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THE LATTER RAIN MOVEMENT OF 1948
by
Richard Riss
At the
opening
of the First World Pentecostal Conference in Zurich, Switzerland in
1947,
General
Secretary
David J. DuPlessis delivered an address that ended as follows:
There is
nothing
that can ever take the
place
of the
Holy Spirit in the church. Let us
pray
for a
greater outpouring
than
ever, and remember when the floods come it will not
keep
to our well prepared
channels but it will overflow and most
probably
cause chaos in our
regular programs.1
Within a few months after these words were
spoken,
the “Latter Rain Movement”
exploded upon
the Pentecostal
scene, bringing
lDavid J. DuPlessis, “Chaff-Fire-Wheat,” The Elim Pentecostal Herald 21, 213 (March 1950), p. 6.
Richard Riss, author of The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany Fellowship, 1977), earned the Master of Christian Studies
degree at Regent College
in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. This article is a summary of his disserta- tion. which was done under the direction of Dr. Ian S. Rennie. Mr. Riss is a faculty member of Christian Life College, Mt. Prospect, Illinois.
– 32-
1
about the very conditions forseen by DuPlessis, from most established denominational Pentecostal
‘
The Latter Rain Movement Evangelical
of that time was
bringing prominence,
Freeman,
including disapproval
organizations.l was
only
one of
many aspects
of the
and Oral Roberts into
The revival at national
publicity,
Wheaton
College (February appearing
Life magazines.3
well over
twenty
other
awakening during
1947-1952. The
parallel Healing
revival
William Branham
as well as T. L. Osborn, Gordon
Lindsay.
Jack Coe, William
A.A.
Allen,
David
Nunn,
and a host of others.2
Spontaneous revival was
breaking
out
upon many college campuses.
5-12, 1950)
received
in the
pages
of the
Chicano Tribune,
as well as Time and
Earle E. Cairns and J. Edwin Orr have written of
colleges
revivals
time.4
Billy
Graham was
coming
into
prominence
crowds
being
drawn
(among
non-Pentecostal
during
the
awakening,
as well as other
evangelists
of the
time, including
enormous
national, 1974), pp. Menzies,
Publishing House, 1971), p.
(15
occuring during
the same
as a result of the
Evangelicals)
lOn disapproval of the Latter Rain by the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America, see Marion Meloon, Ivan Spencer: Willow in the Wind (Plainfield, NJ:
Logos Inter-
166-167; that of the Assemblies of God, U.S.A., see William W.
Anointed to Serve: The Story of the Assemblies of God (Springfield, MO: Gospel
324; disapproval in the official publication of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada: E. S. Williams, “More About Gifts,” The Pentecostal Testimony
June 1949), p. 8; Pentecostal Holiness rejection of the Latter Rain: J. Preston Eby to Richard Riss, 11 October 1976, Thesis File, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada; that of the
Apostolic Church of Great Britain: Cecil Cousen to Richard Riss, taped
20 March 1977. ,
message,
pictures
2The May, 1952 issue of The Voice of Healing published by Gordon Lindsay had
on its cover of twenty healing evangelists. For an extensive history of the Healing revival see David Edwin Harrell, Jr. All Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1975).
Press, 1972), p. 135; 56-58; “College
3Earle E. Cairns, V. Raymond Edman: In the Presence of the King (Chicago: Moody
“42 Hours of Repentance,” Time 55, 8 (20 February 1950), pp.
Revival Becomes Marathan,”
Life 28, 8 (20 February 1950), pp. 40-41.
cations, 1971), pp.
4 Cairns, p. 136; J. Edwin Orr, Campus Aflame (Glendale, CA: Gospel Light Publi-
165-182.
