Who started pentecostal churches?

Answer 1

That would be the Holy Ghost... Pente means 50, the Holy Ghost was poured out on the 50th day as it was prophesied in the Old Testament.

Acts 2

King James Version

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The answers above, based on the Christian Bible are accurate in what Pentecost means "The Fiftieth Day" and how the Pentecost Church and religion derived their name, however, the scripture above does not state the beginning of the Pentecostal Church nor the Religion.

Pentecost: "the fiftieth day" is a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sanai, and also later in the "Christian liturgical year" commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Twelve Apostles of Christ. In the Eastern churches, Pentecost can also refer to the fifty ays between Easter and Pentecost, hence the book containing the liturgical text for Paschaltide is called the Pentecostarion.

On the day of Pentecost (literally) means on the fiftieth day and has no reference to the Pentecostal Church or the religion of Pentecostalism.

Pentecostalism is actually a very young religion by many standards. Pentecostalism is a renewal movement with in Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Greek names of the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, as described in the book of Acts.

The first Pentecostals were radical adherents of the Holiness Movement. These early 20th Century Christians were energized by revivalism and expectation for the imminent Second Coming of Christ. Believing they were living in the End Times.

In 1900, Charles Parham, an American evangelist and faith leader, began teaching that speaking in tongues was The Bible evidence of Spirit baptism. The three-year long "Azusa Street Revival" in Los Angeles, California, resulted in the spread of Pentecostalism throughout the United States and the rest of the world as visitors carried the Pentecostal experience back to their home churches or felt called to the mission field.

Ergo the actual "Day of Pentecost" as described in the book of Acts has nothing to do with the Pentecost Church or Pentecostalism, rather that they get their name from the event.

So all in all, it was Charles Parham who began the Pentecostal Church (in effect) and the religion of Pentecostalism in approximately 1903, many many years after the actual "Day of Pentecost" described in the book of Acts.