Fact 1
Fact #1
Azusa Street is a Los Angeles Historical Site
In its “Millennium” issue, Life magazine described the beginnings of Pentecostalism in 1906 Los Angeles as No. 68 among its choice of the 100 most significant events to take place during the second millennium of Christianity. (1) What makes this movement so significant is that it currently has roughly 643,661,000 members, or 25% of all Christians worldwide. (2) This family of churches is second in size only to the Catholic Church. Yet most people, even in Los Angeles, know little if anything about it or its origins.
Los Angeles has been linked to early expressions of Pentecostalism for years, but this connection has only rarely been explored, and then only casually. In an essay included in Discover Los Angeles published in 1997 by the J. Paul Getty Trust, Mary Jane O’Donnell called attention to the connection between Los Angeles and Pentecostalism and mentioned several related sites for the inquisitive to explore. They included the house at 216 North Bonnie Brae Street where William J. Seymour first led a prayer meeting and Bible study, the site of the Azusa Street Mission in the heart of “Little Tokyo”, and several of the churches that have a direct relationship to the movement or were heavily influenced by the Azusa Street revival. (3)
The following year, in her Los Angeles Times column titled, “L.A. Then and Now,” Cecilia Rasmussen highlighted the relationship between Los Angeles and the origins of Pentecostalism in an overview article on William J. Seymour, pastor of the Azusa Street Mission. (4)
In May 2001, the City of Los Angeles erected a small historical marker at the northwest corner of Azusa Street and San Pedro. It reads, “Site of the Azusa St. Revival from 1906 to 1931 – Cradle of the Worldwide Pentecostal Movement”.
In April 2006, Krista Tippett, host of “On Being”, a weekly show aired on National Public Radio, produced a show titled “Spiritual Tidal Wave: The Origins and Impact of Pentecostalism”. It was recorded in Los Angeles and is still available online at: http://www.onbeing.org/program/spiritual-tidal-wave-origins-and-impact-pentecostalism/transcript/1172. In this episode, Tippett interview’s Azusa Street historian on the significance of this revival for the world today.
In spite of these facts, Azusa Street still remains a hidden site for most Angelinos. It is a site that deserves to be re-discovered by Los Angeles in these troubled times.
1.“No. 68, Pentecostalism Catches Fire,” Life, 20:10a (Fall 1997), 57. 2. Todd M. Johnson, Gina A. Zurlo, Albert W. Hickman, and Peter F. Crossing, “Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 39:1 (January 2015), 28-29. 3. Mary Jane O’Donnell, “Finding God in the City of Angels,” in Letitia Burns O’Connor, Ed. Discover Los Angeles: An Informed Guide to L.A.’s Rich and Varied Cultural Life (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Trust, 1997), 143. 4. Cecilia Rasmussen, “Vision of a Colorblind Faith Gave Birth to Pentecostalism,” Los Angeles Times (June 14, 1998), B:3; reprinted in Cecilia Rasmussen, LA Unconventional: The Men and Women Who Did LA Their Way (Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times 1998), 100-103. It is significant to note that of the 60 biographical accounts in this volume, only six are given over to religious figures, and two of them, William J. Seymour and Aimee Semple McPherson were participants in the Pentecostal Movement.