The Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU), a case study exploring the missiological roots of early British Pentecostalism (1909-1925) Item Type Thesis or dissertation Authors Goodwin, Leigh Publisher University of Chester Download date 29/09/2021 14:08:25 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10034/314921 This work has been submitted to ChesterRep – the University of Chester’s online research repository http://chesterrep.openrepository.com Author(s): Leigh Goodwin Title: The Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU), a case study exploring the missiological roots of early British Pentecostalism (1909-1925) Date: October 2013 Originally published as: University of Chester PhD thesis Example citation: Goodwin, L. (2013). The Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU), a case study exploring the missiological roots of early British Pentecostalism (1909- 1925). (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Chester, United Kingdom. Version of item: Submitted version Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/314921 The Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU), a case study exploring the missiological roots of early British Pentecostalism (1909-1925) Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Chester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Leigh Goodwin October 2013 Thesis Contents Abstract p. 3 Thesis introduction and acknowledgements pp. 4-9 Chapter 1: Literature review and methodology pp.10-62 1.1 Literature review 1.2 Methodology Chapter 2: Social and religious influences on early British pp. 63-105 Pentecostal missiological development 2.1 Social influences affecting early twentieth century 2.1 Missiological precursors to the PMU’s faith mission praxis 2.2 Exploration of theological roots and influences upon the PMU Chapter 3: PMU’s formation as a Pentecostal faith mission pp. 106-172 during pre-war years (1909-1914) 3.1 Arrival of Pentecostalism in Britain and PMU’s formation at Sunderland 3.2 The PMU’s influence on global Pentecostalism as a mission movement Chapter 4: Disruption of the PMU during Great War (1914-1918) pp. 173 - 220 4.1 Causes of conflict and Christian attitudes to the War 4.2 The War’s impact on early British Pentecostalism and its missionary activity 4.3 Breakdown of relationship with the CIM Chapter 5: Momentum for Pentecostal denominations and pp. 221-280 amalgamation of the PMU into the British Assemblies of God (AOG) in post war years (1918-1925) 5.1 Stagnation of the PMU’s growth in early 1920’s 5.2 Examination of the Congo Evangelistic Mission (CEM) and its relation to the PMU 5.3 Commencement of the Dutch Pentecostal missionary society 5.4 Formation of the AOG and merger with the PMU Thesis summary pp. 281-286 Bibliography pp. 287-307 2 Abstract The Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU) commenced in 1909 as a non- sectarian Pentecostal faith mission with many similarities to the China Inland Mission (CIM), influenced by the links of its President, Cecil Polhill, as one of the illustrious Cambridge Seven missionaries. In 1924 it amalgamated into the newly formed British Assemblies of God (AOG), with a full merger in 1925. This thesis reconstructs the historical narrative of the PMU examining its theology and praxis. This thesis is not a descriptive biographical narrative of the PMU’s leaders and missionaries but a historiography exploring the PMU’s development in its original context based on information provided by primary sources. Other than one 1995 Masters dissertation, no research has been conducted specifically on the PMU. This research seeks to recover the lost voice of early British non-sectarian Pentecostal missiology marginalized by Protestant mission historiography and overlooked by Pentecostal historiographers focused on American or later periods of Pentecostalism. Pentecostal historiographies have interpreted the twentieth century global revival movement largely through the ‘latter rain’ motif as an eschatologically providential event, discontinuous with previous ecclesiastical history. Pentecostal mission historiography is still developmental, especially in the employment of an historical roots methodology as opposed to traditional providential approaches. This thesis argues that early British Pentecostalism, before the Great War, originated as a non-sectarian mission movement strongly linked to antecedent faith mission roots, demonstrating the necessity for Pentecostals to engage with broader research methodologies that challenge traditional perceptions of the emergence and development of Pentecostalism. The Great War was interpreted with an apocalyptic lens that increasingly shifted Pentecostal eschatological emphasis away from missional urgency towards speculative application of Biblical prophecy with early twentieth