Counting Pentecostals Worldwide

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PNEUMA 36 (2014) 265–288

Counting Pentecostals Worldwide

Todd M. Johnson

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts

Tjohnson@gcts.edu

Abstract

Demographics on national, regional, and global Pentecostalism provide an essential backdrop to almost every kind of quantitative or qualitative study done on other aspects of Pentecostalism. This article outlines both the history and the research find- ings related to the subject of defining, categorizing, and counting Pentecostals. Subjects covered include early attempts to count Pentecostals, the development of taxonomies of different types of Pentecostals and Charismatics, and statistical estimates of Pente- costals and Charismatics by type.

Keywords

Pentecostals – Charismatics – independent Charismatics – Renewalists – demographics – Global Christianity – taxonomies – David Barrett – classification

Over the past one hundred years, the global Christian community has experi- enced a profound change in its cultural and linguistic composition. In 1910, over 80 percent of all Christians were European or North American. Today, that per- centage has fallen to less than 40 percent.1 This demographic shift has formed the basis for most major analyses of world Christianity in the past forty years.2 With the expansion of Christianity in the Global South there has been a pro- liferation of new denominations and networks, nowhere more apparent than

1 Todd M. Johnson and Kenneth R. Ross, eds., Atlas of Global Christianity, 1910–2010(Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press, 2009), 8.

2 See Walbert Bülhmann, The Coming of the Third Church (Maryknoll, ny: Orbis Books, 1976);

David Barrett, “ad 2000: 350 million Christians in Africa,”International Review of Mission 59,

no. 233 (January 1970): 39–54; and the writings of Andrew Walls and Lamin Sanneh.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-03602006

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in Africa.3 In 1910 there were approximately 5,000 denominations worldwide. This increased to 20,000 by 1970 and has now more than doubled to 41,000. The vast majority of these are Protestant and Independent.4 In this same period, a renewal of the Holy Spirit has reached to virtually all traditions within Chris- tianity. Alternately called pentecostal or charismatic, this renewal has grown from just over one million adherents in 1900 to nearly 600 million by 2010. This article outlines both the history and the research findings related to defin- ing, categorizing, and counting Pentecostals.5 Subjects covered include early attempts to count Pentecostals, the development of taxonomies of pentecostal denominations, the extent to which Pentecostalism has impacted mainline denominations, and statistical estimates of Pentecostals and Charismatics by type, country, and region. Demographics on national, regional, and global Pen- tecostalism provide an essential backdrop to almost every kind of quantitative or qualitative study done on other aspects of Pentecostalism. Virtually every article and book on Pentecostalism makes some allusion to demographics.6 Composite figures reported in the tables below are calculated from individual denominational figures that are stored in theWorld Christian Database.7

Pentecostals and Charismatics Considered Together

The case for the pentecostal and charismatic renewal as a single intercon- nected phenomenon can best be made by considering a “family resemblance” among the various kinds of movements that claim to be either pentecostal or charismatic.8 The resemblance revolves around the baptism of the Holy Spirit,

3 See David B. Barrett,Schism and Renewal in Africa: An Analysis of Six Thousand Contemporary

Religious Movements(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968).

4 A table showing the breakdown of these is found in David B. Barrett et al., World Christian

Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 16–18.

5 For an earlier version of this article, see Todd M. Johnson, “The Global Demographics of the

Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal,” Social Science and Modern Society 46, no. 6 (Novem-

ber/December 2009): 479–483.

6 See Allan Anderson et al,Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods(Berkeley, ca:

University of California, 2009), especially Chapter 1, “Varieties, Taxonomies, and Definitions.” 7 Todd M. Johnson, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2007); http://www

.worldchristiandatabase.org.

8 This case is made by Walter J. Hollenweger, especially in his book The Pentecostals (London:

scm Press, 1972). Allan Anderson also utilizes the family resemblance metaphor to describe

Pentecostalism. Allan Anderson, Michael Bergunder, André Droogers, and Cornelis Van Der

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the gifts of the Spirit, and the experiential nature of the pentecostal tradi- tion. Less clear, however, are the organic connections among various pen- tecostal denominations and independent charismatic networks. In addition, the modern movement appears to have no definitive, historical point of ori- gin. From a demographic perspective, all forms of Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement are counted as part of the overall global renewal phe- nomenon.

Early History of Counting Pentecostals

In the mid-1960s, Anglican researcher David B. Barrett wrote an article on African Independent Churches for the World Christian Handbook (wch),9 a publication that reported on only a portion of the Anglican and Protestant worlds. After contributing to the wch, Barrett was determined to extend this kind of analysis to all Christian bodies and consequently produced the World Christian Encyclopedia10 (wce-1), which documented, for 1980, the existence of over 20,000 Christian denominations worldwide. Barrett developed a sevenfold coded division among churches: Anglicans (a), Catholics (non-Roman) (c),11 non-white indigenous (i), marginal Christians (m), Protestants (p), Orthodox (o), and Roman Catholics (r). Each of these major traditions was subdivided into minor traditions (for example, Protestants as Lutherans (P-Lut), Baptists (P-Bap), Presbyterians (P-Ref), and so on).12

Pentecostals and Charismatics appeared in these listings in three ways. First, among Protestants were the classical pentecostal13 denominations,14 which

Laan, eds.,Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods(Berkeley, ca: University

of California Press, 2010).

9 The first edition in the series was edited by Kenneth Grubb (London: World Dominion

Press, 1949). Subsequent editions were published in 1952, 1957, 1962, and 1968. Barrett

worked on the 1968 edition.

10 David B. Barrett,World Christian Encyclopedia(Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1982). 11 Defined as “Old Catholics and others in secession from the Church of Rome since 1700

in the Western world, and other Catholic-type sacramentalist or hierarchical secessions

from Protestantism or Anglicanism.”wce-1, 820.

