Eric Patterson, Edmund Rybarczyk, eds. The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2007. xiv + 209 pp. $70.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7391-2102-3; $28.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7391-2103-0.
Reviewed by David Michel (Chicago Theological Seminary)
Published on H-Pentecostalism (March, 2008)
The Future of Pentecostalism
This review provides general content information, highlights common threads and selected insights, and offers a critique. Edited by Eric Patterson and Edmund Rybarczyk, this book is the outcome of a pragmatic concern to stir up an aggiornamento within Classical Pentecostalism, which is viewed as becoming more and more a sort of "Evangelical pot of goo" (pp. 8-9). Inspired by the recent centennial anniversary of the Azusa revival, The Future of Pentecostalism is a compilation of twelve essays on Pentecostal theology, music, postmodernity, higher education, institutionalization, and Latino and Oneness Pentecostalism. White denominations covered include the Assemblies of God (AG), the Church of God (CG), the Open Bible Churches (OBC), and the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is the only black denomination covered in a single essay. A majority of the contributors wrote on the denominations to which they belong. Each of the twelve writers was asked to respond to the following questions: Is there a future for Pentecostalism in the United States? If so, what will it look like in fifty years?
A majority of the contributions refer to the waning of a clear Pentecostal identity among Classical Pentecostals and provide correctives or projections for the future. Frank Macchia, professor of theology at an AG graduate school, notes that no Pentecostal theologian has made the baptism of the Holy Spirit (BHS), also called Spirit baptism, an essential part of their systematic work in the last two decades. In his work on postmodernity, Earl Creps labels Midwestern AG ministers who are not teaching the doctrines of Spirit baptism and initial evidence as post-distinctive. Jeff Hittenberger, professor of education at an AG university, finds that AG educators are struggling to define the exact Pentecostal identity of their institutions. A CG seminary professor, Kimberly Alexander, reports that the BHS is optional for laity in the CG which has become "almost Pentecostal" (pp. 146, 137). Margaret Poloma's data show that only 43 percent of AG congregations report regular speaking in tongues and interpretations, 33 percent of AG congregations report regular experiences of prophecy, and 70 percent of AG pastors "either strongly agree or agree [that] the 'gifts of the Holy Spirit are losing their prominence in AG churches as a whole'" (p. 114). On the contrary, David Bernard, a UPCI scholar, claims that 90 percent of regular church attendees within his denomination have experienced speaking in tongues. Discussing other components of Pentecostal identity, Poloma's findings reveal that, though 90 percent of AG congregations practice faith healing, Sunday night services and revivals as well as public testimonials for healing are becoming rare. David Cole, a theologian and director of an OBC college, asserts that the OBC deleted references to specific views on the millennium and the Great Tribulation in its articles of faith in 2003.
The contributors took time to address the future of Pentecostalism. Bernard is positive that the core Oneness Pentecostal constituency will continue to maintain and stand for the doctrinal distinctive of Spirit baptism with evidence of speaking in tongues. Both Macchia and Alexander are asking for the BHS to be integrated into the ordo salutis. For Macchia, John the Baptist foresees the Messiah as the one who will baptize in the Spirit as the final act of salvation in Matthew 3. Alexander calls for the CG to forsake the practice of conversion as a "decision for Christ" and reassume the emotional/Wesleyan form of conversion to be fully Pentecostal (p. 146). She also suggests that emotional sanctification "produces the fruit of holy living" (p. 143). Linking Spirit baptism to eschatology, Macchia views the BHS as being connected with the Kingdom of God and encompassing much more than Pentecostals or Charismatics account for. Macchia appeals to Karl Barth who referred to a general baptism of Jesus from death to resurrection, in which "we and I [Macchia] would add, the entire creation participate through Spirit baptism" (p. 22). Giving his forecast on Pentecostal music, Calvin Johansson anticipates that it will become more electronic based and less congregational, and will exhibit a greater disconnect between music and text.
