Links And Parallels Between Black And White Charismatic Churches In South Africa And The States Potential For Cultural Transformation

Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars

141 Links and Parallels between Black and White Charismatic Churches in South Africa and the States: Potential for Cultural Transformation Karla Poewe * Abstract In the study of early and late twentieth century South African inde- pendent churches, a rigid differentiation is usually made between African and European charismatic movements and independent churches. This paper rejects such a simplistic view and argues, instead, that there are important historical links between recent White and older Black charismatic movements and independent churches. More impor- tantly, the parallels between them have to do with processes of forma- tion which are based on the use of common core symbols of transition from the Old Testament and on similar spiritual experiences which are seen to confirm Biblical texts and to be confirmed by them. Charismatic movements have arisen among Blacks and Whites, rich and poor and have tended to achieve personal and group transformations through prophecy, vision, music, and worship. Introduction This article is an attempt to understand the significance of, and links between, Black and White charismatic movements and independent churches in South Africa. To that end, not only are their respective histories traced, but Black and White charismatic movements are com- pared with one another and with Black American pentecostalism. Such comparisons are necessary because it is often forgotten that the formative processes of independent churches are similar whether they be initiated by Africans or Europeans. Likewise, there are several reasons why the latest White charismatic movement is compared with the earlier Black zionist and pentecostal movements in South Africa and in the United States. First, despite the classic works of Hollenweger,l Synan,2 Lovett,3 *Karla Poewe is a Professor in the Department of The 2500 University Dr., N.W. Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta. T2N IN4 Canada 1 W. J. Hollenweger, The Pentecostals (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1972). Also W. J. Hollenweger, Pentecost Between Black and White (Belfast, 1974). 2Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the Untied States (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1971). , 3Leonard Lovett, “Black Origins of the Pentecostal Movement,” in Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Origins, ed. Vinson Synan (Plainsfield, NJ.: Logos, 1975), 123-141. 1 142 and Tinney,4 many academics still do not recognize the transformational and revolutionary potential of Pentecostalism and independent churches in South Africa. In America, however, this potential cannot be denied. Second, the expectation that revolutionary change is achieved only by participating directly in politics, has prevented us from seeing the much deeper attitudinal and long term cultural transformation occurring in these churches. The case of the Glenridge Christian Fellowship, dis- cussed later, serves to make the point that the prophecies used in these churches “work primarily to build or reconstruct cultural communities over the long run.”5 Before proceeding further, however, we must first learn what this controversial pentecostal and charismatic Christianity is.6 .. What Pentecostalism Is Generally speaking, people associate Pentecostalism with its most characteristic features, namely, glossolalia or speaking in tongues and socioeconomic or cultural poverty. But glossolalia is now known to be a rather universal phenomenon occurring among the poor and affluent in both Western and non-Western countries, and Christian and non-Chris- tian environments.7 For these reasons alone tongues and poverty are inadequate defining characteristics. More recent defining characteristics include belief in the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are shared by Pentecostals, Neo-Pente- costals and modem day charismatics. Indeed, according to Quebe- deaux,8 the charismatic renewal differs from Pentecostalism primarily in the fact that Holy Spirit baptism and gifts have reached a new and wealthier population and have to some extent entered the mainline churches in North America and elsewhere with mixed, often divisive results. During the late 1970s and early 1980s in the States and especially in South Africa, charismatics have left historic churches giving rise to large 4James B. Tinney, “The Blackness of Pentecostalism,” Spirit 3.2 (1980), 27-36. Also, “A Theoretical and Historical Comparison of Black Political and Religious Movements” (Unpublished Ph.D. Diss., Howard University, 1978). STheodore E. Long, “Prophecy, Charisma, and Politics: Reinterpreting the Weberian Thesis,” in Prophetic Religions and Politics, eds. Jeffrey Hadden & Anson Shupe (New York: Paragon House, 1986), 111. 6Donald W. Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids, Mich: Francis Asbury Press, 1987). 7L. C. May, “A Survey of Glossolalia and Related Phenomena in non-Christian Religions,” American Anthropologist 58 (1956), 75-96; Watson E. Mills, Speaking in (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1986); Newton H. Malony and A. Adams Tongues Lovekin, Glossolalia: Behavioral Science Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues (Oxford Univ. Press, 1985). 8Richard Quebedeaux, The New Charismatics II: How a Christian Renewal Movement became a Part of the American Religious Mainstream (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983). 2 143 independent churches and ministries. Viewing these new churches, it is important to recognize that similar events occurred in the early 1900s in South Africa when Christians who claimed to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” likewise left Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Baptist denominations and the Dutch Reformed Church. Interestingly, people who left these historic churches were of both Pentecostal and Zionist persuasions. Seeking the theological roots of Pentecostalism, Dayton9 feels that class, racial, and cultural factors and the idiosyncrasies of individual charismatic leaders must be ignored. Doing just that, he argues that the gestalt of characteristically Pentecostal lines consists of five [5] theological themes, namely, the three works of grace-i.e. conversion, sanctification, and empowering for service by baptism of the Holy Spirit and the beliefs in divine healing and Jesus’ coming.10 Like other theologians, Dayton is also willing to reduce the gestalt to a simpler fourfold pattern consisting of salvation, baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine healing and the second coming. Social scieritists cannot but feel the inadequacy of reducing a powerful social movement into four or five theological beliefs, not least because it fails to answer why certain beliefs become prominent among certain believers in specific situations. Furthermore, it is clear that congrega- tions are attracted to this kind of religion because it does not solely appeal to human cognition. It is not merely academic. Rather it is a religion that has its source precisely in encounter, experience, and in the priority of events which are heralded as a demonstration of supernatural power and activity linked to biblical types and pattems. l l The black theologian, James Cone, put it more eloquently when he discussed black suffering. He says: “black reflection on human suffer- ing was not unlike the biblical view of Yahweh’s activity in human history. It was grounded in the historical realities of communal experi- ence.” 12 To quote Cone at length: . Religion is not a set of beliefs that people memorize and neither is it an ethical code of do’s and don’ts that they learn from others. Rather religion is wrought out of the experience of the people who encounter the divine in the midst of historical realities, 13 . 9Dayton, Theological Roots, 17. 