12 A table of these traditions and sub-traditions is presented inwce-1on pages 792–793. 13 “Pentecostal” was defined in the wce-1 Dictionary (page 838) as “With a capital ‘p,’ the

noun or adjective refers here to charismatic Christians in separate or distinct pentecostal

denominations of White origin.”

14 Such as the Assemblies of God or the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee).

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could be coded with the single code “P-Pen.” To illustrate the significant dif- ferences between them, however, subcategories of Oneness (Pe1), Baptistic (Pe2), Holiness (Pe3), Perfectionist (Pe4), and Apostolic (PeA) were developed. Second, Pentecostals outside of the Western world who had split off from established Protestant denominations were labeled as non-white indigenous (i-) with subcategory codes similar to those used for Protestant Pentecostals. Third, Barrett recognized the existence of charismatic15 individuals within other traditions—designated “neo-Pentecostals” and evaluated by country as “pentecostals” (with a small “p”),16 illustrating renewal within an existing tradi- tion.

It is important to note that the history of counting Pentecostals is directly related to that of counting Christians as a whole; that is, first, Christians are counted, and then certain Christians are identified as Pentecostals. This is the reason that virtually all estimates for the number of Pentecostals in the world are related to Barrett’s initial detailed work. Barrett was, in fact, the only academic who produced estimates for global Pentecostalism based on individual denominational figures for every country in the world.17

In 1988 David Barrett published a significant article in which he developed the Three Wave taxonomy.18 This typology describes the twentieth-century “Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal” as unfolding in three chronological wa- ves.19 The First Wave included denominational “Classical” Pentecostals founded from 1900 on; the Second Wave, Charismatics in the mainline denom-

15 “Charismatic renewal” was defined in thewce-1Dictionary (page 820) as “The pentecostal

or neo-pentecostal renewal or revival movement within the mainline Protestant, Angli-

can, Catholic, and Orthodox churches, characterized by healings, tongues, prophesyings,

et alia.”

16 Defined in thewce-1Dictionary (page 838) as “With a small ‘p’, the noun or adjective refers

here to charismatic Christians (1) still within mainline denominations, and (2) those in

Non-White indigenous pentecostal denominations.”

17 The prayer manual Operation World (Paternoster 2001, Biblica 2010) by Patrick Johnstone

and Jason Mandryk also produced estimates but, for the most part, followed Barrett’s lead

in pentecostal and charismatic figures.

18 See David B. Barrett, “The 20th Century Pentecostal/Charismatic Renewal of the Holy

Spirit, with its Goal of World Evangelization,”International Bulletin of Missionary Research

2, no. 3, (July 1988): 119–129; and David B. Barrett, “Global Statistics,” in Dictionary of

Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, ed. Stanley M. Burgess and Gary McGee (Grand

Rapids, mi: Zondervan, 1988), 810–830.

19 The typology was built on the work of C. Peter Wagner and others. See especiallyThe Third

Wave of the Holy Spirit: Encountering the Power of Signs and Wonders Today(Ann Arbor, mi:

Servant Publications, 1988).

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table 1

Estimates of Pentecostals and Charismatics by D. Barrett, 1970–2000

wce- 1 1988 survey wce- 2 wce- 1 1988 survey 1970 1970 1970 1980 1980

Pre-pentecostals – 3,824,000 3,824,000 – 4,438,000 Pentecostals 36,794,000 64,335,000 15,382,330 51,167,000 104,546,000 Charismatics 1,588,000 3,789,000 3,349,400 11,004,000 45,545,000 Neocharismatics – 50,000 53,490,560 – 4,000,000 Total Renewalists 38,382,000 71,998,000 76,046,290 62,171,000 158,529,000 Unaffiliated Pentecostals – 3,362,000 5,300,000 – 10,700,000 Total professing – 75,360,000 81,346,290 100,000,000 169,229,000

wce- 1 1988 survey wce- 2 2000 2000 2000

Pre-Pentecostals – 7,300,000 7,300,000 Pentecostals – 268,150,000 65,832,970 Charismatics 38,800,000 222,077,000 175,856,690 Neocharismatics – 65,000,000 295,405,240 Total Renewalists – 562,527,000 544,394,900 Unaffiliated Pentecostals – 56,800,000 78,327,510 Total professing – 619,327,000 622,722,410

inations in movements that started in and after 1960; and the Third Wave, independent charismatic networks around the world, many emerging after 1980. The vast majority of independent Charismatics were placed in the First Wave (64 out of 75 million in 1970, 104 out of 169 million in 1980), as were all of the break-off groups from Protestant Pentecostalism. The Third Wave, at that time still in its infancy as a concept, was relatively small in size (see table 1).

In the second edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia (wce-2), the non- white indigenous category was changed to “Independents,” and Catholics (non- Roman) were moved to “Independents,” which resulted in six major traditions instead of seven.20 In the assessment of the pentecostal situation, independent

20 David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, eds.,World Christian Encyclope-

dia, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).

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schisms from classical Pentecostalism were moved to the Third Wave, which was now labeled as Independent Charismatic or Neocharismatic. This new taxonomy caused a major shift in the numerical sizes of the three waves; the First Wave, the largest category in the earlier surveys, was now much smaller (see table 1). Note that the three waves were collectively called “Renewal- ists.”21

After the 1988 survey, Barrett published figures for Renewalists in many places. At the time he was finishing thewce-2, he also updated the 1988 survey in the second edition of the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Move- ments.22 These continue to be the most widely quoted figures of Renewalists (usually ranging from 500 to 600 million for 2000–2010).

Critiques of Taxonomy, Methods, and Results

Barrett’s efforts to count Pentecostals have been critiqued in three ways: (1) general statements about inflated numbers or not trusting statistics, (2) the chronological inconsistencies of the three-wave typology, and (3) which groups should be defined as pentecostal or charismatic.

