Dr. Dale Coulter
Dr. Dale Coulter will present the 16th Annual Azusa Lecture on Tuesday in the North Cleveland Church of God’s Dixon Chapel. Dr. Coulter will speak on “The Azusa Street Revival and William Seymour’s Pentecostal Vision.”
An ordained bishop in the Church of God, Dr. Coulter has distinguished himself as a teacher and scholar of the Pentecostal movement. Currently professor of historical theology at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, he previously taught for 13 years at Regent University and for eight years at Lee University. While at Regent, he also served as associate dean for academics and program chair for the PhD program in the School of Divinity. He also served as director of graduate studies in religion at Lee. He received the “Excellence in Scholarship Award” from both Lee University and Regent University.
Among Dr. Coulter’s publications is “Holiness: The Beauty of Perfection” (Pathway Press), and he co-edited “The Spirit, the Affections, and the Christian Tradition” (Notre Dame Press), and “Trinity and Creation” (New City Press). In addition to serving as president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, Dr. Coulter was co-editor of “Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.” He is currently co-editor of a series with Cascade Press, titled “Word and Spirit: Pentecostal Investigations in Theology and History” and is on the advisory board of the series, “Studies in the Holiness and Pentecostal Movements.” With numerous articles in popular and academic journals, he contributes regularly to the online publications “First Things” and “Firebrand Magazine.”
Dr. Coulter earned his Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) from Wolfson College at the University of Oxford in England, his Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, and his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theology from Lee University. He also studied at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Oxford.
Following Dr. Coulter’s presentation, Dr. Estrelda Alexander will be honored at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center with the Spirit of Azusa Award and a reception for her life-long leadership among minority Pentecostal communities. A distinguished scholar and leader, Dr. Alexander is president of William Joseph Seymour Foundation, editor-in-chief of Seymour Press, and executive director of the Pan-African Pentecostal Archive in Lanham, Maryland. She has served as president of the Society of Pentecostal Studies, which presented her with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
Dr. Alexander served as professor of theology at Regent University for eight years and has taught as an adjunct professor at Virginia Union University, Seattle Pacific University, Wesley Theological Seminary, Trinity College, and Pentecostal Theological Seminary. She also was associate dean for Community Life at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
An ordained minister in the Church of God, Dr. Alexander has been pastor of congregations in Virginia and Maryland. She currently serves as a member of the Church of God General Board of Education.
Dr. Alexander’s books include “Women of Azusa Street,” “Dictionary of Pan-African Pentecostalism,” “The Letter to the Seven Churches,” and “Black Fire: 100 Years of African American Pentecostalism,” which won the Society for Pentecostal Studies Book of the Year Award in 2011.
Dr. Alexander earned a PhD from Catholic University of America, an MDiv from Wesley Theological Seminary, her Master of Arts from Columbia University, and a BA from Howard University.
The purpose of the Azusa Lecture is to celebrate the rich heritage of the Pentecostal Movement. The DPRC launched the annual lecture in 2006 on the centennial of the revival at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles. Church of God Historian Charles W. Conn noted that the Los Angeles revival, which lasted from 1906 to 1909, “is universally regarded as the beginning of the modern Pentecostal Movement.”
The Los Angeles revival began when African-American Pastor William J. Seymour preached a message of Spirit baptism following salvation and sanctification. What started as a home prayer meeting attracted throngs of seekers and was moved to an abandoned church building at 312 Azusa Street. Hundreds traveled to the Azusa Street Mission, received a personal baptism of the Holy Spirit, and took that message to their homes, churches, and communities. The Pentecostal Movement quickly became a great missionary movement, and the 20th century came to be called the “Century of the Holy Spirit.”
Founded by Dr. Charles W. Conn on the campus of Lee University, the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center has one of the world’s most significant collections of Pentecostal materials and archives of the Church of God. In addition to students at Lee University and the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, numerous scholars use the center’s holdings of materials related to the Pentecostal Charismatic Movement Dr. David G. Roebuck serves as director, and the Reverend David “Gene” Mills, Jr. is archivist.
The lecture and award presentation will also be available via livestream at nccog.com or facebook.com/dixonprc.
For more information about the Azusa Lecture, contact the research center at 614-8576 or dixon_research@leeuniversity.edu.
Dr. Estrelda Alexander