10 As we shall see later, emphases on divine healing and the second coming started off the Zion movement which looked for its justification to Alexander Zion City, . Ill., U.S.A. By contrast, Holy Spirit baptism with the evidence of speaking in tongues was the impetus behind the somewhat later Pentecost movement. I l synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement, 25. 12G. C. Oosthuizen, The Theology of a South African Messiah (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976), 5; James H. Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues (New York: Seabury, 1972). 59. l3Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues, 29. 3 144 Following Cone, we must start with the observation that Zionist and Pentecostal/charismatic movements, including their most recent version, namely, the charismatic renewal and the growth of independent minis- tries, are a lived religiosity firmly rooted in the specific existential reality of its followers who nevertheless share many universal features. It was third world students who encouraged the neo-charismatic leader John Wimber to speak of divine encounter in the 1980s, just as it was slave hymns that inspired South Africa’s Andrew Murray, Sr. to long for such encounter in the 1820s. At family worship, writes J. DuPlessis, the Murrays sang “Slaven Gezangen [slave hymns], compiled for the use of native congregations, which were so simple and sweet that they were loved the most of all.”14 Having rooted Pentecostalism in the experience of divine encounter in the midst of historical realities, we must now look at it from the Ameri- can and South African Black perspective before moving on to the latest wave of white-founded but integrated independent churches. Black American Pentecostalism Tinney 15 suggests in one of his brief articles that Pentecostalism is African religion plus evangelical Christianity. The emphasis is on the former with shouting, dancing, tongues, and Holy Spirit baptism. What is African, he argues, is the participation of congregations, the importance of dance, percussion, tongue-speaking, jubilees which are shout songs that accompany the dance, gospel songs and the art of story telling through music as spirituals. “Holy dance,” said Londa Shembe, the head of one of South Africa’s Amanazaretha groups, “is the epitome of spiritual elevation” [interview, summer 1987]. Mthethwa,16 too, regards dance as “the highest religious experience.” Tinney concurs. Dance symbolizes possession by divine power, the Spirit. It and tongues are tools of victory and celebra- tion. The Holy Spirit and evil spirits, exorcism, special revelations [in the sense of illumination], dreams and visions, strong myths about dead founders, healing, prayer, anointing with oil, hands, commission of special healing cloths and handkerchiefs are Americanized versions of African religion. All these customs and paraphernalia have found their way, at one time or another, into the white churches.17 Indeed, says Tinney, Pentecostalism “became the first Black religious faith to impose 141. Du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa (London: Marshall Brothers, Ltd., 1919), 31. ‘ 15James S. Tinney, “The Blackness of Pentecostalism.” . 16B. W. Mthetwa, “Music and Dance as Therapy in a Zionist Church,” in Healing. G. C. Oosthuizen et al., eds. (Lewiston, N.Y.: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1988), in press. 17D. E. Harrell, Pat Robertson: A Personal, Religious, and Political Portrait (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987). 4 145 its forms on whites.” 18 Tinney and Lovettl9 both start their story of Twentieth Century Black Pentecostalism in the 1890s to 1920s, “the very years of America’s most racist period.” Synan20 notes two outstanding features of this social movement. One, “Negroes and Whites worshipped together in virtual equality among the Pentecostals” in an “age of Social Darwinism, Jim Crowism, and general white supremacy.” Two, the “interracial accord took place among the very groups that have traditionally been most at odds, the poor whites and the poor blacks.” The central figure in the American Pentecostal story is William J. Seymour who was bom during slavery and developed his new religious . ideas first in Louisiana, then in Texas, and finally in California. In Seymour come together the activities and teachings of many American blacks, among them: Gabriel Prosser who led the first religiously inspired and well-organized slave revolt, Denmark Vessey who bought his freedom in 1800 and who involved more than nine thousand persons in a religiously inspired planned revolt, and Nat Turner an avowed mystic who wrote in alleged spiritual hieroglyphics before the Mormon, Joseph Smith, and “who claimed a unique baptism of the Spirit subsequent to conversion, before the Pentecostals.” While Turner, like Prosser [a Samsonite] and Vessey [a Joshuaite], drew on vodun, the latter even making a sorcerer, Gullah Jack, his chief accom- plice, Turner [a Lukeite] was thoroughly Christian. His religious experiences, says Tinney, “represent a consistent merging of African and New World components” which persist in precisely those “churches which are closest to the Black masses. “21 . In America, as in South Africa, we see here the progression from Old Testament emphases, to the formation of independent Black churches [eg., the fledgling African Methodist Episcopal Church], to parallels between Old Testament accounts and New Testament passages and the formation of more black founded independent churches and, lately, the formation of white founded but integrated independent churches. Using Tinney’s Table22 and adding the stories of Seymour and some African and South African prophets, the influences making for the syncretistic faith of Pentecostalism may be summarized as in Table 1. . 18Tinney, Black Political and Religious Movements, 220. l9Lovett, “Black Origins.” , 20Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement, 165. 21Although Tinney doesn’t name it, it looks as if the movement of Pentecost in America was preceded, as in South Africa, by another movement. In the States it was a prophetic movement which emphasized, as among black South Africans, visions, prophecies and divine healing. These movements are independent of Ethiopianism which preceded and paralleled them. Black and Political Religious Movements, 34, 42-44. 22Tinney, Black and Political Religious Movements, 45. 5 146 Table 1 *E.L.S. = Evening Light Saints [Holiness offshoot]; Fundam. = Chas Parham fundamentalist Bible School; A.L.M.=American Lutheran Mission; I.C.U. = lnterntl. Com. Workers Union; GMBS=General Mission Board School; BLS=Berlin Lutheran Society; CCAHSC = Christian Catholic Apostolic Holy Spirit Church; CACZ/SA = Christian Apostolic Church in Zion of South Africa; ZAC = Zion Apostolic Church; 6 Interracial Aspects The Afrikaner, the source of States between 1890 . as in the States Charles of Pentecostalism,-he [an American] White, Faith Mission policies distant future. By 1913, black leaders Unfortunately, 147 But in South Africa John G. Lake it is often said, is the root of the evil, apartheid. the interracial “charismatic movement” of the early 1900s is the Dutch Reformed Church.23 And just as now, or as in the United and 1920, the charismatic movement in South Africa at the turn of the century was interethnic and interracial. And just Parham nearly stopped the interracial meetings was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and insisted on separate churches for the races,-so made a strong case for separate works among Black, and Colored congregations though under the umbrella of the Apostolic [AFM]. In 1908 and 1909, AFM adopted that would doom its considerable initial growth in the more the time of Lake’s departure from South Africa in like David Nkonyane and Elijah Mahlangu had already formed their own groups. the history of the “movement Africa is still told from the perspective the great figures in this history, like Andrew Murray, P.L. Buchler, Edgar Mahon and Archibald Cooper were closely shadowed by Black compatriots for the recovery of Le Roux’s daughter was taken as ‘ the sign to practice divine healing, leading inevitably movement. There were, further, Elijah M. Lutango, Mahon’s right hand Minimally, Le Roux,,Johannes successful prayer man, E. M. Mahlangu, a Ndebele More importantly, bald Cooper, of the Spirit” in South of Whites-but barely. like Charles Sangweni whose to the Zionist baptized by Le Roux, and Daniel the latter succeeding, no less, in for the ordination of many White Nkoyane who became independent, setting up Zion headquarters in Charlestown.24 not only was the Black American Wm. J. Seymour of the Azuza St. revival, responsible American pastors,25 but he influenced the White South African, Archi- who in turn set off the Pentecostal movement among the Zulu of Natal and the Chinese of the gold mines on the Rand.26 Present day White Pentecostals and Neo-Pentecostals in South Africa also trace him. Cooper kept abreast of the “Azusa” movement [which was black led but integrated] Apostolic Faith papers.27 Likewise, John G. Lake’s South African work historical links to ABM = American Board Mission. through their publication, The 1976), 24Sundkler, Zulu Zion, 60. 