The first critique—that his estimates were inflated or that statistics can’t be trusted—was the most prevalent and the least helpful. These were almost always general statements not accompanied by any substantial evidence. Ex- amples of unsubstantiated critiques include calling his estimates “wild gues- ses,”23 “uncertain and contested,”24 “debatable,” and “inaccurate and inflated.”25 At the same time, leading scholars presented estimates with no documenta- tion. For example, when David Martin wrote that there were 250 million Pen- tecostals in the world he appeared to have no direct reference for the number, citing only “a conservative source.”26

21 All terms used in this table are defined in the published surveys.

22 Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. Van Der Maas, eds., The New International Dictionary

of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements(Grand Rapids, mi: Zondervan, 2002), 284–302. 23 Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity(Cam-

bridge, uk: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 1.

24 David Westerlund, ed. Global Pentecostalism: Encounters with Other Religious Traditions

(London: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 20.

25 Allan Anderson, To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World

Christianity(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2.

26 David Martin, Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish(Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), 1.

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Second, the three-wave typology suffered from inconsistencies in its chrono- logical sequence. For example, the Third Wave (independent Charismatics) predated the first two (Pentecostals, Charismatics) by 150 years. In addition, the three-wave typology was used by some Pentecostals to promote the renewal movement as God’s initiative in the twentieth century. For these and other rea- sons, “wave” terminology was abandoned for the current analysis.

From a demographic point of view, the third critique is the most important and helpful. Barrett’s global figure is a composite of thousands of individual figures (denominations and networks) covering every country of the world. Because the global figure is a composite figure, the only way to critique it is to dismantle the taxonomy by identifying which groups do not belong (or which groups have been left out). Despite all the critiques, such an analysis of the taxonomy has never been done. Anderson critiques the general number as too high (“considerably inflated by including such large movements as African and Chinese independent churches and Catholic Charismatics”) and then goes on to rebuild a taxonomy of four types that appears to include all of Barrett’s groups.27

Recent Efforts to Count Pentecostals

In 2006 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a report entitled “Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals”28 that reports findings from ten countries.29 The report referred to Barrett’s earlier work, even utiliz- ing “Renewalists” for the overarching term. While the survey did not produce a new global total (citing instead Barrett’s global figure), it performed the first extensive professional survey of Pentecostalism outside the Western world. The report revealed that Barrett’s “inflated” figures were too low in some key coun- tries. For example, the wce (2001) reported that 47% of Brazilians identified with the renewal while Pew’s survey in 2006 said 49%. In Guatemala, wce reported 22% and Pew 60%.

27 Anderson et al.,Studying Global Pentecostalism, 13–20. In a more recent volume, Anderson

writes, “If we are to do justice to this global movement of the Spirit, we must include

its more recent and more numerous expressions in the Charismatic and Neocharismatic

movements” (To the Ends of the Earth, 5).

28 “Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals,” October 5, 2006. Accessed May 30,

2011, http://pewforum.org/Christian/Evangelical-Protestant-Churches/Spirit-and-Power

.aspx.

29 Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, India (three states only), Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, South

Africa, South Korea, and the United States.

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In 2010, in partnership with the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (csgc) embarked on a new assess- ment of Pentecostalism in every country of the world. While this project bor- rowed much from earlier attempts, a number of changes were made. First, the term wave was abandoned for the less prescriptive term type. Thus, the three types are roughly approximate to the earlier “waves.” Second, the methodol- ogy for calculating the number of Pentecostals was made more explicit. Third, the estimates were sourced for each denomination and for each percentage (as described below). The results of this survey were published in Pew’sGlobal Christianityreport.30

For this new project, the central research question remained, “How many Pentecostals are in each country of the world and how fast are they growing?” This question could not be answered by censuses or surveys because these are limited in scope (only half of the countries of the world ask a question on reli- gion31) and depth (most censuses and surveys do not ask about Pentecostals), orchangeovertime(morethanonedatehasnotbeensurveyed).Consequently, the only comprehensive method for counting Pentecostals builds on demo- graphic data on Christian denominations.32

Counting Methodology Based on Denominational Data

Starting in about 1960, David Barrett began to collect documents related to the demographicsofChristiandenominations.Thesedocumentsaccumulatedand were archived, first in Kenya, and later in Richmond, Virginia. By the time the Center for the Study of Global Christianity was established at Gordon-Conwell

30 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and

Distribution of the World Christian Population, December 19, 2011, pewforum.org. 31 Reported in Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds., World Religion Database (Lei-

den/Boston: Brill, 2008); worldreligiondatabase.org.

32 Every year Christian denominations collect and publish data on church membership in

a variety of ways. The most extensive of these inquiries is that carried out by the Roman

Catholic Church. All Roman Catholic bishops are required to answer 140 precise statistical

questions concerning their work in the previous twelve months. The results are published

in January each year as Annuario Pontificio, listing every diocese in the world. Many other

denominations (such as Assemblies of God, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Presbyterians)

also produce yearbooks of church membership. Some denominations publish their figures

on their websites. Other churches collect the data but then distribute the findings in

limited form via printed documents.

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Theological Seminary in 2003, the team had amassed over 8,000 books and one million documents, including everything from unpublished manuscripts to articles from obscure journals in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Since 2003, approximately 2,000 books and 100,000 additional documents have been added to the collection.33

The major physical collection of documentation can be grouped under thirteen headings.34 As this collection has grown, counting Pentecostals and Charismatics has become more firmly based on membership statistics of de- nominations in each country of the world, of which the csgc has now identified approximately 41,000. As mentioned earlier, each of these denominations was coded with one of six Christian traditions: Anglicans (a), Independents (i), Marginals (m), Orthodox (o), Protestants (p), or Roman Catholics (r). These six are then broken down to a second level of approximately 300 minor Christian traditions.SomeexamplesincludeAnglicanEvangelicals(A-Eva),Independent Baptists (I-Bap), Latter-day Saints (M-LdS), Russian Orthodox (O-Rus), Presby- terians (P-Ref), and Byzantine Catholics (R-Byz).35 This coding system provides the basis for analysis of subsets of Christianity, such as Pentecostals.

