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50
The
Importance
of the Pentecostal and Holiness Churches
in the Ecumenical Movement
Claire Randall*
The Pentecost
story
in Acts is an
exciting
one to me. I have for a very long
time known that the
Holy Spirit
invades
my
life and moves in it as well as in groups and in institutional situations. The images
and actions in the Pentecost
story
have a vigor and color that
speak
to the
reality
of the
Spirit
even
today.
Fire and wind are powerful symbols
that, coming suddenly,
must have been a dramatic
surprise
to the faithful who took the action and the time to be in a place
waiting
for God’s
leading.
Then came the miracle of the Spirit’s
action
leading
these
ordinary people
to
speak
in the languages
of the
many
nationalities
gathered
in Jerusalem. To me this is another
powerful symbol, saying
from its
beginning
that the church is universal. All the
long history
of the church confirms this. At the
beginning
there was the root of the ecumenical movement as there was the root of the
Spirit-filled
church.
In the
light
of all
this,
I am
personally
interested in
any
serious and
open dialogue
between
representatives
of the ecumenical movement and the Pentecostal and Holiness churches, for in the Pentecost
story
I see the roots of both. There are not two sets of roots,
but common roots, with
historically
different
emphases. How can
we, together,
be more faithful to the Pentecost vision and reality? Hopefully,
this
opportunity
for
dialogue
will
help
us to move further in that search. Both the ecumenical forces and the Pentecostal and Holiness churches have much to
bring
to a dialogue.
This
paper
is an effort to enhance our
understanding
of the
Spirit’s place
in ecumenical life and to try to make clear that we need each other if we are to fulfill the
unity
foreshadowed at Pentecost.
Some
background
on the two ecumenical bodies in which over thirty
American denominations
participate may
be
helpful
in understanding
the ecumenical movement in the US. The
World Council of Churches, founded in 1948 in Amsterdam, traces its history
to the
period prior
to World War I. It
represents
the confluence of three
major
streams of Christian reconciliation: the theological
work for church
union,
called Faith and
Order;
the collaboration for common mission in the world
through
common ministry
and social
witness,
called Life and
Work;
and common evangelism
and witness for the
Gospel,
the
missionary
movement. While the
missionary
movement had
great
influence in contri- buting
to the
evangelistic
zeal of the World Council of Churches
1
51
from 1910, the International
Missionary
Council
only formally joined
the Council in 1961.
From the
very beginning
there have been
questions
about how the World Council is to
represent
the
Gospel
in view of the churches’various
understandings
of it and a desire to be inclusive of all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The first
purpose of the World Council of Churches is:
to call the churches to the goal of visible unity in one faith
and in one eucharistic
fellowship
in worship and
in common life in Christ,
expressed
and to advance toward that unity
in order that the world
might
believe.’
Given this
very
conscious desire to reach out to all
Christians, there was a
very
careful discussion in
1950,
of the nature of the Council and its
relationship
to the
churches, making
clear that there is no claim
by
the Council that the churches are somehow brought
into a unity that
goes beyond
their own self understanding. Thus it is made clear that the
unique
witness of each church and its own self
understanding
is honored.2 The World Council of Churches believes that it is
through dialogue,
common efforts toward
bringing
God’s
goodness
and justice into the
world,
and the search for mutual
understanding
that the
Spirit
will disclose to us how to understand one another in
Christ,
in this conciliar movement.
Although
this
original
discussion was sensitive to the various
understandings
of the church
among
the
many
churches gathered-Orthodox, Anglican,
and Protestant -there has been a continued
deepening
of the mutual
appreciation
of the
evangelical witness of one another, and an
attempt
to make more visible the trinitarian basis of the World Council of Churches. These
theological concerns
gave
rise to a more
explicit
trinitarian
expression
in the New Delhi
( 1961 )
formulation of the WCC constitution.
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches
which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior
according
to the
Scriptures
and therefore seek to fulfill
together
their common
calling to the glory of the one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.3
Throughout
its life the World Council of thurches has
given self-conscious attention to the Pentecostal
churches, including some of them in its membership. Dr. David du Plessis, whose center we honor
by
our conference
here,
has often
participated
in its assemblies. In addition to Pentecostal church
memberhip,
the World Council has also
sought
to reach out to the charismatics within its member churches, in order to enrich
spiritual
renewal in the ecumenical movement.4 The World Council
recognizes
the growing
ecumenical
significance
of the Pentecostal churches around the
world, particularly among
the
poor
and
marginalized
of
2
52
greater through churches Missions6 on
Christ Churches, seen
NCCC
Home Missions
Conference,
Education
gospel began movement Council
themselves Pentecostal
more the other responses
and in
reaching
out to these
Review
of
of the World Council of
Education
Movement.
in how the
response
to
the Third World. It has
attempted
to assist its member churches to
understanding
of the Charismatic Renewal movement
a
major study projects
through special
issues of the International
charismatics and Pentecostals.