23Bengt Sundkler, Zulu Zion And Some Swazi Zionists (Oxford Univ. Press, 43. – 25Tinney, Black Political and Religious Movements. 26S?ley H. Frodsham, With Signs Following: The Story of the Pentecostal Revival in the Twentieth Century (Spring6eld, Missouri: Gospel Publishing House, 160-161. 1946), 27Sundkler, Zulu Zion, 52. 7 148 which started in 1908 in a “Native” Chapel in Johannesburg, integrated, although Lake would later concentrate on Whites only. was Creativity -.. The creativity of the Zulu of the early 1900s, as that of South African Whites of the early 1980s, started with tongues, the gift of prophecy, fasting, visions, prayer and dreams. According to Sundkler, some of the linguistic and liturgical symbols which now characterize the whole Zionist movement were started then. It was 1902, the Anglo-Boer war had just ended, only to be followed by a year of severe drought and, in 1905, by the Zulu Rebellion over taxation. In 1903, many South African Blacks still lived in very unset- tled and uprooted conditions in Refugee Camps even though the war was over.28 Zionists at Wakkerstroom, Charlestown and Ladysmith felt these conditions acutely. It was out of the group of about 150 Zionists who had left the Dutch Reformed Church with Le Roux that the first leaders of the Zionist movement sprang. When Le Roux changed further to work more closely with the AFM, these men were alone. They would not follow him. What they did was of a pattern that would repeat itself to the present day. They gathered for a fast and prayer. And there as they met on their mountain top or near a deep pool, they shared their visions, dreams and prophecies as of old and believed that they were confirmed by scripture. In the process they gave birth to a movement that now claims several million followers in Southern Africa. The first leader to emerge as head of this movement was Daniel Nkonyane. While Daniel, like Julia Madela, Leya Mate, and Michael Ngomezulu, was filled with the Spirit, Umoya, it was the women and Ngomezulu who first achieved “speaking in tongues.” Ngomezulu’s message was clear “The whole world must be converted and enter Zion.”29 The goal clear, the worship of the group was soon trans- formed. At first the Zions Liederle were still sung. Increasingly though Zionist leaders, as later Nazarites, would compose their own hymns. As important as the new songs, were the visions and prophecies. Not only would Ngomezulu and Elizabeth Nkonyane foresee things, the gift of 28Sundkler, Zulu Zion, 43-44. 29Sundkler, Zulu Zion, 47. Zion has two major meanings. In the narrow sense, it refers to Alexander Dowie’s Zion City, Ill. More broadly, it refers to those churches that see themselves as guided by the in Spirit, Umoya, and Testament emphasize healing. The Old emphasis these churches has made for easy accommodation of Zulu predilections for dreams, visions, prophecies, dancing, and This accommodation, and the praise songs. acceptance of polygamy, no doubt contributed to the rapid growth of the Zion movement. The Nazarites, who are part of the Zion movement in the broad, not in the narrow, sense, are now to find their place as a world religion among other major world religions. At least trying this is the ambition of Londa Shembe, one of its well educated leaders. [Interview, summer 1987]. 8 149 ‘ prophecy permitted them to see into people-to see their sin and diagnose their condition, [a practice, by the way, that found itself into the healing revival led by William Branham in the 1940s]. It was at this time that Ngomezulu and others had visions about the white robes. Usually he would dream or have a vision and then recog- nize in a Biblical passage read to him that which he had already seen. These dreams or visions, are very much part of African as of Old Testament tradition,30 and out of them have come the garb, parapherna- lia, dance, ritual removal of shoes on holy ground and, above all, the songs that would contain most of Zion and Nazarite theology.31 Out of them, too, came cities of Zion, holy ground, holy mountains, half yearly celebrations and, indeed, an existential religion and a new way and view of life. Following short on the heels of the Zionist movement, indeed, con- nected with it through Archibald Cooper and John G. Lake, was the Pentecostal movement. It is important to mention that the latter move- ment was started by the Black American Wm. J. Seymour who indirectly [through publications] influenced the South African Archibald Cooper. When John G. Lake arrived in 1908, both Cooper and Le Roux were familiar with the Azusa Street revival and participated in Johannesburg’s ‘ “Native” Tabernacle revival which was at the time integrated.32 Cooper and Le Roux would cooperate for some time with the Apostolic Faith Mission,. but later Cooper became head of South Africa’s Full Gospel Church [FGC] and Le Roux became President of AFM. In the same vein must be mentioned R. M. Tumey who began the work of the Assemblies of God [A of G] in Doornkop. Apparently Turney, upon visiting Mapela [Potgietersrust] in these early days, found that a brother of the reigning chief with nine others had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in a prayer meeting without knowing it.33 As usual with Africans, native religious experience dovetailed with Pente- costal doctrine which was supplied them, in this instance, by Turney and which they were more than ready to receive. In sum, it is these three organizations [AFM, FGC, and A of G] and men who, by capturing . African experiences in Pentecostal doctrines, led the African to an awareness of new directions in their religiosity. It was not far from here ‘ to the founding of their own independent churches. Before Archibald Cooper joined the Full Gospel Church, he held many tent meetings in Durban. During one of these meetings a Zulu came forward telling Cooper that he had a vision from God and the man , 30Michael C. Kirwen, The Missionary and the Diviner, (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1987); Irving Hexham, ed. Texts on Zulu Religion (Lewiston, N.Y.:The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987. 3 l Oosthuizen, The Theology of a South African Messiah. 32Frodsham, With Signs Following, 155. 33Frodsham, With Signs Following, 158-159. 