Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots: Pentecostal Origins in Scandinavian Pietism
in Minnesota and the Dakotas
History
Darrin J. Rodgers, Fuller Theological Seminary
Presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies
Revivals at Topeka and Azusa Street may have been the focal point of early
twentieth-century Pentecostalism, but prior revivals, including those among Scandinavian
settlers in the northern Great Plains, provided precedents and leaders for the emerging
movement. The first chroniclers of modern Pentecostalism documented these
Scandinavian enthusiasts in Minnesota and the Dakotas, but later histories often
minimized or omitted these revivals, discounting their significance or deeming it
unverifiable oral history. However, recently-discovered evidence verifies these early
accounts and suggests that these approximately two dozen pre-Azusa Scandinavian
congregations that practiced tongues-speech and healing may have made a greater impact
on the Pentecostal movement than previously thought.1 This paper aims: 1) to document
pre-Azusa Scandinavian evangelicals who practiced tongues-speech and healing in the
northern Great Plains; and 2) to address related historiographical issues.
Scandinavian settlers in Minnesota and the Dakotas experienced a spiritual
awakening in the late 1890s and early 1900s, spawning a number of congregations that
practiced speaking in tongues and healing. While some of these revivals predated the
Topeka and Azusa Street revivals, many of these plains enthusiasts soon identified with
the larger Pentecostal movement, including: Carl M. Hanson, an evangelist who.Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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witnessed glossolalia in a revival in Grafton, North Dakota in 1895, and John Thompson,
pastor of the Moorhead (Minnesota) Swedish Free Mission, which experienced several
protracted revivals in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Moorhead congregation
yielded Mary Johnson, the earliest-known Pentecostal missionary from America to
venture overseas. Several regional networks of congregations that practiced tongues-speech
and healing emerged, including the Scandinavian Mission Society (Sällskapet).2
Claims of an early Pentecost on the plains should be backed up by hard evidence.
The earliest Pentecostal historians cataloged numerous oral histories of early glossolalic
revivals.3 Pentecostal journalist Stanley Frodsham, in his 1946 history, assembled a list
of at least 11 claims of tongues-speech in the U.S. between 1850 and 1900, occurring in
New England, Ohio, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Carolina, Tennessee, and
Arkansas. Frodsham recounted stories of turn-of-the-century revivals told long after their
occurrence, and did not cite any sources pre-dating the Azusa Street revival.4 Carl
Brumback and William Menzies, in their 1961 and 1971 histories of the Assemblies of
God, repeated Frodsham’s list, providing little additional evidence.5 Menzies,
minimizing the importance of the revivals recorded by Frodsham, remarked, “These were
1 Portions of this paper were adapted from: Darrin J. Rodgers, Northern Harvest: Pentecostalism in NorthDakota (Bismarck, ND: North Dakota District Council of the Assemblies of God, 2003).
2 Another pre-Azusa Scandinavian Pentecostal network, later known as the Assembly of God Missionary
Fellowship (Guds forsamling in Norwegian), also existed. See: Rodgers, pp. 58-62, 177, 245-46.
3 B. F. Lawrence, Apostolic Faith Restored (St. Louis, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1916), pp. 46-47;
also published in serial form as “Apostolic Faith Restored” [Article V] Weekly Evangel, January 29 and
February 5, 1916, p. 4; Henry H. Ness, Demonstration of the Holy Spirit as Revealed by the Scriptures and
Confirmed in Great Revivals of Wesley, Finney, Cartwright, Whitfield, Moody, etc. (Seattle, WA:
Hollywood Temple, 1940s?), pp. 6-7.
4 Stanley H. Frodsham, With Signs Following [rev. ed.] (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House,
1946), pp. 9-17.
5 Carl Brumback, Suddenly from Heaven: A History of the Assemblies of God (Springfield, MO: Gospel
Publishing House, 1961), pp. 12-17; William W. Menzies, Anointed to Serve: The Story of the Assemblies
of God (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1971), pp. 29-33..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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all isolated, however, and did not seem to have more than local significance.”6 Later
histories entirely omitted these early revivals,7 possibly discounting them as unverified
oral history or wishful thinking by early enthusiasts who might have embellished stories
or incorrectly recalled dates.