33 These documents provided the data for large-scale research projects assessing the numer-

ical strength of Christianity in every country of the world, includingWorld Christian Ency-

clopedia (1982), World Christian Encyclopedia 2nd edition (2001), World Christian Trends

(Pasadena, ca: William Carey Library, 2001),World Christian Database(2007), and Atlas of

Global Christianity (2009). Each of these publications includes estimates for Pentecostals

and Charismatics.

34 These are (1) around 10,000 statistical questionnaires returned by churches and national

collaborators over the period 1960–2010; (2) field surveys and on-the-spot interviews in

over 200 countries; (3) extensive correspondence with pentecostal denominations and

networks over the last fifty years; (4) unpublished documentation collected on the field,

including reports, memoranda, facsimiles, photocopies, photographs, maps, and so forth;

(5) primary published documents of limited circulation; (6) 600 directories of denomina-

tions, Christian councils, confessions, and topics; (7) 4,500 printed contemporary descrip-

tions of the churches, describing denominations, movements, countries, and confessions;

(8) official reports of 500 government-organized national censuses of population; (9)

unpublished reports and data concerning fifty government censuses of population by

religion that were unprocessed or had remained incomplete, which the researchers then

completed; (10) unpublished computer searches and surveys of 12,000 university doctoral

dissertations or master’s theses on Christianity and religion; (11) bibliographical listings

fromsearchesinanumberofmajorlibraries;(12)in-depthinterviewswithbishops,church

leaders, theologians, and others, focusing specifically on the meaning, quantification, and

interpretation of Pentecostalism; and (13) other documents including maps, charts, statis-

tical tables, graphs, brochures, and so on.

35 Seewce-2,16–18forasummarytableofapproximately300minorChristiantraditions.Cur-

rent estimates for each minor tradition can be accessed at theWorld Christian Database.

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Three Types of Pentecostals

For the purpose of understanding the diverse global phenomenon of Pente- costalism, it is still useful to divide the movement into three kinds or types. First are denominational Pentecostals, organized into denominations in the early part of the twentieth century. Second are Charismatics, individuals in the mainline denominations (primarily after the mid-twentieth century). Third are Independent Charismatics, those who broke free of denominational Pente- costalism or mainline denominations to form their own networks.

Pentecostals (Type 1)

Pentecostals are defined as Christians who are members of the explicitly pen- tecostal denominations whose major characteristic is a new experience of the energizing ministry of the Holy Spirit that most other Christians have consid- ered to be highly unusual. This is interpreted as a rediscovery of the spiritual gifts of New Testament times and their restoration to ordinary Christian life and ministry. Classical Pentecostalism usually is held to have begun in the United States in 1901.36 For a brief period Pentecostalism expected to remain an inter- denominational movement within the existing churches, but from 1909 onward its members were increasingly ejected from mainline bodies and so were forced to begin new organized denominations.37

Pentecostal denominations hold the distinctive teachings that all Chris- tians should seek a post-conversion religious experience called baptism in the Holy Spirit and that a Spirit-baptized believer may receive one or more of the supernatural gifts known in the early church: the ability to prophesy; to prac- tice divine healing through prayer; to speak (glossolalia), interpret, or sing in tongues; to sing in the Spirit, dance in the Spirit, pray with upraised hands; to receive dreams, visions, words of wisdom, words of knowledge; to discern spir- its; to perform miracles, power encounters, exorcisms (casting out demons), resuscitations, deliverances, or other signs and wonders.

From 1906 onward, the hallmark of explicitly pentecostal denominations, by comparison with Holiness/Perfectionist denominations, has been the sin- gle addition of speaking with other tongues as the “initial evidence” of one’s

36 Most scholars have moved to a “multiple origins” theory of the birth of modern Pente-

costalism, emphasizing early activity outside of the Western world. See Anderson et al.,

Studying Global Pentecostalism, 22.

37 Vinson Synan documents this early history and its links to the Holiness tradition in The

Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the United States (Grand Rapids, mi: Wm B. Eerdmans,

1972).

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having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, whether or not one subse- quently experiences regularly the gift of tongues.38 Most pentecostal denomi- nations teach that tongues-speaking is mandatory for all members, but in real- ity today not all members have practiced this gift, either initially or as an ongo- ing experience.39 Pentecostals are defined here as all associated with explicitly pentecostal denominations that identify themselves in explicitly pentecostal terms, or with other denominations that as a whole are phenomenologically pentecostal in teaching and practice.

Among Protestants (coded as “p-”) are pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God. Subcategories of Oneness (Pe1), Baptistic (Pe2), Holi- ness (Pe3), Perfectionist (Pe4), and Apostolic (PeA) were retained from ear- lier research. Each minor tradition within Pentecostalism (currently limited to codes beginning with P-Pe) is considered to be 100 percent pentecostal (all members of pentecostal denominations are counted as Pentecostals).

Charismatics (Type 2)

Charismatics are defined as Christians affiliated to nonpentecostal denomina- tions (Anglican, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox) who receive the experiences above in what has been termed the charismatic movement. The charismatic movement’s roots go back to early Pentecostalism, but its rapid expansion has occurred mainly since 1960 (later called the charismatic renewal). Charismatics usually describe themselves as having been “renewed in the Spirit” and as expe- riencing the Spirit’s supernatural and miraculous and energizing power. They remain within, and form organized renewal groups within, their older mainline nonpentecostal denominations, instead of leaving to join pentecostal denomi- nations. They demonstrate any or all of thecharismata pneumatika(gifts of the Spirit), including signs and wonders (but withglossolaliaregarded as optional). Concerning the key word, note that “In the technical Pauline sense charismata (av, gifts) denote extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit.”40

Type 2 recognizes the existence of pentecostal individuals within the Angli- can, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. These are desig-

38 See Ron Phillips, An Essential Guide to Speaking in Tongues: Foundations of the Holy Spirit

(Lake Mary, fl: Charisma House, 2011).

