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Pentecostalism

Pentecostal and Charismatic · 1901–1906 · United States; worldwide

The movement identifying baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, as the believer's endowment of power — from Parham's Topeka school (1901) through Seymour's interracial Azusa Street mission (1906) to a worldwide family; divided from the start between Wesleyan 'second work' and 'finished work' wings.

Pentecostalism was formed between 1901 and 1906, as a process rather than a single event. Pentecostalism is a segment of the spine, a drawing convenience rather than a body that ended. Pentecostalism's institutional line runs back through The Holiness movement, Methodism, Church of England, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.

Between the post-apostolic church and Pentecostalism stand 3 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
Between 1901 and 1906, as a process rather than a single event
Family
Pentecostal and Charismatic
Region
United States; worldwide
Key figures
Charles F. Parham, William J. Seymour, Agnes Ozman
Cause tags
Doctrine
Also known as
Apostolic Faith movement (earliest name)

What it separated from

  • Separated from The Holiness movement. Born in the Holiness matrix; rejected by the existing churches, its adherents formed new congregations.

Bodies organized out of it or separated from it: Church of God in Christ, Assemblies of God, The Charismatic renewal, Neo-charismatic / independent networks.

On the tree

Pentecostalism and its institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33today100424431451105415341729183518971901191419601980The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchThe spineChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchThe spineThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchThe spineOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismCatholicChurch of England (Anglican)Church of EnglandAnglicanMethodism (Methodist)MethodismMethodistThe Holiness movement (Holiness)The Holiness movementHolinessChurch of God in Christ (Pentecostal and Charismatic)Church of God in ChristPentecostal and CharismaticPentecostalism (Pentecostal and Charismatic)PentecostalismPentecostal and CharismaticAssemblies of God (Pentecostal and Charismatic)Assemblies of GodPentecostal and CharismaticThe Charismatic renewal (Pentecostal and Charismatic)The Charismatic renewalPentecostal and CharismaticNeo-charismatic / independent networks (Pentecostal and Charismatic)Neo-charismatic /independent networksPentecostal and Charismatic

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2.

Adherents

About 663,863,000 adherents (research-center estimate, as of 2025).

World Christian Database figures run higher than other cross-national series; see the methodology page.

Source: CSGC 2025 renewalist total, footnote-30 definition

Scriptures

Acts 2 · 1 Corinthians 12-14

Sources

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-10.