Global Pentecostalism

Global Pentecostalism 

(I read 183 pages out of this book, though there were two chapters left, so you will not see those two included in this book review)

 

Chapter 1:

            The first chapter of this book deals with the history of the Pentecostal church movement. The authors cover the key figures including Parham and Seymour and the rise of Pentecostalism in the United States during the early 1900’s. They also emphasized that most Pentecostal churches don’t associate with a specific denomination, nor do they want to, but that there are several notable aspects of the Pentecostal church that distinguish them from most other mainline denominational churches. According to the authors, these include their worship, healings, neighborly love, and their belief in the Spirit world. This chapter also identifies five distinct types of Pentecostalism. Overall, Pentecostals are typically social activists and this is a significant point for the authors.

 

Chapter 2:

            Chapter two of this book is all about the social work of the Pentecostal church movement around the world. In fact, this is one area that appears to be of utmost importance to this group of believers. The authors show how Pentecostals are attempting to display holistic ministry that unites proselytizing with meeting the physical/social needs of the people. They engage in help that ranges from providing food and clothing, to offering counseling and education, medical assistance and policy changes that take a stand against injustices. One unique thing about what the Pentecostals are doing (according to the authors) is that they are “sensitive to their local needs and environments” so Pentecostal congregations around the world engage in unique social activities in order to elicit change and transformation in their own communities.

 

Chapter 3:

             In chapter three, the authors highlight the social outreach efforts of the Pentecostal church that are geared specifically toward children and youth in their communities world wide. Much like what was noted in the previous chapter, what is unique in this area is how Pentecostal from each country address the unique struggles of their children and have created programs and outreaches to meet these needs and to offer hope for a good future. The authors also touch on the Pentecostal churches world wide who have made a dramatic impact on the youth culture -whether through outreach programs or simply through the church itself being made up primarily of youth.

 

Chapter 4:

            Chapter four beings by outlining several different social outreaches of the Pentecostal church movement which strive to bring transformation in people’s lives primarily through some type of rehabilitation. In some cases this included drug and rehabilitation, in others it was a way out for those who have been sold into modern day slave trade and sex trade. In any case, the authors in this chapter emphasize Pentecostals’ strong belief about the intervention and power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people. They also note that while some Pentecostals (specifically leadership) can be legalistic, however, there has emerged another group of them who are genuinely committed to bringing transformation in people’s lives by manifesting the same ministry of Jesus  (love and compassion) to the poor, outcast, children, etc.

 

Chapter 5:

            In this chapter the authors have gone through the various elements of Pentecostal worship. They start with addressing the physical buildings in which worship is held, and they note that there is such a wide variety from country to country that clearly the physical structure is of little importance since worship is an “internal experience” for Pentecostals. Next they talk about the musical aspect of worship and how the goal of it is to create an atmosphere where one can feel the Holy Spirit and often this is accomplished by following a specific song structure. They also noted how active Pentecostals are in their worship, dancing and moving around. Next they touch on the unique aspects of prayer, speaking in tongues and the use of other “gifts of the Spirit” that Pentecostals embrace. Prayer is frequent and often fervent, as is speaking in tongues. This chapter was pretty lengthy, and too long to go into detail about everything the authors touched on, but they also went into detail about how Pentecostals cast out demons, are slain in the spirit, and in some cases even see resurrections.  

 

Chapter 6:

            The authors talk about the correlation between religion/faith of believers and economics, specifically economic advancement at the start of this chapter. They include multiple examples of people who became Pentecostal believers and experienced an upward movement in an economic sense, where the connection is also made to living a disciplined and honest lifestyle as well. The authors also outline some of the commonly held beliefs within Pentecostalism, namely the way they look past social class or caste system, the “Prosperity Gospel,” and how they focus on the life of Jesus.