November 26, 2002
A UMNS Commentary
by the Rev. Bruce W. Robbins

A few years ago, at the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1998, a formal and ongoing Consultative Group was created for the first time between representatives of WCC member churches and Pentecostals from across the world. I readily accepted the invitation to be co-moderator for the dialogue. So far, it has been a fascinating and educational journey.

My interest and outreach to Pentecostals began a few years earlier. I remember an elevator conversation at a World Methodist Council meeting in 1991, shortly after I became general secretary of the United Methodist ecumenical office. A pastor from Texas, William Hinson, asked me, "How come the United Methodist Church is talking so much to churches declining in membership while ignoring its cousins who are growing so fast?"

It was true that most United Methodist contacts within the U.S. ecumenical movement took place with Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Disciples, Lutherans, etc. At the same time, our church largely ignored churches of the Holiness tradition (such as the Church of the Nazarene) and the Pentecostals. Why?

One good reason was that, especially in the United States, the Pentecostals were not interested in talking to us. They have been deeply suspicious of other traditions, especially the mainline denominations. And they have had a very good reason for suspicion! Most of the traditional churches, including the Methodists, had expelled or condemned the Pentecostal groups when those groups first began.

Numerous early Pentecostal leaders, such as Charles Parham and William J. Seymour, had emerged from Methodist tradition before initiating their own groups. One of the most famous beginnings was the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, led by Seymour. A small house became the scene for months of daily revival services similar in spirit to early Methodist camp meetings.

I have followed a steep learning curve to know more about Pentecostalism. I learned about the Pentecostal experience and testimony, named because of its foundation in the story of Pentecost in Acts 2. The "new" practices, such as speaking in tongues, healing, and charismatic praise, were frightening to others, especially to denominational onlookers. The fervor was disturbing to the strongly established and culturally dominant churches!

Also, the early American, Pentecostal communities were mixed racially, culturally and socially. And they spread like wildfire throughout the world. An early Pentecostal church in Latin America began within and separated from the Methodist Church in Chile.

Today, theologians and sociologists describe the Pentecostal movement as a new reformation transforming the life of the church worldwide. By sheer force of numbers, the movement can hardly be overestimated.

In early November, the WCC/Pentecostal dialogue team met in Seoul, Korea. There, we attended the largest church in the world (more than 750,000 members and still growing).

I went to the Yoido Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God), expecting a religious factory, but again my preconceptions were unworthy of the power of the Christian life. The eight huge services on Sunday were joined electronically by numerous satellite congregations and high-tech, Internet evangelism. At the heart of the hugeness was a "home cell" network that provided the methodical, covenant group model to neighborhoods and districts throughout the vast city of Seoul.

The Pentecostal churches in Korea and many other parts of the world have an ecumenical outreach far greater than most Pentecostal churches in the United States. They are interested in conversation and theological dialogue that can help the mission of the church.

In the United States, the ecumenical bridges to Pentecostalism have been largely built by individuals and scholars, such as the co-moderator of the dialogue, the Rev. Cecil M. Robeck Jr. (Assemblies of God), from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Surely, United Methodists can benefit from contacts with Pentecostals in local communities where it is possible. However, in many places, Pentecostals want nothing to do with United Methodists! They can be caught up in suspicion, misconception, and prejudicial attitudes towards other Christians.

If they learned about what we could hold in common – a powerful combination of personal piety and social holiness that is at the heart of the Methodist tradition – then they might remember the richness of the Wesleyan tradition and how much Wesleyans can give as well as receive in dialogue with Pentecostals.

If Pentecostals knew that the United Methodist Church is again strongly calling its members to read the Bible together, to open its doors to seekers, and to address the challenges that face the world and its people, then new relationships might form. Pentecostals and United Methodists might be more able to risk the first steps of fellowship in any place where they live together in community.

I have discovered that it is a risk well worth taking.

United Methodist News Service

Bruce Robbins is top staff executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns in New York.