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Book Reviews / Pneuma 32 (2010) 123-175
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Michael W. Wilkinson, ed., Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation (Mon- treal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009). xiv + 308 pp., $85.00, cloth.
After a century of Pentecostalism in Canada, a new generation of scholars is beginning to take a keen interest in its history. The aim of this volume is to scrutinize the fi eld from sociological, theological, and cultural perspectives, not just to survey and chronicle the events. Fresh awareness of a story needing to be told is no doubt fuelled by the reality of the influences of globalization on all aspects of society, including religion, which prompts Canadian Pentecostals to question where they fi t into the global Pentecostal community. Only now is the interconnectedness of Pentecostal history across national boundaries com- pelling Canadian renewal historians to look seriously at the roots from which Canadian Pentecostalism has grown rather than to view it either as an isolated, localized phenomenon or as dependent on “foreign” (which is usually to say Azusa Street) influences.
In this ground-breaking collection of essays, Michael Wilkinson and his fellow contribu- tors provide various points of departure from which others will hopefully probe deeper and wider. The question from this side of the 49th parallel is the relationship between Canadian Pentecostalism and the American and global stories, as well as its uniqueness within the Canadian culture itself.
The essays are categorized along the lines of origins and developments, specifi c aspects of the Canadian experience, and institutionalization and globalization. Part I contains essays by Michael Di Giacomo on the distinctiveness of the Canadian expression of Pentecostal- ism from the British and American experience and by T omas A. Robinson on the overall greater success of Trinitarian versus Oneness Pentecostalism and the isolation of Oneness Pentecostals from other groups. Peter Althouse, examining the social impulse of early Cana- dian Pentecostalism, argues that criticism of the social situation took place within the con- text of apocalyptic discourse but was rarely translated into social action. Randall Holm muses on the infl uences aff ecting Canadian Pentecostal spirituality, highlighting the nor- mal Canadian ambivalence toward the new.
Part II focuses on specifi c topics of interest. Tese include an analysis by Bruce L. Guen- ther on the impact of Western Bible College upon the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) and its approach to theological education; Robert K. Burkinshaw’s account of the beginnings, growth, and decline of Pentecostalism among native communities in British Columbia; and an investigation by Pamela M. S. Holmes of the prevalence of women’s involvement in ministry within the early development of the PAOC and the decline in their participation with institutionalization.
In Part III, David A. Reed examines the results of the Charismatic renewal within the Anglican Church of Canada and David S. Swanson tackles the phenomenon of the Cana- dian Catholic renewal and its eventual decline, theorizing that it is a continuation of the patterns of renewal within Catholicism. Stephen Hunt employs globalization of religion theories to analyze the “Toronto Blessing,” and Michael Wilkinson highlights the transna- tional networks that have emerged as the result of the contemporary migration of Pentecos- tals to Canada. The section is rounded out with an essay by Peter Beyer that looks at the changes within Pentecostalism as a refl ection of larger global trends.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 DOI: 10.1163/027209610X12628362887875
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Book Reviews / Pneuma 32 (2010) 123-175
This book is an eclectic array of refl ections on Canadian Pentecostalism, most of which attempt to cope with the tension between local and global infl uences. Wilkinson’s subtitle refl ects the notion that while transition involves a cyclical movement from renewal to insti- tutionalization and back again, Canadian Pentecostalism is itself being transformed by the larger forces of global social and cultural change.
Yet, it is still not clear to what extent the implications drawn are distinctively Canadian. At present, few conclusions about Canadian Pentecostalism can be reached that are not somewhat characteristic of the broader Pentecostal world, particularly the United States. It awaits the research of others to bring to the surface the degree to which such is or is not true.
Reviewed by Ewen H. Butler
PhD student
Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA Lead Pastor, Church on the Hill, Cobourg, ON, Canada
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