– 33-
2
Charles
(“Chuck”)
Templeton
Tom Rees of
Britain, and
significant
elements
Home
College Briefing
Conferences
of
Canada,
Mervin Rosell.1 In late 1949, revival began on the Island of Lewis and Harris,
the
largest
of the Outer Hebridean
of
Evangelical awakening
Conferences, denominations, gether
for
prayer
group
in Scotland.2 Other
included the Forest (which
soon
helped
to
bring
about
the formation of Campus Crusade for Christ) and the Pacific Palisades
at which scores of
pastors
only
a few of whom were
Pentecostal,
and
praise
in an
atmosphere
several times a year, sharing testimonies of revival, and
precipitating
of other similar
groups
of
pastors
and ministers
and ministers of various
gathered
to-
of
spiritual
renewal
the
throughout
in
part, by
the cam-
formation
North America.3
The Latter
paigns
of
healing evangelist the fall of 1947. His demonstrations
Rain Movement was
catalyzed,
William Branham in
Vancouver, B.C.,
in
of the
gift
of healing accompanied
upon
the teachers
Saskatchewan,
who
precipitated
by knowledge
of the illnesses of those
present
made a deep impression
of Sharon Bible School in North
pp. 157, 168-173;
Orr,
Battlefield, revival at their school after their
(New
Spiritual Recovery (Westwood, Templeton: Elson, p. 40; of 1948 and the
Regent College, Vancouver,
lOn
Billy Graham during the Mid-twentieth Century Awakening: J.
Edwin Orr, Good News in Bad Times (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,
1953),
Harold J. Ockenga, article Christian Life, quoted by Ivan Q. Spencer, “Revival Is Breaking,” The Elim Pentecostal Herald 21, 213 (March 1950), p. 8; J. Edwin
The Second Evangelical Awakening in America (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1952), pp. 192, 194; Fred W. Hoffman, Revival Times in America (Boston: W. A. Wilde Co., 1956), pp. 175-176; Winthrop S. Hudson, Religion in America, 2nd ed.
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973), p. 384; Edward L.R. Elson, America’s
NJ:
Fleming R. Revell Co., 1954), pp. 39-40; on Charles
on Tom Rees: Richard Rias, “The Latter Rain Movement
Mid-twentieth Century
Evangelical Awakening” (Master’s Thesis,
B.C. Canada, April, 1979), p. 56; on Mervin Rosell: Orr, Second Evangelical Awakening, p. 199; Orr, Good News in Bad Times, pp. 181-183.
1974), pp. 114, 117-119, 134-135,
2Andrew Woolsey, Du.ncan Campbell-A Biography (London: Hodder & Stoughton,
149.
Benson,
1966), p. 232-250; Awakening, pp. 161-164; Orr,
30n the Forest Home Briefing Conferences: Ethel
May Baldwin and David
V.
Henrietta Mears and How She Did It’ (Glendale, CA: Gospel light Publications,
on the Pacific Palisades Conferences: Orr, Second Evangelical
Good News In Bad Times, pp. 37-42.
– 34-
3
return from the Branham influence
upon
the Latter
both were
rejected and both
played
a
part
in
meetings.1 Although
Branham had a
prior
Rain,
the
Healing
revival and the Latter Rain Movement were
actually parallel developments during
1947-1952. Both occurred within the milieu of Pentecostalism,
denominations,
of the Charismatic Movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s.2 Its
emphasis upon
“the
laying
on of hands with
upon
the
present-day
by
most
major
Pentecostal influencing
the
development
controversy
existence of
apostles in
many
Pentecostal
of the doctrines
churches,
,
prophecy”
and insistence and
prophets brought
considerable churches.
and
practices
there was a
significant
the
major
denominations.
While there was not a
general acceptance
of the Latter Rain within denominational
extent to which
they
were received outside of
The wide
scope
of the
acceptance Latter Rain and its
lasting
influence
seems,
to a large
extent,
to have
of the
officials.3 by many reports
of
healings
decade,
escaped
the notice of denominational
The movement was characterized and other miraculous
phenomena,4 which was described
lack of God’s
presence.5
nial return of Jesus Christ,
preceded
in contrast to the
preceding by
Pentecostals as a time of spiritual
dryness
and
It stressed the imminence
of the
premillen- by
an
outpouring
of God’s
Spirit
which was
expected
in accordance with the “former rain” and the “latter
rain” of Joel 2:23, which was
interpreted Pentecost as described
as a dual
prophecy
of the
day
of
in the second
chapter
of Acts and of the out- pouring
of the
Holy Spirit
which was to immediately
precede
the
coming of the Lord. There was an
emphasis upon spiritual gifts,
which were to
lThe Sharon Star (1 January 1948), pp. 2,3.
