Azusa Street Revival

The Azusa Street Revival (1906-1909) took place in Los Angeles, California, and was led by William Seymour (1870-1922), an African-American preacher.

Seymour preached that glossolalia, or "speaking in tongues," was evidence of Holy Spirit baptism; his first Los Angeles parish therefore expelled him. Seymour continued preaching until he and a small group experienced glossolalia. Crowds began to gather and a mission space was found on Azusa Street, in a run-down building in downtown Los Angeles. Worship there was frequent, spontaneous, and ecstatic, drawing people from around the world to a revival that lasted about three years. The Azusa revival was multi-racial, welcomed poor people, and encouraged the leadership of women.

Azusa's "five-fold doctrine" was:

• salvation;
• sanctification or holiness;
• tongues as evidence of Spirit baptism;
• divine healing;
• the "very soon" return of Christ.

Pentecostalism has earlier roots, but the Azusa Street Revival launched it as a worldwide movement.