A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
Rain began in February 1948 at Sharon Orphanage and
Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Three men were key figures in this initial stage: George
Hawton, P. G. Hunt, and Herrick Holt. Hawton and Hunt
had recently been involved in a dispute with the
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and had resigned from
that organization. They began working in North
Battleford with Holt, an independent minister who had
been associated with the International Church of the
Foursquare Gospel.
During this time, these men and their students began
seeking God for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
They began intense fasting and prayer, and soon they
reported a great anointing of the Spirit, many healings,
and many personal prophecies—something that would
become a characteristic of the Latter Rain movement.
People began to lay hands on one another and give
detailed prophecies and instructions concerning each
other’s lives.
The Latter Rain movement swept through classical
Pentecostalism, drawing people out of their existing
churches. It drew both trinitarians and Oneness believers,
but its impact was much greater among the former. It was
especially strong in Canada and in the northwestern
United States. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada suffered
a split.
Some prominent Trinitarian Pentecostals who became
associated with or endorsed the Latter Rain movement
were as follows:
Myrtle Beall (1896-1979), an AG pastor who
founded Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit. The
church became a headquarters for Latter Rain teaching.
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