2For a discussion of the influence of the Latter Rain Revival upon the Charis- matic Movement, see Riss, pp. 192-200. The influence of the Healing revival is dis- cussed in Harrell, All Things Are Possible.
3In Suddenly… From Heaven: A History of the Assemblies of God (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1961), p. 333, Carl Brumback had written that the Latter Rain had “practically come to
naught.” Walter J. Hollenweger. in Handbuch Der Pfingstbewegung, Doctoral dissertation, University of Zurich, 1965, 02a.02.144,
wrote that Brumback’s statement was an example of “the same wishful think-
that led the traditional churches to
ignore the beginnings of the
Pentecostal Movement.”
p. 758, ing
4George R. Hawtin. ”Editorial,”
The Sharon Star (1 July 1948). p. 2.
5Brumback, p. 331.
– 35-
4
be received
by the laying
on of hands, in contrast to the old
Pentecostal practice
of
“tarrying”
for the Holv Spirit which had become
wide- spread during
the
years
before the revival.1 As was true of the
Healing revival at that time, there was an emphasis
upon
the
unity
of the
body of Christ.2
In addition to the
ministry
of William
Branham,
who had
employed the
laying
on of hands in his
healing ministry,
some of the influences precipitating
the Latter Rain included the
emphasis
of healing
evange- list Franklin Hall
upon fasting
and
prayer,3
the church
government format in use
by the Independent
Assemblies of God which stressed the autonomy
of the local
church,4
and the
emphasis upon
the “new
thing” of Isaiah 43:19 which had found its
way
to North Battleford
years after it was stressed
during meetings
of the
early
Pentecostal revival at the turn of the twentieth
century.5
There were
many
similarities between the
early
Pentecostal Move- ment and the 1948 Latter Rain Revival,6 both of which were known as the “Latter Rain Movement.”7 Both arose
during
a time of spontaneous
lJames A. Watt, taped message on the Latter Rain Movement, Christian Centre, Surrey, B.C., Canada, spring 1976;
Dick Leggatt, “New Wine Interviews Ern Baxter,” New Wine 10, 11 (December 1978), pp. 4-7, 22-24.
2Reg Layzell, message given 25 March 1951, reprinted
in B. Maureen Gaglardi, The Pastor’s Pen: Early Revival Writings of Pastor
Leg Layzell (Vancouver, B.C.: New West Press, 1965), p. 65.
3Ernest Hawtin, “How This Revival Began,” 7he Sharon Star (1 August 1949), p. 3.
4A. W. Rasmussen, “Scriptural or Unscriptural Church Order,” The Sharon Star (1 February 1948), pp. 1,
3. The
Independent
Assemblies of God were a
group of Pentecostal assemblies of Swedish origins which considered local church
govern- ment to be
superior
to centralization. It met in conference on
specified occasions but had no general council, although it had letterhead stationery bearing the name of the
group and its elected officers.
.
6Cornelius John Jaenen, “The Pentecostal Movement” (M.A. Thesis, University of Manitoba, April, 1950), pp. 85-87.
6Brumback, p. 331.
‘
7Hudson, p. 345.
36
5
Evangelical awakening,l
and both were characterized
by
a
strong
ex- pectation
of the imminent
coming
of Christ. Both
employed
the
laying on of hands for the
impartation
of gifts of the
Spirit,2
and both
reported the
supernatural
occurrence of
“heavenly singing” by “Spirit-filled” congregations,
the sounds of which were likened to the sounds of a great pipe-organ.3
Both
recognized
the existence of
present-day apostles
1J. Edwin Orr, The Flaming Tongue: The Impact of Twentieth Century Revivals (Chicago: Moody Press, 1973), provides
an extensive account of the
Evangelical awakening
that
accompanied the early Pentecostal
revival.
2Faith
Campbell, Stanley
Frodsham: Prophet With A Pen
(Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1974), pp.
