Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 18, 1994 TAG: 9410180128
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The new body, still to be named, would include the nation's leading African-American Pentecostal denomination, the Church of God in Christ, as well as the Assemblies of God, the nation's largest predominantly white Pentecostal denomination. Between them, the two groups account for about 10 million of the estimated 15 million Pentecostalists in the United States.
Pentecostalists admit that the dismantling of the all-white 46-year-old Pentecostal Fellowship of North America is painfully late, coming as it does 30 years after the tumultuous civil rights movement. However, they and outside observers nonetheless call it the most important development in the 88-year history of Pentecostal Christianity in the United States.
``It's dramatic. It's epochal,'' said Harvey Cox, a Harvard University religion professor whose new book, ``Fire From Heaven,'' traces the rise of Pentecostal spirituality.
Bishop Charles E. Blake of the West Angelus Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles said, ``I cannot think of any comparable event in the life of the church that this would compare to.''
Cox said the gathering, which opened Monday in Memphis, Tenn., holds out the promise that a new generation of Pentecostalists may now be willing to take their place in mainstream society and speak out on issues of pressing national importance, including poverty, racism, and injustice.
``[The] Memphis [conference] represents one kind of answer and [religious broadcaster Pat Robertson's] Christian Coalition represents another in a very different direction,'' Cox said. The coalition has maintained a high profile of political activism in conservative causes, including opposing gays in the military and arguing against President Clinton's health care proposal. The coalition has also fielded candidates for public office and Republican Party posts at the county, state and national level.
Pentecostalism is the fastest growing Christian sect in the world, with 410 million members, according to Cox. In the United States, they outnumber all but Southern Baptists, United Methodists and Roman Catholics. By the year 2010, Cox estimates there will be more Pentecostalists than all other non-Catholic Christians together.
Pentecostalists share with other Christians a belief in the Bible as the inspired word of God, in Jesus as son of God and savior, and the need for evangelism. What sets them apart is their ecstatic worship, which can lead to glossolalia or ``speaking in tongues.'' Such utterances in an unknown language are seen as evidence that an individual has been filled with the Holy Spirit.
Cox cautioned that interracial cooperation among Pentecostalists on the denominational level may take time to filter down to local congregations, where there is great autonomy. Moreover, there are thousands of independent Pentecostal churches that are unaffiliated with any denomination. They will be asked to join the new association.
``The fact is most congregations will remain black or white or Latin for a while, maybe for a long time. But you've got to start somewhere,'' Cox said. ``I don't think this should be minimized. It is a very important step.''
by CNB