The
thirty-one
members of the National Council of Churches of
in the USA are all members
so that, these initiatives on the
part
of the WCC are not
to be
separate
from the conciliar movement in this
country
or from the ecumenical commitment of the churches of the NCCC. The
origin
of the conciliar movement in the US lies
deep
in the nineteenth
century
when several of the
founding
bodies of the
came into
being, i.e.,
the
Foreign
Missions
Conference,
the
the International Council on Religious
and the
Missionary
Close to the same time, churches
began
to form local ecumenical bodies
largely
devoted to social
concerns,
as the
emerging
social
to be taken
seriously.
It was from this
grass
roots
that the
impetus
came for the formation of the Federal
of Churches in 1 908 .7 The
representatives
of the churches coming together
in the Federal Council of Churches considered
to be led
by the Holy Spirit,
much as the forebears of the
churches did at Azusa Street in 1906. The focal interpretive experience
for the
Holy Spirit’s
action was understood quite differently,
however. The ecumenical forces used institutional means to
carry
forward the
Spirit’s
action. The Pentecostals were
free-form in their
response.
The one
style
was more
formal,
more informal. The
Spirit may
awaken different
in different
groups
at different times. Cultural and historical differences cannot be discounted
the
Spirit
is made.
The concern for an
expanded
in these
original
ecumenical
of the National
the full
membership
of the Federal
Council,
such as the Lutheran Church in
America,
and several Eastern Orthodox churches. The
was further broadened
within which were
representatives
of the NCCC.
Through
the Units of the
NCCC,
which continue the work of the
founding bodies,
the breadth of inclusive- ness has grown to include Southern
Baptists,
Seventh
Day Adventists,
Christian Reformed, American Lutherans
and,
after the Second Vatican Council, Roman Catholics.
The common work of the churches within the National
involved
1950,
with the
founding Christ in the USA. It included churches not members
inclusiveness
full members
Mennonites,
inclusiveness of the churches
bodies,
came to fruition in
Council of Churches of
of some
by
the 12
founding
bodies of churches that did not become
Council
3
53
.
.
.
of Churches of Christ in the USA
through
most of its
history,
has been focused on
assisting
in common educational
projects,
in service to the
poor
and
marginalized,
to the
racially excluded,
to those
serving
the church
overseas,
and in witness to the needs of overseas churches before our own
government
as well as world relief
through
Church World Service. This reflects the
ongoing
and expanding
work of the
original
member
organizations. Originally, the NCCC had no Faith and Order
unit,
because it was believed ecclesial matters should be dealt with
by
each
church,
and the NCCC was not an ecclesial
body.
The
presence
now of a
strong Faith and Order
component
reflects the
growth
in
understanding by
the churches of the
scope
of Faith and Order issues and the need for
unity
studies.
The
great awakenings,
the nineteenth
century renewal,
and the emergence
of the social
gospel,
in which the member churches are rooted, has
led to the National Council of Churches
being responsive
to the
challenges
within U.S.
society
in the 1960s and 70s. A new
impetus
toward broader confessional inclusiveness came to the Council with the
entry
of the Roman Catholic Church into the ecumenical movement in the 60s. It is important to note that
major emphasis
on a new kind of inclusiveness came in the 60s and 70s when the inclusion of women and minorities in ecumenical leadership
and the total life of both church and
society became,
for the council, a matter of Christian conscience and thu fulfillment of God’s
purposes.
There has been
during
this same
period
a growing desire to
open avenues of dialogue and
relationship
with the conservative
evange- lical,
Holiness and Pentecostal communities. In 1974 the Unit Committee of the Division of Church and
Society
of the National Council of Churches made a statement in response to a declaration issued
by
a group of evangelical Christians in Chicago the
previous year.