However, early published sources do verify that speaking in tongues was
practiced prior to Azusa Street. The Azusa Street periodical, Apostolic Faith, printed a
1906 letter making this claim. A. O. Morken, a Norwegian from Audobon, MN, noted
that Pentecost in Audobon predated Azusa by two years:
A copy of the Apostolic Faith has been sent to us, and were much blest
when we read and saw that God baptized his children with the Holy Ghost
exactly the same way as He has done here. It is two years ago since God
began to baptize His children in this place and some are talking with
tongues, some have the gift of prophecy, etc.8
Morken testified of this early instance of tongues-speech in a February 25, 1904
letter to a Norwegian-language evangelical newspaper, Folke-Vennen:
Praise our God – He has also blessed us abundantly with all spiritual
blessings in Christ, as some did in the apostolic times, the gift of grace
appeared among us when a portion received grace to speak in divers
tongues. It was perceived that it was not common speech, but rather
angelic language; those under the Spirit’s effect, gripped in a power that
seized them completely in the endeavor. What they tell is
incomprehensible for themselves and for the others, but the Spirit Himself
has given [the interpreters] a share, so that all indicate an encouragement
and admonition to the children of God who will be staying awake and
imploring that Jesus comes soon.9
6 Menzies, p. 29.
7 For instance, Edith Blumhofer did not refer to the revivals recounted by Frodsham in her two recent
histories of the AG: The Assemblies of God: A Chapter in the Story of American Pentecostalism
(Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1989) and Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God,
Pentecostalism, and American Culture (Urbana, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993).
8 Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), December 1906, p. 3. For additional information on the Audobon
congregation, see: Gordon and Linda Bakken, Bakkens in America (Wichita, KS: the author, 1995), pp. 8,
16-17; Rodgers, pp. 5-6, 58-60.
9 A. O. Morken, “Fra vor egen Loesekreds” [trans. Erik L. Williamson], Folke-Vennen, February 25, 1904,
p. 4..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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Morken proceeded to note the outpouring was not confined to Audobon: “but we
hear that at the main places are the same blessings.”10 Descendants of Morken date the
revival as beginning in 1902 or 1903. 11
According to later accounts, these early Pentecostals were located in west central
Minnesota (Alexandria, Audobon, Detroit Lakes, Evansville, Fergus Falls, Lake Eunice,
Moorhead, and Tordenskjold), northwest Minnesota (Argyle, Fosston, Hallock, Holt,
Karlstad, Lake Bronson, Stephen, Thief River Falls, and Warren),12 eastern North Dakota
(Grafton and Hillsboro),13 and southeast South Dakota (Greenfield).14 This list included
both organized churches and unorganized home meetings. The history of this network or
networks is sketchy, and it is likely that additional, undocumented early Pentecostal
groups existed. It is unknown where the Pentecostal fire first fell, but it seems that
evangelist Carl M. Hanson, apparently spirit-baptized in 1899, had some influence among
these groups.
Carl M. “Daddy” Hanson, a spiritual father to many early Pentecostals on the
northern Great Plains, earned his Pentecostal stripes on both sides of Azusa Street. His
brand of radical Scandinavian pietism prefigured the emerging Pentecostal movement, in
which he became an early leader. Hanson traversed Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas
10 Ibid., p. 5.
11 For a 1902 claim, see: M. Earl Johnson, “A Godly Heritage: The Family of Earl and Darliene Johnson,”
Assemblies of God Heritage (Fall 2000): 26-27. For a 1903 claim, see: Gordon and Linda Bakken, p. 8.
12 Ness, pp. 6-7; Anna Vagle, “When Pentecost Fell in Minnesota,” Full Gospel Men’s Voice, September
1960, pp. 9-11. For a history of the early Pentecostal movement in northwest Minnesota, see: Rodgers, pp.
58-62, 181-82. For west central Minnesota, see: Rodgers, pp. 216-18.
