Apostles, Prophets, and Prophecy, Oh My!

Sharon Bible School

Recently, I’ve had my interest piqued by the different streams that emerged out of Classical Pentecostalism in the early days of the revival. What we know as Classical Pentecostalism finds its roots in the move of the Spirit that began in 1901 at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Charles Parham and his students began to articulate the Doctrine of the Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that would separate Classical Pentecostals from their evangelical and holiness forefathers. Parham’s school in Houston led William Seymour to embrace the Pentecostal message and take it back to Los Angeles, where God poured forth His Spirit in Pentecostal power, beginning in 1906.

As the rivers of Classical Pentecostalism began to flow in those early days, different streams emerged that often led to division from the denominations that formed out of the fires of Azusa Street. One such stream that has piqued my interest of late is the Latter Rain Movement of 1948. By 1935, many felt that the fires of Pentecostalism had begun to cool, and that by the 1940s, the Classical Pentecostal denominations had begun to take the rigid, ritualistic atmospheres they arose to confront.[1] Between the years of 1947 and 1952, awakenings seemed to be taking place within a number of movements. One can see the beginnings of the healing revivals at this time, with William Branham, Oral Roberts, Gordon Lindsay, and the like. There were also awakenings in the Evangelical world through the budding ministries of Billy Graham, Charles Templeton, and Tom Rees.[2] When William Branham visited Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1947, God’s use of the word of knowledge within his healing ministry made an impact on the teachers at the Sharon Bible School in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.[3] It was this meeting that sent the students and faculty of Sharon Bible School to prayer, a prayer meeting that led to another awakening, the Latter Rain Outpouring.
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George Hawtin, a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, had founded Bethel Bible Institute in Star City, Saskatchewan, in 1935. He later moved the school to Saskatoon, where it was formally affiliated with the PAOC. In 1947, there were some disputes that arose between PAOC district leadership and the staff and faculty of Bethel over issues of curriculum and doctrine.[4] One eyewitness to the revival stated that PAOC leaders were concerned that prayer meetings and revival services were taking too much time away from educational pursuits.[5] Disputes got so heated that Hawtin, Earnest Hawtin, and Percy Hunt resigned and moved to North Battleford, where they reorganized the Sharon Bible School, taking the majority of their students and the essential records of the school with them.[6] The Sharon School entered at the time of fasting and prayer, and on February 12, 1948, an outpouring of the Spirit began that would come to be known as the Latter Rain Movement.[7] Some believed this to be the fulfillment of a prophetic word spoken in 1906 that a great revival would begin in Northern Canada.[8] Word of the outpouring spread, and soon leaders from Vancouver, BC, Detroit, MI, and even New York began to spread the Latter Rain message. The revival was marked by an outpouring of healings and miracles, something that had seemed to dwindle in the previous decade in the Pentecostal movement.[9]

The movement was not without controversy, however, as it received sharp criticism from the established Pentecostal denominations. In fact, the controversy was so strong that Frodsham, editor of The Pentecostal Evangel, resigned his credentials with the Assemblies of God after visiting Bethesda Temple in Detroit in 1949.[10] In 1949, the Assemblies of God released a minister’s letter that spoke strongly out against what it perceived as the dangers of the Latter Rain movement, bringing some charges, and rightly so in some ways.[11] Interestingly, the foundations of the Latter Rain Movement laid the groundwork for the modern expressions of the Charismatic church that some still speak out against today. So what were some of the unique teachings of the Latter Rain Movement that brought such strong denouncement from the classical Pentecostal denominations of the day? In many ways, the unique emphasis of the movement was nothing new. Riss notes:

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“Both arose during a time of spontaneous Evangelical awakening, and both were characterized by a strong expectation of the imminent coming of Christ. Both employed the laying on of hands for the impartation of gifts of the Spirit. 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. Both recognized the existence of present-day apostles. prophets. Evangelists, pastors and teachers and both were characterized by widespread repentance and brokenness before the Lord."[12]
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So why was this movement rejected by the mainstream Pentecostal movement? Perhaps it comes down to an overemphasis of certain truths that led to their outright rejection. How often is this the case? How often is it that when certain doctrines are taken too far, the movement is labeled heretical and cast off as unacceptable? What if we could see the fruit of this stream in the river of Classical Pentecostalism and make sure those waters are still flowing in fullness, within the bounds of scriptural truth?

Apostles and Prophets
One of the most controversial issues that came out of the Latter Rain Movement, something still controversial today, is the present-day ministry of Apostles and Prophets. Does God still call apostles and prophets today? I believe he does. I believe that all five ministry gifts that Paul articulates in Ephesians 4:11 are still active and needed in the world today. Does that mean that everyone with a business card identifying themselves as an apostle or prophet is legitimate? No. Neither is everyone with a business card identifying themselves as an evangelist, pastor, or teacher.

