The Charismatic Century: The Enduring Impact of the Azusa Street Revival

It's been 100 years since William Seymour, an African-American Christian revivalist, guided his small Los Angeles congregation through a multiday series of revivals at 312 Azusa Street. This spiritually dramatic movement became the foundation of the 20th century's abiding charismatic renewal, which now claims some 600 million adherents. Hayford, the founding pastor of the Church on the Way, and Moore, a longtime pastor and Ph.D. candidate at Regent University, offer engaging snapshots of the charismatic renewals of the last century and their impact on contemporary Christianity. The authors narrate the lives and work of preachers as diverse as R.A. Torrey, Aimee Semple McPherson and Oral Roberts, whom Hayford believes is the most influential charismatic preacher of the age. Hayford and Moore also provide portraits of megachurches such as the Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Calvary Chapel as well as various quasi-church movements. At the end of each chapter, they pose a series of questions designed to challenge contemporary Christians to find ways to embrace charismatic spirituality in their own lives. While Grant Wacker's Heaven Below remains the definitive historical study of American Pentecostalism, Hayford and Moore's book offers a modest introduction to the movement's continuing power. (Apr.)