13 See: Rodgers, pp. 58-62, 154-55, 177.
14 Ness, p. 7. Frodsham repeated Ness’ account in With Signs Following, p. 16. Ness wrote, “Another
remarkable outpouring of the Spirit took place at Greenfield, S.D., in the First Methodist Church where
Rasmus Kristensen was pastor. This was in 1896. As Brother Kristensen was preaching the power would
fall, the people being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues; and many other wonderful
manifestations of God being witnessed.” Rasmus Christiansen of Greenfield, SD (I assume this is the same
person, despite spelling differences) wrote two pre-Azusa articles: “De aandelige Gaver” (spiritual gifts),.Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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during the late 1890s and early 1900s, spreading glossolalic revival even before the
Topeka and Azusa Street revivals. Hanson, born in 1865 in Minnesota to Norwegian
immigrants, converted to Christ as a student in the college preparatory program at
Augsburg Seminary, a Lutheran school in Minneapolis.15
Shortly after being healing of blood poisoning in 1895, Hanson set out as an
evangelist. Hanson recorded that he witnessed a small girl speak in tongues in one of his
meetings during that first year of ministry:
In 1895, while holding meetings and preaching the full gospel, as I saw it,
with a full consecration, sanctification and Baptism in the Holy Spirit, one
came clear through and spoke in tongues, as in Acts 2. 16
Significantly, the tongues-speech witnessed by Hanson occurred a decade
prior to the Azusa Street revival. The 1895 instance of tongues took place during
services he held on a farm near Grafton, North Dakota. G. Raymond Carlson,
former General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, traced the origins of his
own family’s Pentecostal faith to that meeting.17
Hanson also received this experience in 1899. Hanson continued to itinerate as an
evangelist. In 1900, Hanson and his family moved from Lemond, Minnesota to
Minneapolis, where Hanson attended Zion Tabernacle, a congregation pastored by
Frederick A. Graves and affiliated with faith healer John Alexander Dowie.18
Folke-Vennen, May 12, 1904, p. 1 (the article, which has not been translated, contains numerous references
to 1 Cor. 12-14); Folke-Vennen, March 8, 1906, p. 5 (untitled, untranslated letter).
15 Carl M. Hanson, 1900 MN census records, E.D. 105, sheet 16, line 97; Irene Hankin, phone
conversation with author, October 1, 2002, notes from conversation; “Rev. C. M. Hanson at Home with the
Lord,” North Dakota District Echoes, July-August 1954, pp. 2, 7.
16 Carl M. Hanson, “My Personal Experiences of the Graces of Salvation, Healing and Baptism in the Holy
Spirit,” tract, 1906.
17 G. Raymond Carlson, “When Pentecost Came to the Upper Midwest,” Assemblies of God Heritage
(Spring 1984): 3. For additional information on the Grafton outpouring, see: Rodgers, pp. 154-55.
18 Carlson, p. 3; “Anna C. Berg,” in Historical Sketches of the Minneapolis Gospel Tabernacle
(Minneapolis, MN: The Church, 1930), p. 13; Anna Hanson Berg, interview by Wayne Warner,
September 23, 1980, audio recording. According to Anna, the Hansons attended Graves’ mission for four.Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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Hanson itinerated as a Free Mission evangelist in Minnesota, the Dakotas,
Wisconsin, and Iowa, preaching his brand of radical evangelicalism, making converts,
and seeking funds and workers for a rescue mission he had opened in St. Paul in late
1904. In late February and early March 1905, Hanson held meetings in the Gotland
neighborhood near Fergus Falls, MN. Seizing upon local gossip, a reporter wrote:
Several young people have been attending these meetings and it is reported that
they work themselves into a perfect frenzy, rolling on the floor, endeavoring to
climb up the walls, tossing chairs about and talking oddly in what is supposed to
be ancient or peculiar languages, imagining that they have the gift of tongues.19
The irate father of one of the young people at Hanson’s meeting swore out a
warrant for Hanson’s arrest on charges of disorderly conduct.20 At the hearing, several
boys testified that Hanson seemed to hypnotize his converts. According to the reporter,
[Hanson] claimed the testimony was somewhat exaggerated, although
cheerfully admitting that he and his converts roll about on the floor
whenever the spirit so moves them. He vehemently denied any
insinuations as to hypnotic influence, and claims that the violent actions
just described are the results of the working of spirits either of good or
evil, and in some instances of the conflicts of the powers of light and
darkness as described in the Scriptures. He also states that converts are
frequently given the gift of tongues, as they were of old, and that they talk
in whatever language the spirit directs. He claims further that he knew
one lady who had no knowledge whatever of German who has able to talk
this language when thus moved, and that the converts know exactly what
they are doing at all times.21
In 1906, Hanson printed a tract, in which he testified to having already lived with
the Pentecostal blessing for over seven years.22 C. M. Hanson soon identified with the
emerging Pentecostal movement in Chicago, which had roots in the Azusa Street
years. Articles from Dowie’s periodical placed Graves in Chicago in late 1902, where he served as an elder
in Central Zion Tabernacle, then in Minneapolis as early as March 1903 through at least June 1905. Leaves
of Healing, December 6, 1902, p. 223; Leaves of Healing, March 7, 1903, p. 635; Leaves of Healing, June
24, 1905, p. 349.
