Welcome to the Pentecostal Birthplace online museum. The Pentecostal movement began at the Bethel Healing Home and Bible College in Topeka, KS and at the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. This website is chronological, we go from the Bethany Healing Home to Bible College, and finally to Azuza Street. Our goal with this site is to celebrate Pentecostal history, and to make people aware of the historic structures, especially the Bethel Healing Home which is still standing, but in very poor condition (more later). We have began to document these sites and install informal markers to help others find the locations.

Bethel Healing Home in Topeka, Kansas 

Rev. Charles Parham moved his family and base of operations to Topeka, Kansas, in 1898. Here he founded Bethel Healing Home, located at the corner of Fourth and Jackson streets. The bottom floor housed a chapel, public reading room and the printing office where the Apostolic Faith magazine was published. On the second floor were 14 rooms devoted to housing and healing of the sick. (The director of this online museum visited both of the Bethel locations in July of 2009.  He put up informal monuments, and took many of the photos on this site. The Bethel Healing Home is still standing, but is vacant and in very rundown condition).

Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas

This was a castle-like mansion called Stone's Folly, near present-day S.W. 18th and Stone Streets in Topeka. Bethel Bible College was founded in 1900 by Charles Parham. Forty students including Agnes Ozman and William J. Seymour had gathered to learn the major tenets of the Holiness Movement from Parham. William Seymour would take this teaching to Los Angeles where he would start the Azusa Street Revival. Shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, 1901, student Agnes Ozman received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues at Bethel. Today many Pentecostal denominations trace their beginnings to Bethel and Azusa Street. 

Informal Markers at Bethel Bible College and Healing Home

We designed and placed two basic historical markers at both of the Pentecostal centers in Topeka. This was designed to raise awareness among anyone in the area or for those trying to find these locations.

Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California

The Azusa Street Revival was a historic Pentecostal revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California and was led by William J. Seymour. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906 at the African Methodist Episcopal Church and continued until roughly 1915. The revival was characterized by ecstatic spiritual experiences accompanied by speaking in tongues, dramatic worship services, and inter-racial mingling. Members of the audience included people from a broad spectrum of income levels and religious backgrounds. This was considered to be outrageous and unorthodox, especially at the time. Today, the revival is considered by historians to be one of the primary catalysts for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century. Church services were held on the first floor where the benches were placed in a rectangular pattern. Some of the benches were simply planks put on top of empty nail kegs.

How you can help

The Bethel Healing Home in Topeka needs the most urgent attention. As of 2009, the building is vacant and has not been maintained for many years. Call or e-mail your local historical society and ask that they do whatever they can to raise awareness about this sacred site. We have already contacted several agencies to encourage them to preserve Bethel Healing Home, including the Kansas Historical Society, Sacred Sites International Foundation and the Partners for Sacred Places.

Make a donation. This will help us maintain the website and to help raise awareness of other endangered sacred sites around the world. Free bonus for every donation of $50 or more: You will receive a CD with two essential Bible study tools: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, and The Bible in Basic English.

About us

This site is set up by Rick Sheridan, an assistant professor of journalism at Wilberforce University in Ohio. For more information, please contact him at (916) 716-1608, or by e-mail.