Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

ABSTRACT
The Pentec ostal As s emb l i es o f Newfou nd l a nd boqnn in 1910
wh en 52 - year ol d Ame r i can Al i ce B. Garrigus, from a rura l
wor k ing c lass fam i ly, in r e s pons e to what she perceived as a
divine call, op ened a storefront mission, Bet hesda, i n
downtown St. J oh n 's. Her movemen t rem a i ned a modest ur ba n
phenomenon until 1922 , whe n it was i nt roduced i nto Conception
and, l ater, Plac ent i a , Bays. The year 1925 marked both t he
i nitiation o f a west coast Pen tecostal movement, begun by two
laymen from Bet he sda, and the formation of a d en omin a t i on i n
easter n Newfou nd l and . (The wes t ern a nd eastern d i v i s i o ns
later me r-qed , ) From the start , t he sect-turned -ch urch was
fraught wi t h i nne r d i s s e ns i on that stunte d i t s growth; during
the Gr ea t Depression , howev e r , its su bs e que nt growth pa t tern ,
primarily i n west ern an d central NeWf oundl a nd , was estab ­
lis he d. My t he s i s is a his t or i ca l analysis of t he f irst t h r e e
decades of Pente costa l ism in Newf oundla nd an d Labrado r. Tho
following a re s i gn!ficant conclusions. Th e Pe ntecostal
Ii
move ment, like t he Salvation Army before, in itially a pp ea led
pri marily t o dissatis fied Me t hodis t s , especially to t hose f r om