19 “Too Much Excitement,” Fergus Falls Daily Journal, March 10, 1905, p. 3.
20 “Fined $35,” Fergus Falls Daily Journal, March 11, 1905, p. 3.
21 Ibid..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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revival.23 On September 25, 1909, Chicago Pentecostal leader William Durham ordained
Hanson as a minister with the Full Gospel Assembly.24 Durham served as pastor of the
North Avenue Mission, where F. A. Sandgren, editor of Folke-Vennen, was an elder.25
Hanson transferred his ordination to the Assemblies of God (AG) on September 11, 1917.
Participants at the 1922 organizational meeting of the North Central District Council
(AG) unanimously elected “Daddy” Hanson, revered as one of the region’s Pentecostal
pioneers, to serve as the District Council’s first Chairman (1922-23).26
The Swedish Free Mission in Moorhead, a leading congregation in the
Scandinavian Mission Society (Sällskapet), a small association of Scandinavian free
church congregations in Minnesota and the Dakotas, experienced a period of revival at
the turn of the century, during which many people accepted Christ, received bodily
healing, and spoke in tongues.27 Throughout most of the 1890s, congregations in the
Scandinavian Mission Society did not have permanent pastors. Instead, a plurality of
elders, including Thompson, rotated between the various churches.28
22 Carl M. Hanson, “My Personal Experiences.”
23 It is unknown when Hanson identified with the Chicago Pentecostals. He may have been influenced by
his close friend and former pastor, Frederick A. Graves, who had moved to Zion City, IL in 1905 or 1906
and became an early Pentecostal. In a 1908 letter, Hanson recounted a trip to Detroit Harbor, Wisconsin,
during which he apparently met with Chicago Pentecostals. Carl M. Hanson, untranslated letter, Folke-Vennen,
September 24, 1908, p. 5. For another account of Hanson’s trip, see: John Ommundsen,
untranslated letter, Folke-Vennen, November 12, 1908, p. 4.
24 Carl M. Hanson, ministerial file, Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, Springfield, Missouri.
25 Richard M. Riss, “William H. Durham,” in New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and CharismaticMovements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 594-95.
26 “Minutes of meeting held at Brainerd, Minn., November 10, 1922 for the purpose of forming a District
Council,” Minnesota District Council (AG) Archives, Minneapolis, MN.
27 Ness, pp. 6-7; Brumback, p. 14;. Menzies, p. 30.
28 1883-1958, Diamond Jubilee, Evangelical Free Church, Moorhead, Minnesota (Moorhead, MN: The
Church, 1958); John Thompson, interview by author, June 1998, Springfield, MO, transcript of audio
recording. For one critic’s view of the Scandinavian Mission Society, see: Frank Theodor Lindberg,
Looking Back Fifty Years: Over the Rise and Progress of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church of America
(Minneapolis, MN: Franklin Printing Co., 1935), pp. 61-66..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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The Moorhead congregation experienced one or more protracted periods of
revival. At some point during this period of revival, believers began to manifest
Pentecostal gifts. Thompson’s son wrote:
God graciously poured out His Spirit with signs following. Many received
the glorious Baptism in the Holy Ghost speaking in other tongues as the
Spirit of God gave utterance. At that time we had not heard of any other
places having received a like experience, but later we heard of people in
California and Winnipeg, Canada, having received a like precious
outpouring of the Holy Spirit . . . Praise God, the spirit of revival was
manifested in every service.29
The chronology of this revival is uncertain. Henry H. Ness wrote that the revival
began in 1892. 30 Several historians repeated Ness’s account, which did not distinguish
between the beginning of the protracted period of revival, which lasted years, and when
Pentecostal gifts began to be manifested.31 Likewise, Thompson’s grandson believed the
revivals started in the 1890s and was uncertain when people started speaking in
tongues.32 Some evidence suggests that the Pentecostal gifts, and speaking in tongues in
particular, began occurring in about 1903. Thompson’s son wrote in 1937 that “the
Latter Rain outpouring as on the day of Pentecost” in Moorhead occurred “thirty-four
years ago,” “in the beginning of this century.”33 If Pentecostal manifestations began
occurring in Moorhead at about the same time as they did in other pre-Azusa revivals in
Minnesota and the Dakotas, then it is unlikely the Moorhead manifestations began as
early as 1892. In Minnesota and the Dakotas, scattered reports of tongues-speech exist
29 Peter B. Thompson, “Pentecostal Outpouring of Thirty-four Years Ago,” Pentecostal Evangel,
November 27, 1937, p. 8.
