Fr Ian Taylor

In my last article entitled “Renew the Priest, Renew the Parish, Renew the World,” which appeared in July 06, I referred to the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism in less than 100 years.

To reiterate, from “0” Pentecostals in 1900, the movement which began on January 1, 1901 had multiplied so rapidly, that by 1992 the numbers had reached 204.5 million, eclipsing even the Eastern Orthodox Church (106.7 million) to take second place to the Roman Catholic Church among Christian denominations globally.

And while globally the Catholic population increased, Catholic losses in several countries, especially in Europe and Latin America continue to be severe with Latin America losing 400 Catholics per hour!

A large percentage of Catholic losses have been to Pentecostalism and often enough these “converted Catholic” Pentecostals consider it their mission to “save” their brothers and sisters who remain in the Catholic Church.

Here in Trinidad and Tobago the situation is quite similar with the Catholic Church sustaining heavy losses, a total of 58,000 lost in just 20 years (1980 to 2000) and the trend is continuing.

While many of these have simply become lapsed, large numbers shift allegiance annually joining principally, the Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. Since the Pentecostals have presented the greatest challenge numerically, we shall restrict our discussion to them.

What accounts for the wildfire growth of Pentecostalism, and why are so many Catholics joining them? The essential reason for the success of Pentecostalism is the model of Church that it has chosen. Pentecostalism emerged when a group of Bible students in Topeka, Kansas studying under a Methodist/Holiness pastor, Charles Parham, set themselves to research the power behind the Early Church and, the sign of that power.

They discovered it was the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the accompanying gift of tongues. So, on January 1, 1901 at her request, Charles Parham laid hands on Agnes Ozman and specifically prayed for her to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. Note that she and all the other students, Parham included, would already have been baptised by water in the name of Jesus.

This was different, this was not just the baptism of regeneration (being “born again” as they term it), but a baptism for empowerment for ministry that they sought. Agnes was instantly filled with the Holy Spirit and began to “speak in tongues”. Thus was modern Pentecostalism born.

Soon after, the other Bible students and Parham himself, all received the Holy Spirit experience. This quickly led to the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles and Pentecostal revivals all over the world with droves of people flocking to the new churches.

For the early Church, Pentecost was its genesis with the accompanying reception of different tongues “as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). This was what Jesus had promised when He told the disciples, “not to leave Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). And, “in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit” (v 5).

As his final words to them before his ascension, Jesus said “But you will receive my power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Essentially, the Pentecostals of today have taken this promise and have run with it. They have grasped that the Church is to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and this empowerment is for the clergy and laity alike. They have modelled themselves after the

Early Catholic Church and have now received the same power, the power of the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal experience was replicated by the Apostles wherever they made converts.

We see this in Acts 8 with the conversion of the Samaritans by Philip and the invocation of the Holy Spirit by Peter and John; it is true for the household of Cornelius in Acts 10; and equally true for the disciples in Ephesus who were baptised by Paul and then prayed to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19).

It was also true in the case of Paul’s own conversion. Indeed, Ananias who prayed for Paul to regain his sight claimed that he was also sent by Jesus “that you may…be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17).

What is equally true is the fruit of this baptism in the Holy Spirit, that is, the zeal for evangelism. Immediately after being filled with the Spirit, Peter preaches powerfully to the crowd bewildered by the miracle of tongues.

And, his Jewish listeners, several of whom had participated in the condemnation of Jesus just weeks earlier, as Peter intimated, are “cut to the heart” with conviction of their sin and cry out “What must we do brothers?”(Acts 2:37). That very day 3,000 of them repent and are baptised in the name of Jesus. Amazing! What achieved so tremendous a conversion? The power of the Holy Spirit operative in the first Christians.

As we examine the Book of Acts, the same picture is apparent with believers going forth and evangelizing as they go. Nor was this restricted to the Apostles or even to the Jerusalem community.

In Acts 11 we see believers scattered by the persecution resulting from Stephen’s assassination spreading the Gospel of power to Jews in Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch and then Cypriots and Cyrenians evangelising even Gentiles in Antioch in Syria where the believers were first called Christians.

In a Pentecostal church all the members are expected to be both baptised in water and baptised in the Holy Spirit. This clearly was the model left for us by Jesus and the Early Church. Additionally, every member old enough, is expected to witness to in Christ both by word and by deed. This is emphasised in Pentecostal preaching, affirmed in their Bible studies and discussed and testified to in their prayer meetings.

Preaching itself is a major component of Pentecostal success with emphasis on the Word of God as life-giving, life-changing, instructional for daily living and the source of conversions. In the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6 the Apostles instituted the ministry of deacons to free themselves up to “devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).