9 150 , in that vision was Cooper. It should be noted, again, that it was the charismatic tendencies in African religion generally and Zulu religion specifically that led this man, Job Chiliza, to find something in Cooper’s Christianity. With Chiliza, his son William and later the intellectual Paul Mabilitsa [influenced by Buchler and Mahon] and, later still, the brilliant evangelist Nicholas Bhengu, the early Pentecostal movement and its independent churches took off. While tongues, prophecy, and lively services continued, this move- ment, by contrast with the Zion movement, transcended nationalism and the more exclusive concentration on the Old Testament Chiliza joined the Old Testament and New Testament arguing that the Old Testament anticipated the New Testament just as the New Testament demonstrated the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. While the history of Black- White ties and associations remained problematic, constantly coming together only to separate again, Chiliza never gave up on the white man. Job Chiliza and his son, William Chiliza, distinguished themselves with their eloquent sermons, Bhengu with his brilliant arousal of a new moral conciousness,34 and Mabilitsa with the schools he established and education he furthered in Alexandra, Johannesburg. As so often among Africans, the power of Chiliza’s sermons came from his use of typological parallels. And it is on the parallels between the charismatic movements of the early 1900s and the 1980s that I wish to focus next. This task is best done by considering a specific case, namely, the Glenridge Christian Fellowship. The point to be made is that the founding of this independent church is like that of the charis- matic African Independent Churches. Only Glenridge was founded by well educated middle and upper middle class young White South Africans who are quite aware that many of their inspirations come from Black South African culture. · Glenridge Like Black founded independent churches, so too, do Glenridge and other White founded independent churches of the 1980s have their roots in the work of Cooper and Lake and, generally, in African religion. When Carel Cronje, an Afrikaner, left the Invisible Church35 which he had so successfully led, he left behind a church full of restless young people in 1983. Most of them were in their late teens or early twenties, university students, and artistically talented. This group would be led by Malcolm du Plessis and Chris Wienand, then 22 and 23 years old, respectively. 34Schlosser, Katesa. Engeborenenkirchen in Sud-Und Sudwestafrika (Kiel: Kommissionsverlag Walter G. Muhlau, 1958). 35The Invisible Church or Invis was a hippie type Jesus movement founded in Durban in the 1970s. 10 151 In December, 1984, as Malcolm du Plessis drove along the coast, he became aware of an inner prompting. Pentecostals identify this as “God speaking” to them. Thus Malcolm was told [by God] to call the church to pray and fast for the country specifically, on August 4, 1985. When he told Chris Wienand about this prompting, the latter was shocked. It sounded a bit preposterous. But in January, 1985, Wienand went away to puzzle over Malcolm’s suggestion during a private 3-day fast and study. What he studied was the Book of Daniel. He came away convinced that Malcolm’s request “was of God” and, in accordance with Pentecostal practice, was relieved when it was confirmed by an American “prophet.”36 Then in July, 1985, the State of Emergency was declared. And August 4, 1985, the townships surrounding Durban broke out in violence. It was the worst violence Durban had ever seen-and the pastors and congregation members believed that Glenridge had been warned 8 months earlier. The fast started August 4 as planned and lasted 21 days. The Fast as Rite of Transition: from group to independent church All of the churches which we looked at in South Africa37 had their beginnings in fasts, visions, and/or prophecies. German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, for example, had a vision “to move to the whole of Africa.” And he did. Ed Roebert, chief pastor of Pretoria’s Hatfield Christian Community, although wary of prophecies and itinerant prophets, had visions concerning Pretoria and South Africa. He sees these visions as lucid and bold strategies and acts accordingly. Like Paul Lutchman of the Christian Revival Centre and Jesus for Africa and Michael Kolisang his co-founder,38 so Ed Roebert takes special comfort in the proverb “where there is no vision, the people perish.” , are a common feature in many of the new charismatic churches. They are 36prophets part of what is referred to as the fivefold ministry which consists of apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and preachers. It is a pattern followed the world over charismatics of the among independent 1980s. 37Research was conducted with Irving Hexham, Religious Studies, of We looked at more than a dozen churches and interviewed University 40 pastors. Of the new independent churches researched, 9 had over 800 “members” and between 1000 to Calgary. 5000 people in attendance at any Sunday service. The Glenridge Fellowship had about 350 members. I use it as an example here because the data are more easily controlled, its people are young [late twenties, early thirties], and we spent much time interviewing and observing services. _ 38Paul Lutchman is an Indian South African from Chattsworth and Michael Kolisang is a Black from Lesotho. Lutchman who was a businessman before he became an evangelist pours much of his money from his business into his ministry. The business is now run primarily by his wife while Paul is deeply involved with his Christian Revival Centre and with the interracial team of evangelists that run Jesus for Africa. Michael Kolisang is co-founder of the latter. 11 152 Some beginnings are more dramatic than others. Thus, Fred Roberts of the Durban Christian Centre fasted for 40 days while he was looking for answers to the questions of becoming independent. Not just his vision, but two prophecies [one by the Englishman R. Teale and the other by a New Zealander J. Dawson] were instrumental in his taking the new direction. Joy Dawson [interview summer, 1987] explained the role of visions and pr?phecies as follows: God puts visions into men’s hearts and stirs them an< starts showing them directions. But the picture isn’t clear. There are a lot of obstacles in the way. Then God sends individuals [Prophets] aiid starts clarifying the picture. Fred Roberts was encour- aged to choose the “larger” of two visions and that vision included not only an independent nondenominational church and a multiracial con- gregation, but also a multiracial leadership. In the world of change, especially risky change, itinerant prophets play a vital role in the decision making process. Not only do their prophecies help with commitment to a new direction, but prophets also have functions as of old among the Zulu and other Africans.39 They expose simultaneously individual and national sins just as they voice individual and national fears and anxieties. Prophets are ambiguous or liminal figures for many reasons. First, by speaking into founders’ decisions they are instrumental in putting the church, its founder and congregants, into a liminal state. Their prophe- cies encourage soul searching which tends to produce considerable vulnerability. Second, they prod founder and congregants to enter a new path. Prophecies encourage ventures that may end up being terribly right or terribly wrong. Third, prophets keep a church that has returned to a stable state in touch with liminality. Prophecies can at any time dislodge the church from its solid moorings and rigid traditions back into a state of transition. Finally, prophets are ambiguous figures because they tend simultaneously to put “blame on the children of God for their sufferings and on their oppressor. “40 Ambiguous and liminal as they are, prophets are often feared as well as held in awe. The respect they are given is usually exaggerated; the harm they could do is great. And yet their followers tend to be very protective of them. Both African Independent Churches [AIC] and White founded inde- pendent churches provide some institutional checks on the activities of prophets. Among AICs, prophets tend to work in conjunction with Bishops who are frequently their elders. Among the new independent charismatics, prophets tend to operate within the loose structure of the 39Vittorio Lantemari, The Religions of the Oppressed (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963/Mentor, 1965), 23; Wyatt MacGaffey, Modern Kongo in a Plural Prophets: Religion Society (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1983). 4°MacGaffey, Modern Kongo Prophets, 5. 