The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

The other day I did a posting on the state of the modern church. Since then I have been wanting to write another piece to that posting, but the subject can seem a bit overwhelming to me at times simply because I have so much to say on the issue. For now I’ll start off with a little history behind the spiritual roots of the church of yesteryear. Much of the church today has forgotten the very simple acts of obedience to God demonstrated by people like Seymour. Instead, we rely heavily on good music, gimmicks, good preaching/teaching etc. to keep people at least interested enough to come back the next Sunday. Over time I will be revisiting this topic so please stay tuned…

William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival

by Gary B. McGee

To read the newspapers in 1906, one might have wondered about all the excitement in an old building on Azusa Street in the industrial part of the city. According to the Los Angeles Times, a bizarre new religious sect had started with people “breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand.” Furthermore, “Devotees of the weird doctrine practice the most fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories, and work themselves into a state of mad excitement.”

If that didn’t grab the reader’s attention, the article continued by saying that, “Colored people and a sprinkling of whites compose the congregation, and night is made hideous in the neighborhood by the howlings of the worshippers who spend hours swaying forth and back in a nerve-racking attitude of prayer and supplication.”1 To top it all off, they claimed to have received the “gift of tongues,” and what’s more, “comprehend the babel.” (more…)