110-111. Faith
Campbell wrote, “My father [Stanley Frodsham]
had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit when hands had been laid on him in Sunderland, England. His friend Smith
Wigglesworth had received in the same way, and so had hundreds of others.” See also Mrs. M. B. Woodworth- Etter, Signs
and Wonders God Wrought in the Ministry for Forty Years (Indianapolis, IN: Mrs. M.B. Woodworth-Etter, 1916), p. 250, according to which, “many ministers and evangelists received great power and gifts by the laying on of my hands.” In addi- tion, an examination of the origins of Pentecostalism indicates that at
the historic Bethel College in Topeka, Kansas, it was by laying on of hands that the gift of the Holy
Ghost was received at the very outset of the Pentecostal Movement. According to Agnes Ozman as quoted by Nils Bloch-Hoell, The Pentecostal Movement (London: Allen & Unwin, 1964), p. 23, “on watchnight we had a blessed service, praying that God’s blessing might rest upon us as the new year came in. During the first day of 1901 the presence of the Lord was with us in a marked way, stilling our hearts to wait upon
Him for greater things. A spirit of prayer was upon us in the evening. It was nearly eleven o’clock on the first of January that it came into my heart to ask that hands be laid upon me that I might receive the gift of the Holy Ghoet. As hands were laid upon my
head the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I began to speak in tongues, glorifying God. I talked several languages. It was as though rivers of living water were proceeding from my innermost being.”
3George R. Hawtin, “News from Sharon: Heavenly Choir Restored,” The Sharon Star (1 December 1948), p. 1; Stanley H. Frodsham, With Signs Following (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1946), pp.
-37-
6
prophets, evangelists, pastors
and
teachers,l
and both were character- ized
by widespread repentance
and “brokenness” before the Lord.
Another similarity between the two movements is that both were severely
criticized
by
the denominations of which
they
were
originally a
part.
Walter J.
Hollenweger
has observed that the institutional Pentecostal denominations at this time began to
experience
anew what had come about at the inception of their own movement, but this time from the
opposite standpoint:
that of the conservative denomi- nations that
they
had criticized at the time of their own
inception.2
According
to historian Cornelius J. Jaenen, a prophecy, well known among
the
early
leaders of the Pentecostal Movement in Canada, had been
given during
the Los
Angeles
Azusa Street Revival of 1906 that a
great
revival would
begin
in Northern Canada.3 Those involved in the Latter Rain Movement looked upon events at North Battleford in 1948 as a fulfillment of this
prophecy.4
The Latter Rain Movement
originated
at Sharon
Orphanage
and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, as a spark
igniting an
explosion
of revival
among many
Pentecostals. It
spread quickly throughout
North America and many places
throughout
the world.
The
president
of Sharon’s “Global Missions” was
George Hawtin, who had been a
pastor
of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and had founded Bethel Bible Institute in Star City, Saskatchewan in 1935.5 Two
years later,
the Institute moved to
Saskatoon,
and became
1 The apostleship of such early Pentecostal leaders as Smith Wigglesworth was taken for granted among many of those involved in the early Pentecostal Movement. Note,
for example, the title of Stanley Frodsham’s book, Smith Wigglesworth, Apostle of Faith
(Springfield, i
MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1948).
2Hollenweger, p.
758. It is interesting to note that, with the
possible exception of the “heavenly choir” the common characteristics of the Pentecostal revival at the turn of the century and the 1948 Latter Rain were also apparent in the “Irvingite” movement, the Catholic Apostolic Church, beginning at 1830 in London.
3Jaenen, p. 85.
‘lIbid.
5(iloria G. Kulbeck. What Hath God Wrought: A History of the Pe’1tecosial Assem- !J1Í!’,.. uf Canada (Toronto:
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, 1958), pp. 60-61.
– 38-
7
P.A.O.C.
property
in
1945,
in order to achieve full P.A.O.C.
recog-. nition.1
Disputes
between Hawtin and P.A.O.C. officials led to Hawtin’s resignation
under
pressure
in
1947;
another Bethel
teacher,
P. G. Hunt, resigned
in
sympathy.2
In the fall of
1947, George
Hawtin and P. G. Hunt
joined
Herrick Holt of the North Battleford, Saskatchewan Church of the
Foursquare Gospel
in an
independent
work that Holt had
already
established.3 It was
during
this time that the students there
began
to
gather
to
study the Word of
God, fasting
and
praying.
