Pentecostal Research Articles

Pentecostalism and Covenantalism: Towards a Pneumatological Covenant Theology of Dealing with Adversity

Covenant theology seeks to explore the connection between deity and humanity which spans from the time of creation to the time when God sent his son to redeem the world from sin. The main tenets of the covenant theology also known as covenantalism are the covenant of works mainly found in the creation story. Second, it is the covenant of grace based on the promises of eternal life through faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and embracement of the Holy Spirit. The third component of covenant theology is the covenant of redemption which recognizes the sending of the Son of God into the world to die for the sins of the people. This article argued that covenantalism in the Pentecostal movement is not a mere doctrine based on these three tenets but rather is pneumatologically defined as a way of dealing with adversity. This is demonstrated through the theoretical framework of the pneumatological imagination in illustrating how Pentecostals in Africa are rooted in the covenant between them and their God through the Holy Spirit. Thus pneumatology in Pentecostalism becomes the foundation for the Pentecostal pneumatological covenant theology of dealing with adversity. This changes how we study covenant theolog., It is not only about religious doctrine but also a means of dealing with adversity. The study is a literature review within qualitative methodology. The study makes an important contribution to covenant theology by suggesting a theology of dealing with adversity beyond doctrinal issues. Therefore, covenant theology should be studied by taking into cognizance the role of the Holy Spirit within the framework of pneumatological imagination in helping believers overcome adversity. Keywords: Pentecostalism, Covenantalism, Covenant Theology, Pneumatology, Pneumatological Imagination, Adversity, Pentecostal

John Obi Oluwabamiji Ogundipe and the Promotion of Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria

John Obi Oluwabamiji Ogundipe and the Promotion of Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria

Prayer 24/7: The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Prayer City and Urban Invigoration in Nigeria

ABSTRACT The idea of a modern city is hardly construed from the prism of religion, even though the Tower of Babel has been discursively engaged as an agenda of building a megacity with an interplanetary goal. During the development and expansion of Christianity, cathedrals, with their elaborate architectural aesthetics and frequently as the only spectacular buildings in the provinces, became sites of ecclesiastical and political power. In Nigeria, although the mainline churches followed the cathedralization pattern of Western Christianity, the Pentecostal churches preferred the establishment or construction of prayer camps as the earliest mode of development and sacralization of space. However, there is a transition from prayer camps to prayer cities, with the latter conceived as a deliberate urbanization policy that embraces modern facilities. Using ethnographic and analytical methods, I study the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries’ Prayer City near Lagos, Nigeria, a “city” built on and sustained by prayer culture, and a “city” that invigorates urban life.

Responses of Christians to COVID-19 policies: A case study of selected BONAVADA Pentecostal churches, Cameroon

Responses of Christians to COVID-19 policies: A case study of selected BONAVADA Pentecostal churches, Cameroon

A Brief Consideration of the Sacrament of Marriage: from a Catholic Perspective for Pentecostal Christians

A Brief Consideration of the Sacrament of Marriage: from a Catholic Perspective for Pentecostal Christians

Tendencies of Social Form in Some New Evangelical and Pentecostal Movements

Tendencies of Social Form in Some New Evangelical and Pentecostal Movements

MEMAKSIMALKAN KETERLIBATAN PRIA DALAM PELAYANAN GEREJA LOKAL DI GPdI MAJELIS WILAYAH I SUNGAI BAHAR

The background of this study is the lack of male ministers in the local church in GPdI Sungai Bahar Region I. The research aims to look at the reasons for men's non-involvement in ministry and pinpoint areas of need for men's involvement, then encourage men to get involved in local church ministry which will have a positive impact on church ministry. The research method used a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, and observation. The scope of the research was men in local congregations in the working area of the Regional Assembly I of the Pentecostal Church in Indonesia (GPdI) Sungai Bahar, Jambi Province with a total of 88 adult men (married) from 21 local congregations. The results obtained are that many men have not been involved in the ministry because they do not fully understand the reasons and forms of involvement that they can do. The conclusion of this study is that the more men's involvement in local church ministry is maximized, the greater the achievements that can be done in the local congregation, so that serious efforts are needed from pastors to seek men's involvement in local congregations through inspirational stories from men who are involved in ministry.

Need-Based Evangelism as a Tool for Economic Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation in Nigerian Pentecostal Churches

Need-Based Evangelism as a Tool for Economic Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation in Nigerian Pentecostal Churches

Mediating Effect of Organisational Culture on the Relationship between Innovative Leadership and Performance of Pentecostal Churches in Kenya

Mediating Effect of Organisational Culture on the Relationship between Innovative Leadership and Performance of Pentecostal Churches in Kenya

Beliefs of Pentecostal pastors concerning the use of antiretroviral treatment among Pentecostal Christians living with HIV in a suburb of Cape Town-South Africa: a community health systems lens.

