H. Vinson Synan

Harold Vinson Synan, (born December 1, 1934), is an historian and author within the Pentecostal movement. Synan has published a total of sixteen books, fifteen of which are related to Pentecostal and Charismatic history. He once served as the Director of the Holy Spirit Research Center at Oral Roberts University. He also served as General Secretary of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Since 1994, he has served as Dean of the School of Divinity at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Synan, along with his twin brother Vernon, was born on December 1, 1934 in Hopewell, Virginia to Joseph Alexander and Minnis (Purdue) Synan. He was one of seven siblings.

His father, a sixteen-year-old Methodist was converted at a Pentecostal Holiness tent meeting near Fredericksburg, Virginia. He later planted five Pentecostal Holiness congregations in the Tidewater area of Virginia before serving as a bishop of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, a position he held for 24 years. Synan’s formative years revolved around his Pentecostal Holiness church. His call to ministry came shortly after his conversion in 1951, while living in Memphis, Tennessee, during the time he was seeking his experience of the “second blessing” of entire sanctification. Nine months later, at the age of seventeen, he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He began his preaching ministry the same year, and in 1954 was ordained in the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Synan then completed a two-year liberal arts degree from Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia. In 1955 and after a one-year pastoral apprenticeship, he became an evangelist in the Eastern Virginia PHC Conference. Synan graduated from the University of Richmond with a B.A. in American history in 1958, and in the fall of the same year began his teaching career.

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