Azusa Street: The Last Witnesses: Rev. Cummings & Sister Maddie
Transcript of Video: "A conversation with the last surviving eyewitnesses of the greatest revival in modern church history. Two precious Black saints — including Reverend Cummings, who has now been gone to glory for almost twenty years — left behind these memories. These recordings were misplaced for a long time, it seems, but what they contain is priceless.
Today is an exciting day to be alive, standing right here in Los Angeles, just a short walk from City Hall. Behind us is a hotel; around us, modern buildings. But on this very urban site, a movement once shook the world. Something happened here that changed the face of Christianity.
One of the foremost authorities on the charismatic movement is with us today to tell the story of what happened on this spot from 1906 to 1909 — the years of the Azusa Street Revival.
The building is long gone now, but the memory remains: one of the greatest revivals in church history, the birthplace of a worldwide Pentecostal movement.
For three years — day and night — people gathered here, worshipping, praying, and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. From this place, men and women went out into all the world to spread the flame.
Let’s introduce our guests. It is an honour to have them here, because they were there when it happened. These are the only known survivors of that mighty move of God.
First, Sister Maddie Cummings, who attended the meetings as a little girl.
Next, Reverend Laurence Kentley, pastor of the Church of God in Christ in Pasadena, California. He, too, was present at the revival. Few voices remain who can speak from first-hand experience.
The Testimony of Sister Maddie Cummings
“I was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church,” she recalls. “They built a new church on Eighth Avenue. But I had tuberculosis — a terrible experience — and someone told my mother about a mission where people were prayed for and healed.”
She asked her mother to take her.
“They laid hands on me and prayed. Not only did I feel different, but doctors later confirmed it. That was seventy years ago.”
What Azusa Looked Like in 1906
This part of Los Angeles was just a two-block street near City Hall — a downtown neighbourhood.
The leader was William J. Seymour, a humble Black holiness preacher from Texas. He had come out of a revival in a Nazarene church, where he had experienced the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues.
The first outpouring began at a house on Bonnie Brae Street.
Crowds grew so large that the porch collapsed under the weight of those gathering to pray and sing.
They moved to an abandoned Methodist church on Azusa Street — a rundown building used as a warehouse. Inside that old, weather-beaten structure, God lit a fire that circled the globe.
People came from all over the world to see for themselves what God was doing.
What They Taught and Experienced
“What did they teach here?” the interviewer asks.
Sister Maddie replies:
“They taught that you must be saved, then sanctified, and then filled with the Holy Ghost — evidenced by speaking in tongues. Every gift you read about in the Bible was present: prophecy, healing, and more.”
There were no elaborate programmes, no printed orders of service.
“No one ever said, ‘Now we’ll have the preacher,’” she continues. “Someone would simply stand up as the Spirit led. And when things needed to settle, Brother Seymour would pray until the Spirit of God filled the room again.”
Crutches lined the walls — left behind by people who had come needing healing and left walking.
Languages, Miracles, and Mission
People often spoke in real languages they had never learned:
“We heard Chinese. We heard Japanese. We saw people from many nations touched by God.”
Visitors came from Pasadena, from across California, from every part of the United States — and eventually from Europe, Canada, Africa, and Asia.
“They came to find out what God was doing,” Sister Maddie says. “And they carried the fire home.”
She speaks of Bishop Charles Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ:
“Oh yes, I saw Mason before he came here. Many great leaders came through these doors.”
The Ministry of William J. Seymour
Seymour himself was a 30-year-old Black holiness preacher from Texas.
“What did he look like?” they ask.
“He was humble,” she answers. “When the power of God came upon him, he would pray. And the anointing was so wonderful. He never tried to push himself forward. He just waited on God.”
He slept in a small room on the side of the building. People often went there for prayer when the meetings grew too full.
“He carried a burden for souls,” she says softly. “And God used him.”
The Atmosphere of Azusa Street
What was the atmosphere?
“Like the Upper Room,” she answers. “You never knew when God would move. Sometimes people were healed instantly. Sometimes conviction fell. Sometimes the Holy Ghost came upon a person without anyone touching them. God moved however He pleased.”
No one could control it. No one claimed credit.
The Legacy
“Do you know,” she says, “that they came from all over the world? England, Canada, the Southeast, the Carolinas… everywhere.”
And the movement did not end here.
“It’s going to end in heaven,” she concludes. “Because the Holy Ghost that started here is still moving.”
Thank you for reading this beautiful piece of church history.
May the memory of Rev. Cummings, Sister Maddie Cummings, Rev. Laurence Kentley, and all the saints of Azusa Street live on.
To God be the glory — the same Spirit is still at work today."
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