The global public health community accepts antiretroviral therapy (ART) for controlling and managing HIV. However, within some communities, claims of faith or miraculous healing of HIV and AIDS by Pentecostal pastors continue to spark controversies. This paper reports on an exploratory qualitative study to explore the beliefs held by Pentecostal pastors regarding the use of ART among Pentecostal Christians who are living with HIV (PCLH). Twenty Pentecostal pastors from two informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, were purposefully selected. Open-ended, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews were conducted on their religious beliefs concerning ART adherence. Interviews were conducted in English, audiotaped, and transcribed verbatim before being imported to the Atlas-ti 2023 software program for thematic data analysis. Since our study was guided by the relational community health system (CHS) model a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis was used. Two contrasting themes about the influence of the religious beliefs of Pentecostal pastors were identified: The first theme and its associated subthemes highlight the lack of basic HIV and ART knowledge among pastors. Consequently, these pastors tend to nudge their Christians to rely more on faith and spiritual healing at the expense of adherence to ART. The second theme and the associated sub-themes suggest that some pastors possess some basic HIV knowledge and understand the role of ART and how it works. This group of pastors advise their congregants to use ART and other healthcare services in tandem with spiritual rituals, faith, and prayers. Our findings highlight the need for functional community-based structures, such as community health committees (CHCs) and health facility management committees (HFMCs), in settings where complex interaction within the belief systems, practices, and norms of some stakeholders can influence people's health-seeking behaviours such as adhering to chronic medications like ART.

Leadership from the extreme periphery to the mainstream? A reflection on the critical journey and how traditioning might offer a Pentecostal denomination a rediscovery of ancient paths

ABSTRACT This paper was given as a keynote at the 2022 conference of the European Pentecostal Theological Association (EPTA). Drawing on a doctoral study 1 1 Foster, “Authority and Authenticity in the Leadership of the British Assemblies of God”. that explored the leadership and organizational culture of a Pentecostal denomination – British Assemblies of God (AoG) – an ecclesiological ethnography 2 2 Principles and techniques drawn from a long-term involvement with Ward and Scharen’s, Ecclesiology and Ethnography.; see also Ward, ed. Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography;Scharen, ed. Exporations in Ecclesiology and Ethnoggraphy. Healy, “Ecclesiology, Ethnography and God”.; Fiddes, “Ecclesiology and Ethnography”. approach is taken in this paper to combine resultant research insights with reflections from the author’s involvement in the leadership of a local Pentecostal church through two difficult leadership transitions and the consequent spiritual formation journey. The possible future implications for Pentecostal leaders of the adoption of Pete Scazzero’s 3 3 Scazerro, The Emotionally Healthy Leader. Emotionally Healthy Leadership (EHL) teachings in the first year of AoG’s Ministers in Training (MIT) programme are anticipated and Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich’s 4 4 Hagberg and Guelich, The Critical Journey. Critical Journey framework applied to analyze likely issues for Pentecostal leaders when rediscovering ancient paths (Jer 6:16). By casting an ethnographic gaze in the direction of a key denomination in the UK charismatic movement 5 5 Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland, led by John and Debbie Wright. that is already journeying this path and by paying attention to the thought leadership with the rising popularity of mentees of Dallas Willard. 6 6 For example, John Mark Comer’s ministry Practicing the Way and Bill and Kristi Gaultiere's ministry Soul Shepherding. Underpinning the paper is Simon Chan’s 7 7 Chan, Pentecostal Theology. notion of Pentecostal Traditioning employed both to provide foundational context and possible future trajectories. Similar to Elijah’s servant, these insights and reflections may presently seem to be nothing or we may have to look seven times before we see them as small as a man’s hand (1 Kings 18:43–44). However, this paper seeks to offer a practical-prophetic voice 8 8 A Practical-Prophetic voice focuses theological attention on the state of the concrete seen church; engages with other traditions of enquiry and their embodiments that bear upon the concrete identity of the church namely history, sociology, cultural analysis and ethnography; and offers a critical voice into the present and possible future see Healy, Church, World and the Christian Life. proposing the possibilities for bringing practices rooted in contemplative and monastic traditions from the periphery to the mainstream of Pentecostalism spiritual development and leadership.

