Beyond Azusa Street

This collection of essays—an updated and expanded edition of a book originally published in 1986—is like a good strip-mall buffet. Despite plain design, eclectic content, and uneven presentation, this fine missiological meal satisfies on two levels. First, it is a celebration of church growth, and second, it is a critical engagement with Pentecostalism’s perennial tension between the Spirit and human mechanism.

The strong seasoning of triumphalism has certainly been added—particularly in some of the earlier, historical chapters. But as you move along the buffet, you find many dishes fresh with humility and self-criticism. You also begin to see less of the heavy Western fare and more authentic cultural contextualization, which reflects a growth within the movement.

The book’s topical organization (“Historical Perspectives,” “Theological Motivations,” “Strategic Issues,” and “Future Choices and Challenges”), helpful introductions, and brief author profiles not only make it easy to navigate, but also give us the sense of listening in on the conversation of a living community.

True, you’ll find the flies of disappointing editing buzzing all along the buffet. But don’t let this keep you from this fine introduction to Pentecostal missions. I recommend this restaurant without reservation.

Related Elsewhere:

Azusa Street and Beyond is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information about is available from the book’s website.

Grant McClung is author of “Pentecostals: The Sequel,” Christianity Today‘s cover story on the 100th anniversary of Pentecostalism.

Our full coverage of Pentecostalism includes:

Grading the Movement | Three leaders talk frankly about Pentecostalism: the good, the bad, and the unpredictable. (March 31, 2006)

Full Gospel’s Fractured Thinking | The problems with shunning the life of the mind. (March 30, 2006)

Our Anti-Intellectual Heritage | The history and beliefs of the Pentecostal movement, often shared by evangelicals, hold the seeds of a bias against the life of the mind. (March 30, 2006)

A Wind that Swirls Everywhere | Pentecostal scholar Amos Yong thinks he sees the Holy Spirit working in other religions, too. (March 29, 2006)

Africa’s Azusa Street | East Africa has experienced Pentecost continually for nearly 80 years. (March 28, 2006)

Stepping to Success | One reason Without Walls is one of the country’s fastest-growing Pentecostal congregations. (March 27, 2006)

The Pentecostal Gold Standard | After 50 years in ministry, Jack Hayford continues to confound stereotypes—all to the good. (July 1, 2005)

Hand-Clapping in a Gothic Nave | What Pentecostals and mainliners can learn from each other. (March 11, 2005)

Christian History Corner
The Roots of Pentecostal Scandal—Romanticism Gone to Seed | The sexual stumblings of prominent ministers point to a hidden flaw in Pentecostal spirituality. (Sept. 17, 2004)

Christian History Corner
Romanticism Gone to Seed—Part II | Have the holiness and Pentecostal movements really been “hyper-vertical” and “anti-domestic”? (Oct. 01, 2004)

God’s Peculiar People | Historian Grant Wacker explains why Pentecostals survived and even flourished. (March 18, 2002)

Are Pentecostals Sex-Crazed? | John Steinbeck and Robert Duvall have portrayed them that way, and such criticism even came from inside the movement. But was it ever warranted? (Sept. 11, 2001)

Christian History Corner
Explaining the Ineffable | In Heaven Below, a former Pentecostal argues that his ancestors were neither as outlandish as they seemed nor as otherworldly as they wish to seem. (Aug. 31, 2001)

Should We All Speak in Tongues? | Some say speaking in tongues is proof of ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit.’ Are those who haven’t spoken in tongues without the Holy Spirit? (March 6, 2000)