The NCCC statement said in part:
…we are moved by the Holy Spirit to express a deep feeling
of kinship
with that statement and with our fellow Christians
who issued it…we offer a response in the spirit of humility
and searching, to the end that a new understanding, a new
dialogue,
and possibly a new reconciliation
may emerge.8 The National Council further followed
up
on the
opening
that this statement
gave
when its Commission on Faith and Order set
up
an ‘off the record’
dialogue
around the
topic
of
“Evangelism
and Social Justice” with some of those who made the declaration. There was an effort
spearheaded by
the Council later that
year, 1975,
to bring together Evangelicals
for Social
Action,
the Roman Catholic Church in the US and the NCCC around a program related to the WCC.
Unfortunately,
this did not work out.
4
54
The Division of Overseas Ministries was another
part
of the NCCC which reached out to the
evangelical community
in various ways during
the seventies. Some senior
NCCC
staff visited the headquarters
of the National Association of
Evangelicals
in the mid-seventies and became better
acquainted
with their life and work. Our limited contacts with the NAE were
cordial, but real relationship
has not
yet
been
possible.
In all these
contacts,
if there had been a commensurate
reaching out to the
Council,
at least some measure of
dialogue might
have begun
in this
period.
The addition of
Pentecostals,
Holiness and conservative
evangelical representatives
to the Faith and Order Commission in recent
years may yet
lead to the
understanding
that will make
greater dialogue possible.
It is
hoped,
within National Council
circles,
that the
growing
efforts there to
strengthen
the evangelical aspects
of the Council’s life and
work,
and the
widening emphasis
on social witness of the
evangelical communities,
will make
possible the bridging
of the gap within American Protestantism which for social and
theological
reasons
developed during
the
early twentieth
century.9
Within the National Council of Churches in recent
years,
there has been
developed
a reformulation of the NCCC constitution in order to articulate more
clearly
what it believes is a biblical understanding
of churches in council. The Preamble of that constitution states:
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
‘
United States of America is a
community
of Christian
communions which, in response to the
Gospel as revealed
in the Scriptures, confess Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word
of God, as Savior and Lord. These communions covenant
with one another to manifest ever more
fully the
of
the Church.
Relying upon
the
unity
transforming power
of the
Holy Spirit,
the Council
brings
these communions into
common mission,
serving
in all creation to the
glory
of
God.
This statement shows that member churches of the
NCCC,
and
Pentecostals and Holiness churches,
basically
stand on the same
ground. Furthermore,
leaders of the Pentecostal churches have
claimed
unity
in Christ as central to their
belief,
as have NCCC
member churches. While the NCCC, like the World Council of
Churches,
cannot commend a particular understanding of church
to the member communions of the National Council, three decades .
of
dialogue
on the biblical
understanding
of church have made it
possible
for us to come to some common
language
which is
authentically
biblical. Until this Preamble was
adopted
in
1981,
the
defining
words for the Council were
“cooperative agency.”
This
5
55
. reflected its
origins
of the
joining together
of
already existing
ecumenical
agencies
and its
original
reluctance to declare
anything
that would make the council
appear
to be
usurping any
church
prerogatives
or of
being
a “super church.” A theology of koinonia
and its translation into
community
and
communion,
have now
become
part
of the central constitutional
language
of the National
Council of Churches. The World Council of Churches used this
understanding
of koinonia much
earlier, usually
translated into
English
as
“fellowship.”
While the new Preamble and
Purpose
of
the NCCC was
approved
in
1981,
the Council is still
probing
the
theological
and institutional
implications
of recognizing itself as a
“community
of communions.”
.
The Council
recognizes
that at the center of the biblical
understanding
of koinõnia is clearly the role and function of the
Holy Spirit.
The Preamble
firmly
states that those churches
gathered
in the Council
rely “upon
the
transforming power
of the
Holy Spirit”
in their life and work. There is a need both to draw on
understandings
and
experiences
of the
Holy Spirit
within the
member churches of the Council and to reach out to those churches
.
who have a unique witness to the
Holy Spirit
in their
heritage.
It is by being
aware
of,
and
loyal
to our
traditions,
relative to the
Holy Spirit,
that
together
we will benefit most
by a deeper fellowship.
In its growth toward such a statement of identity as this Preamble represents,
the National Council of Churches has
increasingly become aware of the
imperative
that a commitment to
unity and community places
on us to reach out to the wider
community
of the church, relying
on the
Holy Spirit
to lead us into new
relationships. Certainly
this conference at Fuller, and other similar
opportunities, are
examples
of this desire to reach out. While the member churches of the Council can have an ideal of
reaching
out to others who confess Jesus Christ for the sake of the
unity
to which the church is called,
we know this
unity
cannot be reached without the initiatives and
experiences
of Pentecostal and Holiness churches.
