Beaty to Receive ‘Spirit of Azusa’ Award; Moore to Present Lecture
Dr. Rickie Moore will present the Ninth Annual Azusa Lecture, “From Generation to Generation: The Call of the Word, the Cry of the Spirit, and the Turning of Hearts.” His presentation will be Tuesday, October 28, at 7:00 p.m. in the North Cleveland Church of God’s Dixon Chapel. Following Moore’s presentation, Dr. James M. Beaty will receive the Spirit of Azusa Award for his life-long contribution to the Pentecostal movement as a missionary and educator. The lecture and reception for Beaty are free and open to the public.
Rickie Moore
Moore is an ordained bishop in the Church of God and Professor of Old Testament at Lee University, where he also serves as the Associate Dean of Lee’s School of Religion. Prior to this appointment, Moore served for seven years as the Chair of Lee’s Department of Theology and the previous 25 years on the faculty of the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. A deep interest in Old Testament prophecy and its relationship to contemporary Pentecostal theology and practice distinguishes Moore’s academic study, classroom teaching, and church ministry.
Moore earned the M.A. and Ph.D. in Old Testament from Vanderbilt University after completing his B.A. in Biblical Studies from Lee University. He is the author of God Saves: Lessons from the Elisha Stories and The Spirit of the Old Testament. Moore was a founding editor of the Journal of Pentecostal Theology, the first academic serial ever to feature constructive theology from a Pentecostal perspective on an international scholarly level, and was awarded a major research grant by the Association of Theological Schools in 1993 to support a sabbatical year of study.
Dr. Moore is a sought after speaker and teacher and has lectured at numerous colleges and seminaries around the world including Ecuador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Korea, and Puerto Rico. He has frequently presented papers at annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for Pentecostal Studies.
Moore is a member and elder at the Westmore Church of God where he leads in the area of intergenerational ministry. Moore’s spiritual heritage traces from his parents, Ernest and Doris Moore, and his paternal grandparents, who were pioneer Pentecostal church planters in West Tennessee. He and his wife, Jean, a Lee University alumna and registered nurse, have two daughters and two grandsons.
The Azusa Lecture is being held in conjunction with Heritage Week at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Using the theme “From Generation to Generation: Honoring Our Mothers and Fathers in the Faith,” chapel services at the seminary on both Tuesday, October 28, and Thursday, October 30, will tell the stories of spiritual mothers and fathers. Both services will begin at 11:00 a.m. A luncheon following the Thursday chapel service will feature a conversation with Dr. J. David and Joyce Stephens on the significance of intergenerational ministry within families. The public is welcome to attend these services. Anyone wishing to attend the Thursday luncheon should RSVP to Ms. Glenda Mason ([email protected] or 423-478-1131) by noon on Monday, October 27.
The Ninth Annual Azusa Lecture is sponsored by the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center in partnership with the Church of God Division of Education, Church of God Hispanic Ministries, Church of God in Latin America, Church of God World Missions, North Cleveland Church of God, Pentecostal Theological Seminary, and Westmore Church of God.
Founded by Dr. Charles W. Conn on the campus of Lee University, the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center is one of the world’s significant collections of Pentecostal materials as well as the archives of the Church of God. In addition to students at Lee University and the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, numerous scholars visit the center to research materials related to the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement. Dr. David G. Roebuck is director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center.
The purpose of the Azusa Lecture is to highlight the rich heritage of the Pentecostal movement and to provide our community an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of the Pentecostal revival. The Dixon Pentecostal Research Center launched the annual lecture in 2006 on the occasion of 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 revival began when the African-American pastor, William J. Seymour, preached a message of Spirit baptism following salvation. 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 twentieth century came to be called the “Century of the Holy Spirit.”
For more information about the Azusa Lecture contact the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center at 423-614-8576 or dixon¬[email protected].