30 Ness, pp. 6-7.
31 Brumback, p. 14; Menzies, p. 30.
32 John Thompson, interview by author, June 1998.
33 Peter B. Thompson, “Pentecostal Outpouring,” Pentecostal Evangel, November 27, 1937, p. 8. Citing
Thompson’s article, historian Wayne Warner concluded the revival occurred in 1903. Wayne Warner,
“Pentecostal revival stirs Swedish church,” Pentecostal Evangel, April 21, 1996, p. 27..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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from 1895 to 1899, followed by documentation of more than a dozen tongues-speaking
congregations from 1899 to 1906.
Mary Johnson, the earliest-known Pentecostal missionary from North America to
venture overseas, was raised in the Moorhead congregation. Johnson and Ida Andersson,
who had been an evangelist in the Scandinavian Mission Society for thirteen years,
traveled together as evangelists for several years, then felt a call to serve as missionaries
to Africa. At the Society’s annual meeting at Lake Eunice, Minnesota in November
1904, Johnson was spirit-baptized and spoke in tongues. Andersson had the experience
several years later. From Lake Eunice, the two women set out in faith, without a definite
budget, and arrived in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal on January 16, 1905. 34
The Scandinavian Mission Society (Sällskapet) wielded some influence in the
northern Great Plains. According to one pioneer, it was the “controlling power” among
Scandinavian free churches in Minnesota at the turn of the twentieth century.35 August
Davis, who served as an early Society Chairman, endorsed Fredrik Franson’s training
courses for women ministers.36 One critic of female ministers lamented that the Society’s
“many groups and churches” had only four resident pastors, and that about fifty women
were preaching in the pulpits. The critic derided the Society as not well-organized,
charging that “the women evangelists and a few others” controlled the election of officers
at the annual meetings. Davis was succeeded as Chairman by John Thompson, pastor of
the Moorhead Swedish Free Mission.37 It is not known how widespread Pentecostal gifts
were among Scandinavian Mission Society congregations. However, the practice of
34 Naemi Reinholdz, “En Guds plöjerska: Mary Johnsons liv och verksamher,” Trons Segrars, undated
clippings of a serialized biography. The clippings and a translation of the articles by Lyndon Johnson from
Swedish to English are in the author’s possession.
35 Lindberg, p. 61..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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rotating elders between the various congregations must have spread Pentecostal teachings
across the fellowship, since some of the elders (including Thompson) practiced speaking
in tongues and healing. Further research into the history of the Scandinavian Mission
Society would be a valuable addition to the study of Pentecostal origins.
Importantly, the revivals in Minnesota and the Dakotas testify to Pentecostalism’s
roots in Scandinavian pietism. This genesis, separate from the Topeka and Azusa Street
revivals, underscores the plural nature of the movement. Early Scandinavian
Pentecostals hailed from pietist traditions, such as the Haugean movement in Norway 38
and the Awakened and Laestadian movements in Finland 39 and Sweden.40 Early
36 Ibid., p. 58.
37 Ibid., pp. 61-63.
38 In Norway, Hans Nielsen Hauge pioneered a revival movement at the turn of the nineteenth century.
Hauge’s experience of a spiritual awakening in 1796, identified by several Lutheran historians to be a
“baptism of the Spirit,” led him to begin preaching. In Norway, Haugean believers attended the state church
on Sunday and held evangelical home prayer meetings during the week. In America, some Haugean
immigrants continued holding evangelical meetings separate from the Lutheran Sunday services, while
others brought their fervent prayer and evangelical preaching into the regular services. Free from the
supervision of church hierarchy, these Haugean believers sometimes developed their own theological
beliefs as they sought to restore Biblical faith. Some of these new churches were explicitly Lutheran and
formed organizations such as the Hauge Synod. Others affiliated with networks of free churches, some of
which became Pentecostal. Magnus Nodtvedt, Rebirth of Norway’s Peasantry: Folk Leader Hans Nielsen Hauge (Tacoma, WA: Pacific Lutheran University Press, 1965), pp. 105; Andreas Aarflot, Hans Nielsen
Hauge: His Life and Message (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1979), pp. 15-43; Robert
Lee, President of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, phone interview by author, February 19,
1996, notes from conversation.