39 The Pew Forum (“Spirit and Power,” 13) suggests that 40 percent of Pentecostals do not

speak in tongues.

40 Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, mi:

Zondervan, 1886, 1977), 667.

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nated “Charismatic” and evaluated by country as Catholic Charismatics, Angli- can Charismatics, and so on, designating renewal within an existing tradition. For example, the beginning of the charismatic movement in Anglican churches is described by Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett inNineO’clockintheMorning.41 Traditions are assessed to determine what percentage of adherents identifies themselves as Charismatics, ranging from 0 to 99%. Self-identification percent- ages for Charismatics were calculated by contacting renewal agencies working within denominations.42

Independent Charismatics (Type 3)

While the classification and chronology of the first two types is straightforward, there are thousands of churches and movements that “resemble” the first two types but do not fit their definitions.These constitutea thirdtype and often pre- date the first two types. For lack of a better term, these are called “Independent Charismatics.” Part of the rationale for this term is the fact that they are largely found in the Independent category of Barrett’s overall taxonomy of Christians. Thus, Type 3 includes pentecostal or semi-pentecostal members of the 250- year-old Independent movement of Christians, primarily in the Global South, of churches begun without reference to Western Christianity. These indige- nous movements, though not all explicitly pentecostal, nevertheless have the main features of Pentecostalism.43 In addition, since Azusa Street, thousands of schismatic or other independent charismatic churches have come out of Type 1 Pentecostals and Type 2 charismatic movements. They consist of Christians who, unrelated to or no longer related to the pentecostal or charismatic denom- inations, have become filled with the Spirit, or empowered by the Spirit, and have experienced the Spirit’s ministry (though usually without recognizing a

41 Dennis Bennett, Nine O’clock in the Morning(Alachua, fl: Bridge-Logos, 1970). 42 For example, the Vatican-based agency Charismatic Catholic Renewal recently sent ques-

tionnaires to National Service offices for Catholic Charismatics in every country of the

world. The results of a previous set of questionnaires was published in International

Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service, David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, eds.,“Then

Peter Stood Up … ”: Collections of the Popes’ Addresses to the ccr from Its Origin to the

Year 2000 (Vatican City: International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service, 2000). Each

self-identification estimate is sourced in documentation at the csgc. While many Charis-

matics speak in tongues, the emphasis is on all of the gifts of the Spirit, including prophecy

and word of knowledge.

43 The case for enumerating adherents of these movements as Renewalists has been fully

made by Walter J. Hollenweger in “After Twenty Years’ Research on Pentecostalism,”

International Review of Mission75, no. 297 (April 1986), and in Pentecostalism(1997).

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baptism in the Spirit separate from conversion); who exercise gifts of the Spirit (with much less emphasis on tongues, as optional or even absent or unneces- sary) and emphasize signs and wonders,44 supernatural miracles, and power encounters; but also do not identify themselves as either Pentecostals (Type 1) or Charismatics (Type 2). In a number of countries they exhibit pentecostal and charismatic phenomena but combine this with rejection of pentecostal termi- nology.ThesebelieversfrequentlyareidentifiedbytheirleadershipasIndepen- dent, Postdenominationalist, Restorationist, Radical, Neo-Apostolic, or Third Wave.

Thus, the third type is Independent Charismatics (also known in the liter- ature as neocharismatics or neopentecostals) who are not in Protestant pen- tecostal denominations (Type 1), nor are they individual Charismatics in the traditional churches (Type 2). Type 3 is the most diverse of the three types and ranges from house churches in China to African Initiated Churches to white- led charismatic networks in the Western world. It includes Pentecostals who had split off from established Protestant denominations (Type 1) and who were then labeled as Independent (i-), with subcategory codes similar to those used for Protestant Pentecostals (pen, pe1, pe2, and so on). Independent churches formed by charismatic leaders (Type 2) who founded new congregations and networks are also included. Some Independent Charismatics speak in tongues, but healing and power evangelism are more prominent in this type than in the other two.45

Three Types Together

One difficulty that has plagued all researchers and historians of Pentecostalism is what to call the overarching movement. Some have used “Pentecostalism” or “Global Pentecostalism,” while others have used “Charismatic.” Still others have used “Pentecostal and Charismatic.” As noted earlier, Barrett originally used the lengthy phrase “the Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal of the Holy Spirit,” which he later shortened to “Renewal.” He then coined the term Renewalist to refer to all three waves or types. While not an ideal term, it is still preferable because it is different from the other three descriptors and cannot be confused with them.

44 Peter Wagner and John Wimber taught a controversial but highly popular class, mc510:

Signs, Wonders and Church Growth, in the 1980s at Fuller Theological Seminary. The

course is summarized in Peter C. Wagner,SignsandWondersToday(Portland, or: Creation

House, 1987).

45 See especially John Wimber’s two books Power Evangelism(San Francisco: Harper & Row,

1986) and Power Healing (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987), both written with Kevin

Springer.

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Renewalists by Tradition

Anglicans

In the early twentieth century there were numerous isolated “pentecostal” Anglican clergy and groups in several countries leading up to u.s. Episco- palian Agnes Sanford’s healing ministry from 1953,46 Dennis Bennett’s well documented experience of speaking in tongues in 1959,47 and the Blessed Trin- ity Society (1961). Fountain Trust, founded by Church of England clergyman M.C. Harper48 in 1964, was present in eighteen countries by 1978, expanding to ninety-five countries by 1987, with 850,000 active adherents in the uk served by Anglican Renewal Ministries (arm); 520,000 (18 percent of all Episcopalians) in the usa served by Episcopal Renewal Ministries; and branches of arm in other countries as well. More recently, however, the center of gravity of the Anglican renewal movement has shifted to the Global South, especially to Africa. Much of this expansion is being tracked by a uniquely structured international charis- matic ministry body begun in 1979, soma (Sharing of Ministries Abroad),49 which now covers most Anglican provinces worldwide.

