The global Pentecostal and Charismatic movement is well documented by both Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal authors. Books by individual authors like Allan Anderson’s An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge University Press, 2004) and William Kay’s Pentecostalism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2011) do a great service to readers wanting an academic global overview of the movement. Another helpful overview is Vinson Synan and Amos Yong’s four-volume edited series Global Renewal Christianity (Charisma House, 2016). Multiple-author books like Donald Miller, Kimon Sargeant, and Richard Flory’s Spirit and Power: The Growth and Global Impact of Pentecostalism (Oxford University Press, 2013) and Donald Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori’s ground-breaking Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (University of California Press, 2007) present many voices from around the world with deep descriptions of the movement. Meanwhile, books by Pentecostal authors like Vinson Synan’s The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Eerdmans, 1997) and Frank Macchia’s Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology (Zondervan Academic, 2006) have provided first-hand phenomenological, theological, and historical accounts. In addition, scholars have written many denominational histories of particular movements and traditions, such as Gedeon Freire de Alencar’s Matriz Pentecostal Brasileira: Assembleis de Deus, 1911–2011 (Editora Novos Diálogos, 2013), the history of the Assemblies of God in Brazil. The academic study of the movement has been strengthened by both methodological studies such as Allan Anderson, et. al., Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods (University of California, 2010) and reference works like Stanley M. Burgess, ed., Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity (Routledge, 2006), Stanley M. Burgess, ed., The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Zondervan, 2001) and the new online work edited by Michael Wilkinson, Brill Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism (Brill, 2020). In addition, continental and regional studies of Pentecostalism have been essential in understanding the global movement. These include Ogbu Kalu’s African Pentecostalism: An Introduction (Oxford, 2008), J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu’s African Charismatics: Current Developments within an Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana (Brill, 2005) and Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretations from an African Context (Wipf and Stock, 2013), Edward L. Cleary and Hannah W. Stewart-Gambino’s edited volume, Power, Politics, and Pentecostals in Latin America (Westview, 1997), and Allan Anderson and Edmund Tang’s edited volume Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia (Regnum, 2005). Dissertations, theses, books, and articles can now be found on numerous Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Independent Charismatic movements.
With this wealth of scholarship on global Pentecostalism, where does yet another global overview fit? This book outlines both the history and the research findings related to defining, categorizing, describing and counting Pentecostals.[1] Subjects covered include early attempts to count Pentecostals, the development of taxonomies of Pentecostal denominations, the extent to which Pentecostalism has impacted mainline denominations, and statistical estimates of Pentecostals and Charismatics by type, country, and region. Demographics on national, regional, and global Pentecostalism provide an essential backdrop to almost every kind of quantitative or qualitative study done on other aspects of Pentecostalism. Virtually every article and book on Pentecostalism makes some allusion to demographics.[2] As this book takes a demographic and social science perspective on the phenomena, all forms of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement are counted as part of the overall global renewal phenomenon.
There are at least five distinctives to this book.
While there are many ways to consider the movement as a whole, this book focuses on the commonality of the empowerment that comes with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
This book also is unique in that it provides is a series of profiles of individual Spirit-empowered denominations around the world, profiles that include brief histories, theologies, and contemporary controversies. It highlights some key social factors of the movement such as the role of women and the prosperity gospel. Perhaps its most unique feature is the inclusion of extensive statistics on the number of Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Independent Charismatics by country, region, continent, and globe. Our global taxonomy of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement sourced from the World Christian Database (Brill) offers statistical estimates for each of the groups. Scholars have had much difficulty ascertaining who is “in” and who is “out” of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. Who is a Pentecostal, really? And, perhaps, more important to this book, how can they best be counted? To answer this question, we divide the movement into three types. First, there are Denominational Pentecostals (Type 1) that include Classical Pentecostals (such as the Assemblies of God and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel) and Oneness Pentecostals (such as the United Pentecostal Church). These groups tend to emphasize speaking in tongues as initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, even when the practice is not universal. Second, there are Charismatics (Type 2) who are found in the mainline churches. These individuals have been baptized by the Spirit but remain Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, and others. They might speak in tongues but tend to focus more on other gifts of the Spirit. The language of “renewal movement” is common among these groups. Third, there are Independent Charismatics (Type 3). These are both brand new groups as well as denominations and networks that have broken off from Type 1 and Type 2 denominations. This represents a broad category that includes African Independent churches, Chinese house churches, and white-led denominations such as the Association of Vineyard Churches. They also might speak in tongues but emphasize power, healing, and miracles in the daily lives of their members.
One difficulty that has plagued all researchers and historians of Pentecostalism is what to call the overarching movement. Some have used “Pentecostalism” or “Global Pentecostalism,” while others have used “Charismatic.” Still others have used “Pentecostal and Charismatic” or “Pentecostal/Charismatic.” David Barrett originally used the lengthy phrase “the Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal of the Holy Spirit,” which he later shortened to “Renewal.” He coined the term “Renewalist” to refer to the wider movement. This book uses the terms “Pentecostal-Charismatic” and “Spirit-empowered Christians” as synonyms for the broadest interpretation of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movement worldwide. While these terms are not without difficulty (e.g., many non-Pentecostal Christians make equal claim of empowerment by the Spirit), it helps make this movement distinct from other traditions in world Christianity.
This taxonomy provides the framework for our estimate of 644 million Spirit-empowered Christians in 2020. This is about 26% of all Christians, expected to grow to one billion by 2050 (30% of all Christians). In 2020, Type 1 Pentecostals number about 124 million, Type 2 Charismatics about 268 million, and Type 3 Independent Charismatics 252 million. Each of these figures is based on denominational estimates in each country of the world. As such, the appendix table at the end of the book provides estimates for the three types separately and together for each country of the world.
This book builds on the research that has gone before, ranging from academic anthropologists to church leaders within the movement. Our hope is that this book will find its place among all of these efforts to describe one of the fastest-growing movements in global religions today.
