Appreciating the past

When the Pentecostal movement began early in the 20th century, the humble participants could have never foreseen that the history they were making would one day be cataloged and portrayed in an archives and museum in Springfield, Mo. And they could have never imagined that their stories would be accessible worldwide via an Internet site.

Unofficial historians collected information during the early years of the past century, but it was not until the 1970s that the Assemblies of God began systematically archiving its history. The result was the opening of the Assemblies of God Archives.

Nearly a quarter of a century later, that small facility has grown to 7,800-square-foot complex: archives , research center , professionally designed interactive museum, offices and fireproof vault.

The rapidly growing collection non-circulating research materials is available to the public. The holdings focus on the history of the Assembly of God, but they also include materials of the Pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical traditions. A separate audiovisual room gives visitors access to videos, movies and slides audio equipment is also available for listening to oral histories and sermons.

A professional museum company combined state-of-the-art technology with fascinating artifacts, to create the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center - inspiring thousands of visitors during the first two years of operation.

With new digital technology come more efficient ways to store and access videos, periodicals, photographs and other important historical materials that help tell the story of the Pentecostal movement. A century of inspiring history is on the Internet. Researchers can view, for example, the Pentecostal Evangel all the way back to 1913. Utilizing the same digital technology, historical periodicals and oral history are compressed on CDs. Making the researcher's task easier is the quick responding word-searching feature.

The flower Pentecostal Heritage Center has come a long way since 1977. The story remains the same, but the technology used in displaying, storing and searching for the history is truly high tech. And the welcome mat is always out - whether it's on your computer or in the control center in Springfield.