Independents

Perhaps the most controversial of all questions related to counting Pentecostals is whether or not many of the indigenous and independent church movements around the world should be included. David Barrett, an expert on such move- ments,50 felt that they should. He offered this rationale in 1988 (revised in 2001):

indigenous denominations, which, though not all explicitly pentecostal, nevertheless have the main phenomenological hallmarks of pentecostal- ism (charismatic spirituality, oral liturgy, narrative witness/theology, dreams and visions, emphasis on filling with the Holy Spirit, healing by prayer, atmospheric communication [simultaneous audible prayer], emotive fellowship, et alia). Note that the term “indigenous” as used

46 See Agnes Mary White Sanford,The Healing Light (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983). 47 Bennett, Nine O’clock.

48 See Michael Harper, As at the Beginning(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1974), andCharis-

matic Crisis: the Charismatic Renewal—Past, Present, and Future (London: Hodder &

Stoughton Ltd., 1980).

49 See somauk.org.

50 Barrett,Schism and Renewal.

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here refers to the auto-origination of these movements, begun among Non-White races without Western or White missionary support.51

Note that the Independent designation now includes large numbers of white- led movements such as the Vineyard churches. But the majority of the move- ments are found in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It includes African Initiated Churches, Chinese house churches, Brazilian megachurches, and thousands of other groups. All Independent networks coded as 100 percent charismatic exhibit these characteristics. In addition, networks that were not 100 percent charismatic were interviewed to determine what percentage of their adherents self-identified as Charismatics.

Protestants

As mentioned earlier, denominational Pentecostalism is firmly rooted in the Protestant tradition, although virtually all pentecostal denominations have spun off independent groups of similar characteristics (for example, Indepen- dent Apostolic Pentecostals). In addition, all of the mainline (non-pentecostal) Protestant groups (Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, and Methodists) have experienced the charismatic renewal, either in a positive fashion, with orga- nized renewal agencies supporting growth, or in a negative fashion, with con- troversy, expulsions, and schisms. Some denominations have experienced both, either simultaneously or in chronological order. In the past, estimates for the size of the renewal in the mainline denominations have depended on infor- mal surveys from the supporting agencies.

Roman Catholics

The best documented and organized of the various forms of the charismatic movement can be found within the Roman Catholic Church. The origins of the movement trace back to both the United States and Colombia in 1967. Since 1978 there have been National Service Committees uniting Catholic Charis- matics in over 120 countries. Streams of different emphasis in the usa and several other countries centered on (1) the Word of God Community (Ann Arbor, Michigan) with cohesive, authoritarian leadership, which originated as the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office (iccro) in Brussels, Bel- gium, and moved to the Vatican in 1987; and (2) People of Praise Community (South Bend, Indiana) and a wide international network of covenant com- munities, with a less authoritarian structure and leadership style. Barrett and

51 Barrett and Johnson,World Christian Trends, 288.

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Johnson worked with iccro in 1997–1998 to document the size of the charis- matic renewal among Roman Catholics.52 A second round of questionnaires was distributed, collected, and analyzed in 2010–2011 to chart changes over the past ten years. Note, from Table 2 below, that Catholic Charismatics make up about three-fourths of all Type 2 Charismatics in mid-2010.

Results of the Methodology

After performing the research outlined above, results were compiled country by country for all denominations. The results are presented here in a series of tables with commentary.53 Table 2 is a summary of results in a global context from 1910 to projections for 2025.54 The table reveals at least six interesting trends;

1. Over the period 1910–2010 the renewal grew at nearly four times the

growth rate of both Christianity and the world’s population. Between 2010

and 2025, it is expected to grow twice as fast as both.

2. In 2010 Renewalists made up over one quarter of all Christians. By 2025

this is expected to grow beyond 30 percent.

3. While Charismatics (Type 2) were the fastest growing of the types be-

tween 1910 and 2010, Pentecostals (Type 1) are expected to grow faster than

the other two types between 2010 and 2025.

4. In 2010 the largest of the three types were Independent Charismatics

(Type 3) at 259 million, but Charismatics (Type 2) were not far behind

at 235 million.

5. Renewalists were most numerous in Latin America in 2010, but Africa will

likely surpass this before 2025.

6. Renewalists grew fastest in Asia over the period 1910–2010, and this will

likely be the case between 2010 and 2025 as well.

52 International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service,Then Peter Stood Up.

53 These results are reconciled with the 2012 Revision of the United Nations Demographic

Database and might differ from earlier figures (for the same year) reconciled with earlier

revisions.

54 Projections are made for each of the three types by country incorporating births, deaths,

conversion to, conversion from, immigration, and emigration. The projection method-

ology used for generating 2025 estimates is explained in detail in Chapter 4, “Projecting

Religious Populations, 2010–2050” in Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim,The World’s Reli-

gions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography (Oxford: Wiley-

Blackwell, 2013).

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table 2

Renewalists in global context, 1910–2025

100-year, 15-year,

Category 1910 %pa 2010 %pa 2025

GLOBAL 1,758,412,000 1.38 6,916,183,000 1.05 8,083,413,000

POPULATION

GLOBAL 611,810,000 1.32 2,272,715,000 1.23 2,728,658,000

CHRISTIANITY

GLOBAL 1,203,300 6.38 585,144,000 2.07 795,733,000

RENEWALISTS

as percentage of global 0.2% 25.7% 29.2%

Christianity

Pentecostals (Type 1) 25,000 8.56 91,829,000 2.32 129,500,000 Classical Pentecostals 25,000 8.52 89,137,000 2.33 126,000,000 Oneness Pentecostals 0 10.74 2,692,000 1.77 3,500,000 Charismatics (Type 2) 14,000 10.22 234,816,000 1.90 311,600,000 Anglican Charismatics 1,000 10.34 18,693,000 1.68 24,000,000 Catholic Charismatics 12,000 10.07 176,990,000 2.05 240,000,000 Protestant Charismatics 1,000 11.03 34,864,000 1.41 43,000,000 Orthodox Charismatics 0 11.25 4,269,000 0.50 4,600,000 Neocharismatics (Type 3) 1,164,300 5.55 258,499,000 2.13 354,633,000 Apostolic 30,000 7.25 32,836,000 1.81 43,000,000 Charismatic (former 15,000 8.83 70,941,000 2.58 104,000,000

