PCTII Newsletter #16

Summer 2001

Press Releaseà..Press Releaseà..Press Releaseà.. Council of African Christian Communities in Europe Conseil Des Communautes Chretiennes DÆExpression Africaine En Europe (CACCE) La Maison dÆAltitude La Recontre, Arzier, Geneva 17 June 2001

Under the leadership of Jean-Daniel Plüss, the European Pentecostal Charismatic Research Association met July 17-21 in Leuven, Belgium. The following papers were presented: Jean-Daniel Pluss, "Can the Good, Bad and the Ugly Turn into the True, Good and Beautiful;" Glen Stassen, "Recovering the Way of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount;" Patrick Alexander, "Spirit Empowered Peace-Making;" Harold Hunter, "Ethical Implications of Pentecostal Eschatology;" Lawrence Nwankwo, "Reviewing the Prosperity Gospel in light of a Theology of Empowerment;" Allan Anderson, "Christian Missionaries and 'Heathen Natives';" David Bundy, "Social Ethics in the Church of the Poor;" Peter Hocken, "Common Witness to Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit;" Anthea Butler, "Pentecostals and the Death Penalty;" Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, "Luther's Theology of Love;" Robert Smith, "Glory, Transformation and Gold Dust;" V.P. Vargehse, "Indian Christians and Social Ethics;" Raymond Pfister, "Pentecostalism and Ecumenism in France;" Tejio Mathlin, "The Spirit of Pentecost at Sinai." An announcement was made during the meeting about the joining of Azusa College, led by Dr. Cornelius van der Laan, to the Free University of Amsterdam.

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada has online a historical overview of their missions efforts.

The 3rd Annual Meeting of Asian Pentecostal Society and the 10th International Theological Conference on the Holy Spirit combined to host a Theological Symposium on Non-Western Pentecostalism on May 28 at Bethesda Christian University in Anaheim, California. The following papers were read: Julie Ma, "Korea Pentecostal Spirituality: A Case Study of Jashil Choi;" Paulson Pulikottil, "As East and West Met in God's Own Country;" "A Forgotten History: Correcting the Historical Record of the Roots of Pentecostalism in Japan;" Reuben Louse Gabriel, "Issues for Pentecostal Theology from the Indian Context;" Chin Khua Khai, "Pentecostalism in Myanmar;" John Yesunatha Das, "A Reflection on St. Thomas Pentecostals with special reference to the Aboriginal Pentecostals of Kerala;" Mathew Clark, "Questing Every Consensus - A Plea for a Return to the Radical Roots of Pentecostalism;" P.J. Grabe, "The Concept of God's Power and Its Reception Within the Pentecostal Tradition, with Special Reference to the African Context;" Opuku Onyinah, "Deliverance as a Way of Confronting Witchcraft in Modern Africa: Ghana as a Case;" Emmanuel K. Labri, "The Nature of Continuity and Discontinuity of Ghanaian Pentecostal Concept of Salvation in African Cosmology;" Ayuk A. Auk, "The Pentecostal Transformation of Nigeria Church Life;" Miguel Alvarez, "The South and the Latin American Paradigm;" M.A. Chavan De Matviuk, "Latin American Pentecostal Growth: Culture, Orality, and the Power of Testimonies;" Segio Matviuk, "Pentecostal Leadership Development and Church Growth in Latin America;" Virginia Trevino Nolivos, "A Pentecostal Paradigm for the Latin American Family: An Instrument of Transformation." A new organization for Latin America for launched during this meeting. Papers from this conference are featured in the current issue of the Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic Research.

Go here for a press release on the Archives Seminar held May 29 during the 19th Pentecostal World Fellowship Conference.

The WARC-Pentecostal Dialogue is scheduled to resume May, 2002 in South Africa. "The planning team has selected 'Experience in Christian Faith and Life' as the recommended theme for a second round of the international dialogue. The theme highlights the significance of Christian experience within both Reformed and Pentecostal communities. It also raises issues concerning diverse evaluations of experience as source and norm for Christian belief and witness. The theme also enables the dialogue to move beyond theoretical or ideal formulations toward an examination of constitutive practices within the churches.
The team proposes that the general theme focus on a particular area of Christian practice in each year of the dialogue: Worship, Discipleship, Community, and Justice. Each of these practices presents questions to both Reformed and Pentecostal communities: What is the role of experience in faith and life? What are the key experiences in faith and life? What are the implications of experience for faith and life? These questions provide a consistent framework for the conversation as it explores aspects of faith and life.
A change from comparison to common exploration suggests a methodology that moves beyond general formulations to serious considerations of the particularities of different contexts. As the dialogue meets in various locations, efforts will be made to learn how particular Reformed and Pentecostal communities engage aspects of the dialogue theme. The methodology of common exploration will facilitate reception of the dialogue in Pentecostal and Reformed churches."