The National Council of Churches has been
working
with the International Communion of Charismatic Churches and the Church of God in Christ
nationally.
The Chtirch of God in Christ and the Assemblies of
God,
as well as other smaller
Pentecostal, Holiness and conservative
evangelical congregations,
have been involved for some time in local and
regional
ecumenical
agencies.
It would be our
hope
that the
experience
that these
congregations have with their fellow Christians
might begin
to have influence both on the conciliar movement and on their own churches to make collaboration and common witness more
possible, nationally.
The churches of the conciliar movement need to realize that there are
areas where we can learn
a
great
deal from the Pentecostal
.
6
56
.
Council
Perhaps intentional
Just as
have been able to establish Catholic Church, so
might
by the World
dialogues
with the Roman
from the
theological
witness,
and from the charismatic witness within our own communions. These
learnings
have been
pursued
more
intentionally
of Churches and this work can serve those of us in the U.S. who are
trying
to be faithful to the conciliar mission of the church.
it will some
day
be
possible
to establish a continuing and
way
to have
ongoing dialogue
in the U.S. about these matters. We never know where or how the
Holy Spirit
will move.
the World Council of Churches and Pentecostal churches
ongoing
the churches who have a common background
in this
country
do the same.
Certainly,
conciliar
perspective,
the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches stands
ready
to
help
facilitate such dialogue.
The conciliar movement considers its work to be the
product
of the
Holy Spirit,
and believes that each of its member
churches,
as well as the
Pentecostal
and Holiness
churches, bring
that same
conviction. The witness of the Pentecostal and Holiness
within the trinitarian
faith; the
in these
churches,
the
and the
importance commitment presence
churches to the
Holy Spirit
of the
Holy Spirit
as
authority
to the restoration of the
apostolic experience;
of the
marginalized
in these churches is a reality which can enrich the reflection of all of our churches. The witness of these
the
church;
the
gifts culture;
“oneness”
questions being
to be
for a long time
of the
Holy Spirit;
the nature of
This witness has .
churches,
churches in their own
experience
of the
Holy Spirit,
the affirmation of folk
and the
struggle
over the trinitarian doctrine in the face of
or “Jesus name” Pentecostal churches can
sharpen
the
raised in the Faith and Order Commission’s Apostolic
Faith
Study
in the U.S. The Commission has
attempted
attentive to the Pentecostal and Holiness witness in its Apostolic
Faith
Study
from the
very beginning.
come not
only
from the classical debates over the
Holy Spirit’O
but also from the Black Pentecostal
experience
which
brings
a unique witness to some values that the National Council has
championed
in American
thought. ‘ ‘
It is our
hope
that work with the Commission on Faith and
Order,
will see the NCCC as receiving
the
gifts
of the Pentecostal
of the full
range
of
opportunities
units within the Council for
enhancing
while
making
an
important impact
on the
of these units.
Yet there are some
important
differences that we need to explore
we are to
respond
to our mutual call to
unity. Among
are:
taking advantage through
the witness and
ministry, witness and
ministry
together,
if these differences
and Pentecostals
available
their own
7
57
1 )
The difference between the traditional Protestant under- standings
of the
Trinity (with
a tendency to link the
Spirit
so closely to Christ
and/ or
the
“Word”)
and the
understanding
of the Pentecostal and Holiness churches of the direct
activity
of the Spirit
in the life of the Christian.
2)
The difference between the liveliness and
informality
of Pentecostal
worship
and
spirituality,
and the
liturgical
and formal worship
of other churches.
3)
Our different
understanding
of and
approaches
to the
gifts
of the
Spirit,
and what this means in the
empowerment
of the
laity. 4)
The difference in our
perception
of the work of God and humans in divine
healing.
5)
What differences
prevail
now because of culture and
religion
in different historical contexts in which our Christian faith was articulated.
6)
The difference in emphasis on personal and
spiritual liberation, and
public
liberation.
As the Pentecostal and Holiness churches have
grown
and become a force in our
society, particularly
in the
Black, Hispanic and nonsuburban communities in the US, and even more
especially
in the Third
World,
other churches need to be enriched by
this
experience.