O Heavenly King dwell within us

According to the Coptic tradition, believers pray daily the Third Hour (according to the Hebrew tradition) which corresponds to Nine O’clock AM, reflecting on the event of the Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, 10 days after the ascension of Lord Jesus. The Gospel of the third hour states clearly the promise of Lord Jesus to send the Holy Spirit, from the Father, upon the disciples. And that He will teach them and remind them of all which He had said to them. As is the case with all other hourly prayers, the gospel is followed by the litanies, again which reflect on the same event. The fourth litany reads: ‘O Heavenly King the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who is everywhere and fills everybody, come and dwell within us, you the Righteous One and save our souls’. This prayer is shared by many churches, including the Greek, Syrian, and Maronite churches. The Arabic of the word dwell ‘حل’ may give an inaccurate impression, of calling upon the Holy Spirit to descend upon the believers. We hereby discuss the Coptic and Greek linguistic evidence for the accurate meaning of the word. We conclude that the accurate meaning is ‘abide within us’ or ‘stay with us’, since the believer declares in the first and second litanies of the third hour, the presence of the Holy Spirit within his/her heart and asks for His renewal, with the Arabic request adjusted accordingly to ‘اسكن فينا، امكث فينا، أقم فينا’.

Prophecy Deliverance! At the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn

Abstract Cornel West lectured to the ministerial leadership at the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, New York, pastored by Bishop Herbert D. Daughtry, Sr, which became the bases for Prophesy Deliverance! My article lays the context and historical circumstances that brought West to the church. The essay explains theological, political nexus, and the critical moment in which the church, as a central member of the Black United Front, found itself at the center of the call for justice and social change amid police murders and abuses in New York City during the mayoral administration of Edward Koch.

Pentecost In Tulsa: The Revivals and Race Massacre that Shaped the Pentecostal Movement in Tulsa, by Daniel D. Isgrigg

Pentecost In Tulsa: The Revivals and Race Massacre that Shaped the Pentecostal Movement in Tulsa, by Daniel D. Isgrigg

If You Live Right, Heaven Belongs to You

Abstract Early lectures, which became the book Prophesy Deliverance! by Cornel West, were delivered at the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, New York. The location of House of the Lord, which West argued was an exemplar of Afro-American revolutionary Christianity, demonstrates the relational and reciprocal insights Pentecostalism shares with West’s commitments to radical historicism and prophetic pragmatism. Several Black descended Pentecostals–scholars Leonard Lovett and Keri Day, and denominational leader Smallwood Williams–enact both a complex cultural analysis, and a robust social analysis. I argue Pentecostal praxis and critical reflection engage and extend West’s corpus and Black critical thought.

Pentecostal leadership disputes in Zimbabwe: A pastoral challenge

Conflicts in the Pentecostal church leadership have been growing since time immemorial. However, leadership disputes have become traumatic and tragic in Zimbabwe to the extent that junior pastors are committing suicide and killing each other because of these conflicts. The article uses the practical theological framework to explore the complex intersections of conflict within the Pentecostal church, analysing the various factors and dynamics contributing to these conflicts. This work examines and addresses the ramifications of a leadership conflict within the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM). The junior pastors, who have been impacted by the leadership dispute, have endured trauma stemming from the ongoing conflict among the church’s prominent leaders, which is the central focus of this study. To better understand the lived experience of trauma among these pastors, a qualitative research design was employed. Through purposeful sampling and face-to-face interviews, participants were given the opportunity to share their narratives of leadership trauma. The result is that junior pastors are internalising the trauma, which is affecting them spiritually, emotionally and physically in ministry. This article proposes a healing methodology utilising the Gerkin and Positive Deconstruction approach.Contribution: This study leverages a practical theological framework to examine the challenges of providing pastoral care for junior ministers who were impacted by leadership disputes within AFM thereby contributing to Pentecostal approaches to care.

Selective reading of 1 Corinthians 14:26–40 resulting in the marginalisation of women

The aim of this paper is to point out a hermeneutic gap in Assemblies of God – Back to God’s order of service where 1 Corinthians 14:26–32 is read, eschewing verses 33–38. It points out the Assemblies of God’s perception of women’s ordination into the ministry, where women are allowed to participate in public worship but are not allowed to take up the pastoral leadership of the local assembly. The research problem is the hermeneutic gap behind refusal to ordain women into the ministry. The selective reading of the Scriptures poses a problem for hermeneutical inclusiveness that embraces social exegesis to arrive at the conclusion that it is not unscriptural to ordain women into pastoral leadership. The conclusion gives the remedial actions of the scenario, to suggest breaking out of a shell, agency and resilience, engaging social exegesis and hermeneutics, and engaging the community through dialogue to justify the rationale for ordaining women into the pastoral ministry in the same par with men.Contribution: Situated within feminist theology, the study on women pastoral leadership is a burning issue for both classical Pentecostals and some of their evangelical counterparts. Pentecostal and charismatic studies should expand their understanding of Pauline theology regarding women’s leadership to arrive at inclusiveness and non-sexism.

