The Full Gospel Assembly (FGA) of Washington, DC, 1907–1934

The 1906 earthquake of Pentecostalism at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, California, sent a jolt to Washington, DC, during 1906–1907. This Washington, DC, shock wave began when a group of women read and acted upon reports in the Azusa Street Mission’s Apostolic Faith newspaper. This event resulted in the creation of an influential church in the District of Columbia, Full Gospel Assembly.

This research project investigates a nearly forgotten religious community in Washington, DC. For a few decades in the twentieth century, Full Gospel Assembly (hereafter FGA) exerted remarkable influence and creativity in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ in the context of Pentecostal or Full Gospel renewal in the nation’s capital. Some scholars today understand the Christian renewal tradition or religious movement FGA represented as Pentecostalism.

So what is Pentecostalism? Does a clear and concise answer to that question exist? Probably not, at least for most scholars who look at the matter, and some have even spoken of multiple Pentecostalisms as the best way to define the concept of Pentecostalism.

Many of the churches in the capital proudly claimed that presidents once heard their sermons, attended their services, and sat in their pews at some point in the city’s glorious history. FGA could make no such claims. However, few of the city’s powerful and connected churches would match the exponential growth, spiritual excitement, and transformational expectation that FGA evoked.

At a popular level, the lack of interest in historic preservation has been a challenge for classical Pentecostals. It is commonly said that Pentecostals have been more about making history than writing it, “long on action and short on reflection.”

In May 1927, the Washington Post described this centrally located district church’s surprising “City-Wide Influence” and growth. FGA’s multiple moves from the small, overcrowded structure near the wharf area of the district to the old Salvation Army building on Pennsylvania Avenue and then to a visible and spacious setting a few blocks from Union Station were not ignored by the city. In the article, “Full Gospel Assembly Points City’s Growth: City-Wide Influence Is Now Wielded by Tabernacle’s Congregation,” the Washington Post offered a positive portrait of FGA’s transition and accomplishment.

FGA was one of those new churches emerging from an ever-transforming American religious milieu. The church proclaimed an old-time religion comprised of Pentecostal theology, popular religious themes, an evangelistic commitment, missions, and Pentecostal

experience. This expression of Christianity expanded in popularity throughout the first decades of the twentieth century. As a religious tradition, Pentecostalism was gaining ground in urban and rural settings. Hence, growth was often found in strategic geographic centers of gravity, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

In February 1927, Harry Lee Collier was to preach on a fascinating topic for a Sunday evening sermon at FGA. Collier’s message, “A Marvelous Stirring Among the Virgins,” does not exist in print. Still, the title of that sermon indeed suggests Collier recognized a mysterious

sense of calling or power in the ministry of women. The reality of that conviction becomes quite apparent when one considers the freedom and opportunity women experienced from Collier and FGA to preach the Word of God throughout the 1920s and 1930s. One can discern this from reading the newspapers for church announcements and perusing Pentecostal or Full Gospel religious periodicals announcing anticipated female preachers and describing their spiritual impact upon FGA.

Pragmatism took root as FGA sought to fit into social and societal norms in Washington, DC. This was a time of increasing segregation and the slide toward Jim Crow realities. At the start of the Pentecostal outpouring in the district, Jim Crow influence moved aside as the Spirit touched black and white people seeking the Lord together in racially mixed Full Gospel meetings. In those early years, humans of different colors encountered the Holy Spirit and worshiped together. However, as the Jim Crow social norms regarding race became more rigid in the district, black people attended black churches, and white people attended white churches.

Cultural Historian Peter Gay once commented that he had been motivated to write “in honor of men and women who were in their ways heroes, who are in danger of being forgotten and who deserve to be remembered.” I have striven to tell this story of FGA in a fashion that would fit such an expectation. I have desired to recover a forgotten history and tell the story of heroic people. I hope others will assume this work and tell the tales of other faith communities, especially in Charismatic Christianity or Pentecostalism. The field has been short on historical reflection regarding its local churches. Today, when ecclesiastical leaders are tempted to maximize the investment of time and energy in management techniques and church growth methodologies, perhaps a little effort will be diverted to discerning the sacrificial contribution of these nearly forgotten men and women of the past before it is too late.