It is useful to divide the Spirit-empowered movement into three kinds or types for the purpose of understanding the diverse global phenomenon of Pentecostalism. First are denominational (or Classical) Pentecostals (Type 1), organized into denominations in the early part of the 20th century. Second are Charismatics, individuals in the mainline denominations primarily after the mid-20th century (Type 2). Third are Independent Charismatics, those who broke free of denominational Pentecostalism or mainline denominations to form their own networks (Type 3).
Table 1 is a quantitative summary of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement in its global context, from 1900 to projections for 2050.[1] Over the period 1900–2020, Spirit-empowered Christianity grew at over four times the growth rate of both Christianity and the world’s population. From 2020–2050, it is expected to grow twice as fast as both. In 2020, Spirit-empowered Christians make up over one quarter of all Christians, and by 2050 this is expected to grow beyond 30%. While Charismatics (Type 2) were the fastest growing of the types from 1900 to 2020, Independent Charismatics (Type 3) are expected to grow the fastest from 2020–2050, with Pentecostals (Type 1) next fastest, likely because of potential growth of the Assemblies of God around the world. In 2020, the largest of the three types are Charismatics (Type 2) at 268 million — due to the very large Catholic Charismatic movement — but Independent Charismatics (Type 3), many of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa, are not far behind at 252 million. Spirit-empowered Christians are most numerous in Africa in 2020, with Latin America following. Spirit-empowered Christians grew fastest in Asia and Oceania over the period 1900–2020, but Africa will likely grow the fastest from 2020–2050.
| 1900 | Rate % p.a.* 1900–2020 |
2020 | Rate % p.a.* 2020–2050 |
2050 | ||||
| Global population | 1,619,625,00 | 1.32 | 7,795,482,000 | 0.76 | 9,771,823,000 | |||
| Global Christianity | 558,346,000 | 1.26 | 2,518,834,000 | 1.03 | 3,421,107,000 | |||
| Spirit-empowered Christians | 981,400 | 5.55 | 644,260,000 | 1.58 | 1,031,500,000 | |||
| as % of global Christianity | 0.2% | 25.6% | 0.55 | 30.2% | ||||
| Pentecostals (Type 1) | 20,000 | 7.55 | 123,687,000 | 1.68 | 203,681,000 | |||
| Classical Pentecostals | 20,000 | 7.51 | 118,865,000 | 1.57 | 189,907,000 | |||
| Oneness Pentecostals | 0 | 9.40 | 4,822,000 | 3.56 | 13,774,000 | |||
| Charismatics (Type 2) | 12,000 | 8.70 | 268,288,000 | 1.28 | 393,183,000 | |||
| Catholic Charismatics | 10,000 | 8.58 | 195,475,000 | 0.93 | 257,800,000 | |||
| Protestant Charismatics | 2,000 | 9.08 | 68,000,000 | 2.16 | 128,919,000 | |||
| Orthodox Charismatics | 0 | 9.40 | 4,813,000 | 0.99 | 6,464,000 | |||
| Independent Charismatics (Type 3) | 949,400 | 4.76 | 252,285,000 | 1.83 | 434,636,000 | |||
| Apostolic | 24,000 | 6.25 | 34,841,000 | 1.87 | 60,656,000 | |||
| Charismatic (former Type 2) | 12,000 | 6.99 | 39,729,000 | 2.65 | 86,991,000 | |||
| Deliveranced | 0 | 6.98 | 330,000 | 1.46 | 510,000 | |||
| Full Gospel | 12,000 | 5.37 | 6,390,000 | 2.23 | 12,379,000 | |||
| Hidden non-Christian Believers in Christ |
1,000 | 7.19 | 4,139,000 | 2.34 | 8,283,000 | |||
| Media believers | 0 | 8.19 | 1,273,000 | 2.11 | 2,384,000 | |||
| Non-traditional, house, cell | 4,000 | 7.62 | 26,980,000 | 0.52 | 31,500,000 | |||
| Oneness | 25,000 | 5.42 | 14,070,000 | 1.83 | 24,250,000 | |||
| Pentecostal (former Type 1) | 863,400 | 3.70 | 67,765,000 | 2.18 | 129,380,000 | |||
| Word of Faith | 0 | 8.23 | 1,328,000 | 1.64 | 2,164,000 | |||
| Zion | 8,000 | 5.95 | 8,230,000 | 1.01 | 11,123,000 | |||
| Others non-Charismatic networks |
0 | 11.50 | 47,210,000 | 1.07 | 65,015,000 | |||
| Spirit-empowered Christians by Continent | ||||||||
| Africa | 901,000 | 4.73 | 230,220,000 | 2.26 | 450,689,000 | |||
