New Book Spans a Century of Pentecostalism, Explores its Continued Growth

A press release from Faithday Press:

(Hazel Crest, IL July 7, 2006) – As America’s mainline Protestant churches
fight for survival, the nation’s Pentecostal and Charismatic
denominations are experiencing rapid growth with no end in sight. This
past spring, nearly fifty thousand worshippers traveled to the city of Los
Angeles to celebrate the 1906 Azusa Street Revival, where the majority
of Classical Pentecostals from around the world trace their roots.

How these Spirit-filled congregations have continued to thrive for over a
Century is the subject of Make Room for the Hoy Ghost: The Azusa Street
Revival, Bishop C. H. Mason and One Hundred Years of Pentecostalism in
America, a new 256 page book by Mack C. Mason.

In this Centennial Year release, Mack Mason revisits the Azusa
phenomenon and connects the stories of early Pentecostal leaders William
Seymour, Bishop C. H. Mason, and William Durham, with the many notable
ministers who emerged later, including Aimee Semple McPherson, Oral
Roberts, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and others. The author also
elevates the often overlooked Garfield T. Haywood, Lucy Smith, Mattie B.
Poole and others.

While the largest Pentecostal groups – the Church of God in Christ and
the Assemblies of God — both hold Trinitarian views, the best known
Pentecostal minister in modern times is Bishop T. D. Jakes of Dallas, TX
who ascribes to Oneness, a doctrine which divided Pentecostals around
1916. Mack Mason’s careful treatment of the subject finally brings
clarity to the origins what was then called “the new issue.” Mason also
examines what is now known as the Charismatic Renewal which began in
1959 when an Episcopal Priest experienced Pentecost. Soon thereafter
Baptists, Catholics, Methodists and other groups joined the neo-Pentecostal
movement.

Mack C. Mason is a writer and music critic whose articles appear sites
such as Gospel Flava, The Black Gospel Blog, and his own Gospel Trade
News and Review.

Mason is also a pastor and ordained minister of the Church of God in
Christ, which gives him an inside perspective and appreciation for the
subject. However, he does not back away from the scandals which have
cast negative shadows over the movement. In Make Room for the Holy Ghost,
he thoroughly and graciously enlarges upon the often narrow treatment
of Pentecostalism. The result is an extensive Who’s Who among
Pentecostals and long overdue recognition of their various contributions
to its development.

Make Room for the Holy Ghost will surely recruit many new fans for the
author’s writing style, which has been called “engaging” by those who
quickly found themselves enthralled by the stories in his previous
books, Saints in the Land of Lincoln and the recent Holding On From The
Inside Out.

Clearly, Pentecostals are here to stay, and Mack Mason’s book helps us
to better understand what their “joyful noise” is all about. Make Room
for the Holy Ghost will be available September 5, 2006.