Althouse and Wilkinson “The Many Faces of Canadian Pentecostalism”
First Paragraph: “The myth of Azusa Street is one that asserts that people from all over the world, of different races, ethnicities, genders, languages, cultures and classes came together in unity in the outpouring of the Spirit where everyone has a voice in glossolalic utterance. Myth is a powerful cultural symbol for affording Pentecostals a sense of place and equality in religious and social contexts, but a myth none- theless; not because the multicultural context of the early days of Pentecost was untrue—the historical records show that Azusa Street was multiracial and multiethnic with William Seymour, the son of emancipated African- American slaves taking a prominent role in the revival’s leadership and evidence of Latino/a inclusion in the re- vival; but myth because the ideal of equality and racial reconciliation quickly collapsed in the early history of Pentecostalism. Despite the diverse cultural representation of Azusa, where marginalized voices could be heard and allowed to participate in the revival, Pentecostal institu- tions quickly accommodated to the dominate culture, seg- regated blacks and whites, assert a patriarchal power structure that denied women ministerial status, marginal- ized the voices of other ethnicities and cultural groups, and placed white Anglo-Saxon males in authority.”