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PNEUMA 38 (2016) 1–4
The New Charismatic Networks and Other Theological Matters
Religions model themselves on other social systems, such as state, law, fam- ily, education, health, science, mass media, or economics. Peter Beyer calls this relationship “mutual modeling of functional systems.” The modeling relation- ship is not inevitable or deterministic, but rooted in historical contingency. Since the time of the Reformation, the dominant system on which Chris- tianity has modeled itself is the state. Over the last four hundred years, the state-church model worked itself out in different ways depending on the rela- tionships. Four of these models include the Roman Catholic national model, the Protestant establishment model, the dual Roman Catholic and Lutheran/ Reformed establishment model, and the denominational model. The denomi- national model has been dominant in the United States, where there is a formal separation of church and state; the former three models play out in a variety of ways in Europe and other parts of the world. The dominance of the state- church model as a social system relationship is now giving way to other social systems so that religion in the contemporary context is pluralizing and under- going transformations.
When modeled after science, religion places a strong emphasis on beliefs as if they correspond to scientific truth claims. When modeled after the health sys- tem, “spiritual health” is seen as parallel to physical and psychological health. When modeled after mass media, religion takes on the characteristics of enter- tainment and performance. When modeled after economics, religion becomes concerned with production and consumption of spiritual goods and services. Religious participants are viewed as customers or clients rather than citizens and religious institutions and organizations come to resemble box stores like Walmart or McDonalds rather than the parish churches that were the norm in earlier generations.1
The first four essays in this issue specifically address the new charismatic or apostolic networks that have emerged since the 1970s. The significance
1 Peter Beyer, “Socially Engaged Religion is a Post-Westphalian Global Context: Remodeling
the Secular/Religious Distinction,” 2011 Association for the Sociology of Religion Presidential
Address,Sociology of Religion73, no. 2 (2012): 109–129.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-03801025
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of the mutual modeling of functional systems for understanding these new net- works is that they have modeled themselves after social systems other than the state. Innovations in institutional and organizational structures reflect new business or mass media developments. As religions decouple from the dominance of the state-church model that in the United States is organized around denominationalism, they link to other social systems. Specifically, the new charismatic networks are a collection of churches that develop relation- ships with one another, often with an apostolic figure or charismatic exemplar that solidifies these relationships. They deliberately organize differently from denominations, although these networks span into these denominations and coexist with them—a feature that creates tensions with denominational lead- ers. Instead, the new charismatic networks adopt a relational business model to increase their field of influence and take advantage of innovations in mass media to spread their message and develop new relationships.2 Although the charismatic networks will give credence to evangelical beliefs, they organize around core values rather than belief systems. This shift affords them the abil- ity to reach a greater audience and draw a range of people into the networks because the concern is not truth claims (linking to the social system of science), but the core values and practices of the organization (linking to the social sys- tem of economics).3
From a theological perspective, the rise of the new charismatic networks is traced back to the Latter Rain movement that began in 1948 with George Hawtin and Herrick Holt in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. The Latter Rain represented both a continuation and discontinuation of pentecostal spiritual practices and innovations. Two of these innovations included the restoration of apostles and prophets as essential to the fivefold ministries of the church (Eph 4:11), and the “impartation” of spiritual gifts or manifestations through the “laying on of hands.” Older pentecostal denominations would ultimately reject the Latter Rain, and the Latter Rain would fade in North America, but its theology and practices expanded globally and were adapted by the new Charismatics.4 The language of impartations, laying on of hands to receive
2 William K. Kay,ApostolicNetworksinBritain:NewWaysofBeingChurch, Studies in Evangelical
History and Thought (Eugene, or: Wipf and Stock/Paternoster, 2007), xix, 263–267; 282–
292; also Peter Hocken, The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish
Movement: The Tensions of the Spirit (Burlington,vt: Ashgate, 2009), especially chapter 2. 3 See Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse, Catch the Fire: Soaking Prayer and Charismatic
Renewal (DeKalb,il: Northern Illinois University Press, 2015).
4 See, for instance, Richard Riss, Latter Rain: The Latter Rain Movement of 1948 and the Mid-
Twentieth Century Evangelical Awakening (Mississauga, on: Honeycomb Visual Productions,
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the new charismatic networks and other theological matters
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spiritual manifestations, or the anointing is commonplace in the apostolic networks. What is meant by apostolic ministry and apostolic leadership is more diffuse depending on which group of Charismatics one is discussing and the basis for much debate, some of it antagonistic. In fact, the meaning of apostle and its role among Charismatics is internally debated by those in the networks.
