Friday, December 7, 2018

Hey Fletch … I am in a search of understanding “The Pentecostal Movement.” Can you tell me about that movement? Is there a website or something I can read to learn about the phenomenon of the pentecostal movement? Thanks for your time in this matter.

DRF—Many see the Azusa Street Revival as the primary source for spreading Pentecostalism in the last century. The Wikipedia article on the revival concludes with:

Many existing Wesleyan-holiness denominations adopted the Pentecostal message, such as the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), the Church of God in Christ, and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. The formation of new denominations also occurred, motivated by doctrinal differences between Wesleyan Pentecostals and their Finished Work counterparts, such as the Assemblies of God formed in 1914 and the Pentecostal Church of God formed in 1919. An early doctrinal controversy led to a split between Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostals, the latter founded the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World in 1916 and the United Pentecostal Church in 1945.

As for the beliefs in the Pentecostal movement, see this article. A section of that article notes:

Comprising over 700 denominations and a large number of independent churches, there is no central authority governing Pentecostalism; however, many denominations are affiliated with the Pentecostal World Fellowship. There are over 279 million Pentecostals worldwide, and the movement is growing in many parts of the world, especially the global South. Since the 1960s, Pentecostalism has increasingly gained acceptance from other Christian traditions, and Pentecostal beliefs concerning Spirit baptism and spiritual gifts have been embraced by non-Pentecostal Christians in Protestant and Catholic churches through the Charismatic Movement. Together, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity numbers over 500 million adherents

Many in the XPastor community are a part of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. While this is not my tradition, it is a joy to call them friends and to see how they serve Christ.