The June 2001 issue of The Testimony with the theme "Being Pentecostal" contains articles by Dr. William Raccah, Dr. Ian Rennie, Roger Stronstad, and Dr. Michael Wilkinson. For more information, go to the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and click on e-magazine.

Dr. Jean-Daniel Plüss  launched a web for the European Pentecostal Charismatic Research Association. The site contains updated information about the July 17-21 EPCRA conference in Belgium.

The Hispanic Churches in American Public Life (NCAPL) research project is a three-year study funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The project seeks to examine the impact of religion on political and civic engagement in the Latino community. Dr. Jesse Miranda, Alianza de Ministerios Evangélicos Nacionales (AMEN) and Dr. Virgilio Elizondo, Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) co-direct. For information on the first regional conference to be held May 4, 2001 at Vanguard University, contact Dr. Gastón Espinosa.

Marlon Millner, journalist and member of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, has formed a new egroup at Yahoo!Groups focusing on Black Pentecostalism. The Afro-Pentecostal Thought egroup is set up to foster dialogue among people who have an interest in a scholarly examination of the theology, history and socio-cultural impact of Pentecostalist Christians throughout the African diaspora.
A primary function of this forum will be to network established scholars of African descent who are critically examining various aspects of Afro-Pentecostalist churches with aspiring students both of and within the traditions who need affirmation from those who have gone before and paved a path.
Moreover, the egroup hopes that by fostering dialogue that more scholars within various streams of Afro-Pentecostalist traditions will be challenged to increase their scholarly production (both articles and books) and thereby harness the challenge of interpreting their own movements and personal experiences.
This group is open to laypersons and ministers interested in expanding their devotional understanding of their faith experience with a scholarly dialogue. And the forum also welcomes non-Pentecostalists, secular scholars and academics of all ethnic backgrounds who want to use the forum to learn more about and to dialogue with those within the rich diaspora of the Afro-Pentecostalist world.
Only invited persons can join the egroup. If you want to sign up for membership, send a separate email to bukumuki@yahoo.com that also identifies you, your church/academic affiliation, with a brief explanation of your reasons for wanting to join the forum.

Dr. David Ramirez, President of SEMISUD, announces that the first Latin American Educators Conference by FIEL (Fraternidad Internacional de Educadores Latinoamericanos) will be held March 6-9 at Seminario Ministerial Sudamericano (Ecuador). The event will seek to analyze Theological Education and the Mission of the Church in Latin American for the next ten years. The program is available in Spanish and English. Download the letter of invitation from Dr. Ramirez (Ms Word).

Now available on the PCTII web are printed reports from four World Council of Churches Consultations with Pentecostals.

  N.B.Programme 2001 Ecumenical Institute Bossey: Global Pentecostalism & The Ecumenical Challenge," 5 - 11 March. The Pentecostal Movement is one of the challenging factors of our times to both the historical Churches as well as the Ecumenical Movement. Within the framework of the WCC, dialogue with Pentecostals has become an important issue, and the attempt to create a wider space that facilitates Pentecostal participation in the Ecumenical Movement a reality. With the participation of specialists in the field, this seminar will analyze the complexity of the Global Pentecostal Movement and the challenges that it poses to the mission of Churches today and to the Ecumenical Movement as a whole.
Staff: Prof. Ioan Sauca, Bossey and Prof. Cecil M. Robeck, Fuller Theological Seminary, USA
Cost: Board and lodging CHF 595.00 Registration and Programme fee CHF 120.00, total CHF 715.00. Registered students CHF 645.00

The Century of the Holy Spirit (Thomas Nelson, 2001) by Vinson Synan is introduced by streaming video.

Deborah Caldwell has an engaging editorial in Beliefnet on the nomination of John Ashcroft for U.S. Attorney General under the title "The Spirit of Pentecostalism or Fundamentalism?"

An International Conference on Asian Pentecostalism will convene September 17-20, 2001 at Fircroft College, Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, UK. Facilitators Dr. Edmond Tang and Dr. Allan Anderson announce the conference theme to be "The Significance of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements for Asian Christianity." The event is sponsored by the Graduate Institute for Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham (UK) and the respective Research Units for East Asian Christian Studies and Pentecostal Studies.