On
February 12, 1948,
accord- ing
to
George
Hawtin’s brother Ern
(who
had
joined
the
faculty
of Sharon,
where Milford
Kilpatrick, also,
had become “Global Missions” secretary4),
“God moved into our midst in this
strange
new manner.”5 He continued as follows:
Some students were under the
power
of God on the
floor,
others were
kneeling
in adoration and
worship
before the Lord. The anointing deepened
until the awe of God was
upon everyone. The Lord
spoke
to one of the brethren. “Go and
lay
hands
upon a certain student and
pray
for him.” While he was in doubt and contemplation
one of the sisters who had been under the
power of God went to the brother
saying
the same words, and
naming the identical student he was to
pray
for. He went in obedience and a revelation was
given concerning
the student’s life and future
ministry.
After this a long prophecy was
given
with minute details
concerning
the
great thing
God was about to do. The pattern
for the revival and
many
details
concerning
it were
given.6
of
lErna Alma Peters, The Contribution to Education
by the Pentecostal Assemblies Canada (Altona, Manitoba: D. W. Friesen & Sons, Ltd., 1971), pp. 34-36.
2C. B. Smith, “An Explanation Concerning Bethel Bible Institute, Sask.,” The Pentecostal Testimony (15 November 1947), pp. 9, 21-22.
3Jaenen, p. 87. The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel was founded by Canadian-bom Mrs. Aimee Semple McPherson. A Pentecostal denomination, it gained
considerable support in the
early twenties, but later became overshadowed in western Canada by the Pentecostal Assemblies of God.
4″From the Editor’s Desk,” The Sharon Star (1 January 1948), p. 2; M. Kirkpatrick, “Global Missions Broadcast,” The Sharon Star (1 April 1948), p. 4.
5Ernest Hawtin, “How This Revival Began,” The Sharon Star (1 August 1949), p. 3.
6Ibid.
– 39-
8
After a
day searching
on
February
14 “it seemed
to Pentecostals
in view of the
This event was
particularly dearth of such manifestations that,
as
people
became
Battleford
to the
camp-meeting
conventions Star. Before
long,
these
meetings
the
Scriptures,
that all Heaven broke loose upon our souls, and heaven above came down to
greet
us.”l
According
to Em
Hawtin, “Soon a visible mani- festation of
gifts
was received when candidates were
prayed over,
and many
as a result
began
to be
healed,
as
gifts
of healing were received.”2
significant
from about 1935. It was for this reason
aware of these
events, they flocked to North
from all parts of North America and
many parts
of the world
at Sharon
publicized by
The Sharon
became
widely known,
and the
teachers from Sharon
began receiving
invitations to minister
throughout
North America.
Hawtin held meetings
1948.3
Myrtle
D.
Beall, pastor
At the invitation of Reg Layzell in Vancouver,
at Glad
Tidings Temple
Evangelistic
Fellowship
to the
gathering
and returned
of Bethesda
B.C., George and Ern on November
14-28, Missionary Temple
in
Rhode Island for a Pentecostal
Detroit, Michigan
travelled 2,500 miles
by car to attend these meetings4 and returned to her church to
spark
revival
there, attracting people from all
parts
of the
country including
Ivan and Carlton
Spencer (the founder of Elim Bible Institute and his son), who were at the Zion
in
Providence,
Prayer Fellowship gathering
in December of 1948 when a latecomer
arrived and shared “what he had heard of a visitation in Detroit.”5 Ivan
Spencer
and his wife went to Detroit within a few
days
to
ignite
revival at Elim Bible Institute.
Mrs. Beall wrote a letter
describing
who had been a
pioneer
Movement at the turn of the
century,
a leader of the Assemblies of God
in the
U.S.,
and the editor of the Pentecostal
Stanley Frodsham,
denomination official
periodical,
for
twenty-eight
the revival at Bethesda to
of the
early
Pentecostal
Evangel,
its years.
As a result of this
letter,
he
went to Mrs. Beall’s church in
January
of
1949,
where “he was moved deeply by
scenes of
people
under
great
conviction of
sin, making
con-
lgeorge Hawtin, “The
Church-Which Is His Body,” The Sharon Star
(1 March 1950), p. 2
2Ern Hawtin, “How This Revival Began,” p. 3.
