One Hundred Years Of African American Pentecostalism Summary

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

theology, Ethics, and Women’s Studies. Alexander is well educated in the history of African American Pentecostalism and has full authority both personally and professionally to speak to the topics and arguments presented in this book.
Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism was written to shed light on the role that African American culture played in the holiness-Pentecostal movement and to point out much of the mistreatment of African Americans and women throughout a pivotal time in the development of the Charismatic Church.

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

movement.
Estrelda Y. Alexander spent a great deal of time setting the stage and giving a very honest explanation for why there was such dissention between African American Pentecostals and white Pentecostals, beginning as early as Charles Parham when we witnessed the blurred color lines at the Azusa Street revival and, “called the famous “heavenly choir”—the singing in tongues about which many raved—a form of “Negro chanting,” declaring is had nothing to do with Pentecostal Spirit baptism”(29). She continues to address this issue repeatedly through out the chapters of her book as well as taking a chapter in the middle of the novel to touch briefly on the lack of women in church leadership throughout the early formation of the church, but quickly points out that these women seemed to repeatedly find ways around the by becoming missionaries, establishing congregations, and developing “numerous auxiliaries that helped fuel the Pentecostalism’s phenomenal growth”(293). Alexander concludes her novel with a powerful plea saying, “What such unity would mean for black Pentecostal believers remains to be seen, but it is certain that their collective voice will increasingly be heard”(395). The goal of Alexander when writing this book is the same as that of Martin Luther King Jr. during to civil rights movement: to let the voices of the voiceless finally be heard and understood.
The two key points that Estrelda Alexander tried to make throughout the course of this book was the disregard of the impact African American culture on the modern Pentecostal movement and the mistreatment of the women in the congregation of the Pentecostal church. Alexander spent the majority of the book addressing the history of the Pentecostal movement, but also spent a great deal of time addressing the harsh treatment of the African American people through the course of history. Specifically in chapter 4 titled, “The color line was washed away in the Blood, took time to break down some of the responses William Seymour received from his white counterparts concerning the Azusa Street revival and the progress of the Early Pentecostal church. This chapter clearly shows that, “Seymour’s suspicion of the motivation of the whites that surrounded him was not totally unfolded. Parham derided him and the revival he led and hurled racial epithets”(157). Alexander goes into great detail to show, with evidence, that the African American community played a far greater roll in the Pentecostal revival then are give credit.
The other people group that is represented in Alexander’s book is the women of the Pentecostal church.

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

them.
Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism was written to show the influence that the African American population and women had on the development of the denomination and it does just that. Because of the nature of the topic and the author herself, it is inevitable that there be a bit of positive bias towards the glorification of these two people groups, but in the whole scheme of history, this book does an excellent job of presenting the evidence to show the positive impact that African American culture and woman nature had on the Pentecostal church. This is an excellent book to read and to teach from, it is well written and well supported by historical evidence, and Estrelda Alexander has all authority to write and speak to the topics at hand.