Report from the 2014 Charismatic Leaders Fellowship
One of the high points of our gathering was viewing the Kenneth Copeland video that had surfaced the week before. In it Pope Francis sent his blessings and regards to the ministers at Kenneth Copeland’s ministry association, and asked for their prayers. Wow! Seeing the Rev. Copeland address Pope Francis as “Sir,” and praying for him and blessing him will certainly be classed as a landmark of reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics.
The person who made this exchange possible was Bishop Tony Palmer. He is bishop of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, an Anglican influenced “continuing church” that has elaborate liturgy and Pentecostal worship. I need to say that I found Bishop Tony Palmer’s assertion that the “protest is over” (i.e. Luther’s protest of the abuses of Catholicism) seemed to imply that Protestantism had done its job and we can now all be Catholics, or quasi-Catholics. I firmly believe on that the day the Lord returns for his spotless Bride there will still be denominational division in the Church, but they will not be obstacles to our unity in Christ. The Church needs different denominations to keep it sharp and flexible, or as scripture says “iron sharpens iron.” In any case, it was wonderful to see how far the Church has matured from the time of the Inquisition and Fox’s Book of Martyrs.
[1]William De Arteaga, Forgotten Power: The Significance of the Lord’s Supper in Revival (Grand Rapids: Zondervan:2002).
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