12 153 fivefold ministry. The latter consists of apostles [usually founders and builders], prophets [liminalizers], teachers [religious philosophers], are important, but role of the prophets prophecies of fasting congregants phases of this evangelists [recruiters to the faith], and preachers [Protectors of the that are which condition flock]. For reasons of control, some founder-preachers prefer to have a prophet attached to the church as part of its structure. In the case of the Glenridge fast, it is not the prophets’ prophecies those of individual congregants during the fast. The was merely that of encouragement. By contrast, the vital data. They mark the three rite of transition and contain the core symbols that characterize the “structural invisibility” of liminal perSOnae.41 According to Turner, liminal personae are “no longer classified,” is represented by symbols from the biology of death, decomposition, and so on; and they are “not yet classified,” which condition of gestation personae, group, or state of the group infants. As we shall see, this is precisely the . symbolism catabolism, is modeled on processes suckling comes to dominate the fast. Glenridge, as African symbols of transition Testament was instrumental and parturition likening the to embryos, newborn infants or that Churches, found most of the Churches,42 and orientations among White independent charismatic are primarily Likewise, death, gestation existential condition of liminality. Independent in the Old Testament. In other words, the Old in turning a traditional body into a charis- matic one. We are used to this among African Independent but have been unaware of similar happenings churches. It is usually said that the latter oriented toward the New Testament. This is clearly wrong. for both Africans and Whites the dominant symbols of decay, and parturition are spontaneous and arise out of the texts. Hence most prophecies of validity, however, In the case of the Glenridge Hebrews, experiences Among Christians, however, these if they are confirmed by Biblical in the idiom of Biblical verse. This does not differ symbols are only voiced and accepted are spoken Alternatively, they parallel it, or are of the same theme. Their final test is Biblical confirmation. fast, the books of Daniel, Hosea, Isaiah, Kings, and Psalms were important. much from AICs. There are several reasons why Old Testament texts feature prominently in rites of transitions. First, they affirm liminal like prophesying, having dreams and visions, and so on. Second, they contain the core symbols of transition like undoing, decay, death, and birth. Third, they provide a set of relations that model the liminal period, for example, from com- plete authority and complete submission between God and individual to shifting social structure of the Paperbacks, 1970), 41 Victor Turner, The Forest of Syncbols (Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, Cornell 99. 42See MacGaffey, Modern Kongo Prophets; Sundkler, Zulu Zion; and Lantemafi, The Religions of the Oppressed. 13 154 that of lover and beloved.4j Fourth, they contain powerful repre- sentations, like holy mountain, holy city, and desert, that capture the condition of human paradox and ambiguity experienced by liminal congregants. Finally, the Old Testament consists of narratives that picture vividly the condition of a people, nation, and individual, ‘ in short, the other as self.. According to Turner,44 rites of transition consist of 3 phases: separa- tion, margin [limen], and aggregation. These phases could also be identified in the Glenridge fast. Looking at each phase in turn, I shall discuss the major symbols and the embedded concerns as they were expressed by congregants. Turner’s45 phase 7 or separation, consists of “symbolic behavior signifying the detachment of the individual or group from an earlier fixed point in a set of cultural conditions.” For Glenridge congregants this meant looking at themselves individually, as a church, and as a nation. Regarding the latter, they felt separated from the rest of the world first and foremost because they saw themselves as living in “a troubled” and “despised” country. Their prophecies described South Africa as having erred grievously and, therefore, being under judgment and in need of repentance. South Africa was called “to return to the Lord with fasting, weeping and mourning.” It was promised the “special attention of God” who would “spare it” and free it from “being an object of scom to the nations.” South Africa was likened to being “in a blazing furnace” and “in the lions’ den.” It was seen as a “nation fractured and torn open,” “rejected” and “alone.” It must “turn from its wicked ways” and “seek God to be healed” From nation, the focus shifted to “the body” of Glenridge. Prophecies envisioned Glenridge as “becoming corporate and integrated” and as “leading the way [in South Africa] with a deep sense of purpose and burden.” The church was seen as “becoming a weapon and an agent for change” and, in this light, it was to “confess” its worldly transgressions and “surrender” to God, to “sow with tears” and “reap with joy,” to leave the “weapons of the world” and turn to “the weapons of divine power.” ” From the church, the focus shifted again, this time to the individual who was seen “as being in chains.” Themes of “breaking through” “darkness” and “dark clouds” predominated. The individual, church, and nation were then relocated in the cosmos, the creation, and in rela- tionship to God. At this point of the separation phase, with its emphasis on relocation and reordering, the main leaders of the Fellowship were identified and accepted . According to Turner,? phase 2 or margin characterizes the ambiguous ‘ 43Tumer, The Forest of Symbols. 44Turner, The Forest of Symbols. 45Tumer, The Forest of Symbols, 44. 46Turner, The Forest of Symbols. ‘ _ . I ‘ 14 155 state of the ritual subject. Glenridge congregants experienced this state of ambiguity as shifts in the perception of their relationship to God and to one another. More dramatically, with the shift in relationship to God, emerged the theme of pregnancy, labor pain, and birth. This was clearly the high point of the fast, its most creative moment, the breakthrough yearned It was also a time of heightened emotion. Shifts in the relationship between God and human being were central to the fasting experience and were, as said, coupled with the theme of impregnation and birth. There was, firstly, the change in emphasis from a distant God to an intimate God and from an authoritarian God to a concerned one. Thus the individual was said to relate to God the Master, the Husband, and the Father. Congregants were formal in speech, demeanor, and prayer. After the second week of fasting, however, a significant change occurred as congregants expressed a yearning for God the Lover. In their prophecies, people spoke about “lovers meeting on the mountain” [Hebrew 12], and “the body longing for the Lover in a dry and weary land where there is no water” [Psalm 63]. Also mentioned was Mary’s love, especially the pure gesture of a lover as she wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair [John 12]. The picture of lovers meeting on the mountain was repeated in numerous prophecies. On the fifteenth day, the fast was likened to “being pregnant.” “We are pregnant with a great expectancy.” And there was a prophecy about something dynamic “to be bom” in May, 1986.47 The central image remained that of “labor pain”: woman in labor, the church in labor, the city in labor, the nation in labor. And the violence of the city and coun- try was seen as the labor pain of birth. At this point, too, Glenridge congregants experienced “deliverance” as God the Lover, became God the Mother, a God of succor. Images of lover, groom and bride, woman with child, and the desert, but now as a refuge for safe deliverance of “her pregnancy,” abound in this state of ecstasy. Furthermore, images became sensations of physical touch. Following Van Gennep, Turner [1970]48 calls phase J aggregation. Symbolic behavior during this phase signifies consummation of the transition and entry into a new achieved status. Glenridge congregants prophesied about “fruit bearing,” “rooted trees in bloom,” “building,” and “increase in size.” Once again there was the “meeting on the moun- tain” of “lovers” but this time they were Black and White. From here the fast ended with images of “having crossed over,” of “going forward,” and beginning a new journey.” Congregants were aware of “a new covenant” and their prophecies showed concern for ‘ – ‘ ‘ .. 