century events. The severing of the PMU from its faith mission roots during the Great War, through CIM policy averse to Pentecostalism, reinforced Pentecostal perceptions of eschatological discontinuity and the need of a distinctive denominational identity in the uncertainty of the inter-war period. The lifespan of the world’s first modern Pentecostal missionary organisation was relatively short but it encompassed three specific periods of British history: prior to the Great War, the Great War years and the inter-War years This thesis utilises these three distinct periods to provide a progressive narrative highlighting the challenges within the PMU’s developmental history from non-sectarian faith mission to denominational mission department. The missiological emphasis of early Pentecostalism, as exemplified by the PMU, provides an understanding of the Pentecostal global phenomena a century later. Early 20th century Pentecostal revivals occurring in various places could have resulted in Pentecostalism remaining a localised sect but its significance grew through its emphasis on missiological urgency with pneumatological empowerment. Contemporary British and global Pentecostalism cannot be explained without historiographical reference to its earliest missiological roots including the PMU. 3 Thesis introduction and acknowledgements The author of this thesis attended an Assemblies of God (AOG) Church from childhood and studied at Mattersey Hall, the British AOG College. In 2007- 2009 the author undertook MTh studies in Pentecostalism. His thesis was an historical review of an early British Pentecostal leader from an Anglican background.1 During this period of study the author recognised he had uncritically accepted simplistic views regarding the origins of Pentecostalism through primary revival centres such as Azusa Street and Sunderland. Interest in early British Pentecostalism has focused on its indirect emergence from the Azusa revival, when Thomas Barratt brought the Latter Rain teaching of a new outpouring of the Spirit to Sunderland at the request of resident Anglican vicar, Alexander Boddy. The Apostolic, Elim and AOG British Pentecostal denominations, formed in the early part of the 20th century, arose from this Sunderland revival centre. The author was aware of the existence of the Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU) commenced by one of the Cambridge Seven, Cecil Polhill, before the AOG’s formation. He also knew that Hampstead College, the PMU training facility, was the historical forerunner of Mattersey Hall where he studied. He became intrigued to question why Pentecostals concentrate their understanding of early British Pentecostalism on Boddy and Sunderland, while knowledge of the PMU and a renowned missionary such as Polhill appears minimal. These questions grew when the author’s preliminary research uncovered details that Polhill had personally visited Azusa Street and was probably the first direct link between British Pentecostalism and the aforementioned revival. If there is a paucity of knowledge regarding Polhill’s involvement in early Pentecostalism then the missionary organisation he formed has suffered an even greater lack of meaningful research. The Sunderland revival generally is viewed as the most important heritage bestowed by early British Pentecostalism to later denominational expressions of Pentecostalism, largely because the PMU’s contribution has either been ignored or is unknown. However this thesis proposes that the identity of early British Pentecostalism was inherently one of 1 Goodwin, Leigh, The Life and Doctrine of C.L. Parker (MTh dissertation, Mattersey Hall in association with Bangor University, 2009) 4 Spirit empowered faith mission and restores the PMU’s significance in providing a strong missional heritage to subsequent expressions of Pentecostalism. This question of why such ignorance prevailed regarding the PMU was further heightened when the author realised the PMU was not just the first British Pentecostal missionary society to be formed but one of the earliest attempts of Pentecostals globally to organise themselves to fulfil Jesus’ Great Commission. The issue of the PMU’s overlooked significance requires explanation and will not be resolved satisfactorily by utilising secondary source accounts on early Pentecostal development largely perpetuating that neglect. The author embarked on a comprehensive reading of primary sources such as the PMU minutes, archived correspondence and early Pentecostal magazines Confidence and Flames of Fire, which directly refer to the PMU’s missionary activity. These resources have been used by various authors to provide a general overview of the development of Pentecostalism but there was both the scope and the need for fresh research to be conducted that would lead to the construction