Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars
| PentecostalTheology.com
Book Reviews / Pneuma 29 (2007) 311-363
331
Michael Wilkinson, The Spirit Said Go: Pentecostal Immigrants in Canada , American Uni- versity Studies, Series VII, T eology and Religion 247 (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2006). x + 129 pp., $57.95, cloth.
Readers of Pneuma who follow issues of immigration and religion will find this short book an interesting and informative read. In The Spirit Said Go, Michael Wilkinson, a sociologist at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, has presented something of a case study of Pentecostal immigrants in Canada. This work, as per its own descrip- tion, seeks to show how global religious networks transform social relationships and religious organizations while contributing to new translocal identities.
Wilkinson, a former pastor with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, writes, “My central concern is with understanding the various social networks immigrant Pentecostals maintain and their contribution to identity formation. I also explore how global networks among new immigrants are transforming the largest Pentecostal denomination in Canada, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC)” (1); and, “My argument is that contempo- rary migration is characterized by worldwide relationships and practices that both globalize and localize religious life. Specifically, I show that current changes in migration to Canada have implications for the PAOC. . . . The effects for the PAOC include theological, cultural, and organizational change that cannot be understood adequately simply in terms of immi- grant accommodation or resistance” (5).
Chapter 1 attempts to explain the emergence and development of twentieth-century Pentecostalism within a globalization framework. Specifically, Wilkinson shows that, at the time of Azusa and throughout the spread of Classical Pentecostalism, the movement was inherently global in focus and outlook. Holiness groups and others throughout the world were looking for and expecting the outpouring of God’s Spirit as on the Day of Pentecost, and the earliest Pentecostals themselves had global focus and attempted to bring this new message to the corners of the globe as expeditiously as possible. This chapter concludes with various statistics on Pentecostals in Canada.
Chapter 2, “Religion, Culture, and Global Society,” examines the three features of glo- balization relevant for understanding the globalization of Pentecostalism: the global-local dynamic, polyethnicity and multiculturality, and the role of identity formation. Wilkinson’s analysis is significantly influenced by the theoretical works of Roland Robertson and Peter Beyer.
Chapter 3 examines the two dominant theories for understanding change processes among immigrants: assimilation and pluralism. Wilkinson argues that both miss the impor- tant role of global social networks in assisting identity construction among immigrants. The bulk of this chapter is given to the review of current research on immigrants and reli- gion. Wilkinson argues that immigration to Canada is indeed changing religious life, but in a manner opposite to how many within the PAOC perceive it. Drawing on studies from Reginald Bibby, the author notes that in spite of massive immigration in the last 120 years, “the proportion of Canadians identifying with religions other than Christianity has not changed significantly” (47). Quoting Bibby, Wilkinson notes that new Canadians are gen- erally “not adding all that much to the literal religion mosaic. Frequently what they are really bringing are cultural variations on the Christian religion” (47).
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/157007407X238079
PPNEU 29,2_f10_310-363.indd 331NEU 29,2_f10_310-363.indd 331
111/7/07 11:02:20 AM1/7/07 11:02:20 AM
1
332
Book Reviews / Pneuma 29 (2007) 311-363
A description and analysis of the PAOC is the subject of chapter 4. In addition, Wilkin- son profiles six immigrant congregations located in Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario, which provide the research necessary for the final chapters.
Chapter 5 examines the important role of networks in forming Pentecostal identity and, in particular, global Pentecostal networks. Wilkinson contends that within the PAOC itself, the important social role played by these networks, such as special events and conference links, is not well understood. Overall, however, the author believes that the PAOC is learn- ing to have the flexibility necessary to accommodate Pentecostals from other areas of the world who are somewhat different in orthopraxy, while remaining essentially orthodox as defined by Western Pentecostals.
The study concludes in chapter 6 by way of a brief summary.
Wilkinson’s monograph shows some of the impact of immigrants upon the PAOC, par- ticularly as new forms of worship and practice are brought to Canadian Pentecostalism from abroad. The author gives the impression that the PAOC has, in the recent past, “missed the boat” in their understanding of the impact of immigration, believing that the denomination must gear up to reach the many immigrants coming to Canada, with the faulty assumption that most of these would not be Christian. The impact of global social networks on forming the social identities of these new Canadian Pentecostals, and the subsequent impact locally, is not always appreciated at leadership levels.
By way of caveat, readers without a solid knowledge of migration theory, socialization of religion, and globalization theory may find themselves at a slight disadvantage as they wade through the terminology and concepts found within this specialized field. In addition, while the case made is likely a solid one, the study sample in terms of congregations (just six within several hundred kilometres of each other in Ontario) is perhaps not large enough to make substantial assumptions for the entire PAOC, a movement spanning the thousands of kilometers of Canadian geography. This study would be strengthened with additional research from many more immigrant congregations from other Canadian provinces. Would the results be similar, for example, in the Asian Pentecostal communities of Vancouver, the European congregations of the Prairies, or the smaller immigrant communities of Eastern Canada?
Reviewed by Bradley Truman Noel
PNEU 29,2_f10_310-363.indd 332PNEU 29,2_f10_310-363.indd 332
111/7/07 11:02:20 AM1/7/07 11:02:20 AM
2