The Latter Rain Movement brought recognition of these legitimate ministries to the Pentecostal world. Part of what they felt God was doing in the move of the Spirit was restoring the foundations of the New Testament Church, building the church on apostolic and prophetic foundations. Drawing on Ephesians 2:19-22, the Latter Rain Movement emphasized that apostles and prophets played a foundational role in the church, and God had called them to fight for these foundational ministries in building the church according to God’s design.[13] It was these foundational ministries of apostles and prophets that brought understanding of God’s divine plan for the church and, alongside the evangelists, pastors, and teacher, apostles and prophets provided a needed ministry for the overall health and development of the body of Christ.[14] It was this perspective that present-day apostolic and prophetic ministry laid the foundation for the church, which was condemned by the Assemblies of God at their 1949 General Council.[15]

One of the critiques of the movement suggested that believing these ministries were necessary for the proper order of the church denied the legitimate authority of ecclesiastical bodies already in existence. The Assemblies of God felt that the emphasis on apostles and prophets laying hands on people denied their authority:
“The ordination of our ministers through the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery is discounted by these brethren, that is, discounted if it was not accompanied by the prophetic gift designating to what ministry the minister has been called and with a prophetic confirmation of the gifts with which he is endowed.”[16]
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Is it possible to recognize the legitimacy of apostolic and prophetic ministry in church planting and church health, while also recognizing proper ecclesiastical authorities? I think so. Does over-emphasis and abuse negate the legitimacy of apostolic and prophetic ministry today? I would argue to the contrary. The answer to abuse is not negation but correction. What if we recognized legitimate apostles and prophets today? What if we made room for authentic apostolic and prophetic ministry today? What if part of a renewal of Classical Pentecostalism is a recapturing of the stream of apostolic and prophetic ministry in our midst, within biblical guidelines under proper authority?
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Personal Prophecy
Another emphasis of the Latter Rain Movement was the power of personal prophecy, accompanied by the laying on of hands. Within the revival, many times they would lay hands on people and receive prophetic words for that individual, often confirming or imparting a spiritual gift for the work God had for them to do.[17] Listen to their description of what happened in the fires of the Latter Rain revival:

“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.”[18]
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I don’t think prophetic words of this nature were necessarily against Classical Pentecostal teaching, but the response of the denominations seems to relate, again, to the abuse of the prophetic to control or mislead people. Holdcroft states that prophecies concerning marriage were given at times, often resulting ultimately in divorce.[19] Some prophesied concerning a missions ministry, including the pronouncement that the individual didn’t need to learn the language of the country where they were going.[20] This would seem to be a repeat of the missionary tongues that Charles Parham sought to bring early in the movement.

Do these abuses negate the power of personal prophecy? I don’t think so. Paul seems to indicate that there was a powerful prophetic moment in Timothy’s life when the presbytery laid hands on him (1 Timothy 1:18-19). Paul tells him to wage war according to the prophecies spoken over him. Prophecy through the laying on of hands was empowering for Timothy to fight the good fight of faith in his ministry. There also seemed to be an impartation of a gift for Timothy’s ministry when Paul laid hands on him that was to empower him in the fearful circumstances he was facing (2 Timothy 1:6-7). So when others pray for us and speak prophetically over us, there’s a powerful encouragement that should empower us to live and minister as God would have us in our world.

​Again, we need to ask the question as to whether the abuses negate the gifts? Never. We must use wisdom whenever we receive prophetic ministry. Paul gave this instruction to the Thessalonians:​

1 Thessalonians 5:18–22 (ESV)
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
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Personal prophecy is a powerful ministry of the Spirit today, and I believe the abuses do not require us to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. Instead, we must heed scriptural admonitions to test and weigh prophetic utterances, and accept those that, in accordance with scripture, encourage, edify, and exhort towards greater Christlikeness.
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Conclusion
I think the reignition of apostolic and prophetic ministry, and the allowance of personal prophecy, may be the powerful contributions, or perhaps reignitions, of the Latter Rain Movement. These ministries are common in the charismatic movement today, and perhaps under intense scrutiny in light of some recent events. Classical Pentecostals may have questions, and rightly so. Are these practices Pentecostal? Are they Biblical? How should we respond? I think we have to ask whether this stream may flow from the river of what God was doing in the Classical Pentecostal movement and, if so, how we might bring them back into healthy, Biblical expression today.
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What does it look like for authentic apostolic and prophetic ministry to take place in today’s world? How does this stream fit within the river of Classical Pentecostalism, and what might we learn from it? How might we make sure we are not despising nor quenching the Spirit’s work, but testing and holding on to the authentic? Would you join me in praying for a renewal of authentic apostolic and prophetic ministry in the Classical Pentecostal world today?  
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[1]Richard Riss, “The New Order of the Latter Rain,” Assemblies of God Heritage 7, no. 3 (Fall 1987): 17.
[2]Riss, 15.
[3]Riss, 15.
[4]L. Thomas Holdcroft, “The New Order of the Latter Rain,” Paraclete 14, no. 2 (Spring 1980): 18.
[5]Ewald H. Wanagas, “The Revival & Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 1948: Things I Have Seen and Heard,” The Sharon Star (September/October 2000): 2.
[6]Holdcroft, 18.
[7]Riss, 16.
[8]Riss, 16.
[9]Riss, 15.
[10]Riss, 17.
[11]Executive Presbytery, “Letter to Ministers on the Latter Rain Movement,” Assemblies of God Minister’s Letter (April 20, 1949): 1-5.
[12]Riss, 16.
[13]Wanagas, 10.
[14]Wanagas, 10.
[15]Riss, 16.
[16]Executive Presbytery, 4.
[17]Holdcroft, 20.
[18]Ernest Hawin, “How this Revival Began,” The Sharon Star (1 August 1949): 3; in Riss, 17.
[19]Holdcroft, 21.
[20]Ibid.  ​