I originally grew up attending a Baptist church that my family and I hardly ever went to, so when I first got introduced to Pentecostalism, it honestly really scared me and I thought that it was not normal. I remember sitting in a Sunday service at an Assemblies of God church for the first time and hearing someone shout and speak in other tongues. I had no idea what was going on with this lady! I was frantically looking around to see what everyone else was doing, and everyone had closed their eyes and began praying; I had no idea why. I also remember shortly after she spoke in tongues, someone else in the congregation began to interpret what she said. I thought that it was all some kind of joke at first, and it left me really confused with …show more content…
Our service ran long that night, and the senior pastor and other members of the church came and began praying for everyone in our youth group and our youth pastors. It was pretty neat that the congregation and pastor came to witness and encourage all of us. The feeling I had after this experience was indescribable. It was a sense of joy, happiness, and peace that I have never felt before in my entire life. It was most defiantly a life changing experience that I will never forget! Looking back on it there were both positive and negative aspects to my experience with Pentecostalism. The major negative aspect was the fact that I had no idea what Pentecostalism was or what it meant so when I saw it happen for the first time it terrified me, and because of that I did not even want to be filled with the Holy Spirit for the longest time. The major positive aspect was that because I had the opportunity to witness it happen to someone, it sparked my curiosity and encouraged me to learn more about it. Which in turn led me to overcome the fear I had and actually got to experience it for
In the film “The Holy Ghost People,” right away we get individual accounts of what the “Holy Spirit” is to certain individuals. One woman says the Holy Ghost guides her and keeps her going. The people are very intense about their beliefs, which comes from the religion Pentecostalism, which has a hyper focus on personal experience with God and baptism with the Holy Spirit. We see them in their church, we hear the sermon, and see the ritualistic dances and the way the prayer overcomes them, and causes seizure like motions. We see and hear the prayers for the healing of one woman’s eyesight, and another woman’s back pain. One man, seemingly the pastor, says that “if God is not doing what they ask, people aren’t believing hard enough.” Later we get an account from a woman of how she was nursed back to health as a little girl brought her nutrients, and she believes it was
Throughout the Western culture, Christianity has played a crucial role in the spiritual life of many people. In fact, it is a one of the largest religion in the world with an estimating range from 2 to 3 billion Christians (Religions of the World: Numbers of Adherents; Growth Rates). Spreading with this worldwide religion, the idea that God is at the centre of daily life has a high importance to many people. In the early 20th Century, one of the significant developments of Christianity was the Pentecostal Movement (A Brief History of Christianity). More specifically, Pentecostalism is “the principles and practices of Pentecostal religious groups, characterized by religious excitement and talking in tongues”; its most remarkable detail is its emphasis of the Holy Spirit and the value of prayer (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). It has outspread around the world by the people who believed that they had experienced the marvelous moves of God.
In most Baptist Churches, the pastor serves until he passes away, voluntarily resigns or terminated by church for some ethical or moral indiscretions. Therefore, many Baptist churches have enjoyed their pastors for longer intervals than some other denominations. In my ministry context at Oak Grove Baptist Church (OGBC) the former pastor served for forty-six years and died unexpectedly. Unfortunately, OGBC did not have any procedures in place for pastoral transition and was unprepared for the change. Pastoral transition can be difficult for any church that does not have procedures in place. Once the church has selected a candidate the work of welcoming the new pastor and his family begins. In addition, the work of strengthening the relationships
I was very surprised at a few facets as I ventured my way through these job descriptions. One of the first things I noticed is how few full time positions there were on this list. I had always figured a church position would be a full time job because that is the kind of church I grew up in. However, to see that a worship pastor’s position was only a 10 hour a week commitment was quite surprising, but that makes sense in a smaller church. Thus, it has caused me to think about new opportunities for other part time work outside of the church. I suppose I’ve never really thought of a back up plan because I was so sure I would be in a full time pastor position.
Pentecostalism is considered one of the greatest universal movement that transformed immensely the history of Christianity. It emphasized a personal interaction with God facilitated by baptism of the individual by Holy Spirit (Alexander, 43). One of the proponents of Pentecostalism is William Seymour. He is regarded as the initiator of Pentecostal movement because of his fundamental teachings on the role of Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life (Heaton 35). Therefore, this research paper aims to describe the contributions of William Seymour to evolution of Pentecostalism. The guiding thesis is that Seymour orchestrated the Pentecostal movement that swept the nation all over the world, which later contributed to the creation of new religious denominations that shared common beliefs, practices, and customs.