3James A. Watt, “Progress With God,” The Sharon Star (1 December 1948), p. 3.
4M. D. Beall, “Mrs. Beall Testifies,” The Sharon Star (1 December 1948), p. 4.
5Meloon, pp. 147-149.
40
‘
9
Frodsham
‘
fession and
finding peace.”l ment, despite
the admitted consequent opposition pressure
Pentecostal
of the Assemblies
of
God.
The
February,
excesses of
many
of its adherents
of his denomination
and
eligible
to
retire,
he
resigned
Evangel
and withdrew his name as an ordained
heartily approved
of the move-
and the
to the Latter Rain. Under
from the
editorship
of the
minister
1949 issue of The Sharon Star carried an article on Winston I. Nunes,
according
to which “we received word also
today
from
of the wonderful
blessing being spread by
Brother W.1. Nunes since hands were laid on him and
gifts began
to
operate
Salem, Oregon,
power.”2 During
the same
month, Oregon
invited the Hawtin
party
ninety preachers
Dr. Thomas to his
church,
in Wyatt
of
Portland, Wings
of
Healing
ministered to
Temple,
where
George
Hawtin and Milford
Kirkpatrick
from almost
every part
of North America.3 One of the pastors attending
was Dr. A. Earl Lee of Los
Angeles, California,
whose church became a center for revival soon after he returned.
By
the end of A. Earl Lee’s church that
of the
year,
Ern Hawtin had written “Immanuel
for hundreds
help
and
supervision”4
Temple
work is
expanding rapidly
and is a mother church of miles
around,
with
many
assemblies
looking
there for
were
becoming
less central
By 1949,
the North Battleford brethren
to the movement, and
leadership began
to emerge in other
circles, partly as a result of tendencies toward sectarianism
ford leaders.5 It was
partly
because
national Pentecostals..
However,
among
the North Battle- of these tendencies that involve-
among many
denomi-
ment in the Latter Rain soon became anathema
such Pentecostal stalwarts as Lewi Pettrus of Sweden continued to endorse the movement,6
lmenzies, p. 232…
and as leaders
.
2George Hawtin, “Editorial,” The Sharon Star (1 February 1949), p. 2.
3George Hawtin, “Editorial,” The Sharon Star (1 April 1949), p. 2.
4Ern Hawtin, “A Report on Meetings by E. H. Hawtin Party,” The Sharon Star
(1 December 1949), p. 2.
5George Hawtin mentions the
sectar3an tendencies of his own ministry at that time in
George R.
Hawtin, “Mystery Babylon,” The Page (Battleford, Sask.: n.d.)
twelfth printing, pp. 10, 11.
6Lewi Pettrus, “The Source of a Revival,” The Sharon Star (1 February 1950), p. 1.
– 41-
10
of the
Apostolic Church,
of Elim Bible Institute in New York State and
Temple
in Detroit,
Michigan
continued
of Bethesda
Missionary in the
revival,
the movement these ministries
progressed
.
carried on and
developed principles the Latter Rain Revival,
becoming part
of the Charismatic
the 1960’s and 1970’s.
to move with
lasting
effects.
Many
of
that had arisen in
Renewal of
Renewal was Church who
Penn- with
Until
1977, one
of the noted leaders in the Charismatic
John Poole, son of Fred C. Poole, a pastor of the
Apostolic
was a major figure in the Latter Rain Revival.1 After his father’s death
his father’s church in Philadelphia,
four
separate congregations
home
meetings.2
In the
early 1970’s,
he was a frequent contributor to New Wine, an
important periodical
in 1963, John Poole
pastored sylvania, which, by 1976,
included sixty
associated
Renewal.
Bethesda
Missionary
contributor to
Logos Journal,
of the Charismatic
Renewal.
recognized
of the Charismatic
widely
circulated
Temple
in
Detroit, Michigan became promin- ent in the Charismatic Renewal.
