Fuller Professor Authors First-Time History of Azusa Street Revival

Nearly 25 percent of the world's Christians count themselves among the Charismatic and Pentecostal family of Christian movements. The Assemblies of God—just one of many Pentecostal denominations—claims 2.5 million adherents in the U.S. and 53 million worldwide. Yet few know how Pentecostalism began. In the newly released book The Azusa Street Mission and Revival, Cecil M. Robeck, professor of Church History and Ecumenics at Fuller Seminary, tells for the first time the full story of the Apostolic Faith Mission: a small, racially inclusive group that gathered in Los Angeles in 1906 and became the birthplace of modern Pentecostalism.

“Cecil M. Robeck Jr. has distinguished himself in the worldwide Christian community as a leading statesman and spokesperson for global Pentecostalism,” says Howard Loewen, dean of Fuller’s School of Theology. “Dr. Robeck’s lifelong work as a Pentecostal church historian and ecumenist has eminently qualified him to write the most definitive account of the early beginnings of the global Pentecostal movement to date. This new book tells the remarkable story of the birth of one of the most significant Christian movements in the recent history of the church.”

One hundred years ago, with little more than a printing press, a trolley stop and a powerful message, a religious revival of major proportions began at Apostolic Faith Mission, located in an abandoned warehouse at 312 Azusa Street. The revival rapidly crossed more than racial lines—into Mexico, Western Europe, Scandinavia and West Africa—and began to change the landscape of Christianity. With a readable style, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival records the complete story of the mission with intriguing photographs, articles and testimonies.

Robeck serves as director of the David J. DuPlessis Center for Christian Spirituality at Fuller in addition to his professorial role. He has written some 200 articles published in a range of historical, theological, and ecumenical journal, periodicals, and denominational magazines.

Since 1997, Robeck has worked with civic and religious leaders from the Japanese American, African American, and Pentecostal communities in Los Angeles as part of the Azusa Street Memorial Committee. He is an ecumenist who, for over 20 years, has worked toward interdenominational dialogue with members of the World Council of Churches, the Vatican, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and other groups. In the past he also assisted Pope John Paul II with worship events in Rome and Assisi.