The Pneuma Review » dialogue

Ministering to the Needs of the World: 2018 International Dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and Classical Pentecostals

Mel Robeck — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 22:15:55 +0000

Mel Robeck has shared with Pneuma Review the press release from the International Dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and Classical Pentecostals, which concluded on December 4, 2018.

Representatives of various classical Pentecostal churches and a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches met in Legon, Accra, Ghana, November 29 – December 4, 2018. This meeting was the fifth session of the third round, which is focused on “Ministering to the Needs of the World.”

The participants were photographed on the campus of Trinity Theological Seminary, where the Methodist scholar on Pentecostal and Charismatics, Dr. Kwabena has recently become President. Pictured left to right, row one: Bas Plaisiar, Teresa (Tess) Chai, Jacqui Grey, and Van Johnson. Row two: Karla Koll, Jean-Daniel Plüess, Gabrielle Rácsok, and Setri Nyomi. Row three: David Daniels, Mel Robeck, Hanns Lessing.

At the beginning and end of each day, participants gather to pray, sing, read and reflect upon the Bible together. This time of sharing in spirituality and worship helps to contextualize the discussions that take place, and builds greater community between participants.

This year, the dialogue focused on the significance of eschatology (those things having to do with the end of time and the return of Jesus, which is our blessed hope) to Mission. To open the discussion, the Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll (Reformed) and Rev. Dr. Van Johnson (Pentecostal) prepared and presented papers reflective of the teachings of their faith communities on this topic. Participants then raised questions and responded in a free-ranging discussion intended to tease out common interests and common concerns, while noting differences in understanding.

In her presentation, Dr. Koll demonstrated that Reformed Christians, like Pentecostals, anticipate the return of Jesus Christ to bring the Reign of God in its fullness. Their primary focus has been on sharing the Gospel and caring for the lives and well-being of others in ways they believe are in keeping with that Reign. Following the teachings of John Calvin regarding the sovereignty of God, and their belief that God’s redemptive intention encompasses all of creation, they have been less focused upon events surrounding the Second Coming, and more on the call for the Church to minister until Christ’s return. They maintain that the Holy Spirit empowers them both to promote the Gospel, and work to transform culture and society in keeping with Christ’s will.

Dr. Johnson made the case that both time and space have challenged the way Pentecostals think about and act upon their understanding of eschatology. Pentecostals believe that God has been restoring the purity, passion, and power of the church through the Holy Spirit, in anticipation of the imminent return of Christ and the inauguration of His kingdom. Like the early church, their expectation that time was short before Christ’s return, has motivated much of their mission activity, in which they have emphasized the proclamation of the Gospel to the “lost.” Yet, after a century of existence, Pentecostal views of time are changing, leading to shifts in how they view mission. If they have more time to live and act, their view of the world around them, their space, must be taken more seriously than in the past. While continuing to affirm the soon return of the Lord, their notion of mission has broadened beyond proclamation or evangelization alone, to include other missional activities. Now, mission includes a range of activities extending from evangelism to creation care as signs of the future kingdom.

Lutheran-Pentecostal Dialogue 2018

Raul Mock — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 20:46:08 +0000

This press release from the 2018 meeting of the Lutheran-Pentecostal dialogue was shared with PneumaReview.com by Mel Robeck. He commented: “I believe that it was a very fruitful week.”

Third meeting of the International Lutheran-Pentecostal Dialogue, 7 – 12 October 2018, Santiago, Chile

Representatives of various classical Pentecostal churches and the Lutheran World Federation member churches began a five-year dialogue in 2016, preceded by preparatory meetings from 2004 – 2010 at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. The third meeting took place October 7-12, 2018 at Casa de Retiro San Francisco Javier in Santiago de Chile. Through annual meetings, the partners seek to understand each other better, at both international and local levels, in order to appreciate each other’s theological and spiritual traditions and to find ways for common witness.

On Sunday, October 7, the dialogue members visited together first a service at the Lutheran Church El Redentor (Lutheran Church in Chile) in the Providencia district. They were generously invited for lunch afterwards. In the evening the Lutherans and Pentecostal delegates visited as small groups various Pentecostal churches belonging to the Methodist-Pentecostal Church and the Pentecostal Church of Chile and participated in worship including the sharing of the Word.

