| Chapter : | Introduction |
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Cecil Robeck, Howard Kenyon, and Douglas Nelson have written significant papers concerning race, Pentecostalism, and the Assemblies of God. Robeck’s “Historical Roots of Racial Unity and Division in American Pentecostalism,” was presented at the Memphis Colloquy of the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America in 1994. It included both a succinct summary of the early history of Pentecostalism and a review of Assemblies of God treatment of race. Kenyon’s dissertation, “An Analysis of Ethical Issues in the History of the Assemblies of God,” looked at the denomination’s record on women, race, and pacifism. Both men recognized the Assemblies of God denomination’s failure to address racism among its ministers and churches. They contended the church’s early leaders made practical decisions on race based on the realities of segregation in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. Nelson’s “For Such a Time as This: The Story of Bishop William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival; A Search for Pentecostal/ Charismatic Roots,” sought to resurrect Seymour’s place in Pentecostal history. He contended bigoted white Pentecostals, such as Charles Parham, vilified Seymour. As a result, contemporary white historians of the Pentecostal movement tend to diminish Seymour’s contributions to the movement’s development while placing too great an emphasis upon Parham.19
The present study asserts that the evidence indicates that some key Assemblies of God leaders deliberately attempted to exclude African Americans from full participation in the denomination because they were racist and did not want to desegregate the ministerial ranks or the local churches. Furthermore, the effort made since the 1960s to bring African Americans into the mainstream of the church occurred only because of the social changes arising out of the aftermath of the civil rights movement.