Global Pentecostal Studies

A group of evangelical leaders recently had lunch with Pope Francis including Pentecostals and Charismatics Brian Stiller, James Robison, Kenneth Copeland, and John Arnott. Brian Stiller , a prominent Canadian leader was raised in the home of a Pentecostal preacher in the Prairies. He completed a graduate degree at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto and wrote his thesis about Canadian Pentecostalism. Later he served as President of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and worked hard to include Pentecostals in the evangelical fold. Stiller recently retired as President of Tyndale University College in Toronto and now serves as Global Ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance. Stiller reported on the luncheon and included observations about the Pope's views on Christian unity, relationship with Pentecostals, and challenges facing the Roman Catholic Church including issues of sexual abuse, finances, and leadership. Stiller's report can be found here . Pope Fra...

GLOBAL PENTECOSTALISM IN THE 21 ST CENTURY . Edited by Robert W. Hefner .  University of Indiana Press. 2013. Pp. v + 270; paper. This edited volume offers the reader excellent coverage on a range of issues about the social, cultural, and political aspects of Pentecostalism.   With contributions from sociologists, anthropologists, and religion scholars, the editor has brought together some of the top experts in the field with cases from most regions of the world including Brazil, Zimbabwe, China, Russia, Ukraine, India, and the Philippines. The chapters include rich empirical findings, theoretical sophistication, and debates in the literature about the social and political impact of Pentecostals, its civic and public role, why Pentecostalism is or is not growing, issues of institutionalization, relationship to the varieties of modernity, and impact on family and gender issues. The Introduction offers a solid overview of how the volume contributes to the schol...