The theme of this phase of the dialogue focuses on various aspects of Christian ministry in light of Luke 4:18-19. Each day began and ended with devotions led by the various members of the dialogue. The topic of this third meeting was “Proclaiming the Good News to the poor” and it focused on the situation of the materially poor and how the respective churches relate to them. Rev. Dr. Richard Waldrop presented a paper on “Pentecostals and the Poor” in which he described the fundamental role of the poor in the history and current development of Pentecostalism. Rev. Dr. Walter Altmann presented a paper “Good News to the Poor” from a Lutheran perspective. He focused on Martin Luther’s understanding of the poor including a Christological focus and pointing to the centrality of the cross. Both presenters also addressed challenges with regard to what is commonly referred to as “prosperity gospel,” a teaching that has arisen in many Neo-Pentecostal circles.

Santa Lucía Hill in the centre of Santiago, Chile.
Image: Dario Alpern, Wikimedia Commons

On Wednesday October 10, Bishop Alexis Salgado (Lutheran Church in Chile) visited the dialogue group and it had an occasion to share impressions and ask question about the life of the Lutheran Church in Chile and their relationship with Pentecostals. In the afternoon about 25 Pentecostal and Lutheran pastors from the region met with the dialogue participants to learn about the reasons why the Lutheran World Federation and classical Pentecostals share in their passion for dialogue. The following discussions enabled the dialogue group to gain insights into the life of the two Lutheran Churches (Lutheran Church in Chile and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile) and various Pentecostal churches in Chile. Mr. Javier Castro Arcos, Director of the National Office for Religious Affairs, and Rev. Daniel Anabalon, chaplain to the Presidential Palace La Moneda, gave words of greeting.

The members of the dialogue visited the Memorial and Museum of Human Rights in Santiago. The unlawful incarcerations, the widely used torture and the many killings during the Chilean Military dictatorship of the 1973s and 89s reminded them that poverty is also a reality for those who are robbed of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Members of the Pentecostal team are: Dr. Jean-Daniel Plüss, co-chair (Swiss Pentecostal Mission, Switzerland), Rev. Dr. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (Pentecostal theological consultant, Finland/USA), Rev. Dr. Cecil M Robeck, Jr. (Assemblies of God, USA), Rev. Dr. Richard Waldrop (Church of God, USA/Guatemala), Rev. Gani Wiyono (Assemblies of God, Indonesia), Rev. Tham Wan Yee (Assemblies of God, Malaysia) and Dr. Olga Zaprometova (Church of God, Russia). Members of the Lutheran team are: Rev. Dr. Walter Altmann, co-chair, (Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil), Rev. Dr. Tamás Gáncs (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary), Rev. Dr. Cheryl Peterson (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), Rev. Johannes Zeiler (Church of Sweden), Rev. Dr. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson (Consultant on behalf of the Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, France/Japan) and Rev. Anne Burghardt (Secretary for Ecumencial Relations, Switzerland/Estonia). Rev. Dr. Wilfred J. Samuel (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia) was unable to attend. As observers were present, Dr. Oscar Corvalán (Pentecostal Church of Chile), Mr Patrick Bornhardt Daube (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile); Dr. Luis Orellana (Methodist Pentecostal Church, Chile) and Dr. Juan Sepúlveda (Pentecostal Church Mission, Chile).

The next annual meeting is scheduled to be held in 2019 in Africa. The theme will be “to proclaim freedom, recovery and release” (Luke 4:18) and will focus on healing and deliverance in its many aspects. In 2020 the dialogue will meet in North America to prepare a common document based upon the work they have completed.

Santiago de Chile, October 12, 2018

Pope Francis Recognizes Dialogue with Pentecostals is Important

Mel Robeck — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 22:03:13 +0000

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

This past Friday morning (September 28, 2018), Pope Francis met with the bishops who oversee the work of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU). Cardinal Kurt Koch is President of the PCPCU and Bishop Brian Farrell is its Secretary. The bishops responsible for ecumenism who relate to the PCPCU gather at once each year to review a specific project and see how things have progressed. I have not yet obtained the opening remarks of Cardinal Koch, but Pope Francis made a speech to the members of the PCPCU regarding their work with Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Evangelicals.

Pope Francis is most interested in the work with Classical Pentecostals as well as Charismatics. The PCPCU has been in dialogue with Classical Pentecostals since 1972. More recently, the PCPCU has met with Charismatics under that rubric, including a number of independent Pentecostal preachers like Kenneth Copeland, as well as a number of non-denominational Charismatic and megachurch pastors.

The dialogue with Classical Pentecostals began under the leadership of David du Plessis (at that time defrocked by the Assemblies of God – he was later reinstated). In 1985 David was succeeded by his younger brother, Justus du Plessis (Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa), who served as co-chair until 1992. At that time, I was elected to serve as the Pentecostal Co-chair.

