Pentecostalism is a broad Christian movement that emphasizes the present activity of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, conversion, prayer, evangelism, and expectation of God’s action in the life of the Church. It includes many denominations and independent churches rather than a single global institution.
Origins
Modern Pentecostalism emerged in the early twentieth century from revival movements in the United States and elsewhere. The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, beginning in 1906, became especially influential because participants carried Pentecostal teaching and worship practices to many regions of the world.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Many classical Pentecostal churches teach an experience called baptism in the Holy Spirit that is distinct from conversion and empowers believers for witness and service. Some denominations, including the Assemblies of God, teach speaking in tongues as the initial physical evidence of this experience. Other Pentecostal churches define the relationship between Spirit baptism and tongues differently.
Worship and spiritual gifts
Pentecostal worship often includes spontaneous prayer, contemporary music, testimony, healing prayer, prophecy, and speaking in tongues. Practices vary greatly. Some congregations are highly structured, while others allow more spontaneous participation.
Beliefs
Most Pentecostals affirm basic evangelical Christian teachings about the Bible, the Trinity, Jesus Christ, salvation, prayer, and mission. Classical Pentecostal denominations typically practice believer’s baptism. Some Pentecostal groups, however, are non-Trinitarian, especially Oneness Pentecostal churches, so the label does not identify one uniform theology.
Pentecostal and charismatic
“Pentecostal” usually refers to churches that arose from Pentecostal movements and identify with that tradition. “Charismatic” often describes Christians in Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant, or independent churches who practice similar spiritual gifts without belonging to a Pentecostal denomination.
Holiness and earlier revival movements
Pentecostalism did not appear without background. It drew on nineteenth-century evangelical revival, Holiness teaching, healing movements, and expectations of a renewed experience of the Holy Spirit. Early Pentecostal networks then developed rapidly across racial, national, and denominational boundaries, even while segregation and institutional divisions also affected the movement.
Global forms
Pentecostal Christianity has grown strongly in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and parts of Europe and North America. Many churches are locally founded rather than branches of U.S. denominations. Worship, leadership, social teaching, prosperity theology, and attitudes toward spiritual gifts can therefore differ substantially.
Not every Pentecostal teaches the same doctrine
Classical Trinitarian Pentecostal denominations share many evangelical beliefs, but the wider Pentecostal world includes independent networks, renewal churches, and Oneness traditions. Claims about “what Pentecostals believe” should therefore identify the denomination or movement when a doctrine is not universal.