Challenges Encountered during the Interpretation and Translation of the Sermons in the Pentecostal Churches in Vihiga County

This study sought to analyse challenges encountered during interpreting and translating of sermons in the Pentecostal churches in Vihiga County. Interpretation and translation are a reflective professional undertaking fraught with linguistics challenges. The challenge is pronounced during sermon delivery in Pentecostal churches, where untrained volunteer interpreters and translators predominantly undertake interpretation and translation. Marianne’s Interpretive Theory of Translation guided the study. The descriptive research design was employed, and the target population consisted of the clergy, translators, interpreters and congregants drawn from the Pentecostal churches in Vihiga County. Purposive sampling was used to select five preachers, interpreters, translators and congregants from five Pentecostal churches in Vihiga County. Audio-video recording, guided interviews and structured observations were adopted to collect data. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic content. The results showed that the interpreters and translators faced numerous challenges during sermon interpretation and translation. The challenges included inadequate language and biblical knowledge, the use of complex terminologies, pronunciation problems and unpredictable preaching styles, insufficient preparation, cultural differences and inability to fulfil community language expectations, lengthy utterances and prolonged elicitations, the use of independent and non-contextual translation and lack of synonyms for different linguistic features. It is recommended that interpreters and translators undergo adequate training in interpretation and translation to enhance their ability to deal with the dynamics of translation and interpretation of the sermons in Pentecostal churches.

Love and Emotions in Pietist Hymnography—From the Past to Us: Musical Examples

This study aims to analyze, through religious hymns in the German-speaking area from the early 18th century, the influence that the Pietist theological movement, starting from Philipp Jacob Spener’s Pia Desideria, had on the centralization of the self in the Protestant religious world, through the introduction of personal feelings of love towards God. On the one hand, the origins of Pietism can already be traced back to the late 16th century in areas affected by the radical reforms of the Anabaptists. On the other hand, it is from the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century that this theological and spiritual movement destabilized orthodox Lutheranism in some symbolic cities of Protestant Germany, such as Frankfurt am Main, Halle, and the Duchy of Westphalia, up to Moravia. The extensive publication of hymnals and musical compendia for the use of individuals, lay groups (collegia pietatis), faith communities, and churches denotes a fervor and a desire to preach their way of “practicing” spirituality, which greatly contrasts with both orthodox Lutheranism and the prevailing rationalism in the religious and philosophical sphere in Germany of the mid-18th century. For the first time since the Reformation, Lutheranism saw the use, in the theology of the preached and sung Word, of personal feelings and emotions that connect the individual with God, who is made an object of individual as well as collective worship. This was one of the most significant accusations that came from the University of Wittenberg against Pietism, namely the shift of theological and spiritual focus from the centrality of God to the centrality of the self, which manifests its faith through the most intimate emotions and feelings. Through the analysis of some examples taken from hymnographic and theological production, centered on the individual feelings of the believer, this article focuses on how this influenced the religious revival movements that would pervade England and the United States of America for more than two centuries (from the First Great Awakening in the late 18th century to the Pentecostal movements of the 20th century), with a spotlight on Italian hymnody during the Risorgimento.

Death and mourning rituals in a Pentecostal church in Bolobedu South, Limpopo, South Africa

Background: Death is an inevitable event that impacts most individuals in various ways, prompting some to participate in numerous activities in response to its effects and to seek healing or closure. Among the Balobedu people of Bolobedu South in Limpopo province, South Africa, there existed speculation regarding death and mourning customs observed by grieving members, which left some followers of a Pentecostal church, Emmanuel Assemblies, uncertain about how to engage with these rituals. They turned to the Bible as their guide to assess the situation, aiming to uphold their faith without compromise.Objective: The study’s objective was to explore the death and mourning rituals performed by the Balobedu people of Bolobedu South in Limpopo province, South Africa.Method: Utilising Osmer’s framework, the article initiated research into these rituals by purposefully selecting 39 participants from five villages, namely, Ga-Motupa, Kgwekge, Relela, Morutjie and Motlhomeng, with the aim of ascertaining the reality of the situation.Results: To develop a biblical counselling model that could assist members of the Emmanuel Assemblies Church residing in the same area in addressing death-related rituals that require their involvement.Conclusion: This model integrates Magezi’s seven pastoral care approaches and Scott and Lambert’s counselling steps.Contribution: The article contributes to the effort by offering practical solutions tailored to the specific African ministry in Pentecostal context of South Africa.