Frank Bartleman - How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles: The Story Behind the Azusa Street Revival

The revival that took place at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, California at the beginning of the twentieth century is without parallel in the story of the Pentecostal Movement. It began in 1906, shortly after an African American pastor, William J. Seymour, arrived in Los Angeles where he had been invited to become the pastor of a small Holiness congregation. He had traveled from Houston, Texas, arriving in Los Angeles on February 22. While in Houston, Pastor Seymour had been a student at Charles Parhams Apostolic Faith Bible School for about six weeks.

Shortly after Seymour began his ministry with that little storefront congregation, part of the Holiness Church of Southern California and Arizona, he preached a sermon that was based upon the experience of those who waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded them, and were subsequently baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4, 8 and 2:4). He explained to his flock that this was the pattern of empowerment intended for the whole church, and as such, his congregation could ask and expect to be baptized in the Holy Spirit in the very same way and with the very same evidence, the Bible evidence, that is, the ability to speak in other tongues. Some members of the congregation were open to his message, but others were not. A meeting with denominational leaders was called to evaluate his theology, and by the following week, Pastor Seymour found himself without a job.

Fortunately, one of the African American couples, Edward and Mattie Lee, who were part of this congregation, invited Pastor Seymour to stay with them while he sought the mind of the Lord on what to do next. During the evenings they shared together, Brother Seymour led them in prayer and Bible study. He continued to share with them his conviction that if they sought the Lord, He would baptize them in the Holy Spirit just as He had done for those who waited for the Promise of the Father in Jerusalem. As their relationship developed, the Lees invited other friends to join them in hearing William Seymour. This was where Frank Bartleman, the primary chronicler of the Azusa Street Revival, first met Pastor Seymour. At the same time, Pastor Seymour sent for a couple of friends from Houston to join him. One of them was another African American, Mrs. Lucy Farrow, who had been baptized in the Holy Spirit under the ministry of Charles Parham. She would become a great helper to Seymour in the days that followed. As the meeting outgrew the Lee home, it moved to the home of another African American couple, Richard and Ruth Asberry, at 214 North Bonnie Brae Street.