{"id":657,"date":"2013-10-10T15:39:32","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T15:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=657"},"modified":"2014-08-13T22:10:45","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T22:10:45","slug":"progressive-pentecostals-on-the-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/progressive-pentecostals-on-the-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressive Pentecostals on The March"},"content":{"rendered":"
Miller and Yamamori\u2019s book, \u201cGlobal Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement, is an encouraging read in the sense that it serves as a literary \u2018news cast\u2019 of sorts, giving the reader a multitude of updates on the many and various ways Pentecostals are engaging social ministries around the globe. \u00a0The authors, on three separate occasions, state the thesis of the book and each time provide a nuanced flavor.<\/div>\n
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  • First thesis statement: \u00a0\u201dGiven the moribund status of the Social Gospel movement and the declining influence of Liberation Theology, there is a breach to be filled, and our thesis is that this vacuum might potentially be occupied, at least in part, by Progressive Pentecostals.\u201d (1)<\/li>\n
  • Second thesis statement: \u201cIn fact, the thesis of this book is that some of the most innovative social programs in the world are being initiated by fast-growing Pentecostal churches.\u201d (2)<\/li>\n
  • Third thesis statement: \u201cThe thesis of this book is that Pentecostals are increasingly engaged in community-based social ministries.\u201d (3)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    I find it difficult to see in any of the three thesis statements enough specificity to warrant the book. \u00a0The content is encouraging as I stated above, but the thesis statements are not persuasive enough nor peculiar enough to justify the text. \u00a0The authors paint with a wide brush; including faith expressions that are similar to the \u201cprogressive Pentecostals\u201d they purport to study. \u00a0Their definition belies that tendency, \u201cwe define\u00a0Progressive Pentecostals as Christians who claim to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and the life of Jesus and seek to holistically address the spiritual, physical, and social needs of people in their community.\u201d (4). \u00a0This definition could apply to many faith movements that would not want to be defined so closely to Pentecostals!<\/div>\n
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    The real value of the book is the extensive research accomplished that stories the various ways that churches are engaging the social ills of their culture in four continents and twenty countries. (5) \u00a0They examined a plethora of social ministries including: poverty, medical, economic development, substance abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, marital abuse, and others. \u00a0I did appreciate the few findings mentioned by the authors. \u00a0In contradistinction to liberation theology activities, they pointed out that the Progressive Pentecostals were more inclined to create new ways to engage social needs than simply to criticize or destroy those they do not appreciate (6). \u00a0They also related how youthful their congregations were. (7). \u00a0This is of particular value and interest. \u00a0I wish that they had delved more deeply into the cause for this generational phenomena but they only related that the youth were activist in terms of their worship and more intentional to make lifestyle changes to engage their society for the cause of Christ.<\/div>\n
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    I was very disappointed to read that in all of their travels to visit high power Pentecostal churches they only found one woman in charge. \u00a0If the authors are right that this Progressive Pentecostal movement may fill the vacuum left by the proponents of Liberation Theology, it will certainly need to make room at the top for female leadership. \u00a0Another observation I appreciated was that of the role of the Spirit in the movement. \u00a0They write, \u201cPentecostals believe that the animating force in their lives is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.\u201d (8). \u00a0Certainly, an argument could be made that this is the central dynamic in the Pentecostal movement. \u00a0Not that it does not exist outside the movement, but in the way that Pentecostals related every aspect of life to the transcendent activity of the Spirit of God.<\/div>\n
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    Finally, the authors write, \u201cthe single most important element that empowers Progressive Pentecostals, the answer unequivocally is the energizing experience of worship.\u201d (9). \u00a0I do not find this surprising though it is certainly not unique to Pentecostals. \u00a0In congregations where there is a high percentage of youthful believers I would expect that dynamic worship is expected and common. \u00a0Very little was mentioned about leadership development and nothing was written about discipleship or spiritual formation practices among the Progressive Pentecostals. \u00a0I wish the authors would have given those topics more attention.<\/div>\n
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    The many stories about the various social ministries are alone worth reading the book! \u00a0The stories, however, could have been written about a number of other faith movements who honor the Spirit\u2019s leading and who engage in intense and expressive worship.<\/div>\n
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    (1) Donald E. Miller;Tetsunao Yamamori. Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (Kindle Locations 65-66). Kindle Edition.<\/div>\n
    (2) Ibid. Kindle Locations 82-83.<\/div>\n
    (3) Ibid. Kindle Locations 2518-2519.<\/div>\n
    (4) Ibid.\u00a0Kindle Locations 42-43.<\/div>\n
    (5) Ibid. Kindle Location 84.<\/div>\n
    (6) Ibid. Kindle Location 2551.<\/div>\n
    (7) Ibid. Kindle Location 2583.<\/div>\n
    (8) Ibid.\u00a0Kindle Locations 2602-2603.<\/div>\n
    (9) Ibid. Kindle Location 2630.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Miller and Yamamori\u2019s book, \u201cGlobal Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement, is an encouraging read in the sense that it serves as a literary \u2018news cast\u2019 of sorts, giving the reader a multitude of updates on the many and various ways Pentecostals are engaging social ministries around the globe. \u00a0The authors, on three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[257,2],"class_list":["post-657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dmiller","tag-dminlgp","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1990,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions\/1990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}