Thursday, January 29, 2026

It is the 29th of January 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Today’s show is not about Africa or Uganda- unlike, by sheer coincidence, Tuesday’s show, Wednesday’s show, and tomorrow’s show. But…

Part of the great shift in the 20th-century church is the center of gravity moving south of the equator and the growth of the Pentecostal movement- it’s not a unified denomination as such, but shares roots in the Protestant and Holiness traditions coming out of the Second Great Awakening.

You would do well to point out the Azusa Street Revival of 1906- the small African American church in Los Angeles that saw a particular kind of enthusiasm and helped popularize “speaking in tongues” as a distinct proof of a baptism in the Holy Spirit. But Azusa was in many ways the second stop on the growth of the worldwide phenomenon. It’s first stop? Kansas.

Kansas in the late 19th century was the wild west- a hive of industry and populism, and for a brief time, the Bethel Bible College in Topeka, led by Charles Fox Parham.

Parham was born in 1873 in Iowa, the third of five sons to a horse collar maker and house painter. The family moved to Kansas in 1878 as part of the push west and survived the crash of 1887 and the panic of 1893. The family was not religious, Charles was a sickly child, and his mother died when he was 12. All of these seem to have pushed young Charles towards questions of ultimate significance, and by the age of 15, he was a convinced Christian and was holding evangelistic meetings. He enrolled at the Southwest Kansas College to train for the ministry in the Methodist church.

He seems to have had second thoughts and, for a time, decided to enter the medical profession- this seems to have occurred during a period of what he called “backsliding,” and he soon recommitted himself to the ministry.

He would leave the Methodists over their rejection of his desire to preach by “direct inspiration”. He would then spend time visiting other 19th-century Christian communities- Holiness and otherwise, from A.B. Simpson's college in New York and the curious experiment of Zion in Illinois with John Alexander Dowie.

He would marry Sarah Baker, the daughter of a Quaker minister, and they would have a son: Claude. Both Charles and Claude would be afflicted with various illnesses, and it was their healing that gave Charles the impetus to continue his ministry focusing on the Holy Spirit, evangelism, and healing.

In 1900, the 27-year-old founded Bethel Bible College and a church, a school with 34 students and about 100 congregants. The reports don’t match- but- on either the 31st of December or January 1st of 1900 or 1901, there was an evening service in which a student, Agnes Ozman, was said to have begun to speak in “tongues”; in this case, allegedly, she spoke in Chinese. This news spread through the Holiness and Charismatic communities and made Parham a national figure. He would open a school in Texas that would be attended by William Seymour, an African American from Louisiana who “took classes” by sitting outside of the segregated classrooms.

He would make his way to Los Angeles, and Parham would send another student of his, Lucy Farrow, and the Azusa Street Revival would kick off in 1906. The new century- the “Pentecostal century” in many ways, was underway.

Parham would be dogged by allegations for most of his life, from a domineering leadership style to moral failings. He would be arrested in 1907, and although the charges were dropped, his reputation was set. He was an eccentric; his theology was a blend of American revivalism with an emphasis on signs- the new understanding of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues as the primary innovation. He is, in some ways, a prototype of the likes of Aimee Semple MacPherson who would blend the theology with the new spectacle of Hollywood. But the story would eventually be that of bible schools and revivals that spread a Charismatic and self-styled “Pentecostal” theology across the globe.

Charles Fox Parham, the oft-forgotten founder of so much of the movement, would die on this, the 29th of January in 1929. Born in 1873, he was 55 years old.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and a benediction from 1 Peter 3:

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,

“Whoever would love life
 and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
 and their lips from deceitful speech.

They must turn from evil and do good;
 they must seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
 and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 29th of January 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who thinks I should have made today’s show about Ted Drewes, of Concordia Tennis and Frozen Dessert Fame- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who tried the Drewes angle- just not enough there, I’m sorry… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.