The Pentecostal Tradition
The Wesleyan/Pentecostal Movements
Methodism emerged out of an eighteenth-century renewal movement within the Church of England. The name is derived from the days when John and Charles Wesley presided over a small group of students at Oxford University. Nicknamed the the "Bible moths" and the "Methodists," they were known for their rigorous devotional practices. John Wesley further solidified his religious identity when he felt his heart "strangely warmed" at a religious meeting on London's Aldersgate Street in 1738. Religious heirs to Methodism, Pentecostals share an emphasis on supernatural experience and personal holiness. Coalescing at the beginning of the twentieth-century, Pentecostalism also emphasizes speaking in tongues and supernatural healing. Its growth and diffusion was accelerated by the Azusa Street Revival of 1906. As sociologist David Martin notes in Tongues of Fire, "As Aldersgate Street, London was to Methodism, so Azusa Street, Los Angeles was to Pentecostalism."
Wesleyans and Pentecostals in the Ozarks
The Wesleyan tradition arrived in eastern Missouri in 1798 with the coming of the Methodist preacher John Clark. Methodist circuit riders soon flocked to the Missouri wilderness, holding camp meetings and founding churches. Constructed in 1819 in Jackson, Missouri, McKendree Chapel is the oldest surviving Protestant church building west of the Mississippi. Frontier Methodists reached present day Springfield in 1831, founding St. Paul Methodist in October of the same year. Sharing space with the Cumberland Presbyterians, the Methodists constructed a log worship meeting house in 1833. Emerging from Protestant movements with Wesleyan roots, Pentecostalism arrived 75 years later, following the 1906 Los Angeles Azusa Street Revival. Meeting in a Springfield home, sisters Lillie Harper Corum and Rachel Sizelove founded Central Assembly of God on June 1, 1907. Reflecting the openness of the nascent Pentecostal movement to women in ministry, Corum served as the congregation's first pastor.
Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission 1907
It was at this building at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles that William Seymour began to hold well-attended revival meetings in 1906. Worship was very emotional, and worshipers often spoke in tongues.
Credit: http://ifphc.org/ (http://ifphc.org/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AApostolic_Faith_Gospel_Mission_1907.jpg)
Recapturing the Wesleys’ Vision: An Introduction to the Faith of John and Charles Wesley
By Paul Wesley Chilcote (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004)
John Wesley (1703-1791) was the son of a Church of England (Anglican) minister and studied theology at Oxford University. There he became the leader of a group of students who seriously sought the salvation of their souls. Opponents called them the “Holy Club” and the “Methodists”; the latter name stuck. After a significant religious experience in London in 1738, Wesley began a preaching ministry, first in England, then in the American Colonies. He did not intend for his followers to separate from the Church of England. When in 1784, however, he ordained presbyters and a superintendent for the Methodist groups in America, the Church of England decided Wesley and the Methodists had broken away.
Property of Meyer Library
Quasquicentennial (125th Anniversary) Church Fan from Campbell United Methodist Church, Springfield, Missouri
Before the days of air conditioning, church buildings could get stiflingly hot in the summer!
Lent by John Schmalzbauer
You Might Be a Methodist If . . .
By Robert Martin Walker (Chalice Press, 1998)
This United Methodist humor book was published by a Disciples of Christ publishing house.
Lent by John Schmalzbauer
Assemblies of God Heritage: Celebrating 100 Years of the Assemblies of God
(Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2014)
Centennial issue of the Assemblies of God history magazine.
Central Assembly of God
Founded in 1907, Central Assembly of God is the oldest Pentecostal congregation in Springfield. The church began in the north side home of Lillie Harper Corum.
Photo by John Schmalzbauer
Grace United Methodist Church
Grace United Methodist Church moved to its present location in 1868. The current building was completed in 1923.
Photo by John Schmalzbauer