Pentecostal Education: A Forgotten Heritage

Bethel Bible School in Topeka, KS (From Marion Doss from Scranton, Kansas, USA)

If there’s one thing that Pentecostals are not exactly known for, it’s education. Most Pentecostals are not known for their pursuit of education and advanced training. Interestingly, there’s a rich history of education within the early days of the Pentecostal revival, some of it that is not well known. Many Pentecostals know the origin story of Classical Pentecostalism, a movement that began in the study of scripture at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible Institute in Topeka, Kansas. It was there that students felt, through their study of the book of Acts, that the initial sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit was speaking in tongues. As students began to seek more of God, Agnes Ozman was the first to receive her Pentecostal experience in 1901. This was one of the major centers out of which the Classical Pentecostal movement arose—a Bible institute. Many Bible institutes began in those days to train Pentecostals. Pentecostals were not limited to Bible schools, however. Sometime last year, I began to notice an interesting piece of Pentecostal history. As I read through historical periodicals from the early days of the Pentecostal revival, I stumbled upon something that I think I missed in my study of Pentecostal history. Alongside early Bible institutes, there were a number of literary schools developed for the training of Pentecostal people.

The Pentecostal Bible Institute
As the fires of the Pentecostal revival began to burn, so did a desire to learn and grow in a knowledge of God’s Word. Within 10 years of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Topeka and 5 years of the move of the Spirit at Azusa Street, a number of Pentecostal Bible schools began operating throughout the United States. Coupled with camp meetings, people were urged to bring supplies to stay for an extended time of training.[1] One of these schools met for three months before the first General Council of the Assemblies of God in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1914. A man by the name of Howard Goss rented the opera house for his church and D. C. O. Opperman conducted a school in that three months; students lived in a large building a mile away from the opera house and then would attend Bible studies in the opera house where the goal was to learn “how to pray, how to study the word, and how to know God and walk with him.”[2] A Bible school in Fort Worth, Texas provided training ground for a number of early Pentecostal leaders.[3] A S. Copley and J. R. Flower conducted a Bible school in Kansas City in the summer of 1909.[4]

A later Bible school was started by D. W. Kerr in 1919 in San Francisco. Pacific Pentecostal Bible School opened on October 1, 1919, after a 12-year recognition of the need for a West Coast training center.[5] Partnered with the Glad Tidings Mission, it was believed that this school would become a strategic center for training works and sending them all around the world for Christian work. One of the hallmarks of these early Pentecostal Bible schools was a strong emphasis on practice. It was said of the Pacific School that in addition to courses in music and preaching, lectures and messages on missions, “There will be given abundant practice in leadership of meetings and daily practical work in street meetings, hospitals, and homes that the servants of the Lord in training may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work.”[6] The practical focus of these schools stemmed from their heart for the life of the Spirit. Gohr said Opperman sought to balance education and training because he did not want intellectual development to stifle or “overpower the deeper life of the soul.”[7] He also desired trained workers who did not land on the mission field with no knowledge of what to do. He felt that they should “learn to do by doing” and learn through Bible studies paired with prayer, fasting, and other practical ministry experiences. Such an ideal serves to express what scholars have identified as the interplay of experience, pragmatism, and action within Pentecostalism.[8]

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 Pentecostal Literary Schools
In addition to these Bible schools, there was also a push for what are identified as literary schools. From what I can tell in my reading, literary schools were elementary and high schools operated by Pentecostals for the education of their children. As early as 1914, the General Council of the Assemblies of God officially recommended the literary school of R. B. Chisholm in Union, Mississippi for their people, and further suggested that their people avail themselves of any other Full Gospel or Pentecostal schools near them.[9] Interestingly, and importantly, there was a distinction between the literary training of children in the literary schools and that offered by Bible schools, such as T. K. Leonard’s Gospel School in Findlay, Ohio, a school devoted to Bible training.[10] The Pentecostal Holiness Church also offered multiple Bible and Literary schools: Falcon Holiness School, Holmes Bible and Missionary Institute, and Franklin Springs Institute.[11]

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There was distinction, however, in that the Holmes Bible and Missionary Institute was more focused on ministerial training, while Falcon and Franklin Springs focused more on the literary training of children.[12] Literary schools provided comprehensive education for children, with the Franklin Springs school advertising courses from 1st grade through 11th grade, and covering the standard curriculum of liberal arts training.[13] There was a Bible piece to the education, but the main focus was on the literary training. Daniel C. O. Opperman, after many years of running short-term Bible schools, opened a combined Bible and literary school in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, dedicating a large hotel on August 15, 1915.[14]

Could we have forgotten a major piece of our discipleship, especially that of our children? What would it look like for Pentecostal churches and people to catch, once again, a vision for the Pentecostal literary school? Now, I must admit, I’m biased. I teach third grade at an incredible Christian school in Southern Illinois, Ambleside School of Marion. I work in an environment where children are receiving a liberal arts education through an environment and a pedagogy that is incredibly dependent on the Holy Spirit. What would it look like for Pentecostals to reawaken this piece of our history and pick up the mantle once again? I’d like to make two suggestions that I think could spearhead the conversation for us today.

