One Hundred Years Of African American Pentecostalism Summary

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The historical narrative, Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism, by Estrelda Y. Alexander, does an excellent job of well articulating the role of the African American Pentecostal church through the first 100 years of the Pentecostal movement. Estrelda Y. Alexander is an African American woman raised in a Oneness Pentecostal church in an urban, working class environment. Alexander received her Doctorate from the Catholic University of America Theology and has written several books similar to Black Fire throughout her life including, Women of Azusa Street (2006), Limited Liberty (2007). Alexander currently holds the position of President at William Seymour College in Maryland. Alexander teaches a variety of topics including …show more content…

This book begins with a background in primitive African religious practices and brushes quickly through the slavery time period, and begins to go into greater detail beginning with Azusa Street Revival in 1906 led by African American Pastor William Seymour.
The goal of this book review is to point out the key points mentioned in the book, and allow for a form of discussion to take place between the novel and the words written here with the hope of bringing a sense of peace regarding this topic, especially in relation to the mistreatment and occasional but blatant disregard of the influence African American culture had on the Pentecostal …show more content…

As Alexander points out in the introduction to chapter 8 entitled, “If it wasn’t for the women,” women played a growing roll in church growth and development even though they were not allowed to hold formal positions of leadership in the church. Going person by person, Alexander presented detailed evidence of powerful women in the Pentecostal movement and the impact that they had. Alexander says, “Despite generally being locked out of higher levels of denominational leadership, women not only filled the pews but also established and pastored congregations, served as missionaries and developed the numerous auxiliaries that helped fuel the Pentecostalism’s phenomenal growth”(293). Alexander went to great lengths to recognize many influential women in the Pentecostal movement and the work they did to further the kingdom and glorify God despite the pushback from the men above

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