Unexpected unity part 5: Pentecostalism
“All revivals are preceded by three features. Extraordinary prayer, unexpected unity... and heightened expectation.” Dr. Stuart Piggin, Australian Christian Historian.
In the spirit of unity, CATCH has reached out to several denominational leaders around Aotearoa to share with us what’s special about the place they call ‘home’. After hearing from Dr. Rev Malcolm Gordon, Anglican Assistant Bishop Ana Fletcher, Elliot Rice from Central Baptist Church, and Clint Ussher from the Wesleyan Methodist Tradition, this week we have Rev. Dr. Joseph McAuley from an AOG Church in Tauranga.
The late Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue once stated, “It is essential for somebody who wants to have a mature, adult, open-ended, good-hearted critical faith, to conduct the most vigorous and relentless conversation that [they] can with [their] own tradition.” [1] Taking this to heart I pursued such a conversation in a doctoral project exploring the nature of Pentecostalism – the Christian tradition I grew up in and minister as a pastor. Along the way I discovered that while Pentecostalism has been fairly and unfairly characterised by the use of slogans, formulas, three-point-sermons and one-liners, or dismissed as hype, emotionalism, or weird shake and bake, there is a lot more to Pentecostalism than many realise. In fact, there is much to be cherished and celebrated.
The Pentecostal church traces its roots to a move of the Spirit at the turn of the nineteenth century and the attempts of those impacted to respond faithfully to what they perceived as the latter rain foretold of in the Bible.[2] Traditionally the origins of this move of God are associated with Charles Fox Parham’s Bible school in Topeka, Kansas, and subsequently the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, led by William Seymour, in the early twentieth century. However, more sophisticated accounts of Pentecostal history reveal the particularity of God’s Spirit moving in the late 1800s and early 1900s to be that of a common shared experience, rather than of a single geographic location. Mark Hutchinson observes that Pentecostalism was never “one thing spreading out, but many mutually recognisable things coalescing.”[3] God’s Spirit was moving in similar ways but in diverse geographic locations. Mutually recognizable in these various locations was a shared experience of what was referred to as baptism in the Spirit, as well as a distinctive accompanying ecstatic religious phenomenon – speaking in tongues (glossolalia). What became known as Pentecostalism found its impetus as Christians attempted to live in faithful witness to their experiences of the Holy Spirit.
Over time Pentecostalism institutionalised, churches were planted and movements formed. Speaking in tongues continued to be celebrated but other defining markers have become prominent over the years, namely: theological simplicity (a tendency towards face-value readings of the biblical text, to not over complicating things, and to experience God even as the various biblical characters did), pragmatic methodologies (a preference for cultural relativity and innovation over tradition), missional energy (a passion take the good news of Jesus to both the four corners of the earth and also the nookies and crannies of life), pneumatic expectation (a hunger for God and a belief that God speaks and works in our lives today through the Holy Spirit), ontological enchantment (a perspective that appreciates there is more to the world we live in than just a physical or natural dimension), and relational tribalism (a tendency to form networks of like-minded churches and leaders that collaborate rather than to form denominations).
In my experience of Pentecostalism, I have seen over the years both the fruit (positive) and the consequences (negative) of each of these markers. I’ve seen theological simplicity anchor people in faith in the most testing of storms as they hold fast to Christ their Saviour. At the same time, I’ve seen a lack of theological understanding derail people in life too. I’ve seen pragmatic methodologies foster innovation, adaptation, and creative initiative. As well, I have seen pragmatism construct consumer driven liturgies that McDonaldize church in ways that are convenient and entertaining but don’t serve to form people in Christ. Notwithstanding the consequences of each defining marker (they must be monitored and attended to), I find Pentecostal faith and ecclesiology compelling. It is innovative, open, and expectant that one can encounter God in life and know the voice of the Spirit in one’s life. It looks beyond the obvious in its willingness to take a leap of faith as needed and in recognising that we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers. And perhaps, what I find most compelling of all, is Pentecostalism’s willingness to continue to adapt.
Pentecostal pragmatism and missional energy fuel a willingness to adapt and grow, and while this has fostered on one hand ‘contemporary’ expressions of church, it is also fostering on the other a willingness to reintegrate with the wider Body of Christ. More and more pastors are pursuing higher education, hanging out with Anglican and Baptist brothers and sisters in Christ, reading widely, and integrating aspects of other traditions into their liturgy run sheet. Pentecostals are moving beyond contemporary and experiencing renewal as they explore their own ‘treasure’ in conversation with the various ‘treasures’ of the Christian faith that have been stewarded by the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Celtic, Anabaptist and Evangelical traditions of the Church. These traditions have the potential to spark new life, maturity, fresh perspective, and great wisdom into the here and now of Pentecostalism. Perhaps too, if reciprocated, Pentecostalism might be well placed to offer something of her own treasures back.
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[1] Krista Tippet interview with John O’Donohue, October 2007. Published transcript form on the 6th of August 2015. John O’Donohue, “The Inner Landscape of Beauty.” Onbeing.org. https://onbeing.org/programs/john-odonohue-the-inner-landscape-of-beauty/ (accessed, August 24, 2017).
[2]Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 42-43.
[3] Mark Hutchinson, “The Power to Grasp,” Unpublished paper, Southern Cross College, Sydney, 2003.
Rev. Dr. Joseph McAuley
Joseph is the Lead Pastor of St Luke’s, an Assemblies of God church located in Tauranga. He serves on the Executive of the Assemblies of God in New Zealand, is a Professional Supervisor, co-ordinates Master’s Degree professional development for pastors with Alphacrucis College, runs, reads, plays golf, and rides the Warriors rollercoaster every season.