Pentecostal education

At the start of the 20^th century, as denominational resources were accumulated, Pentecostals provided basic bible training for their ministers and missionaries. The narrative shows how simple training schemes blossomed in some cultures into universities and colleges and, in others, into accredited institutions attached to secular bodies or, in the developing world, into more innovative schemes, some of which were church‐based. The current challenge is for Pentecostalism to remain true to itself while incorporating mainstream scholarship.     

Pentecostal Affiliation

Although Pentecostal Protestants are often included under the broad term “evangelical Protestant,” research suggests that Pentecostals are distinct from other evangelical Protestants in their religious and secular beliefs and activities. In this research note, we demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of a religious classification that accounts for differences between affiliates of Pentecostal denominations and affiliates of other Protestant denominations. Analysis of nationally representative survey data shows that affiliates of evangelical Protestant and Pentecostal Protestant denominations differ in their levels of education, religious beliefs, attitudes on social issues, and political ideology. These differences are largely congruent with theoretical expectations of differences among Protestant subgroups. The classification of Pentecostal denominations presented in this research note is an important tool for researchers, which can be applied to a wide range of social scientific inquiries.     

Mission in Pentecostal Theology

The purpose of this essay is to seek to discern as accurately as possible some key theological resources and impulses that stand behind global Pentecostal mission, whose tremendous growth has caught the attention of scholars and practitioners alike. After outlining a profile of key factors believed to be behind missionary enthusiasm and discerning the current state of the emerging Pentecostal missiological scholarship, the essay seeks to provide a fairly comprehensive theological analysis of leading motifs. The essay suggests that the following theological themes undergird Pentecostal missiology, namely a keen eschatological expectation, the pursuit of a distinctively Pentecostal “Full Gospel,” the vision of a holistic salvation, and the reliance on the power and energies of the Holy Spirit. Since Pentecostal theological analysis is still in the making, the current writing should be considered as an interim report.     

Pentecostal Dynamics of African Initiated Churches

This essay is a historical consideration of the body of churches known as African Initiated Churches (AICs). The key research questions I am investigating are whether this church can be classified as Pentecostal and how it employs transnational networking in its mission strategy. I have approached this question by exploring the Pentecostal dynamics and transnational networking of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church as an example of an AIC. To this end, I analyze the Pentecostal and transnational nature of an international ecumenical conference organized by the church in London in 2017. This essay is written from the perspective of someone who was born and raised within the church movement, but has also studied the movement as part of African Christianity. The originality of this essay is in its analysis of the transnational nature of the international ecumenical conference.     

Healing and Psychotherapy: The Pentecostal Tradition

This paper explores the practice of healing in the Pentecostal movement. The practice of healing has a long tradition in Pentecostal practice. The meaning of divine healing and what could be components of a theology of healing are examined. It is important for pastoral counselors, pastors, and chaplains to be aware of the importance of divine healing for Pentecostal clients.     

Pentecostal theology of mission in the making

While Pentecostals are known for productive and widespread mission work, theological reflection has not kept up with praxis. In recent years, however, a number of leading Pentecostal theologians have started to reflect on key issues such as what are the underlying motifs and distinguishing features as well as urgent challenges facing Pentecostal mission, social concern and relation to other religions, among others. This essays attempts to offer a state‐of‐art critical survey based on English speaking literature at the international level.     

Observations on Pentecostal Participation in Formal Ecumenical Dialogue

As analysis of the implications of global Pentecostalism for ecumenism continues, we can learn much by examining the formal ecumenical dialogues in which Pentecostals have participated. Among these dialogues, both between Pentecostals and other Christian traditions and between Oneness and trinitarian Pentecostals, the Catholic–Pentecostal dialogue is especially instructive. As Pentecostals continue to dialogue, they should employ the methodology of lex orandi, lex credendi, reflect on the requirements and responsibilities of their dialogue participation, and return to previous topics in their dialogues that may be ripe for reconsideration.     

The Pentecostal movement in North America and beyond

Pentecostalism began in North America and spread across the globe. It grew out of the ferment of American religious life and manifested elements of Wesleyan Methodism and Holiness theology. The Azusa Street revival after 1906 facilitated its world‐wide dissemination. After the 1960s the charismatic movement or ‘second wave’ provided further momentum to the movement, and this was supplemented by indigenous Pentecostalism in the developing world.     

Prayer for Rain: A Pentecostal Perspective from Kenya

Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, has a population of 3.5 million people. The concentration of Pentecostal and charismatic churches in Nairobi, as in other African cities, has more than doubled since the 1970s. The Kenya meteorological department in June 2016 forecast poor short rains in 2016. By December 2016, the Thika Dam (Ndakaini), which provides 85 percent of the water used in Nairobi, was below the 50 percent level. This led the Nairobi water and sewerage company to issue detailed water‐rationing programmes effective 1 January 2017. With dry taps across the city, actual effects of depressed rains were visible. Using fieldwork data, this paper examines the response, if any, of three Pentecostal churches in Nairobi in two separate month‐long periods, July 2016 and January 2017, to the meteorological department and Nairobi water and sewerage alerts. Three services for each Pentecostal church were sampled, bringing the total number of church services to nine. From fieldwork data, a vibrant African Pentecostal eco‐theology emerges, which is the greening of all of God's creation on earth. Using typologies available for defining the relationship between human beings and nonhuman nature identified within public theology discourse, I find that two of the congregations align themselves with utilitarian anthropocentrism and nature‐centred approaches, while the other defies plausible positioning.     

Pentecostal Mission: A German Free Church Perspective

The Pentecostal movement is growing worldwide. This applies both globally and to the German context. Pentecostal mission, therefore, plays an increasingly important role – a role that is also reflected in new networks and institutions emerging in Germany. As Pentecostal churches increase in importance, their ecumenical relationships are also moving into focus. The reproach of prosyletism arises repeatedly at the intersection of mission and ecumenism in ecumenical discussions. This article illustrates the development of ecumenical relations in Pentecostal churches in Germany from a Free Church perspective, viewing ecumenical challenges and opportunities in relation to approaches of church theory.