Pentecostalism is arguably the most important mass religious movement of the twentieth century. Today, this association is the second largest sub-group of global Christianity. It has over 30 million American adherents and a worldwide following of more than 430 million (Anderson, 1992). Pentecostalism’s gloomy beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century make the movement’s growth all the more
As my friend Jenni and I entered the hall of the big church, a feeling of apprehension overwhelmed us. Our feelings were soon comforted when we entered a sea of smiling faces and outstretched hands. A sense of belonging engulfed us. Ms. Shirley, an older colored woman was first to extend her arms. She did not know us from Adam, but it did not matter. She threw her arms around us. "You girls have the prettiest smiles", she declared. "I am so glad you came to be with us this morning." Words can not describe what the act of kindness did to our feelings of apprehension, and that was just the beginning.
When mentioned to the general public, the word “Pentecostalism” generates three diverse responses: confusion, mockery, and tolerance; some people never heard of the word, some people view it as being infamous, and the rest accept it. According to the Oxford dictionary, Pentecostalism “relates to any number of Christian sects emphasizing baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Misconceptions originated from the misunderstanding of the history of Pentecostalism, along with the notion that Pentecostalism is one sect when, in fact, there are many divisions. The largest of these is the teachings of Charismatic’s, which make up the most prevalent part of the denomination and have been the driving force for the assumptions and reputation that Pentecostalism has garnered. To truly understand Pentecostalism, one needs to learn the religions history, the standard beliefs of the various sects, and the contemporary changes that some followers have made in the recent years that have fueled the current fallacy about the belief system.
The effectiveness of an organization is a fluid process. The leadership of an organization is charged to continue the infinite work of surveying the cultural, economic and social terrain surrounding the organization and develop strategies and practices to navigate the anticipated changes. When the leadership fails to make these practices standard procedure for the organization, the demise of the organization is inevitable. Friendship Baptist Church has suffered such a dilemma.
It is agreed upon by all the scholars that sanctification begins at conversion. It begins at the point where the person responds to God and is related to God’s plan of redemption. The only difference in opinion is held by the Pentecostals who even among themselves are divided in their opinion on what it means to be sanctified. The Holiness Pentecostals holds to the belief that original sin is removed and there is a second definite work of the Spirit which sanctifies...
However it is not a magical way of manipulating God into doing my will, which I tended to lean towards in my thoughts on this practice. Rather it is a tool in which I can realign my ways and visions with those of God's, whilst being a reminder of the greater sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf. Additionally I have become aware of the mission component as expressed in Isaiah 58:6-9 (MSG), during fast to "share your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into you homes...". Encouraging the practise of this discipline Pentecostalism, in my experience, does not place a high importance on fasting as a regular practice as other denominations do. If we are called Christians, followers of Christ, should we not follow his example in self denial?
Each time I come to the Evangelic Church something changes inside myself for the better.
The shepherd and sheep relationship is the best illustration for the relationship between pastor and parishioners. When Jesus asked Simon Peter does he love him three times and said to him “Feed my sheep”, the shepherd and flock relationship has been set. Since Jesus is our good shepherd (Jn. 10:11a), he laid out a good example for us to follow - to lay down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11b) Thus, the wellness of both in and out of the parishioners should always be the concern in the pastors’ hearts. Soul care for the people is essential. Christian friendship is the foundation of Christian soul care. Pastoral ministry including preaching, teaching, and worship forms the broad context of pastoral counseling. Pastoral care is within pastoral ministry but broader than pastoral counseling. God’s love is the source and motivation. Within the pastoral care, there are spiritual direction and pastoral
For my observation trip, I decided to visit St. Ignatius Church in Oregon, Ohio. I visited a mass at 11:30 on Sunday November 19. I decided to visit a catholic church because my family has no religious background whatsoever, and I decided that I could go with one of my good friends that way if I need to ask questions, she was there to answer them for me.
Pentecost was a one-time event. We don’t need to repeat Pentecost as the NT church today in fact we can’t. As the church we should partner with the Holy Spirit to continue the work he has started. When we do this we allow the Holy Spirit to do his will in our lives.