39 The pietistic “Awakened movement” in Finland, led by Paavo Ruotsalainen, paralleled the rise of the
Haugean movement in Norway. Like Hauge, Ruotsalainen experienced an awakening in 1796. Unlike
Hauge, historians record that Ruotsalainen spoke in tongues. Recent Finnish Pentecostal scholarship
describes early nineteenth-century Finns as experiencing “a general spiritual unrest in Finland,” in which
“[p]eople were expecting the end of the world and spontaneous revivals sprang up with people speaking in
tongues, falling into a trance, preaching in trance, prophesying and having dreams and visions…” Leo
Meller, “Early Pentecost in Lutheran Finland,” unpublished manuscript summarizing recent Finnish
Pentecostal scholarship, 2004. See also: Lauri Ahonen, “Awakened,” in New International Dictionary of
Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p. 343; Lauri Ahonen,
Misions Growth: A Case Study on Finnish Free Foreign Mission (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library,
1984), pp. 8-9.
40 In Småland, Sweden, newspapers in the early 1840s published numerous stories of odd religious
manifestations. One ecstasy, termed “preaching sickness,” affected people who attended meetings held by
powerful revivalists. Critics mocked the spasms, jerks, and emotionalism of those affected, but also
conceded that many involved were converted, gave up alcohol, and returned stolen property. David Nyvall,
The Swedish Covenanters: A History (Chicago, IL: Covenant Book Concern, 1930), pp. 36-38; George M..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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Scandinavian Pentecostals often emphasized continuity with their pietist heritage,
recalling instances of miracles, tongues, and other spiritual gifts that occurred in previous
centuries in Scandinavia.41
By the 1870s and 1880s, a trans-Atlantic revival among Scandinavians in Europe
and America resulted in the formation of networks of Scandinavian “free church”
congregations, many of which later joined what became the Evangelical Free Church of
America and the Evangelical Covenant Church of America. Many leaders in this revival,
perhaps most notably Fredrick Franson, drew heavily from American evangelicalism.
However, historian Frederick Hale warned against regarding Scandinavian free churches
“merely as an outgrowth of American Christianity.”42 Scandinavian free churches were
the product of a “complex tapestry” with “innumerable threads to the pattern,” including
both Scandinavian and American influences.43 Similarly, Scandinavian pietists in
Minnesota and the Dakotas who practiced tongues-speech and healing prior to Azusa
Street should not be viewed simply as converts to American evangelicalism. Perhaps the
most obvious Pentecostal origin is American evangelicalism, but Scandinavian pietism
also provided the Pentecostal movement with leaders and precedents.
Pre-Azusa Scandinavian Pentecostals did have contact with English-speaking
evangelicals. Folke-Vennen published articles by Hauge and Rosenius next to
translations of articles by American Holiness leaders. Faith healer John Alexander
Dowie also may have wielded some influence, as Carl M. Hanson, several years after
receiving the gift of tongues, began attending a Minneapolis mission associated with
Stephenson, The Religious Aspects of Swedish Immigration (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota
Press, 1932), pp. 24-48; Karl A. Olsson, By One Spirit (Chicago, IL: Covenant Press, 1962), pp. 60-64.
