Charismatic Leaders Fellowship 2024

The Charismatic Leaders Fellowship had their annual meeting at the Alleluia Covenant Community School in Augusta, Georgia, from Monday, Feb. 19 through Thursday, Feb. 22.  This is the fourth time in a row that the group has met at Alleluia. Members of the community offers CLF participants free bed and breakfast and a glimpse into the wholesomeness of Christian community life.

This year’s topic of the CLF was to be “Flooding the Darkness with Light.” Several of the speakers and discussions strayed out of topic and centered on the issue of Church unity and ecumenism, a fine topic indeed, but one covered last year. Left uncovered was any mention of spiritual warfare – which most certainly will be the theme of next year’s CLF meeting.

In spite of all this, it seemed to this observer that the presence of the Holy Spirit was more wonderfully present at this CLF than in many years past. However, please understand: the Holy Spirit always shows up at CLF meetings.

Two speakers were especially instrumental in shaping the course of the meeting and acting as vehicles of the Holy Spirit. The first was the Rev. Carolyn Moore. She is a Methodist pastor who has led the exodus of many orthodox Methodist churches out of the United Methodist Church and into the Global Methodist Church. Her presentation of the separation from the UMC especially touched me as I, as a former Episcopalian, was forced to tread the same route into the (orthodox) Anglican Church in North America.

Moore’s presentation was pertinent to many in the Church today. She described the decline and division of the UMC as the result of the ascendancy of Liberal theology which at its root denies the divinity of Jesus and the trustworthiness of scripture. For those embracing this movement, pluralism and inclusivity became more important concepts than upholding the unique claims of Jesus as the Son of God and Savior and other doctrines essential to Christianity. A great insight she shared was that ecumenical dialogue is good for the Church, as Christians get to understand and appreciate Christians in other denominations, but pluralism crosses the line into heresy by claiming that all viewpoints are equal and thus truth is unobtainable. This happened to the UMC (and to the Episcopal Church decades earlier).

The second speaker and the one who made the greatest impact was Rabbi Marty Waldman. He refuses to call himself a Christian, rather he calls himself a Messianic Jew – a true Jew who believes in Jesus as his Messiah and the New Testament as part of the Word of God.

He presented to the CLF audience a detailed explanation of how Early Christianity ignored Romans 11, and in fact the entirety of Paul’s understanding that Jews are part of the Body of Christ (the root of the vine) even if they do not believe in Jesus as Messiah. His most powerful presentation was in documenting the irrational and un-biblical antisemitism of the Early Church Fathers and Reformers. This was shocking to many CLF participants, but something necessary to understand. Rabbi Waldman’s intention was not to assign guilt, but to further the reconciliation that Paul foretold in Romans of the coming Bride of Christ that would include all Jews and all Christians.

If you are a Christian leader of any stripe, pastor, youth leader, blogger, etc. make plans to attend next year’s CLF. They are held in late February, but check out the CLF website at CharismaticLeadersFellowship.org

Tags: antisemitism, charismatic, CLF, fellowship, leaders, messianic

Category: Ministry, Winter 2024