An Incredible Heritage to Rediscover
Gabriel Pethel notes that the rise of the modern Christian school movement coincided with the rise of the modern fundamentalist movement.[15] It began to counter the enlightenment, modernist worldview that was seeping its way into the educational systems of the day. In light of the cultural upheaval of the sexual revolution and, sadly, the desegregation of public schools, Christians flocked to Christan schools where their students would be sustained in a fundamentalist worldview, protected and shielded from the forces of secularism and cultural instability. Fundamentalism, however, has a number of flaws in its worldview, and tends not to be friendly to Pentecostalism. Most fundamentalists are not open to foundational Pentecostal beliefs in the least, and many are actively opposed to Pentecostal theology and practice. Two of the leading curriculum distributors of Christian educational materials are operated by Christian universities that are actively opposed to Charismatic practices. One web-site articulates, “Sign gifts as mentioned in the New Testament and observed in the early Church have fulfilled their purpose and are not a normative pattern for today.”[16] Another, “We are opposed to the charismatic movement and its sign manifestations, such as speaking in tongues.”[17] I am not saying that these resources are bad, in fact I used books from both publishers in my Christian education in high school. I only bring it to attention to discuss the possibility that it’s time for Pentecostals to reawaken Pentecostal education for a new generation.

I’d like to suggest that the Pentecostal literary schools give a foundation and heritage for Pentecostals that pre-dates the modern Christian school movement. Pentecostals joined Catholics, Lutherans, and Mennonites who had begun to pick up the torch of education for the children of their movements as modernism began seeping its way in. Pentecostals have a history of teaching and educating children that traces back to the earliest days of the movement as schools were opened and recommended by the leading Classical Pentecostal denominations and fellowships in their infancy. It was desired that Pentecostal people find and support schools that would provide a Pentecostal education for their children.  What if we recaptured that heritage today, and started a movement of Pentecostal schools, distinct from the modern fundamentalist roots of the modern Christian school movement? What might that look like? What if there were methods that aligned more foundationally with a Pentecostal worldview? I will write on this in the future, but through my training and experience, I have seen the philosophy of Charlotte Mason embrace a Spirit-driven educational model that shares some foundational practices that align with a Pentecostal worldview.  

A Sustainable Educational Partnership
Not only do we have a heritage to rediscover, but I believe there could be a strategic partnership for Pentecostal colleges and universities. It’s no secret that Bible colleges are hurting today. The health of many, many Bible colleges is in question and many are struggling to stay afloat financially. Dwindling enrollments have made the sustainability of such schools extremely difficult. Many of these Bible and Literary Schools of early Pentecostals operated the school for children but also offered a three-year Bible curriculum for focused ministerial training as well. Could this be a missing piece in our educational strength and stability? What if we opened Christian schools, devoted to a Pentecostal education for our children, and also shared space and resources for ministry training schools? What if the faculty of the Christian school were trained and equipped to teach in the Bible school as well? What if the sharing of resources created a sustainable path of Christian education for all students, and created a realistic pathway to train the next generation, not only for vocational ministry by also for service in all God’s vocations throughout the world?

Conclusion
I certainly do not have all the answers for Pentecostal education, but I’ve begun to ask some questions. I think more Pentecostals need to begin to ask questions. A few Sundays ago, my pastor preached an incredible sermon about re-digging the wells of our heritage. He spoke on re-digging wells of Spirit-baptism, sanctification, healing, and other Pentecostal distinctives. Maybe it’s time to re-dig the wells of the Pentecostal literary school. Maybe it’s time for Pentecostals to re-embrace a vision of a liberal arts education for their children. What if we had Christian schools that did not simply follow the trends of Fundamentalist Christian education but put forth a distinctive Spirit-filled education? What if our practices were different from the local elementary school down the street and embraced a Pentecostal worldview? I’d like to invite you to join me in a dream—a dream for Pentecostal education.  

References: 
[1]Glenn Gohr, “D.C.O. Opperman and Early Ministry Training Short-term Bible Schools,” Assemblies of God Heritage 11, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 5.              
 [2]Ibid.
 [3]Ibid.
 [4]A. S. Copley and J. R. Flower, “Summer Bible Schol in Kansas City, MO,” The Pentecost 1, no. 6 (April-May 1909): 1-2.
 [5]D. W. Kerr, “Pacific Pentecostal Bible School,” The Latter Rain Evangel 304 & 305 (September 6, 1919): 8.
 [6]Ibid. 
 [7]Gohr, 6.
 [8]Ulrik Josefsson and Matthew T. Nowachek, “Practitioners and Pentecostalism: An Epistemological Investigation into Learning as Doing, Experience, and Reflection,” Pentecostal Education Journal 7, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 102-103.
 [9]General Council of the Assemblies of God, Combined Minutes of the General Council of the Assemblies of God in the United States of America, Canada, and Foreign Lands (St. Louis, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1914), 7.
 [10]Ibid.
 [11]G. F. Taylor, “Camp Meetings and Schools,” The Pentecostal Holiness Advocate 3, nos. 12-13 (July 1919): 1.
 [12]A. C. Holland, “Franklin Springs Institute,” The Pentecostal Holiness Advocate 4, no. 13 (July 29, 1920): 9.
 [13]“Franklin Springs Institute Literary and Bible School of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, ” The Pentecostal Holiness Advocate 5, no. 17 (August 25, 1921): 8.  
 [14]Daniel C. O. Opperman, “Magnetic Hotel, Home for the Ozark Bible and Literary School, Dedicated to the Lord,” The Word & Witness 12, no. 9 (September 1915): 2.          
 [15]Gabriel J. Pethel, Christian Education in the 21st Century: Renewing a Transformational Vision (Master’s thesis, Cedarville University, 2011), 32-33.
[16]“Position Statements,” Bob Jones University, available from: https://www.bju.edu/about/positions.php; accessed 14 February 2025.
[17]“Biblical Foundations,” Pensacola Christian College, available from: https://www.pcci.edu/about/biblical-foundations.aspx; accessed 14 February 2025.