The first four essays in issue one form a special focus that explores the new apostolic networks from multidisciplinary perspectives. They begin in roughly historical, chronological order with William K. Kay’s essay tracing the rise of apostolic networks in Great Britain in the 1970s. Taking a theological perspec- tive that is sensitive to social realities, Kay argues that theological ideas are an important driver for innovation, but that these innovations take on variant social forms in a socially fluid society. Apostolic networks, according to Kay, are now transforming into metanetworks that span denominational boundaries. The second essay, by Jon Bialecki, investigates the relationship between John Wimber and the Vineyard and other networks, in particular C. Peter Wagner’s New Apostolic Revival. Adopting an anthropological pedigree, Bialecki differ- entiates the two in suggesting that the Vineyard’s primary concern is pedagogy while the New Apostolic Revival is more interested in governance. In this dif- ferentiation, Wimber is an exemplar of practice rather than a figure of apostolic authority.
The third essay, by Michael Wilkinson, offers a sociological examination of the role of networks among Charismatic Christians, specifically the Toronto Blessing, now called Catch the Fire, Toronto. Wilkinson draws on social net- work theory to show that networks are relational, asymmetrical, and imbued with authority. By investigating Catch the Fire, Wilkinson is able to argue that its network is primarily collaborative, but there is an uneven degree of impor- tance in the network relationships in which some network links demonstrate denser social ties over others. Catch the Fire’s network also overlaps with other charismatic networksthroughkey relationships,such as the NewApostolicRef- ormation and charismatic networks linked to the prosperity gospel. The fourth essay, by Michael McClymond, adopts a theological approach and examines
1987); D. William Faupel, “The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought” (PhD diss., University of Birmingham, 1985). Unfor- tunately, Faupel’s monograph by the same name does not include the material on the Latter Rain revival. Also see Mark Hutchinson, “The Latter Rain Movement and the Phenomenon of Global Return,” in Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse, eds. Winds from the North: Cana- dian Contributions to the Pentecostal Movement (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2010), 265–282, in which he traces the diffusion of Latter Rain spirituality in Australia/New Zealand that then returns to North America in hybridized form.
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the unity and diversity of charismatic ministries that began in the 1990s. Three ministries are highlighted: Catch the Fire in Toronto, Randy Clark’s Global Awakening, and Heidi and Rolland Baker’s Iris Ministries. Common elements of these ministries include bodily and inner healing, evangelism, social min- istries, praise and worship, and soaking prayer. McClymond argues that the post-Toronto networks are not easily explained by Weber’s “routinization of charisma” or by a global dissemination from a single source, but that their diversity, vitality, and adaptability are rooted in an inner spiritual renewal and continue to foster global revitalization.
The last two essays of issue one shift gears to engage in theological concerns. Reginald Alva examines the characteristics of the Roman Catholic Charis- matic Renewal today and the spiritual need that it satisfies. Using a theological approach based in the exploration of post-Vatican ii Roman Catholic docu- ments, Alva argues that the Charismatic Renewal is an important ecclesial movement for revitalizing Catholic spirituality in a world that is yearning for religious meaning. Finally, Simo Frestadius engages in a theological analysis of Amos Yong and James K.A. Smith to argue that pentecostal theology must construct a distinct pentecostal epistemology that is compatible with pente- costal spirituality, beliefs, and practices. Frestadius sees in Yong and Smith two insightful theories of knowledge that are rooted in a pentecostal ethos—Yong offering a version of correlational theology and Smith a version of postlib- eral theology. Through comparative analysis Frestadius proposes that with Yong and Smith pentecostal epistemology starts from an empiricist/experien- tial basis, rooted in mature semiotic awareness that moves beyond modernist notions of cognitive priority.
One final caveat before concluding: The essays focusing on apostolic net- works advance our understanding of these charismatic networks in North America and the United Kingdom, but more research is needed to understand the workings of charismatic networks in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. How are they similar to and/or different from networks in North America? How are they particularized? Are they linked or unlinked to the networks examined here? What is the nature of the relationships in the networks of the global south? As missionaries to Mozambique, Heidi and Rolland Baker’s networks span into the southeast coast of Africa and Randy Clark spends much of his time in charismatic revivals in Brazil. But what are the charismatic networks of the global south, and how do they function? These are questions that need further exploration.
Peter Althouse and Robby Waddell
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