Wind, Fire, and Unity: Pentecostals and Ecumenical Dialogue
Nate Johnson Friday, 28 August 2009
The Faith and Order Conference, hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and described as "Christianity's most expansive forum for theological dialogue,"[1] is set to meet again in October 2009. The inclusion of the non-WCC Roman Catholic Church in the conference vastly increases the representativeness of the forum, as does the participation of a small number of Pentecostals. It might be hard to imagine why any church's involvement in such a gathering is surprising, but the presence of ecumenically-inclined Pentecostals flies in the face of a well known fact: Pentecostals have been among ecumenicism's most virulent opponents. In order to understand the context of growing Pentecostal ecumenicism, we must first understand what is meant by the term "Pentecostal." A 2006 survey of Pentecostals conducted in 10 countries defined Pentecostals as Christians who not only place an emphasis on supernatural "gifts of the Spirit"—such as healing, prophesy, and speaking in tongues—but also belong to a "classical" Pentecostal denomination, such as the Churches of Christ or the Assemblies of God.[2] Such denominations grew out of the 1906 Asuza Street revival and are commonly acknowledged as having inherited elements of Wesleyan "holiness" theology and belief in a second "baptism of the Holy Spirit."
Charismatics, with whom Pentecostals are often conflated, exhibit many similar tendencies including the "infilling" of the Holy Spirit, yet do not belong to the "classically Pentecostal" churches with stronger theological links to the Asuza Street Revival. The term "charismatics" can thus include mainline Protestants and Catholics who possess/practice charismata or "gifts of the Spirit," as well as Christians who identify as "Pentecostal," yet are not members of a "classically Pentecostal" church.
Evangelicals and Pentecostals have traditionally been the least represented Christian communities at ecumenical gatherings. Evangelicals often excuse themselves from such dialogues, saying they are not interested in compromising truth for the sake of unity. Their uneasiness is undoubtedly fueled by the enthusiastic involvement of more "liberal" churches in the ecumenical movement—churches which theologically conservative Christians, evangelical and Pentecostal alike, are likely to associate with compromised values and infidelity to Scripture.
Pentecostals sometimes take opposition to ecumenicism a step further: efforts at visible Christian unity are identified—with relativism—as the first steps in the creation of a one-world religion. This belief is supported by specific interpretations of biblical prophecies and is consistent with other eschatological beliefs common among Pentecostals, including a belief that humans are currently living in the end times and that Jesus' second coming is imminent.
Yet it is precisely Pentecostals who are the newest entrants into the broad world of Christian ecumenical dialogue. Pentecostals entered into dialogue with the Catholic Church in the mid 1970s and began taking part in dialogues with the WCC in the early 1990s.[3]
Such engagement is significant because Pentecostalism constitutes the fastest growing segment of Christianity.[4] In Latin America alone, more Catholics have left Roman Catholicism for Pentecostalism than European Roman Catholics who left for Reformation churches during the Protestant Reformation.[5] Christianity has surpassed Islam as the largest religion in Africa, and this can be attributed in part to the explosive growth of Pentecostalism on the continent.[6] By some estimates, Pentecostals constitute 20-25 percent of Christians worldwide and are seen as the "global south's de facto expression of Christianity."[7]
Unity in the Spirit: Pentecostal Movement toward Ecumenicism
Tendencies supporting ecumenicism can be found within several elements of Pentecostalism. In fact, the easily identifiable and often alienating Pentecostal belief in supernatural phenomena such as speaking in tongues and prophecy actually helped to produce one of the foremost Pentecostal ecumenicists. David Du Plessis, a South African, served as a leader in the first World Conference of Pentecostal Churches, a function of the loose yet inclusive Pentecostal World Fellowship that began to form directly before World War II. He then engaged both the WCC and the Vatican and initiated the first round of Catholic-Pentecostal dialogues, a series that has continued after his death. His book, The Spirit Bade Me Go, highlights the role he believes the Holy Spirit played in compelling him to begin his outreach efforts, despite his previously confrontational attitude with the Protestant churches which had rejected or dismissed his Pentecostal experiences.[8] He believed his engagement efforts helped spur the prolific modern charismatic movement. In Du Plessis' eyes, the release of the Spirit into established denominations accomplished what Pentecostals genuinely desired: the release of God's Spirit into the church for revival, without requiring that individuals leave their original church.
On the one hand, tendencies towards ecumenicism within Pentecostalism can be explained easily enough. Many Pentecostals lack a systematic theology and are thus less likely to feel separated from other Christians due to fine theological distinctions. While the Protestant Reformation resulted from disagreements about theology, Pentecostalism emerged much more strongly out of exhibited behavior. Yet some of these characteristics, as well as other factors, present unique challenges to Pentecostal ecumenicism.
