Alexander Alfred Boddy (15 November 1854 – 10 September 1930) was an Anglican vicar and one of the founders of Pentecostalism in United Kingdom.
Early life
Boddy was born into an ecclesiastical family: his father was a vicar, and his mother was a descendant of Mary Vazeille, who had been married to
John Wesley. Although he trained to be a
solicitor, a religious experience at the Keswick Convention convinced him he should become ordained into the Church of England. Following several appointments, the Bishop of Durham,
Joseph Lightfoot, placed him in All Saints Church in
Monkwearmouth, Sunderland in 1884.
In 1891 he married Mary Pollock.
Boddy was inspired by the Holiness Movement, and he had an intense religious experience in 1892. In 1899 his wife Mary experienced a healing from asthma and they both believed that she had a gift for healing through the laying-on of hands. In 1904 he visited Wales during the Welsh Revival and met Evan Roberts, and in 1907
Boddy in Pentecostal history
All Saints in
Monkwearmouth became a centre for British Pentecostalism, and on Tuesday 28 October 1907, Mary Boddy laid hands on the evangelist Smith Wigglesworth.
From 1908 to 1914 Boddy hosted a series of Sunderland Whitsuntide Conventions, which gained national press attention.
Boddy also helped to found the Pentecostal Missionary Union, with Cecil Polhill,
Teachings
Boddy taught that the purpose of the
Holy Spirit was to emphasise
Christ, and that divine love was more important than speaking in tongues. He continued to have a high view of the
, and defended the practice of
infant baptism. He warned against exaggeration as regards healing testimonies. He also believed that the
Second Coming of Christ was imminent, and he suggested that certain events during World War I were portents of Biblical prophecy. After visiting the
United States, he was disturbed by an emphasis among Pentecostal churches there on money. Unlike some other Pentecostals, he supported the British war effort.
Publications
Prior to his Pentecostal experience Boddy composed a number of
Roker Tracts on Holiness subjects. He also wrote several travel books on
Russia,
Canada, Palestine, and
Egypt. From 1908–1926 he was the editor of and chief contributor to
Confidence magazine.
Sources
-
Wakefield, Gavin, The First Pentecostal Anglican: The Life and Legacy of Alexander Boddy, Grove Books Limited: Cambridge, 2001.
-
Wakefield, Gavin, Alexander Boddy Pentecostal Anglican Pioneer, Paternoster Press: , 2007.
External links
Video
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a church history
documentary film about the 1907 Sunderland Revival and Alexander Boddy. (www.garywilkinson.eu)
