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Pentecostalism: A Missionary Movement


If Pentecostalism is anything, it is a missionary movement, argues Allan Anderson. This past week Anderson lectured at Trinity Western University at the Summer Seminar in Pentecostal Studies. I have read Anderson’s books and heard him present at various academic meetings. However, after spending the past week listening to him, it struck me that while much research examines Pentecostalism as a restoration movement, restoring spiritual gifts, or as a renewal movement, calling people to be filled with the Spirit, or a political movement, seeking power, or a progressive social movement, addressing holistically the needs of communities, Pentecostalism is primarily a missionary movement (most likely, Pentecostalism is all of these things). However, as a missionary movement, spreading throughout the world from multiple centres of renewal and revival, Pentecostalism has come to represent the most significant transformation in world Christianity since the Protestant Reformation.

There are several thoughts I have about Anderson’s central argument as I consider some implications for researchers. First, the history of Pentecostalism needs to consider the various ways in which missionary networks globalized the early movement including the technologies employed to do so. Second, Pentecostal scholars need to pay attention to the non-North American and non-European missionaries who took the Pentecostal message with them, and the unique ways in which it was an indigenous movement. Finally, scholars need to pay attention to reverse mission and how Pentecostals from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are currently active in mission work, a global flow of Pentecostalism from the so called south to the north.

Comments

Rick Wadholm Jr. said…
I just blogged about this very topic as the reason I remain in my church tradition (A/G). http://bluechippastor.org/2012/08/15/three-things-that-keep-me-in-my-church-tradition/ We are a missionary movement/fellowship. This is (to my thinking) inherently Pentecostal.
August 16, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Michael Wilkinson said…
Thanks Rick for the link.
August 16, 2012 at 10:29 PM
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