Why Pentecostals Find Ecumenicism Difficult
The first significant challenge to increased Pentecostal ecumenicism is the decentralized nature of the Pentecostal movement. As noted above, many charismatics who self-identify as Pentecostal are not in fact members of classically Pentecostal churches, and this introduces practical barriers when other churches attempt to engage Pentecostals. Pentecostals and charismatics are both more likely to look to the movement of the Holy Spirit for any necessary coordination of the larger church than they are to look to a denominational structure. Even the largest, most identifiably Pentecostal denominations are organized in a more decentralized way than most denominations, complicating the practical aspects of ecumenical dialogue. For example, Cecil Robeck—who comes from the Assemblies of God denomination and who has taken a very prominent role in ecumenical dialogue—is officially ordained by his denomination but has never been officially appointed to represent the Assemblies of God in ecumenical activities.
Historical Pentecostal interpretations of the Catholic Church may also hinder ecumenical efforts. Following the Reformation, Protestants long identified the Catholic Church as "Babylon"—or an ally of the devil—and Pentecostal rhetoric in Catholic majority Latin America has been more likely to use labels like this. Despite the fact that Latin American Pentecostals have been the leaders in ecumenical engagement, manifested most clearly in some Latin Pentecostal churches' membership in the WCC,[9] relations with Catholics in the region have been comparatively tense. Disputes about Pentecostal evangelism efforts directed at Catholics often provide the opportunity for suspicions to surface about the orthodoxy of both sides. When such disagreements are placed within the framework of the widespread Pentecostal belief in spiritual warfare, Christians with different beliefs can be perceived as "captured" or "deceived" by evil spirits rather than as fellow believers who simply misunderstand or disagree. Prayer and spiritual intercession then take priority over the needs for critical thinking, reflection, and dialogue in response to the purely "spiritual" problem. The significant ecumenical outreach efforts of Catholics to Pentecostals have thus produced fruitful dialogue with a few Pentecostal scholars while simultaneously failing to attract popular interest.
Despite Pentecostalism's Protestant heritage, there are also significant challenges affecting Pentecostal ecumenism with other Protestants. Cecil Robeck, mentioned above, gave out a plea at the last Faith and Order conference (held in Kuala Lumpur in 2004) for greater efforts to include the vast numbers of Pentecostals and other independent churches worldwide.[10] While small steps have been made since then, the social divisions of North America continue to hinder dialogue in much the same way that such divisions hinder dialogue with Catholics in Latin America.[11] Social divisions on issues such as abortion and gay marriage lead northern Pentecostals to ally with Catholics, while poverty and other social justice issues often lead southern Pentecostals to ally with mainline Protestants. In both cases, Pentecostals perceive strong linkages between their faith and contemporary social issues, and this aspect of their faith provides the broadest avenue to ecumenical cooperation.
Given Pentecostal spiritual practices, social views, and theology, one has to wonder how far various mainline churches will be willing to go in reaching out to their charismatic brothers and sisters. Will different kinds of Christians be able to recognize brothers and sisters who show up to the same demonstrations with opposing signs and slogans?
Conclusion
It remains to be seen which tendencies will determine the extent of Pentecostal ecumenical engagement. Pentecostals could choose to embrace a broader visible Christian identity en masse or could similarly reject such an identity. Complicating the picture still further is the uncertainty of whether Pentecostalism will even remain identifiable over time as a single tradition or denominational family. What seems fairly certain however is that Pentecostal responses to current and future ecumenism will appeal to Pentecostal truth claims: if the "Spirit" within Pentecostals is indeed one with the living, triune God, then the Spirit will work to make believers one, just as Christians believe the Father, Son, and Spirit are one.[12]
[1] "The Crete Meeting," http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/faith-and-order-plenary-commission-2009/the-crete-meeting.html. Accessed July 27, 2009.
[2] Ibid.
[3] "Roman Catholics and Pentecostals in Dialogue," The Ecumenical Review, Volume 51, Issue 2: April 1999. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2065/is_2_51/ai_56063938/?tag=content;col1. Accessed June 26, 2009.
[4] "Spirit and Power: A 10 Country Survey of Pentecostals," Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2006, http://pewforum.org/surveys/pentecostal/. Accessed July 20, 2009.
[5] "Roman Catholics and Pentecostals in Dialogue," The Ecumenical Review, Volume 51, Issue 2: April 1999. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2065/is_2_51/ai_56063938/?tag=content;col1. Accessed June 26, 2009.
[6] Pew Forum.
[7] Ibid.
[8] David Du Plessis, "The Spirit Bade Me Go," (Alachua, FL: Bridge-Logos, 1970) 5-6.
[9] "Latin American Evangelical Pentecostal Commission," http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/latin-america/cepla.html. Accessed July 18, 2009.
[10] "Call to Include the Missing 25 Percent," World Council of Churches, August 6 2004, http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pr-04-32.html. Accessed June 23, 2009.
[11] "Pentecostals Participate in Expanded World Mission Conference," Pentecostal-Charismatic Theological Inquiry International, May 14, 2005, http://www.pctii.org/news/2005_Athens.html. Accessed June 23, 2009.
[12] John 17:22.