It
has long been said that the Assemblies of God is unlike other religious
movements in that it doesn’t have a single founder, one major personality with
whom it is identified who exerted the most substantial influence at the birth
of the movement and helped mold it into a form that would be enduring.
If
we were to search for such an individual, J. Roswell Flower would clearly
emerge as a strong candidate, all the more impressive because he exerted the
influence without ever holding the Fellowship’s highest office. Beginning at
the inaugural meeting in 1914, he served in national office multiple times, as district
superintendent in the Eastern District, and many, many more. (Of course this
reviewer is most impressed with the fact that he was founder, publisher, editor
of the magazine that became the Pentecostal
Evangel, the official publication of the Assemblies of God for a century.)
Although
much has been written about Flower, David K. Ringer has provided the first
biography of this giant of Pentecost. The book is signally important in at
least two ways:
1.
It introduces Flower to a
new generation.
J. Roswell, his wife, Alice Reynolds Flower, and the Flower family have an
enduring heritage in the Assemblies of God. Indeed, the archives of the
Fellowship have been dubbed the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. But young
ministers, workers and attendees of AG churches need this introduction. At 128
pages, this brief biography is eminently readable. Churches would do well to
encourage their people to read the book, and get copies for their church
libraries. In a day when many Assemblies seem to be minimizing and, thus,
forgetting our heritage, this book can provide a crucial connection to a past
that can inspire the present.
2.
It is based on an
unprecedented wealth of research. The book is based on Ringer’s 2014 D.Min. project
for Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. That in turn is partially based on
the Flower Family Papers, a collection for which Ringer, who married one of
Flower’s granddaughters (Kathryn Flower Ringer), enjoyed unsurpassed access. His
family connection also allowed him to undergird the book with unique personal
insight.
Flower’s
life and words call our movement to be faithful to the vision of our founders. "I
have not forgotten the early days of our Pentecostal movement,” he is quoted in
the book. “There was an earnest desire to separate from all the things of the
world. There was no particular need to frown on worldliness in dress and
deportment, for the very passion to please God was sufficient to bring
separation from these things" (p. 89).
It
is this reviewer’s hope that the book will enjoy a wide circulation, and that
its contents will inform, but more importantly, spiritually inspire many a
reader.
