Floods upon the dry ground : a history of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland 1910-1939

Janes, Burton K. (1991) Floods upon the dry ground : a history of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland 1910-1939. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland began in 1910 when 52-year old American Alice B. Garrigus, from a rural working class family, in response to what she perceived as a divine call, opened a storefront mission, Bethesda, in downtown St. John's. Her movement remained a modest urban phenomenon until 1922, when it was introduced into Conception and, later, Placentia, Bays. The year 1925 marked both the initiation of a west coast Pentecostal movement, begun by two laymen from Bethesda, and the formation of a denomination in eastern Newfoundland. (The western and eastern divisions later merged.) From the start, the sect-turned-church was fraught with inner dissension that stunted its growth; during the Great Depression, however, its subsequent growth pattern, primarily in western and central Newfoundland, was established. My thesis is a historical analysis of the first three decades of Pentecostalism in Newfoundland and Labrador. The following are significant conclusions. The Pentecostal movement, like the Salvation Army before, initially appealed primarily to dissatisfied Methodists, especially to those from lower socioeconomic classes. Spreading to the rapidly changing industrial regions of western and central Newfoundland, it gained momentum. As the aging female founder receded into the background, the denominational leadership passed into the hands of younger male converts from Methodism; once the church was under indigenous leadership, it flourished and gained a firm foothold. The transition from a movement to a denomination was salutary, bringing with it cohesion.

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