The Pentecostal Phenomenon

The Pentecostal movement is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world today. David Barrett in the World Christian Encyclopaedia (1989) calculated the number of denominational Pentecostals to be 185,000,000 and growing!

One of the largest churches in the UK is an Elim Pentecostal Church (Kensington Temple) with a combined membership of around 9,000 people. The largest church in the world is the Pentecostal Yoida Full Gospel Church of Seoul, South Korea, with a membership of around 700,000 people!

What are the Elim Pentecostal Churches?

The Elim Pentecostal Churches are part of the great Pentecostal movement which embraces nearly every country of the world. Elim itself was founded in 1915 through the ministry of George Jeffreys who was an outstanding evangelist and one of the pioneers of the Pentecostal work in the British Isles.

Today there are more than 500 Elim churches in the UK, 5 of which are situated in Tyne & Wear.

What does ‘Elim’ mean?

Elim is a biblical name. It was the name given to an oasis found by the Israelite nation on their journey in the desert (Exodus 15:27). It means “Place of refreshing on the way.” Hence, Elim churches seek to do all they can to be an oasis in a world which, at times, can be a wilderness.

What does ‘Pentecost’ mean?

Pentecost means “fiftieth” and was the name given to a feast in Bible days — it occurred fifty days after the feast of Passover. It was on this day that God sent His Holy Spirit to empower the Church (Acts 1:8-2:1) just after Jesus ascended to Heaven.

From that day on, the Church grew quickly — 3,000 people were converted in one day, witnessing the demonstration of God’s power in miraculous healings and such like.

Pentecostal churches today seek to recapture this enthusiasm and power of the Early Church.