Myrtle
Beall’s
son,
James Lee
Beall, who succeeded his mother as
pastor
of the
church, became a frequent
one of the most
periodicals
Some of the 1976
faculty
members of Elim Bible Institute in Lima, New York
(which
had moved from Homell in
1951),
had been
widely
leaders in the 1948 Latter Rain Movement,
Frink and Carlton
Spencer,
who became
president
the time of the Latter Rain Revival. Demos Shakarian,
Fellowship,
which
played
an
important part
Renewal,
invited Carlton
in
1953,3
an indication of Latter Rain
Full
Gospel
Businessmen’s
in
influencing
the Charismatic convention in
Washington
influence
upon
the
early development
H. David Edwards, Vice President ’76,
a
gathering
19-21,
1976. Also
present
including
Elmer of the school
during
founder of the
Spencer
to a
of
42,000 people
in
Mercer,
as a
speaker Winston I. Nunes, at that time a pastor in Toronto,
August 1951), pp. 10,
of the Charismatic Revival. of Elim, was a speaker at Jesus
Pennsylvania, August
at the same
gathering
was
Ontario who, as an
lfred C. Poole, “Days of Visitation,” The Elim Pentecostal Herald 22, 226 (July-
13. The Apostolic Church “of Wal6s” in Penygroes, Wales merged with similar groups in Bradford, Yorkshire: Hereford in the Midlands: and Glasgow, Scotland to form the “Apostolic Church,” which, by the time of the 1940’s had spread worldwide.
2H. David Edwards, interview at Elim Bible Institute, Lima, New York, 23 December 1976.
3Stanley Frodsham to Faith and Len Campbell, 3 June 1954, Stanley Frodsham Papers, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky.
– 42-
11
represented
both the inde- Assemblies
(both
important
pendent
Assemblies of which were “Latter in 1952.3
figure
in the Latter
Rain;l had
of God and the Elim
Missionary
Rain”)2
at the World Pentecostal Conference
founded
the World
Missionary
World MAP
publishes
camp meeting messages
emphasis.
Sydney,
Australia Jackson,
who
brought
attended
Plan,
an
organization pro-
the world. tapes
of its
camp meeting
have continued
in
its main
Kevin Conner and Rob
which was
pioneered
by Ray
Ralph Mahoney,
a close associate of Elim Bible
Institute,
a few meetings of the Latter Rain Movement in his
youth.4
In
1966, he
Assistance
viding
services for missionaries in thirty countries
throughout
books and distributes
speakers, 500,000
of which are in circulation worldwide.
Many
of these
are
by
leaders of the 1948 Latter Rain Move- ment,
and a large number of the
messages
Two of the
camp meeting speakers,
Wheeler,5
were
among
the first students at
Calvary
Bible
College
in
(now
in
Melbourne),
seeds of the Latter Rain to New Zealand from North America.6 The
Foreign
Missions
Secretary
of World
MAP,
Brian Bailey,7
had
brought
the 1948 Latter Rain Revival from North Battle-
with John Owens.8 R. Edward
meeting speaker
for World
MAP,
had had contact with the Latter Rain in the
early
1950’s9 and founded the Peniel Bible Institute in
Argen-
ford to
Europe,
Miller, another
camp
Papers, Asbury Theological Seminary,
lStanley
Frodsham to Faith and Len Campbell, 7 May 1949, Stanley Frodsham
Wilmore, Kentucky.
2The Elim Pentecostal Herald 24, 232 (July-September 1952), p. 10.
3Ibid.
Vancouver, B.C.,
4Ralph Mahoney to Richard Riss, 14 October 1976, Thesis File, Regent College,
Canada.
pp. 5,
5World MAP Tape Outreach, 1975 Tape Catalog (Burbank, CA: World MAP, 1975),
22.
Vancouver, B.C.,
6Ray Jackson, Sr. to Richard Riss, 16 March 1977, Thesis File, Regent College,
Canada.
7World Map Tape Outreach, 1975 Tape Catalog, p. 4.
Vancouver, B.C.,
8Cecil Cousen to Richard Riss, 20 March 1977, Thesis File, Regent College,
Canada.
9Campbell, p. 121.
– 43-
‘
12
tina, where he pioneered
a number of new churches at that
time,
and in later
years.