41 Rodgers, pp. 30-34..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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Dowie. However, I was unable to find evidence that Pentecostal practices among
Scandinavians in Minnesota and the Dakotas originated with English-speaking
evangelicals. I did not find any evidence that the Scandinavians from Minnesota and the
Dakotas had contact with Parham’s Apostolic Faith band, which operated primarily in
Kansas, Missouri, and Texas. Parham’s group did not grow significantly until 1905, well
after Pentecostal congregations had formed on the northern Great Plains.44 The
Scandinavian Pentecostals themselves testified to a separate origin. Peter Thompson,
recalling the outpouring at the Swedish Free Mission in Moorhead, stated, “At that time
we had not heard of any other places having received a like experience.”45
The pre-Azusa Scandinavian Pentecostals figured prominently in the origins of
the Evangelical Free Church of America and the Evangelical Covenant Church of
America. Minnesota, a hotbed of Scandinavian free church activity at the turn of the
twentieth century, was home to a number of pre-Azusa Scandinavian Pentecostal
congregations. Evangelical Free Church historian Arnold T. Olson wrote that he doubted
“that all of the pioneers would be accepted in our churches today. Some preached ‘a
second blessing’ and some even practiced speaking in tongues.”46
A 1934 history of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church of America recounted:
The so-called “tongues movement” had also a short but lively chapter in our
history. If the writer recalls rightly, this movement had its beginning in one of
our churches in South Dakota. A small group within this church was affected by
42 Frederick Hale, Trans-Atlantic Conservative Protestantism in the Evangelical Free and MissionCovenant Traditions (New York: Arno Press, 1979), p. 13.
43 Ibid., p. 1.
44 Parham attracted sizable crowds in 1901 in Kansas, but by 1902 had lost most followers. Parham next
found success in a fall 1903 revival in Galena, KS, followed by a February 1904 revival in Baxter Springs,
KS. He moved to Texas in April 1905, where he found significant support in Orchard, Houston, and
Galveston. James R. Goff, Jr., Fields White Unto Harvest: Charles F. Parham and the Missionary Origins
of Pentecostalism (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1988), pp. 87-100.
45 Peter B. Thompson, “Pentecostal Outpouring,” Pentecostal Evangel, November 27, 1937, p. 8.
46 Arnold T. Olson, The Significance of Silence (Minneapolis, MN: Free Church Press, 1981), p. 151..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
13
it. They thought it was from God and that they were divinely gifted with a special
language and therefore called as missionaries to Africa.47
While this account did not identify the years these phenomena occurred, they
likely took place in the 1890s or 1900s, the period documented by the chapter in which
the paragraph was located. The statement, “If the writer recalls rightly, this movement
had its beginning in one of our churches in South Dakota,” is subject to multiple
interpretations. The author may have intended to identify the earliest-known instance of
tongues-speech among the Scandinavian free churches (but not necessarily elsewhere). A
more tantalizing interpretation is that, from the perspective of the author of the 1934
history, the Pentecostal movement seemed to have its origins, not in Topeka or Los
Angeles, but in South Dakota.
The latter interpretation is supported by a similar account of a revival in South
Dakota reported by B. F. Lawrence in his 1916 history, Apostolic Faith Restored:
Between 1900 and 1903, the Spirit fell in South Dakota upon a band of
people, who afterward went to Africa. I have not been able to get in touch
with the man who could give me full information concerning this work,
but I think that these people were Norwegians. I know that the man who
accompanied them to Chicago was, and that he afterward preached in La
Grange, Illinois. His name was Bakke. These people, at least Mr. Bakke,
did not believe that tongues were the evidence of the baptism, but
regarded them as gifts given in the sovereignty of God.48
Lawrence’s account, in the first published history of the Pentecostal movement written by
an insider, demonstrates that early Pentecostals were aware of the early glossolalic
revivals among the Scandinavians in Minnesota and the Dakotas, and that at least some
viewed them as a precedent to what later happened at Topeka or Azusa Street.
47 Golden Jubilee: Reminiscences of our Work under God, Swedish Evangelical Free Church of the U.S.A.,1884-1934 (Minneapolis, MN?: The Church, 1934?), p. 40.
48 Lawrence, Apostolic Faith Restored, pp. 46-47..Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
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Early Scandinavian Pentecostals in Minnesota and the Dakotas, recent immigrants
to America whose primary tongue was not English, maintained significant connections to
their roots in Scandinavian pietism. Judging from a number of letters to Folke-Vennen
from Carl M. Hanson, A. O. Morken, and others, that periodical had some influence
among early Pentecostals. Folke-Vennen, a Norwegian-language non-denominational
evangelical periodical, was published weekly in Chicago. Its articles reflected a broad
spectrum of influences in Scandinavian pietism, ranging from Martin Luther’s sermons,
to devotionals by Norwegian revivalist Hans Nielsen Hauge and Swedish pietist Carl
Olof Rosenius, to translations of writings by American Holiness leaders such as A. B.
