William J. Seymour

Life

William Joseph Seymour was born on May 2, 1870, in Centerville, Louisiana. His parents had been freed from slavery, and he was the second of eight children. In churches associated with the Holiness movement, he embraced teachings such as divine healing and entire sanctification. As a young man he contracted smallpox and lost his left eye.

In 1905 he briefly attended a Bible school that Charles Parham had opened in Houston, Texas. Because of segregation laws, he reportedly could not sit inside the classroom and instead listened to the lessons from the hallway or outside the door. At this school Seymour accepted Parham's teaching that speaking in tongues is the evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit.

In 1906 Seymour was invited to a small Black Holiness church in Los Angeles. Because of his views on Spirit baptism, however, he was soon forced out of that church. He then led a prayer meeting in a home on Bonnie Brae Street, and on April 9, 1906, participants began speaking in tongues. As the meeting grew, it moved to a former Methodist church building at 312 Azusa Street. In 1908 he married Jennie Evans Moore, one of the early believers. He died in Los Angeles on September 28, 1922, after which his wife led the mission.

Ministry and Achievements

• Azusa Street Revival: For about three years beginning in 1906, meetings were held almost daily. Black and white believers worshiping together drew considerable attention in a society where racial segregation was taken for granted.
• Publishing ministry: In September 1906 he began publishing the newspaper The Apostolic Faith, which spread news of the revival and its teachings at home and abroad.
• Organization: In 1907 he incorporated the ministry as the Apostolic Faith Mission of Azusa Street, Los Angeles, and commissioned workers, sending them out to various places.

As those who had experienced Spirit baptism at Azusa Street dispersed around the world, the Pentecostal movement spread. The Assemblies of God, organized in the United States in 1914, also emerged from this stream.

Influence on the Korean Church

Korean Pentecostal churches regard the Azusa Street Revival as their origin (see History of the Pentecostal Movement in Korea). According to the Korea Assemblies of God, Mary C. Rumsey, an American missionary who had experienced Spirit baptism at the Azusa Street Revival, came to Korea in 1928 and advanced the Pentecostal movement together with Heo Hong and others. In 1932 the Seobinggo Church, regarded as the first Pentecostal church in Korea, was founded, and on April 8, 1953, the Korea Assemblies of God was established. Some scholars, however, contend that Rumsey arrived in Korea in 1930 rather than 1928.

Assessment

Pentecostal and charismatic churches hold Seymour in high regard as the figure who launched the modern Pentecostal movement. They also value his formation of a worshiping community that transcended race and class.

Criticisms and limitations are also noted. During the revival, the press portrayed the speaking in tongues and fervent prayer as "scenes of frenzy." In 1906 Seymour parted ways with his mentor Parham over theological differences. From around 1908, many white believers left the mission. In addition, by 1911 Florence Crawford had established an independent work in Portland, and as a number of churches followed her, Seymour's influence declined significantly.

Opinions are also divided over his teaching that speaking in tongues is the evidence of Spirit baptism. Pentecostal denominations accept it as a biblically grounded experience. By contrast, those who believe the spiritual gifts ceased after the apostolic age, as well as those concerned that experience is being placed above the Word, view this teaching critically (see Cessationism and Continuationism).