The Dialogue is now in its seventh round, each of which has run from 5 to 8 years, with a couple of breaks. All previous rounds were completed with full, written reports that have been circulated widely and have been cited in a number of academic papers. They have all been well received. I have listed the places where they have been published below.

Saint Peter’s Basilica at sunset.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

For over 35 years, I have watched closely what the past three popes have had to say about Pentecostals. I believe that this is the first and fullest formal address given on the topic of Pentecostals by any pope to date. It is clear that Pope Francis recognizes some of the issues between Catholics and Pentecostals, but it is equally clear that he believes that this dialogue is particularly important. He highlights the work of the Spirit in ways that Pentecostals would likely highlight it, and I believe that it could be of help to other Pentecostals and Charismatics with ecumenical interests to see how strongly he supports the International Catholic – Pentecostal Dialogue which is overseen by the PCPCU.

I hope that you enjoy reading this short piece, and will take the time to look up some of the past reports made by members of the Dialogue. Please note the bibliographical information below.

“Audience of the Holy Father with participants in the Plenary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, 28.09.2018”

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/09/28/180928a.html

Jelle Creemers: Theological Dialogue with Classical Pentecostals

Amos Yong — Sat, 06 May 2017 21:23:58 +0000

Jelle Creemers, Theological Dialogue with Classical Pentecostals: Challenges and Opportunities, Ecclesiological Investigations 23 (New York and London: Bloomsbury/T & T Clark, 2015), x + 320 pages.

The Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue has completed five rounds since it was launched in 1971. Each round has consisted of weeklong or so meetings for five or more years, followed in the last three rounds by multiple years of drafting and rewriting of the final reports. The first two rounds (1971-1976 and 1977-1982, with 1978 being a bye year due to the unexpected death of Pope John Paul I) engaged assorted topics of mutual interest, while the last three rounds have been more thematically focused: on the nature of the church (1985-1989), on evangelization and proselytism (1990-1997), and on becoming a Christian (1998-2006).

Dialogue that works toward understanding – not any watered down synthesis.

Creemers teaches at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven, Belgium, where he also completed his PhD degree that is the basis for this book. Whereas a number of other volumes have been published on one or more rounds of the Dialogue, this is the first one that covers the five completed rounds of discussion, and it is also the only to focus on the question of theological method. At one level, followers of the Pneuma Review might consider this a rather dispensable exercise. Pentecostal ministers especially are doers rather than theoreticians and considerations of method seem quite speculative and abstract. Even if readers might be interested in the topics taken up in the Dialogues, Creemers’ reflections might seem beside the point (of evangelism, for example!). Yet I encourage potential readers, especially Pentecostal clergy, to withhold judgment for three reasons. First, there have been many who have argued that Pentecostals are ecumenical even if they might deny or not even realize this, and if that is the case, engaging this volume will provide one fascinating point of entry into the what (is ecumenism) and why (Pentecostals are such) of this important set of issues related to unity that Jesus prayed for. Second, the writing opens up to a narrative of the Dialogues, and in that sense there is an unfolding of a plot full of twists and turns involving primary agents (who were present in many if not most of the rounds) and other secondary characters (those participants in two rounds or only one) that might be unanticipated for theological books. Last but not least, to think about the methodological underpinnings of these exercises provides another window into the nature of Pentecostal spirituality and realities that the movement’s practitioners and ministers will find informative, especially vis-à-vis their own efforts to comprehend themselves theologically.

There have been many who have argued that Pentecostals are ecumenical, even if they might deny or not even realize it.

So what does Creemers find? Or, first, how does he go about looking for Pentecostal theological method when such is rarely or never made explicit? There are four main chapters in the body of the book through which the quest is undertaken. First, Creemers profiles how members of the Pentecostal Dialogue teams have attempted to understand themselves as a conversionist, revivalist, and restorationist movement, and how such starting points already chart certain methodological trajectories. Second, efforts – contested, as the book portrays – to adequately represent a quite diverse worldwide Pentecostal movement in the dialogue teams are indicative of how an egalitarian set of ecclesiological sensibilities generates a fragmented movement and this also has methodological implications, not least for how the Dialogues have unfolded. Third, then, Creemers analyzes one weeklong session within each of the five rounds – the second year, because that is when the main topics are presented for that round of dialogues – and unveils how reading and exposition of papers have been followed by “hard questions” raised by both sides to the other for discussion (first intra-murally and then inter-murally) in order to clarify perspectives, identify differences, and anticipate possible convergences or ways forward. Finally, the aims, sources, and approaches of each of rounds of Dialogue are assessed, in chronological order, and then also vis-à-vis their Final Reports.