| Asia | 4,300 | 8.94 | 125,395,000 | 1.81 | 214,497,000 | |||
| Europe | 20,000 | 5.97 | 21,116,000 | 0.88 | 27,436,000 | |||
| Latin America | 10,000 | 8.58 | 195,222,000 | 0.74 | 243,225,000 | |||
| Northern America | 46,100 | 6.27 | 67,771,000 | 0.91 | 89,025,000 | |||
| Oceania | 0 | 9.35 | 4,536,000 | 1.27 | 6,627,000 | |||
|
*per annum Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019). |
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In 1900, the three largest Spirit-empowered populations were in South Africa, Nigeria, and the United States (see table 2 below). South Africa contained a much higher concentration of Pentecostal Christians than any other country (16.4%, see table 3 below) due to the growing presence of indigenous African movements, Pentecostal with little or no connection to the West, in the early 20th century. In 2020, the countries with the most Spirit-Empowered Christians are Brazil, the United States, and Nigeria. Wherever Christianity reached during the 20th century, to a large extent the renewal did as well.
| Country | Pentecostal and Charismatics 1900 |
Country | Pentecostal and Charismatics 2020 |
||
| South Africa | 805,000 | Brazil | 108,000,000 | ||
| Nigeria | 96,000 | United States | 65,000,000 | ||
| United States | 46,100 | Nigeria | 60,000,000 | ||
| Germany | 20,000 | Philippines | 38,000,000 | ||
| Trinidad & Tobago | 10,000 | China | 37,000,000 | ||
| China | 2,000 | DR Congo | 28,000,000 | ||
| India | 1,800 | South Africa | 27,700,000 | ||
| South Korea | 500 | India | 21,000,000 | ||
| Mexico | 17,450,000 | ||||
| Kenya | 17,300,000 | ||||
|
Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019). |
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Across the 20th century, countries where large populations held to animistic and spiritist traditions gradually embraced Christianity. In many of these countries, Spirit-empowered Christianity has also grown. One example of this is sub-Saharan Africa, which moved largely from ethnic religions (African traditional religions) to Christianity (and particularly, Pentecostal or Charismatic churches) in the 20th century. Today, countries with the highest percentages of Spirit-empowered Christians are found in the Global South (Asia, Africa, Latin America), with a preponderance of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South America (table 3).
| Country | % 1900 | Country | % 2020 |
| South Africa | 16.4 | Zimbabwe | 52.3 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 3.6 | Brazil | 50.5 |
| Nigeria | 0.6 | Guatemala | 50.1 |
| United States | 0.1 | South Africa | 47.2 |
| Germany | 0.0 | Puerto Rico | 45.2 |
| South Korea | 0.0 | Eswatini | 41.3 |
| India | 0.0 | Vanuatu | 37.4 |
| China | 0.0 | Ghana | 37.4 |
| Russia | 0.0 | Chile | 35.2 |
| Japan | 0.0 | Philippines | 34.6 |
|
(Limited to countries with over 100,000 population) Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019). |
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Considering the Pentecostal and Charismatic renewal from the standpoint of where Spirit-empowered Christians are currently growing the fastest, then the leading countries in the world are those in which Christianity is relatively new, such as Bhutan and Cambodia or countries like Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, where migration has brought Christians in from other countries (table 4). The fastest growth rates over the 120-year period (1900–2020) reveal those countries that now have some of the largest Spirit-empowered populations, such as Brazil, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many regions saw up to 12–14% annual growth rates where both Protestant and Catholic Christians — as well as people from other religions — embraced this form of Christianity. This huge influx of adherents comes from a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds.
