It’s commonly thought (especially in North America) that the Azusa Street revival along with Parham’s prior teaching on initial evidence is the origin of all things pentecostal. This is simply untrue. While wildly influential, there is evidence that pentecostal events broke out globally and independently in various locations. Winds from the North explores the history of pentecostalism in Canada—a type of spirituality that was influenced by but also contributed to American developments.

The essays of this volume are clustered around three themes: origins, women, and controversy. I found the essays on pentecostal controversies to be particularly interesting. David A. Reed explores Canadian contributions to the Oneness controversy while D. William Faupel and Mark Hutchinson turn their attention to the the Latter Rain revival. Did you know that some Later Rain folk would arrive in town, pitch their tent opposite an established pentecostal congregation and preach, “Come Out” (274)!

The quality of essays in this edited volume are uniformly high. I cannot think of a better volume to place in the hands of Canadian Pentecostals who seek to know their roots.

Wilkinson, Michael and Peter Althouse, eds. Winds from the North: Canadian Contributions to the Pentecostal Movement. Leiden: Brill, 2010.