47Church members see a fulfillment in the fact that the album We See A New Africa was published . in 1986. 48Tumer, The Forest of Symbols. , 15 156 others, including importantly the country and especially the Black. Finally, the congregants voiced “inner peace,” “anointing,” a sense of “God’s power” and “healing.” The church had its foundation. It was lively and creative when we conducted our interviews ° during the summer of 1987. The contact that this congregation has with Blacks is real, if still limited. Some Black and White students live together, some have started a restaurant together; some are in Friends First, the musical group who recorded the songs that were composed during this fast. While the album, We See A New Africa, is a powerful symbol of the intent to change self and other in South Africa, equally important is the effort of Black and White congregants to worship and do things together throughout the week. In sum, Glenridge is a simple but remarkable example of the trans- formation of a church and its congregants. Whatever the remaining distance, the group has parted with apartheid. All congregants of this church, as of most other new independent churches, were for the abolishment of group areas, the law that requires races to live in differ- ent locations. In this attitude, as in the increased interaction with Blacks, this new independent church and the others we researched have clearly set a new trend. ‘ , ‘ ‘ Conclusion Our research of charismatic movements, whether they were Zionist or Pentecostal in nature, has not done justice to the vital contributions made by African practitioners and thinkers. In retrospect this is surprising, because Black and White independent churches and movements have common roots and many links. They experience their religion similarly and, contrary to belief, look to both the Old and New Testament as a “model of and for” life and as a set of core symbols. What we know of the creation of African Independent Churches and the above description of Glenridge underline the significance of the Old Testament as an inexhaustible resource for the creation of charismatic movements not just among the oppressed or deprived but also among . ‘ the affluent and industrialized. The Old Testament, as we saw, provided the central symbols of transition precisely because many of these symbols capture in a single representation opposite processes. For example, the desert represents simultaneously death and birth, desicca- tion and refuge, satanic encounter and divine ecstasy. Charismatics, both Black and White, practice a religion of paradox and live a major dialectic. The dialectic is that between experience and doctrine. Personal experience is enlightened by doctrine, just as doctrine is enlightened by personal experience. But the African includes various other steps that make of religion something much more pervasive, indeed, that make it penetrate all of life. First, one’s existential condition or life experiences and Christian doctrines are ritualized importantly in ‘ 16 157 music, song, and dance as well as in ritual demeanor and dress. Doctrine, therefore, tends to be captured not only in songs and hymns composed by prophets and followers but also in concrete symbols like robe and staff. The latter are symbolic vessels, as it were, of doctrine. They are not, as is so often argued in the literature, magical objects- although some may use them to that end. This practice of capturing or embedding doctrine in concrete symbols or songs has been and is being “copied” by white charismatics. Songs, spontaneous dance, and spiri- tual manifestations of the Glenridge Christian Fellowship is directly influenced by African religious culture. The same holds true for the Durban Christian Centre, Rhema, and so on. In his study of Ndembu rites of transition, Tumer49 points out that the arcane knowledge or gnosis of the Ndembu is regarded as changing the inmost nature of the neophyte. It is not, emphasizes Turner, mere acquisition of knowledge but a change in being. A change in being is precisely what the arcanely worded prophecies of Glenridge congre- gants effected: And so it is with most charismatic practices-when they remain tied to Biblical teachings. It seems to me that Sundkler is wrong when he insists that the impetus for “the Black charismatic wave” came from Whites like Le Roux, Cooper, and Dowie among others.50 Rather, the impetus came from the Black. The contribution of White missionaries was of a different nature. Having lived among Blacks, and being deeply influenced by the reality of Black religiosity, some White missionaries moved away from tradi- tion to a much more experiential form of Christianity. When they reached this point-the point of Zion and Pentecost-they had the doctrine for which the African was ready and waiting and of which he was aware long before colonialism.51 It was the contact of African religious culture [consisting as it did of tongues, Spirit, healing, and joyful worship] with the Pentecostal, gestalt that sparked the new experiments of Black and White independent churches. That this must have been so, can be grasped more clearly when we remember that White missionaries, who were said to have been instrumental in the founding of Pentecostalism, were precisely those individuals [like Le Roux, Cooper and Bryant] who worked among Blacks. Alternatively, they were men who were influenced by the black American W. J. Seymour-and he was not the only Black influence. Finally, the historical overview and the Glenridge case should free us of assigning an undue importance to “foreign influence” on local religion. Both Black and White South Africans, in the past and now, are ‘ 49Turner, The Forest of Symbols – 5°Sundkelen, Zulu Zion, 13-14. 5 l Marie-Louise Martin, Kimbangu: An African Prophet and His Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 13. 17 158 subject to foreign influence. Only now it is no longer the missionary alone who spreads Christian culture. There are dozens of itinerant prophets from, literally, all over the world who speak into local churches. 18 Charles Colson, Kingdoms York: Zondervan 400 pp. $15.95. in Conflict Publishing ISBN 0-310-39770-7 In 1976, convicted moving accumulate 159 House/William (Grand Rapids/New Morrow, 1987), Charles Colson evangelists as one Watergate co-conspirator published Born Again, an account of his life that was one of the most and convincing “celebrity-who-found-Christ” stories that I have ever read. Unlike so many other converted big-timers who continue to fame and fortune in their new existence, Colson has dedi- cated his life to winning prisoners to Christ, helping them to grow in their faith, and working for basic structural change in the criminal justice system. Although he has been hailed by conservative own and his theological and political views do not vary much of them, his demands for prison reform and of criminals run counter to the “lock’em up and stance of many admirers. Colson’s own dynamic which he founded, Prison Fellowship, subsequent books on the plight of prisoners and the power of the gospel thinking. However, given the low level to of their from the great majority more humane treatment throw away the key” faith, the organization have influenced evangelical which the 1988 political campaign perspective account of public 1990s, proceeds to interpret kingdom of of and his degenerated, one wonders if his impact has really been very great. In Kingdoms in Conflict Colson reflects on the role of Christians in the political process, and he brings to the discussion both an insider’s and a