The Pentecostals

Storyteller Steve Morgan has a tale to weave for you. It involves some reflection, some irreverence, and - yes - some Pentecostals. It's the story of his life. Imagine being raised where the Devil was always around the next corner - and the end of the world could happen at any time. Then imagine growing up and learning that the rest of the world didn't subscribe to that ''flat earth, six day creation'' theory. How would you deal with that change? Author Steve Morgan has dealt with it by telling these stories - and many more - in My Life With the Pentecostals and Other Stuff. Steve recounts tales of family reunions, summer camps, and being trapped in a ditch with his grandfather (and a pile of watermelons). He also tells stories of being the main source of income in a struggling family and going out into the world to make his own fortune - and his own mistakes. Above all, Steve's storytelling will remind you what it's like to be part of a family and all that ''other stuff'' that comes with it.

'Immensely impressive both in its handling of primary sources and in its knowledge of the literature of the subject ... one of the first really scholarly documentations of Pentecostal belief and practice' (Church Times). `A magnificent book, critical but sympathetic, detached yet deeply involved, and meticulously documented' (William Barclay in The Expository Times).

How religion, gender, and urban sociality are expressed in and mediated via television drama in Kinshasa is the focus of this ethnographic study. Influenced by Nigerian films and intimately related to the emergence of a charismatic Christian scene, these teleserials integrate melodrama, conversion narratives, Christian songs, sermons, testimonies, and deliverance rituals to produce commentaries on what it means to be an inhabitant of Kinshasa.

Pentecostals and Nonviolence explores how a distinctly Pentecostal-charismatic peace witness might be reinvigorated and sustained in the twenty-first century. To do so, the book examines the nature of the early Pentecostal commitment to nonviolence, and investigates the possibilities that might emerge from Pentecostals and Anabaptists entering into conversation and worship with each other. Contributors engage the arguments surrounding the heritage of Pentecostal pacifism in the United States and then move toward exploring nonviolence and peacemaking as crucial for contemporary Christianity as a whole. Ranging from theology, testimony, and pastoral ministry to interchurch relations, activism, and protest, this diverse collection of essays challenge and invite the whole church to the task of peacemaking while exploring the distinctive, and often neglected, contributions from the Pentecostal-charismatic tradition.

The last two decades have witnessed the growing participation in theological dialogues of non-institutional (free church) movements. This poses a serious challenge to 21st century ecumenism, since ecclesial realities and internal diversity of these movements impede fruitful dialogue in the classical manner. The present volume addresses fundamental aspects of this challenge by a critical study of an exemplary case of such dialogues, the International Roman Catholic-Classical Pentecostal Dialogue (1972-2007). This unique study builds both on primary archival sources and on earlier research on the IRCCPD. After providing an ecumenical profile of the Classical Pentecostal dialogue partner, Creemers demonstrates how fair representation of the Classical Pentecostal movement has been pursued in the course of the dialogue. Next, he gives attention to the ecumenical method of the IRCCPD. First, the development of a dialogue method hinging on “hard questions” is traced, which has allowed a balanced theological exchange between the dialogue partners. Regarding theological method, it is demonstrated that both partners showed a willingness to experiment together by integrating sources of theological knowledge typically distrusted in their own traditions. In conclusion, the analyses are integrated in an overview of challenges and opportunities for dialogue with the Classical Pentecostal movement in the context of ongoing discussions on ecumenical method.

In Pentecostals and Roman Catholics on Becoming a Christian, Dr. Karen Murphy explores the fifth round of the International Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue (1998-2006), discussing Spirit-baptism, faith, conversion, experience, and discipleship.

Pentecostalism in Argentina provides an account of the socio-political aspects of the fastest growing religion of our time, Pentecostalism, in an Argentina that has moved from an unstable dictatorship to a modern democracy in the time of globalization.