Kansas has more members of the Pentecostal religion, an evangelical faith, than any other Midwestern state. Charles Parham, the religion’s founder, moved from Iowa to Topeka in 1899 at the age of 26. His arrival caused an uproar in Catholic and mainline Protestant churches, which objected to the gospel of “good news,” the belief that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ sins can be forgiven and people reconciled with God. Thus a fundamental Pentecostal requirement is that one be born again. Read about religious tension in America’s heartland 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
