Sunderland 2007

September 2007 was the one hundred year anniversary of the Pentecostal outpouring in Sunderland which led to the formation of a number of Pentecostal church groups, including the Assemblies of God. Peter Cavanna was privileged to join a group of students researching Pentecostal origins, and was able to visit the sites where God poured out His Spirit a century ago. Here are a few of the images.

All Saints Parish Church - where Alexander Boddy was the Vicar and from where the Pentecostal experience and doctrine would spread to Britain, Europe and the world.

All Saints Parish Hall where Norwegian Pastor T B Barratt began holding meetings with Alexander Boddy in September 1907. Services were held most evenings for several months and a number of people began to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. Prophecy and healings were also occuring regularly.

A 1904 plaque outside All Saints Parish Hall mentioning Alexander Boddy.

The famous "fire plaque" outside All Saints Parish Hall. The offerings taken during the revival paid off the debt on the cost of the hall. The plaque remains as a testament to the outpouring.

The Sunderland Vicarage. Bradford plumber Smith Wigglesworth stopped off here after attending a number of meetings to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Alexander Boddy was not there but his wife, Mary Boddy, laid hands upon him and he received his fire from heaven in the kitchen of this building. Wigglesworth would go on to operate in an extraordinary healing ministry.  

This is Peter Cavanna, standing in the All Saints pulpit where Alexander Boddy ministered the Word of God and where many received the power from on high during the revival. The visit to the church proved both of interest academically and spiritually renewing too.