George Warnock,
author of The Feast of Tabernacles, one of the most influential books
arising
from within the Latter Rain
Movement,
acted as Ern Baxter’s
personal secretary
for two or three
years, immediately prior
to the 1948 revival.1 Eric Simila, Ern Baxter’s
secretary
in
1975, referred to
George
Warnock as an
associate, a ” `Timothy’ if you please,”
to Ern
Baxter,2
who became
widely
known in the Charismatic Renewal. In
1975,
Ern Baxter became
closely
associated with Christian Growth Ministries in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Logos Journal, which,
as has been
mentioned,
was one of the most widely
circulated
magazines
of the Charismatic
Renewal, grew out
of the publication,
Herald
of Faith/Harvest Time,
edited
by Joseph
Mattson- Boze and Gerald Derstine.3 Mattson-Boze
played
a
part
of the 1948 Latter Rain Revival,4 and Gerald Derstine was associated for several years
with J. Preston
Eby,
who had had some contact with the 1948 Latter Rain.5
5
Various beliefs and
practices
of the Latter Rain found their
way into the Charismatic Renewal, including
spiritual singing
and
dancing, praise,
the foundational ministries of
Ephesians 4:11,
the
laying
on of hands,
tabernacle
teaching,
the Feast of Tabernacles, and the founda- tional truths of Hebrews 6:1-2.
Of at least nineteen ministries6 that have
brought
Latter Rain be- liefs and
practices
into the Charismatic
Movement,
two of the most prominent
are those of Bill Britton in
Springfield,
Missouri and John Robert Stevens in Los
Angeles,
California. Bill Britton came into the Latter Rain in
May,
1950
through meetings
at Faith
Temple
in
.
lEm Baxter to Richard Riss, 14 July 1976, Thesis File, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
2Eric J. Simila to Richard Riss, 6 September [sic: Octobed 1975, Thesis File, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada.
3Dan Malachuk, “Publisher’s Preface,” Logos Journal 7, 1 (January-February 1977), p. 4.
_
4The Sharon Star (1 August 1949), p. 3.
5J. Preston Eby to Richard Riss, 11 October 1976, Thesis File, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada.
6Riss, pp. 195-196.
– 44-
13
Memphis,
Tennessee,
pastored
be an
evangelist,
a “publisher
Tacoma,
Washington,
that he would
Assemblies
of God church in
by
Paul Grubb. The
guest speaker
was Fred C. Poole, who laid hands
upon
him and
prophesied
of
good
news.”l The same
year,
John Robert Stevens visited an
Independent
where he received the
laying
on of hands
by Winston I. Nunes.2
By 1977,
John Robert Stevens had at least
ninety- four churches associated with him,3
throughout
in most of these ministries
for the
coming outpouring
a
company
of
overcoming
who have come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ to
Satan, casting
him out of the
heavenlies,
binding
him in the
earthlies, bringing
the
hope
of deliverance
and worldwide. The
emphasis preparation
finally bring
the
FULLNESS,
actually
dethrone
all the families of the earth. This … a people into full
redemption-free and
carnality.”4
Traditional Pentecostal
the Latter Charismatic
the U.S. and Canada,
is
upon of the
Holy Spirit
“which shall
Sons of God
and
finally
and life to great
work of the
Spirit
shall usher from the
curse, sin, sickness,
death
denominations have
been,
to a large
extent, unaware of the
lasting
effects of the Latter Rain Movement.
Rain was one of several
important
Renewal of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Its
significance context of World Protestantism, therefore,
growing
influence in most Protestant denominations.
However,
influences
upon
the
in the lies in its effects
upon
a
(Springfield,
1 (Becky Sue] Britton, Prophet On Wheels: The Life Story of Bill Britton, part three
MO: Bill Britton, 1980), pp. 1-4.
Angeles, Anaheim,
2John Robert Stevens, “How God Met Me in Psalm 144,” taped
message (Los
CA: Living Word, Inc., 17 August 1975); Mel Bailey, telephone interview,
CA to Greenvale, NY, 12 June 1976.
3John Robert Stevens, The Living Word This Week, 30 January 1977, pp. 21-24.
September 1976, p.
4J. Preston Eby, “The Battle of Armageddon, Part IV,” Kingdom Bible Studies,
10.
– 45-
14
