons, ages 7, 10, and 12. She left the work environment for a few years in order to make a home for their children. They were married by former General Superintendent Ernest S. Williams.

She returned to the Assemblies of God National Office in 1968 to serve as Public Relations assistant for the denomination. In 1973 she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications at Evangel College (now Evangel University). She then was appointed special assignment editor in the Church School Literature Department where she developed Vacation Bible School materials and started a publication called Children’s Church: the Leader’s Guide.

In 1976, she was named national secretary of the Women’s Ministries Department and served in that capacity for 10 years. In this position she was founding editor of Woman’s Touch magazine. She wrote and edited hundreds of articles and stories for AG magazines and other Christian publications. She also revised the Women’s Ministries and the Missionettes training courses. The WM Leader in Spanish was an added publication under her leadership.

Besides her public ministry in the Assemblies of God, Elva Hoover helped to raise two families. After her mother died, Elva — then age 13 and the oldest of seven children — assisted her father in rearing her younger siblings. Then in 1963, when she married widower Mario G. Hoover, she helped to raise his three sons and adopted them.

In addition to administrative duties, she spoke in churches across the U.S. as well as in Africa and South America. She also served as chairwoman for women’s and editorial committees in the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America, the Pentecostal World Conference, and the International Pentecostal Press Association. She was an outstanding leader. General Superintendent Thomas F. Zimmerman said, “I’ve never known Elva Hoover to give less than 1,000 percent.”

In four decades of ministry, Elva’s career took her from being a young missionary in the mountains of Kentucky to eventually working at the Assemblies of God national office for 30 years (1955-85), the final 10 as the director of the National Women’s Ministries Department.

Read Elva Johnson’s article, “Big Bargain,” on page 24 of the Sept. 6, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “A Holy Minority,” by Leonard Ravenhill

• “Amazing Grace,” by Violet Schoonmaker

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: https://ifphc.org/

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