William J. Seymour

William Joseph Seymour was born in 1870 in Centerville, Louisiana, to parents who had been enslaved. He worked as a waiter and labourer in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and elsewhere, joined holiness churches and lost the sight of one eye to smallpox. In Houston in 1905 he attended Charles Parham's Bible school, sitting in the hallway because of segregation, and accepted Parham's teaching that speaking in tongues was the sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Invited to preach in Los Angeles in 1906, he was locked out of the church that had called him, and began meetings in a house on Bonnie Brae Street. In April 1906 the gatherings moved to a former church building at 312 Azusa Street, where for about three years Black, white, Latino and Asian worshippers met together, drawing visitors from around the world. Seymour published The Apostolic Faith newspaper, which spread the revival. Later divisions reduced his congregation, but he remained its pastor until his death in Los Angeles in 1922. Many Pentecostal churches worldwide trace their roots to the Azusa Street revival.

Faith: African American holiness preacher who led the Azusa Street Revival, from which Pentecostal denominations trace their origins. Source: Wikipedia