| Country | 1900–2020* | Country | 2000–2020* | |
| Brazil | 14.45 | Qatar | 8.96 | |
| Philippines | 13.46 | Bhutan | 7.22 | |
| DR Congo | 13.17 | Iran | 7.05 | |
| Mexico | 12.72 | United Arab Emirates | 5.5 | |
| Colombia | 12.72 | Cambodia | 5.34 | |
| Kenya | 12.66 | Kuwait | 5.15 | |
| Indonesia | 12.52 | Burkina Faso | 4.88 | |
| Argentina | 12.33 | Algeria | 4.8 | |
| Ghana | 12.29 | Saudi Arabia | 4.44 | |
| Zimbabwe | 12.20 | Oman | 4.28 | |
|
* average annual growth rate, percent per year, between dates specified. (Limited to countries with over 100,000 population) Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019). |
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The demographics of Spirit-empowered Christianity are best understood by its constituent parts, namely, the three types: Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Independent Charismatics. These tables show the results of adding up specific estimates related to Christian denominations that are categorized by each of the three types. Tables 5–7 show, for each of these types, the countries with the highest populations of Spirit-empowered Christians, the highest percentages of Spirit-empowered Christians in the overall population, and the highest percentages of Spirit-empowered Christians among all Christians. Thus one finds that while all Spirit-empowered Christians are numerous in China, Brazil, and the United States (table 2), Brazil has by far the most Pentecostals (table 5) and Charismatics (table 6), with the latter the largest bloc of Spirit-empowered Christians in the country. In contrast, Independent Charismatics are most numerous in China and the United States (table 7), both in absolute terms and as percentages of Spirit-empowered Christians in those countries.
Pentecostals are defined as Christians who are members of the explicitly Pentecostal denominations whose major characteristic is a new experience of the energizing ministry of the Holy Spirit that most other Christians have considered to be highly unusual. This is interpreted as a rediscovery of the spiritual gifts of New Testament times and their restoration to ordinary Christian life and ministry. Classical Pentecostalism usually is held to have begun in the United States in 1901.[2] For a brief period, Pentecostalism expected to remain an interdenominational movement within the existing churches, but from 1909 onward, its members increasingly were ejected from mainline bodies and forced to begin new organized denominations.[3]
Pentecostal denominations hold the distinctive teachings that all Christians should seek a post-conversion religious experience called “baptism in the Holy Spirit” and that a Spirit-baptized believer may receive one or more of the supernatural gifts known in the Early Church: the ability to prophesy; to practice divine healing through prayer; to speak (glossolalia), interpret, or sing in tongues; to sing in the Spirit, dance in the Spirit, pray with upraised hands; to receive dreams, visions, words of wisdom, words of knowledge; to discern spirits; to perform miracles, power encounters, exorcisms (casting out demons), esuscitations, deliverances, or other signs and wonders.
From 1906 onward, the hallmark of explicitly Pentecostal denominations, by comparison with Holiness/Perfectionist denominations, has been the single addition of speaking with other tongues as the “initial evidence” of one’s having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, whether or not one subsequently experiences regularly the gift of tongues.[5] Most Pentecostal denominations teach that tongues-speaking is mandatory for all members, but in reality not all members practice this gift, either initially or as an ongoing experience.[6] Pentecostals are defined here as all associated with Pentecostal denominations that identify themselves in explicitly Pentecostal terms or with other denominations that as a whole are phenomenologically Pentecostal in teaching and practice.
Countries with the largest numbers of Pentecostals are Brazil, Nigeria, and the United States (table 5). Pentecostals in the Marshall Islands (population 53,000) constitute both the highest percentage of all Christians (69.9%) and of the population of the country (66.0%). Pentecostal denominations depend heavily on foreign missions and church planting as means of growth. Pentecostals make up a high percentage of all Christians in Cambodia because Pentecostal denominations have had success in planting churches.