Simpson. Stanley H. Frodsham reported that evangelist F. A. Sandgren was spirit-baptised
in 1907, after which he spread the news of the Pentecostal outpouring through
the columns of Folke-Vennen.49 However, the periodical printed testimonies of tongues-speech
as early as February 1904 (Audobon, MN).50 Folke-Vennen began publishing
news of the revival stemming from Azusa Street in 1906, including articles by Norwegian
Pentecostal leader Thomas B. Barratt,51 early Pentecostal missionary to India, Minnie
Abrams,52 and Chicago Pentecostal leader William H. Durham.53 Durham served as
pastor of the North Avenue Mission, where F. A. Sandgren was an elder.54 Further study
of Folke-Vennen would be a valuable addition to the study of Pentecostal history.
49 Frodsham, With Signs Following (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1926), p. 42. Sandgren
served as pastor of the North Avenue Mission in Chicago in 1917 and later affiliated with the Pentecostal
Assemblies of the USA. F. A. Sandgren, Chicago, to E. N. Bell, Springfield, MO, November 19, 1921,
Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.
50 A. O. Morken, “Fra vor egen Loesekreds” [trans. Erik L. Williamson], Folke-Vennen, February 25, 1904,
p. 4.
51 Folke-Vennen, December 13, 1906, p. 1; Ibid., January 16, 1908, p. 2; Ibid., July 2, 1908, p. 2.
52 Ibid., February 20, 1908, p. 4; Ibid., February 27, 1908, p. 2; Ibid., March 5, 1908, p. 2; Ibid., March 12,
1908, p. 2; Ibid., June 25, 1908, p. 3; Ibid., September 3, 1908, p. 5.
53 Ibid., March 26, 1908, p. 4.
54 Riss, pp. 594-95. Edith Blumhofer, in an excellent biographical essay on William H. Durham, noted that
Sandgren and Durham had been friends since 1903. Edith L. Blumhofer, “William H. Durham: Years of.Rodgers, “Rediscovering Our Diverse Roots”
15
It is possible that early Pentecostals in Chicago first became aware of
contemporary tongues-speech, not from news of Azusa Street, but from news of prior
glossolalic revivals in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Durham and Sandgren may have read
about pre-Azusa tongues in Folke-Vennen as early as 1904. Likewise, Frederick A.
Graves, an early Pentecostal and noted musician in Zion City, IL,55 must have been aware
that his friend, Carl M. Hanson, claimed to possess the gift of tongues when Hanson
attended Graves’ Minneapolis mission for several years at the turn of the twentieth
century.56 These multiple connections between Chicago Pentecostal leaders and pre-Azusa
glossolalic revivals on the Great Plains point to the need to further study
Pentecostalism’s diverse roots. Azusa Street may have been the focal point of early
Pentecostalism, but prior revivals, including those in Minnesota and the Dakotas,
provided precedents and leaders for the emerging movement.
The genesis of the pre-Azusa Scandinavian revivals in the northern Great Plains,
separate from the Topeka and Azusa Street revivals, underscores the plural nature of the
Pentecostal movement. This study challenges the historiographic assumption that the
modern Pentecostal movement began on January 1, 1901 in Topeka, Kansas, and
augments the growing body of scholarship identifying Pentecostalism’s non-American
roots, in order to better tell the full story of the full gospel.
Creativity, Years of Dissent,” in Portraits of a Generation: Early Pentecostal Leaders, ed. James R. Goff
and Grant Wacker (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2002), pp. 127, 131.
55 Gordon P. Gardiner, Out of Zion: Into All the World (Shippensburg, PA: Companion Press, 1990), pp.
41-42; Charles Edwin Jones, “Frederick A. Graves,” in New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p. 680.
56 Anna Hanson Berg, interview by Wayne Warner, September 23, 1980, audio recording. According to
Berg, her father, Carl M. Hanson, attended Graves’ mission for four years. Articles from John Alexander
Dowie’s periodical placed Graves in Chicago in late 1902, where he served as an elder in Central Zion
Tabernacle, then in Minneapolis as early as March 1903 through at least June 1905. Leaves of Healing,
December 6, 1902, p. 223; Leaves of Healing, March 7, 1903, p. 635; Leaves of Healing, June 24, 1905, p.
349.