mature faith. The book opens with a stunning fictional life in America under a “Christian” president in the which I found to be by far the best part of the work. Then, he this novella with a protracted discussion of the God that is part autobiography, part theological instruction, and part political theory. In the “need for the kingdom” he sets forth his understanding the plight of the nation and the failure of Christians to act faithfully. The “arrival of the kingdom” examines Jesus, teaching on politics and the task fo the church, and uses William Wilberforce as a role model of the proper functioning Colson depicts the failure of the state and the church World War II, decries rejects of a Christian in public life. In the mandates in the years prior to in the world, ple “absence of the kingdom” to carry out their God-ordained the evils of Marxism everywhere views church-state relationships in the United States with a highly jaun- diced eye, and laments the absence of transcendence in public life. In the last section, the “presence of the kingdom,” the author argues for the restoration of the religiously transcendent base of public life, the concept of privatized Christianity, and eloquently pleads for Christian involvement through voluntary groups which perform works of mercy and oppose injustice. Christians are urged to follow the exam- of Moses who humbly functioned as a “servant-leader” rather than seek power for themselves and to carry out their own programs. Chris- 19 160 tians can properly serve God in public positions, but they must not fall victim to the political illusion that people can obtain from the almighty bureaucracy what they once expected from God Almighty. Colson concludes that the real hope of humankind is that the Kingdom of God has come to earth and that God’s reign can be manifested through political means when the citizens of the Kingdom bring His light to bear on the kingdoms of this world. The divine rule is even more powerful in ordinary individual lives, where one sees the breaking of cycles of violence and evil and the paradoxical power of forgiveness, and in – actions of the “little platoons” who live by the transcendent values of the Kingdom of God in the world at large. Thus, the light of the Kingdom penetrates the darkness and chaos of the earth, and that is the one real hope of humankind. How does one assess this lengthy, complex, and thoughtful book? Certainly, it challenges the popular assumptions of those on the reli- gious right about the merits of inward-oriented faith and the efficacy of “Christian” political action as such. As Colson aptly puts it: Neither politicized civil religion nor privatized religion is likely to impose itself on our governmental or social institu- tions, for in either case there is nothing to impose. The one holds the gospel hostage to a particular political agenda while the other is so it refuses to have on – private any impact daily life in the public arena. Thus is the divided church impotent to reverse the tides of secularism. . He underscores the point that many Christians have “failed to under- stand the utterly radical nature of the central message of Christianity.” (p. 86) God has full authority over all he has made-“life, death, rela- tionships, and earthly kingdoms are all in his hands.” (p. 88) Thus, following Jacques Ellul, Colson stresses that the church must not collaborate with power but always “stand erect as a counter-power to political power.” (p. 197). The effort to elect “Christian” candidates to public office is simplistic triumphalism, because power is just as corrupting to them as to non-Christians. He insists that the true nature of Christian leadership is service to others, not the quest for power, and he gives some good advice on how a Christian officeholder can function faithfully. He is dissatisfied with the activities of both the religious right and left, although his criticisms seem aimed more at the latter. Still, the book has serious problems. For one thing, Colson buys in to the current evangelical infatuation with American civil religion. As he puts it, the American “success depended on a transcendent reference point and a religious consensus,” and “I believe as a matter of faith and intellect that the Judeao-Christian religion must be that transcendent base.” (pp. 47, 235) This obviously reflects his heavy dependence on Richard John Neuhaus, influential tract on civil religion, The Naked Public Square, and in fact he declares that if his book did nothing more 20 161 . than to cause readers to turn to Neuhaus’ work, “I shall consider my labors well rewarded.” (p. 373) It is too bad that Colson’s research assistants did not point him to the critics of Neuhaus, who, as a jour- nalist friend of mine in Washington told me in 1984, was the “unofficial theologian of the Reagan White House.” (Readers interested in this may find a listing of critical treatments in Pierard and Linder, Civil Religion and the Presidency, pp. 343-44) A problem that flows directly from his neo-conservative civil religion bias is his inability to grasp the meaning of modem-day pluralism and how the separation of church and state works to the benefit of all Chris- tians in America. In one place he laments the Supreme Court rulings which forbade government-sponsored prayers and other devotional activities in the public schools, and he even goes so far as to compare the (heroic) Polish resistance to the regime’s effort to remove crucifixes from school classrooms with the (alleged) passiveness of Americans when the Supreme Court held that the Ten Commandments, certainly in many people’s eyes a sectarian religious document, may not be posted on schoolroom walls. In chapter 14, in my judgment the most problematic in the book, Colson follows the lead of neo-conservative writers in bemoaning the loss of the Christian consensus in America. Yet, a hundred pages earlier he maintained that he did not want his grandchildren reciting prayers determined by government officials and said that even if the prayers were prescribed, in actual practice they would be so watered down as to be of no effect except perhaps to impact negatively on their faith. (p. 115) The reality is that the best guarantee of religious freedom for all Americans is for the state to be scrupulously neutral in such matters. The very logic of his book brings out that state involvement in religion inevitably corrupts its genuine expression. I would also take issue with his assertions about the family and the origins of law, and some of his historical generalizations were shaky, but these generally reflect the influence of his advisers. I would recom- mend to Mr. Colson that he employ some new assistants who would help him to grasp the full ramifications of his beliefs. In many places his instincts are correct, and he could have done so much more to help his evangelical brothers and sisters get their thinking straight on religion and politics, if only he had not been sidetracked by neo-conservative advis- ers. It is my hope that he will come to terms with these things in his next book. ‘ . . – . – Dr. Richard V. Pierard, Professor of History, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana. 21 Peter Hocken, One Lord, Grace of the Charismatic Word Among Us Press, The Paternoster Press]), 04-0 ‘ New Orleans Congress One Spirit, charismatic ecumenical relations paper was prepared for the dangerous extremes respects the. various Christian of the one historic church for Although 162 One Spirit, One Body: Ecumenical Movement (Gaithersberg, The 1987, [In Britain: Exeter, Devon, 129pp. $5.00. ISBN 0-932085- statements on the Colorado is . In 1986, Peter Hocken delivered an important address to the National Association of Diocesan Liaisons for Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Sedalia, Colorado. This paper was considered to be of such importance that Hocken was asked to prepare a book-length version in time for the in July, 1987. The resulting book, One Lord, One Body is one of the most important yet written. Although a Catholic audience, the book version