Upgrade, but Save the Core Values

I just purchased my twelfth computer in twenty years. With the advances in technology, computers frequently need upgrading or replacing. Despite the upgrades or replacements, that which was truly valuable was always saved—the data—my sermons, syllabi, class notes, and financial records.

Can the Pentecostal Movement upgrade while saving its valuable distinctives? Can it advance without damaging or losing the precepts, passion, and praxis of the pioneers?

Pentecostalism has arrived at the point when the visionary founders and early leaders (Eric Hoffer would call them “true believers.”) have died or retired and now are being replaced by an emerging generation of leaders. Some of the new leaders inherited their tenets and practices without spilling blood in the crucible of revolution.

The Pentecostal Movement has reached the organizational stage when it is facing the ecclesiastical dangers of institutionalism and anarchism. Institutionalism occurs when an organization takes action to preserve its existence, often at the expense of the purpose for which it originated. Anarchism feels little loyalty to the organization and perceives the institutional church as a hindrance to spontaneity, community, and mission. Anarchists think it is best to demolish and rebuild.

Who were the “true believers” who founded the Pentecostal Movement?

Often coming from the ranks of the deprived and disenfranchised, many Pentecostal pioneers experienced radical conversion as they responded to the “full gospel” message. The foremost doctrines of the “four square” message were: Salvation in Jesus Christ, Divine Healing through the atonement, the premillennial return of Christ, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit (or Ghost) with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues. Some added sanctification by faith as a second definite work of grace as a fifth fundamental of the full gospel.

My former Senior Adults Pastor, John Wannenmacher of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (John died last March), used to tell me how his father Joseph (a leader in the Assemblies of God) frequently started his sermons focusing on some distinctive topic, but always worked the sermon around to expound the “four cardinal doctrines.”

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For leaders like Joseph P. Wannenmacher becoming a Pentecostal was a decisive step. They tearfully and passionately testified to the validity of the Pentecostal teachings. They boldly battled foes within and without over the distinctives. They were true believers.

Even the second generation of Pentecostals demonstrated passionate loyalty for the movement. Perhaps they personally witnessed or knew of the radical transformation that occurred in the lives of their parents.

John Wannenmacher vividly tells the story of the dramatic healing that his Hungarian, violin-playing father experienced in the “faith homes” in Zion, Illinois (started by John Alexander Dowie). Whether he is aware of it or not, John preached four point sermons—just like his father. All of Joseph and Helen Wannenmacher’s children (John, Philip, and Lois) served the Assemblies of God as ministers. Having been in such proximity to the early firebrands, the subsequent generation bore the brand of Pentecostalism.

As the beneficiaries of the “redemptive lift,” those in the third generation received better educations and held jobs that were more lucrative. They strove for acceptance and respectability in their communities. Less heavenly-minded and more earth bound, they focused on constructing bigger buildings in better neighborhoods. They participated in the political debates for which their forbearers had little time.

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For some in the third generation, religious experiences were more a matter of “socialization” (E.S. Williams’ word) than radical transformation. As the churches grew in terms of membership, finances, and community acceptance, the old participatory, lay-led worship drifted more toward a spectator, clergy-directed activity.

Seemingly, for some, loyalty to “the cause” became more a matter of maintaining the traditions handed down to them by parents and grandparents (a creedal ritualism) rather than a “fire in the belly.”

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Where are we now?