Type 2)

Deliverance 0 8.92 515,000 2.98 800,000 Full Gospel 14,000 6.37 6,714,000 2.41 9,600,000 Hidden non-Christian 700 6.62 425,000 2.33 600,000

believers in Christ

Individuals in non-Char- 100 13.79 40,694,000 2.85 62,033,000

ismatic networks

Media 0 9.69 1,042,000 2.90 1,600,000 Non-traditional, house, 5,000 7.35 6,020,000 3.02 9,400,000

cell

Oneness 30,000 6.16 11,828,000 1.41 14,600,000 Pentecostal (former 1,059,500 4.37 76,092,000 1.49 95,000,000

Type 1)

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table 2

Renewalists in global context, 1910–2025 (cont.)

100-year, 15-year,

Category 1910 %pa 2010 %pa 2025

Word of Faith 0 10.90 3,099,000 2.36 4,400,000 Zion 10,000 6.95 8,293,000 0.98 9,600,000

RENEWAL MEMBERS ON 6 CONTINENTS

Renewal members in 1,101,000 5.21 177,270,000 2.53 257,931,000

Africa

Renewal members in 5,800 10.53 128,860,000 2.95 199,351,000

Asia

Renewal members in 26,300 7.07 24,413,000 0.99 28,288,000

Europe

Renewal members in 15,300 9.84 181,773,000 1.15 215,929,000

Latin America

Renewal members in 54,400 7.40 68,777,000 1.73 89,019,000

Northern America

Renewal members in 500 9.42 4,051,000 1.70 5,215,000

Oceania

GLOBAL 1,758,412,000 1.38 6,916,183,000 1.05 8,083,413,000

POPULATION

Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

In 1910 the three largest Renewalist populations were in South Africa, Nigeria, andtheUnitedStates(seetable3 below).SouthAfricacontainedamuch higher concentration of pentecostal Christians than any other country (16.4 percent, see table 4 below) due to the growing presence of indigenous African move- ments with pentecostal characteristics in the early twentieth century. In 2010, the countries with the most Renewalists were Brazil, the United States, China, and Nigeria. Wherever Christianity reached during the twentieth century, to a large extent the renewal did as well.

Countries in which large populations adhered to animistic and spiritist traditions generally embraced Pentecostalism due to its emphasis on signs, wonders, and miracles—phenomena compatible with those in their former tribal religions. One example of this is sub-Saharan Africa, which moved largely

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table 3

Countries with the most Renewalists, 1910 and 2010

Renewalists Renewalists Country 1910 Country 2010

South Africa 989,000 Brazil 105,224,000 Nigeria 111,000 United States 65,974,000 United States 53,400 China 52,091,000 Germany 22,000 Nigeria 48,319,000 Trinidad & Tobago 11,800 Philippines 30,931,000 China 2,100 South Africa 24,328,000 India 2,000 Congo dr 20,686,000 Canada 1,000 India 19,581,000 Chile 1,000 Mexico 14,731,000 France 1,000 Colombia 13,939,000

Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed.,World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

table 4

Countries with the highest percentage of Renewalists, 1910 and 2010

Country % 1910 Country % 2010

South Africa 16.4 Brazil 53.9 Trinidad & Tobago 3.6 Swaziland 50.4 Nigeria 0.6 Guatemala 50.3 Guyana 0.2 Zimbabwe 48.0 Liberia 0.1 South Africa 47.3 Jamaica 0.1 Botswana 45.5 United States 0.1 Saint Vincent 39.0 Costa Rica 0.1 Chile 38.2 Germany 0.0 Vanuatu 36.4 Norway 0.0 Ghana 36.3

Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed.,World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

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table 5

Countries with the fastest growth rates of Renewalists, 1910–2010 and 2000–2010

Country 1910–2010* Country 2000–2010*

Brazil 15.83 Afghanistan 14.28 Philippines 14.55 Cambodia 9.54 Congo dr 14.13 Burkina Faso 7.17 Mexico 13.78 Qatar 6.05 Colombia 13.73 United Arab Emirates 5.89 Kenya 13.59 Laos 5.33 Ethiopia 13.30 Singapore 5.31 Ghana 13.25 Cameroon 5.31 Guatemala 13.05 Niger 5.04 Uganda 13.04 Papua New Guinea 4.99

* average annual growth rate, per cent per year, between dates specified Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed.,World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

from ethnoreligions to Christianity in the past century. Today, countries with the highest percentages of Renewalists are found in the Global South, with a preponderance of countries in southern Africa (table 4).

If one considers the renewal from the standpoint of where Renewalists are currently growing the fastest, then the leading countries in the world are those in which Christianity is relatively new, such as Afghanistan and Cambodia (table 5). The fastest growth rates over the entire century (1910–2010) reveal those countries that now have some of the largest Renewalist populations, such as Brazil, the Philippines, and dr Congo. Many regions saw up to 15–17 percent annual growth rates where both Christians and nonbelievers embraced this form of Christianity. This huge influx of adherents comes from a variety of ethnicities and Christian backgrounds.