The
apprehension many
of us have about the sectarian character, the individualism, and the
particular interpre- tations
brought
to the
Scripture
in some Pentecostal and Holiness traditions,
is very real. 12 Even
though
we may never
fully agree,
we can more
fully
understand
only by reaching
out to those of you who will instruct us on how these
experiences
are to be interpreted, and how
relationships
can be built. While the full
range
of relationships which we strive for in the conciliar movement
may
not
yet
be possible
between Pentecostal and conciliar churches, there must be ways
in which we can be more effective in sharing our
experiences of church, and in
supporting
the ministries of one another in a non-competitive
fashion. ,
Of particular interest to
many
in the conciliar churches has been the role of women in
ministry. Although
it is still
principally
the “mainline” churches in the conciliar movement which ordain women,
all of the churches in the ecumenical movement are
trying to
grow
in
understanding
of the role of
women,
as women find richer and newer roles in the
ministry
of the
church,
and as the Council works to assure women’s
rightful
role in
society.
Since their
inception,
the Holiness and Pentecostal churches have been pioneers
in the ordination of women. In some of the Pentecostal churches there have
been,
since their
inception early
in this
century,
8
58
larger
numbers of women in
ministry
than in most of the member churches of the National Council of Churches, even those who have an
experience
of
ordaining
women. Each
group’s experience
of women in
ministry
is undoubtedly
different,
but there are
ways
in which we can
complement
one another in this. Of very real
concern, especially
to women in the conciliar
movement,
is the
apparently very
different
interpretation
of the role of women in society, and the lack of visible women leaders in the Pentecostal and Holiness churches. The
emphasis
on the
Spirit
in the
theology
and
experience of women in the ecumenical stream, as well as our differences in understandings
about
women,
is a fruitful area for historical research and
dialogue among
our various churches and conciliar bodies.
The
struggle
with
prejudice,
and the
nurturing
of spirituality in a marginal
situation is an area where we can learn from the Pentecostal church
experience.
There is
great
fascination
by
the U.S. churches’with the
emerging
basic Christian communities in Latin America. Similar
experiences
in the Pentecostal world of the US,
could also be surfaced in small inner
city
churches. We who were reared on the more rational Reformation
traditions,
or the more sacramental Orthodox, Catholic and
Anglican traditions, have a
great
deal to learn about the
ministry
based in an enthusiastic and affective dimension of church life. Whatever our particular experience,
this form of church
experience
is part of the Christian witness and a gift to the wider Christian
community.
On the other
hand,
we find Christian witness limited
by the practices
of some Pentecostals in the Third World such as proselytism, and the support
of the status
quo.
Foremost in
any
considerations related to the church of Jesus Christ,
is what is God’s
purpose
and will for that church. At the same
time,
or
perhaps
as a way of probing of that
will,
we
may
ask what we can
expect
closer
relationships
to offer to ecumenical churches and to the Pentecostal and Holiness churches.
Certainly the Pentecostal and Holiness churches could
expand
their witness and their
understanding
of the Christian
community through participation
in the ecumenical movement.
Indeed,
the most exciting part
of the ecumenical movement for some of us is the nurturing
of our faith
by
others whose
spiritualities
are different.
A common Christian witness in
worship, relief, evangelism, mission, education,
and social
ministry
is something that can enrich both of our lives
together.
There are certain institutional and programmatic experiences
which the National Council
has,
which can enrich the life of the Pentecostal churches. Likewise, there are experiences
and resources in the various units of the National Council to which the Pentecostals would
bring
a great gift.
9
The technical
expertise education, religious education,
and
institutionalization
may or may
and
seminary training, newly
59
churches
in
seminary
movements. This theologically
as
of the “older”
and
dealing
with the inevitable problems
of institutionalization that
occur,
can be a resource both in
avoiding
the mistakes of the “older” churches on the one
hand,
in
bringing
a new charismatic fervor to the inevitable
of even the most
spirit-led
technical
expertise,
not be evaluated
our different churches look at the
way
the churches order them- selves. But
certainly,
the ecumenical
dialogue
over church order
the common
learnings
from
religious
education models and
as well as
dealing
with
upwardly
mobile and
educated Christian communities, is an
important pastoral dimension.
Finally,
the
personal
resources of believing Christians with wide varieties of gifts for
building
the whole Christian
family, including the traditional
Protestant, Orthodox,
and Roman Catholic
churches, can
help
the Pentecostals.
Reciprocally,
new life into the conciliar churches.
Therefore,
of exchange, limited as of necessity it may be, is at the
very
heart of
movement.
the ecumenical
the Pentecostals can infuse
I believe, this kind
for the National
*
Claire Randall served as General
Secretary Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1974-84.
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x”A
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11
