Canadian Pentecostal Reader

Book excerpt: The term 'North American Pentecostalism' may now be shelved beside other phrases that have lost their meaning. With the publication of the Canadian Pentecostal Reader, there is Canadian primary source material ready at hand to challenge the prevailing idea of a homogeneous continental Pentecostal experience that originated at the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles. Mittelstadt and Courtney have made available in one book the earliest newsletters of Canadian Pentecostalism (1907¿1925), with each publication introduced by sections on 'The People' and 'The Publication'. The historical background work is commendable and revealing: the authors have uncovered little-known Canadian pioneers and their publications. Within these pages you will hear Pentecostal themes delivered with a Canadian accent. These emphases reflect the northern sensibilities of Canadian Pentecostals influenced not only by those south of their border but also by those across the pond in Britain. Canadian Pentecostalism owes a debt to the authors for their commitment to the painstaking transcription process from original publication to book format. They deliver to us the standard resource for early Canadian Pentecostalism. ¿ Van Johnson, Dean, Master's Pentecostal Seminary and Director of the MTS in Pentecostal Studies, Tyndale University, Toronto, Ontario