Other interesting insights are shared by the various scholars. Johansson claims that Pentecostal musicians have become much accepting of pop music antics, as they provide entertainment in church and no longer promote a holiness ethos. Bernard notes that the Oneness Movement is a strong supporter of marriage, family, and sexual morality, and stands against euthanasia, abortion, and moral relativism. Arlene Walsh and Patterson anticipate a greater appeal of the prosperity gospel and a decline of the acceptance of liberation theology among Hispanics. David Daniels, a COGIC historian, views his denomination as doctrinally conservative with a liberal political agenda. This explains why the COGIC supported former presidential candidate Bill Clinton. Speaking of racial or ethnic minorities, Alexander advances that there is a lack of ethnic diversity among the CG elected leadership that has always been predominantly white southern male. Likewise, Daniels informs us that COGIC leaders "are often myopic in scope" in that they promote an agenda based on American issues for the international church (p. 179). So far, the COGIC has not developed ways to include foreigners in the global leadership of the denomination. However, unlike white Pentecostal theology, COGIC thought is influenced by various streams of black, liberation, womanist, and contextual theologies.
The major merit of the book is that it showcases the growing maturity of Pentecostal scholarship that is becoming more critical and more sophisticated. Unlike early Pentecostal scholars who glorified their denominational theologies and institutions, these contributors are not shy of critiquing the denominations to which they belong and calling for aggiornamento. This book deserves the time and attention of both insiders and outsiders because of the demonstrated intellectual honesty of the contributors. It offers fresh proposals and gathers in one volume some ideas that were previously shared in miscellaneous documents. The focus on the future makes this work unique, and scholars, ministers, and lay leaders will benefit from reading it.
A close reading, however, raises some concerns. Methodologically speaking, several contributors (Macchia, Johansson, Hittenberg, and Alexander) end up making proposals on what the American Pentecostal Church ought to be or do instead of what it will look like. Creps does not reveal the percentages of interviewees who held certain views, making it difficult for the reader to accurately assess the penetration of postmodernism within the AG. In contrast, Alexander's claim that the CG is "almost Pentecostal" is very problematic. Her assumption that being Pentecostal requires a camp meeting type of conversion or of sanctification cannot be proved biblically. Alexander's position subtly implies that the millions of people who belong to the Reformed wing of Pentecostalism are not fully Pentecostal. Furthermore, a crisis experience of conversion/sanctification does not necessarily make Wesleyan Pentecostals holier or better Christians. Alexander's argument lacks rigor because she also affirms that it was the civil rights movement, among other factors, that forced racial integration on the CG, which continues to exclude women and nonwhites from executive positions of leadership.
The overrepresentation of the AG hinders the stated intent to provide a picture of American Pentecostalism. One also finds a lack of gender balance as women, the majority of Pentecostals, are not the subject of a single essay. The book also lacks a global perspective and ignores the civic impact of Pentecostalism. Few or no outside factors are taken to shape the past, present, or future of American Pentecostalism. AG constituents and a strong COGIC sector supported George W. Bush's presidential runs. John Ashcroft, an AG member, served as governor of Missouri (1985-93), a state where the AG is strong. He later joined Congress (1995-2001) and served as U.S. attorney general during Bush's first term (2001-5). Pentecostals are certainly becoming a political force, which is obscured in the book. The lack of contributions by more scholars working as pastors perhaps accounts for the elusion of flesh-and-blood issues, such as the rise of divorce among Pentecostals, including ministers, and the increase of violence and teenage pregnancy in urban centers where minority churches are located. Overall, Future of Pentecostalism seems to reflect more the concerns of the academy than those of the church. It is worth pointing to the reader that a survey, related to this book and designed by Patterson and Rybarczyk, was not well received by the majority of the five hundred Pentecostal leaders to whom it was sent. This, in itself, says a lot about the future of Pentecostalism in the next fifty years.
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Citation:
David Michel. Review of Patterson, Eric; Rybarczyk, Edmund, eds., The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States.
H-Pentecostalism, H-Net Reviews.
March, 2008.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14257
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