The result proved phenomenal. “The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples inJerusalem increased greatly; even a large number of priests were becoming obedient to the faith” (v 7). In fact, the Scriptures in seeking to describe the growth of the Church simply says, “the word of God continued to spread and grow” (Acts 12:24 see also Acts 19:20).

By contrast, the Catholic Church places more emphasis on liturgy and the sacraments. Priestly training does not focus on biblical preaching. Nor are parishioners seriously exhorted to read scriptures on a daily basis. The opposite is true for Pentecostals who have a command of the Word of God often leaving Catholics bewildered or convicted after sharing the Word with them.

Unfortunately too, priestly study of the Bible has been subject to such “Biblical Criticism” that the result has been “Biblical Scepticism.” Scepticism never breeds faith, it only destroys it.

And while in the Charismatic Renewal the reading of Scripture is encouraged, the average charismatic is far less equipped in the knowledge of the Bible than the average Pentecostal.

Pentecostals, pastors and members alike are people of the Word whereas Catholics, clergy and laity, are far more people of the sacraments. Even for the Early Church, the “Word” preceded the sacraments.

Conversion came by the preaching of the word not by the celebration of the sacraments. The sacraments are celebrated after you have gathered the converted believers. A question of priority is involved here.

But, what was this “Word” that was preached by the Apostolic Church? What was the Gospel message? For Pentecostals, the Gospel is Jesus. He is The One sent by God to save us from sin.

They see all of humanity as lost without Jesus and in danger of perishing eternally in Hell.

This fires their evangelism and solidifies their conviction. Catholics however, even several Catholic priests, have no clear understanding of the gospel message. Religious tolerance and inter-religious dialogue thus replace evangelism. However, if faith in Jesus is optional, why did the Son of God die such a cruel death on the cross?

The truth is, as the first Pope declared so boldly before the Sanhedrin; “There is no salvation in anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to men by which we can be saved” (Acts 4:12). The documents of Vatican II, encyclicals by Pope Paul VI and John Paul II and the document Dominus Iesus are very clear in affirming this basic Christian truth.

Worship in a Pentecostal church is usually lively, Spirit-filled and primary, building faith to listen to the Word of God and stirring joyful praise in the congregation. By contrast, Catholic Masses and services commence with one entrance song, insufficient to accomplish the same effect.

At the end of a Pentecostal service the congregation is fired up to face the week ahead and anxious to evangelise. The Catholic however, has long forgotten what was preached and remains largely unmoved by Sunday’s Eucharist. He may believe all that transpired, but, it has little effect in carrying over to his daily living.

 For the former, Sunday Service is a powerful spiritual experience; for the latter it fulfilled an obligation. Little wonder too that hardly anyone in any Catholic Church evangelises and new membership rarely occurs. Even for the zealous Catholic, bringing a prospective “convert” to the average Sunday Mass is unlikely to prove inspiring.

A few other insights learnt and practised by Pentecostals from the model of the Early Catholic Church are: dependence on the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit in daily living and in ministry.

Many new ministries and overseas missions are started this way. Healing and signs and wonders, common to the Apostolic Church are expected and occur with frequency in Pentecostal circles.

This itself attracts a large following as it did in the days of Jesus. Fellowship grows in their circles and members, even new members, feel loved and cared for. No one is in a rush to depart after service, unlike the rapid exodus after Sunday Mass.

Mission abroad has become a major dimension of Pentecostalism obedient to Jesus’ command to preach the Gospel “to the ends of the earth.” Little wonder that their membership has so rapidly multiplied. Add to this their effective use of the Media to promote the Gospel.

Even many Catholics are more exposed to Pentecostal television and radio programmes than to Catholic instruction and worship. Our own people are being evangelized, not by us, but by the Pentecostals.

The lack of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life in the Catholic Church is a function of the lack of zeal and interest in the Church as a whole. Many programmes and projects have been undertaken to renew the faith.

Most of these have failed miserably. It is high time that our bishops and priests admit and take responsibility for our failure to ignite the faith of our own people, often boring them with uninspired, ill-prepared homilies at Mass. Our youth population especially keeps shrinking to the point of near extinction in several of our churches today.

Until we return to our own “Pentecostal” roots, by which the Church emerged, until we make the baptism in the Holy Spirit central to Catholic religious experience, until we submit as Church to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we shall continue to rapidly lose membership, lack vocations and have little zeal for evangelism.

Our Pentecostal brothers and sisters are blazing a trail all over the world following the model of the Early Catholic Church. Do we have the humility to learn from them and revisit our own “Pentecostal” roots and reclaim our own heritage? Must Catholic Churches close down globally as is happening in Europe and the US, before we take corrective action?

How many more thousands of Catholics must we lose even here in Trinidad and Tobago before the powers that be take note and earnestly seek to save the flock? Structural and administrative changes are no substitutes for the radical spiritual change needed. Let us face the real issues and revisit our Pentecostal Apostolic roots.