In 1906, William Seymour was a newly discovered Pentecostal preaching phenomenon, just settling into his new life in Los Angeles after leaving his interim pastor gig in Topeka and preaching his way through Houston. A 34-year-old one-eyed son of freed slaves, William’s Houston sermons were the food for Neely Terry’s soul. Neely was in Houston visiting friends, but she was a devout attendee at a small holiness church in LA, pastored by a woman, no less. Impressed with William’s character, Neely reached out to Pastor Julia Hutchins, and within 2 days of Seymour’s arrival in LA, he was a Cali preacher. It didn’t go well. Church elders weren’t ready for Pastor Seymour’s proclivity to both speak in tongues and offer up his interpretation of that act as proven biblical infilling in the Holy Spirit. Translation: they padlocked the door on William Seymour. But, that didn’t sit well with the church’s more progressive members, who followed Seymour to the home of Richard & Ruth Asberry where they studied the Bible. Soon, they took their traveling congregation to a ramshackle building near downtown LA. The newly named Apostolic Faith Mission had a home at 312 Azusa Street. By May of 1906, before the women’s suffrage movement and during the height of the establishment of Jim Crow law, the people came: black, white, Asian, indigenous, immigrant, wealthy, destitute, illiterate, well educated. They sat on planks. They sat on empty kegs. As many as 1500 people began gathering to listen to William Seymour, who often preached in 24-hour increments. First-hand accounts reported the blind with restored vision, diseases cured, and people of non-English languages suddenly able to communicate. The odd hours and unending sermons gave the event a panoramic title – The Azusa Street Revival. Among its attendees were the McConnells, whose son, J.S. McConnell helped found the Assemblies of God. Still, the Azusa Street Revival isn’t even our topic today. For that, we have to look to J.S. McConnell’s son, John, called the world’s most influential spiritual leader by former United Nations Secretary, Kurt Waldheim. John Mc- Connell spearheaded the Star of Hope peace movement of 1957 and the Minute for Peace movement that began in 1963. He led the group Meals for Millions during the early 60s. And, in 1968, to celebrate the spring equinox, he coined a term during a presentation to the UNESCO Conference. John McConnell gave us Earth Day. Except, April 22nd does not fall on the spring equinox. Soon, grasshoppers.