As outlined above, the demographics of the renewal are best understood by its constituent parts, namely, the three types: Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Independent Charismatics. Note that these tables show the results of adding up specific estimates related to Christian denominations that are cat- egorized by each of the three types. Tables 6–8 show, for each of these types, the countries with the highest populations of Renewalists, the highest percent- ages of Renewalists in the overall population, and the highest percentages of Renewalists among all Christians. Thus one finds that while all Renewalists are

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table 6

Pentecostals (Type 1) in 2010

Highest percentage Highest percentage Highest population of country of Christians

% of % of Country Adherents Country country Country Christians

Brazil 25,586,000 Marshall Islands 45.8 Marshall Islands 48.0 Nigeria 7,646,000 Vanuatu 26.8 Cambodia 37.4 United States 6,191,000 Dominica 21.2 Burkina Faso 35.9 Indonesia 4,170,000 Montserrat 17.6 Vanuatu 28.7 Ghana 3,504,000 American Samoa 16.5 Mauritius 23.4 Kenya 2,999,000 Jamaica 14.8 Ghana 22.6 South Korea 2,988,000 Ghana 14.4 Dominica 22.5 Congo dr 2,608,000 Barbados 13.9 Montserrat 18.8 South Africa 2,393,000 Papua New Guinea 13.4 South Korea 18.7 Angola 2,100,000 Saint Vincent 13.3 Jamaica 17.5

Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

numerous in China, Brazil, and the United States (see table 3), Brazil has by far the most Pentecostals (table 6) and Charismatics (table 7), with the latter the largest bloc of Renewalists in the country. In contrast, Independent Charismatics are most numerous in China and the United States (table 8), both in absolute terms and as percentages of Renewalists in those countries.

Pentecostals (Type 1)

Countries with the largest numbers of Pentecostals are Brazil, Nigeria, and the United States (table 6). Pentecostals in the Marshall Islands (population 54,000) constitute both the highest percentage of all Christians (46.5%) and of the population of the country (44.4%). Pentecostal denominations depend mainly on foreign missions and church planting as means of growth. Interest- ingly, Pentecostals make up a high percentage of all Christians in Cambodia, where Christianity as a whole has grown recently.

Charismatics (Type 2)

Countries with the largest numbers of Charismatics include Brazil, the United States, and the Philippines (table 7). Guatemala is the country with the high- est percentage of Charismatics in the total population, while Mauritius has

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table 7

Charismatics (Type 2) in 2010

Highest percentage Highest percentage

Highest population of country of Christians

% of % of Country Adherents Country country Country Christians

Brazil 60,667,000 Guatemala 35.4 Mauritius 42.1 United States 23,481,000 Brazil 31.1 Guatemala 36.4 Philippines 22,200,000 Colombia 27.0 Brazil 34.2 Nigeria 13,569,000 Philippines 23.8 Colombia 28.2 Colombia 12,554,000 Puerto Rico 15.6 Philippines 26.1 Mexico 10,561,000 Uganda 15.3 Nigeria 18.4 Ethiopia 6,569,000 Chile 14.7 Uganda 18.1 Argentina 5,478,000 Mauritius 14.0 Chile 16.5 Uganda 5,197,000 Saint Helena 13.9 Puerto Rico 16.3 Guatemala 5,077,000 Argentina 13.6 South Korea 15.6

Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

the highest percentage in the Christian population. Charismatics typically grow by recruiting new members from within existing denominations. Roman Catholics in some countries have stagnant or declining numbers of Charismat- ics (United States), while others continue to grow rapidly (Brazil, Philippines).

Independent Charismatics (Type 3)

While found in many of the same countries as Pentecostals and Charismat- ics, Independent Charismatics are largest in China, the United States, and Nigeria (table 8). Independent Charismatics experience growth by planting new churches and by schisms from traditional denominations. Of the three types, Independent Charismatics are most strongly concentrated in the Global South, where new forms of Christianity have grown in the past one hundred years.

Pentecostal, charismatic, and independent charismatic churches continue to grow in Africa, Asia, and Latin America while slowing in North America and Europe. Exceptions to this trend can be found among Independents in the United States (still growing) and Charismatics in Europe (some growth among Roman Catholics). Another significant trend is the migration of Renewalists from the Global South to the Global North. Thus, some of the largest congre-

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table 8

Independent charismatics (Type 3) in 2010

Highest percentage Highest percentage

Highest population of country of Christians

% of % of Country Adherents Country country Country Christians

China 48,857,000 Swaziland 46.0 North Korea 78.0 United States 36,302,000 Botswana 41.6 Nepal 69.2 Nigeria 27,104,000 Zimbabwe 40.4 Botswana 60.6 Brazil 18,971,000 South Africa 36.6 Swaziland 52.5 South Africa 18,836,000 Congo dr 25.4 Zimbabwe 49.5 Congo dr 15,773,000 Chile 23.1 China 45.3 India 13,479,000 Saint Vincent 20.6 South Africa 44.6 Philippines 7,492,000 Nigeria 17.0 Bhutan 44.3 Zimbabwe 5,289,000 Ghana 16.2 Nigeria 36.8 Kenya 4,546,000 El Salvador 14.2 Algeria 31.3

Data source: Todd M. Johnson, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed October 2013)

gations in Europe are African independent charismatic in origin. In the usa, many recent Hispanic arrivals, both legal and illegal, are either Catholic Charis- matics or Pentecostals.55

Conclusion

A demographic overview of Pentecostalism (all types) illustrates the complex- ities of both the spread of the movement across the countries of the world and the striking diversity of the churches themselves. While current ways of understanding Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Independent Charismatics reveal a global movement of immense proportions, perspectives on classifica- tion, counting, and assessment of the movement are likely to continue to evolve in the future. In the meantime, hundreds of millions of Christians across all tra- ditionswillcontinuetoparticipateinthemovement—bringingvitalityinsome

55 Pew Hispanic Center, Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Reli-

gion(Washington, dc: Pew Research Center, 2007), 27.

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denominations and schism in others. They will also promote social transfor- mation in some communities and show little participation in others. What is certain is that, for the foreseeable future, Christianity as a whole will continue to experience the growth pains of this global phenomenon.

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