Arroyo Seco

After visiting the Bonnie Brae House and Azusa Street in Los Angeles, my husband and I went in search of Arroyo Seco. What today is a city park was once the site of the April 1913 Worldwide Apostolic Faith Campmeeting. In attendance were well-known early 20th century Pentecostal pioneers such as G. T. Haywood, Glenn Cook, and Frank Ewart.

 

R. E McAlister was one of the preachers and he preached a message explaining how baptism in Jesus’ name was the original method of baptism. Some ministers resisted his message.

 

Throughout the night, a man by the name of John Schaepe prayed and read the Bible. He ran through the camp, shouting that he had received the revelation that the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost was Jesus. Months later, people began to be re-baptized in the name of Jesus. Prior to this, a few ministers, namely Charles Parham and Andrew Urshan, had baptized people in Jesus’ name but the Oneness movement took root at Arroyo Seco, rejecting the post-biblical concept of the Trinity and returning to its apostolic doctrinal roots.

 

Over a century later, millions of people have been baptized in Jesus’ name. There is no other saving name (Acts 4:12)! We teach and preach, not only what was proclaimed at Arroyo Seco, but what was preached on the day of the birth of the New Testament Church (Acts 2:38). Baptism in the name of Jesus washes away our sins (Acts 22:16). See also John 3:3-5; Acts 10:47-48; 19:5; Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; I Peter 3:20-21.