addressed to all Christians in all the different churches. Hocken’s primary mission in this book is to steer charismatics around of “denominationalism” on the one hand and “non-denominationalism” on the other. The crux of his thesis is that there is a “third way” which is fully ecumenical in that it values and traditions while keeping in view the unity which Christ died. Hocken is a recognized book in a popular format in order to bereft of footnotes, other scholarly touches for which Hocken in the introduction tell much about the book and about Hocken himself. The book is dedicated to two Classical Pentecostal David du Plessis, who is well known for his ecumenical and Thomas Roberts, to France whose vision for unity led to the ” in Strasbourg, France in 1982 known as renewal. It is, therefore, The dedications ecumenists, vision and activities, Pentecostal missionary ecumenical charismatic meeting “Pentecost over Europe.” In dedicating Pentecostal movement,” potential without the other.” to renewal”… and “domesticated scholar, he purposely wrote this reach the average leader in the bibliographies, and the is well known. the lesser known Welsh pioneers, Hocken points without the the book to these Pentecostal out that “this renewal would hardly have been possible while adding that “neither the Pentecostal movement nor the charismatic movement can realize its God-given The burden of the book, therefore is a call for these mighty twentieth century movements of the Spirit to build on what is most certainly of God,” (p. 115) while avoiding the “dangers” renewal.” The answer, according to Hocken, is to “understand and appropriate the cross of Jesus” (p. iii). makes valuable contributions to Pente- and understanding. sketches of such early British and American Tommy Tyson, Edgar Trout, William T. Sherwood, In several sections, Hocken costal/charismatic knowledge biographical Beginning with short leaders as Dennis Bennett, 22 163 Judy Yates, Brian Casebow, Patty Gallegher Mansfield, and Larry Christenson, he moves quickly to a short treatment of the history of the movement from Azusa Street to the Catholic renewal of the 1960s. The Pentecostal/charismatic movement he calls a “grace to build on” which must not be bracketed with other “organized” renewal movements of the past. This movement, which he concludes is “from God and not from man,” has many unique contributions to make to the Body of Christ, including the renewal fo the older mainline churches, the evangelization of the world, and an authentically Spirit-led ecumenism. Since the Pentecostal/charismatic movement has proven to be the most widespread ecumenical movement of modem times, at least in terms of grass-roots ecumenical prayer and fellowship, a book like Hocken’s One Lord, One Spirit, One Body is a must, especially for leaders who work on ecumenical projects. This book could well become the indis- pensable handbook for all Spirit filled believers who work for Pente- costal/charismatic ° renewal in the churches, especially in the last years of this century, Vinson Synan, an ordained Pentecostal Holiness minister, Chairman of the North American Renewal Service Committee, Oklahoma City, Okla- homa. 23 164 Uwe tische 1987). Birnstein, Bewegung 219 pps. Neuer Geist in alter Kirche? in der Offensive (Stuttgart: ISBN 3-7831-0845-4. Die Charisma- Kreuz Verlag, Bimstein has provided a thorough introduction to the charismatic Movement in Germany. Three years of participant observation, inter- views, and research have resulted in a volume which is insightful, gen- erous in its analysis, and scholarly in its objectivity. Both those who are looking for an apologetic approach and those hoping for an expose will be disappointed. However, those who are seeking to understand the history, development, intellectual structures and/or prosopographical and bibliographical data will find it a valuable reference tool. The author begins with a narration of a charismatic worship service in Hamburg. He then describes the structure of the liturgy, inserts a short curriculum vitae as testimony of the Pastor, Wolfram Kopfermann, and an interview with the Director of the Office of Spiritual Community Renewal of Hamburg (Buro der Geistlichen Gemeinde-Emeuerung). He reports that visitors to the church interested in learning more, after participation in the worship services led by these two men, are invited to attend an introductory course on faith. Birnstein presents a resume of the teachings presented in the five evening sessions. He notes that not all persons who attend the courses and worship services become charis- matics and many of those who do, eventually withdraw. An insightful interview with a former charismatic is included. After this detailed report on a specific church, Bimstein turns his attention to the historical and theological roots of the charismatic renewal discussing the experience of Dennis and Rita Bennett at Van Nuys; California and the transmission to Germany, emphasizing the influence of A. Bittlinger, R. F. Edel, and W. Kopfermann. This is the least developed section of the book. The development in West Germany is traced, prudently, by discussing the major centers and traditions of the charismatic renewal: (1) state church (Lutheran) renewal; (2) the various streams of Roman Catholic renewal focusing on the role of H. Muhlen; (3) independent charismatic groups; (4) Christliches Zentrum Berlin begun by Volkhard Spitzer, now led by Peter Dippl; Projection J, an independent mission work; (5) Jesus-Haus Dusseldorf pastored by Gerhard Bially; Glaubenszen- trum Wolfenbuttel founded by Bob Humburg as a German Christ for the Nations Institute; (6) Geschaftsleute des vollen Evangeliums Inter- national, the German Full Gospel Businessmens Fellowship Interna- tional ; and (7) Aglow, a women’s organization. The history, structures and publications of each group are presented. An analysis of the crucial differences between groups, sometimes masked by their commendable ability to work together, would have been helpful at this point. The theological and sociological self-understanding of these groups as a 24 165 “movement” is discussed as are their relationships with other church groups, especially the difficulties with the fundamentalistic Evangeli- cals, Methodists and Baptists. Despite some problems in relating to the established religious groups in West Germany, these charismatic groups have had a major impact on the development of the movement in Eastern Europe, the USSR, and in the Third World as well as on Christian- Jewish relations. A significant section of the volume is devoted to a presentation of the ways in which the charismatic movement reads the Bible to arrive at an articulation of their belief system and a basis for a lifestyle which is distinctive in its cultural context and remarkably uniform across the spectrum of diverse charismatic groups. Here, as in earlier discussions of theological Tendenzen and efforts to isolate influences on the charismatic movements in Germany and the response of Germans to the experience, one would wish that the significance of Pietism had been explored. Although traditional Pietism with its insistence on personal conversion, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and a lifestyle congruent with those commitments has been weakened by secularism and the ecclesiastical politics, it has not been forgotten, as is evident from the facility with which charismatic language is understood and the continu- ous flow of books and dissertations on Pietism in Germany and Switzerland. . The volume ends with Bimstein’s personal reflections on his research and writing accompanied with prognostications (guardedly optimistic) about the future of the charismatic movement. An appendix gives addresses of West German charismatic groups, a list of periodicals (with addresses for subscribing) and an extensive bibliography. An index enables the volume to function as a reference tool. David Bundy, Collection Development Librarian, Associate Professor of Christian Origins, Asbury Theological Seminary Wilmore, Kentucky. 25