| Highest population 2020 | Highest of country percentage | Highest percentage of Christians | ||||||
| Country | Adherents | Country | % of country | Country | % of Christians | |||
| Brazil | 24,581,000 | Marshall Islands | 66.0 | Marshall Islands | 69.9 | |||
| Nigeria | 16,708,000 | Vanuatu | 28.8 | Cambodia | 42.1 | |||
| United States | 7,691,000 | Dominica | 24.9 | Burkina Faso | 31.2 | |||
| Indonesia | 5,425,000 | Am. Samoa | 22.4 | Vanuatu | 30.8 | |||
| Ghana | 5,078,000 | Ghana | 16.5 | Mauritius | 30.6 | |||
| Kenya | 4,717,000 | Zimbabwe | 15.4 | Dominica | 26.3 | |||
| Angola | 4,709,000 | Papua New Guinea | 15.2 | South Korea | 23.2 | |||
| South Korea | 4,006,000 | Barbados | 15.1 | American Samoa | 22.9 | |||
| DR Congo | 3,782,000 | Angola | 14.3 | Ghana | 22.7 | |||
| South Africa | 2,767,000 | Nicaragua | 13.8 | Liberia | 20.9 | |||
|
Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019). |
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Classical Pentecostals trace their origins to the early 20th century in the United States.[7] Originally called “pentecostals,” the adjective “classical” was added in the 1960s to distinguish them from Pentecostals in the mainline Protestant denominations and in the Roman Catholic Church, who were later called “charismatics.” Classical Pentecostals are rooted in the Holiness movement of the late 19th century because the latter emphasized a second blessing (sanctification) that was separate from conversion. This paved the way for a third blessing (baptism of the Holy Spirit) which was later conflated with second blessing in many of the newly formed Pentecostal denominations.
Most Classical Pentecostals date their movement to January 1, 1901, when a 30-year-old female student of Charles F. Parham, Agnes Ozman, spoke in tongues (Chinese, by some accounts) at the Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Parham, as headmaster of the school, was largely responsible for the “initial evidence” doctrine later adopted by most Classical Pentecostal denominations. The real boost to the movement came five years later in April 1906, when a revival broke out in Los Angeles on Azusa Street. One of the key leaders was William J. Seymour, a black Holiness preacher from Texas and former student of Parham’s in Kansas. The movement spread because many people visited the site to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In addition, the mission’s newspaper, The Apostolic Faith, had a wide circulation. Most of the followers were poor and the movement in Los Angeles was noted for crossing racial boundaries between whites, blacks, and latino/as. Some of the early Pentecostal denominations were birthed directly out of the Holiness movement, including the Pentecostal Holiness Church, the Church of God (Cleveland), and the Church of God in Christ.
The largest denomination to emerge in this period was the Assemblies of God, founded by E.N. Bell in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, by a group composed mostly of southern Pentecostal ministers.[8] The denomination, suspicious of formal organization, had no constitution or doctrinal statement. It was a loose affiliation of many leaders who had encountered Pentecostalism in the various places it was growing around the United States. In 1916, the young denomination was torn by division by those who held a modalistic, non-Trinitarian view of the Godhead and insisted on baptism in the name of “Jesus only.” These churches eventually left to form Oneness Pentecostal groups. By 1918, the young denomination had coalesced around a robust view of the Trinity, baptism of the Spirit as the second blessing (with sanctification), and speaking in tongues as initial evidence of the baptism. Despite black leadership in the broader Pentecostal movement, the Assemblies of God was a largely white denomination. Other denominations from this period include the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, the Pentecostal Church of God, and the Open Bible Standard churches.
Classical Pentecostals sent missionaries all over the world from its earliest days, but growth of the various denominations was slow in the United States before World War II. After this, evangelistic and healing crusades held by Oral Roberts, Tommy Hicks, and Jack Coe brought thousands into the churches. In addition, Roberts began a very popular and influential television ministry in 1953.
Pentecostal relations with other churches improved in the post-World War II period with the admittance of Pentecostal churches into the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in 1942. In 1948, Pentecostals formed the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (PFNA) but it excluded blacks and Oneness Pentecostals. It was disbanded in 1994, and a more racially diverse Pentecostal and Charismatic Church of North America (PCCNA) formed in its place.
In 1910, at William Durham’s church in Chicago, two Swedish Baptist missionaries, Daniel Berg and Gunnar Vingren, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Having sensed a divine call to mission, the two men went to Belém, the capital of Pará state, in Brazil. Despite encountering resistance, their meager finances aided only their connection with the local people.[9] As a result of their evangelism, Celina de Albuquerque was considered the first person on Brazilian soil to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. After leaving the Baptist church that sheltered them in Brazil, Berg and Vingren founded the Apostolic Faith Mission on June 18, 1911, which eventually became known as Assembleias de Deus (Assemblies of God) in 1918. Despite the similar names, the organization initially rejected North American missionaries, forging its independence from the American Assemblies of God. It is worth noting that despite the Swedish missionaries’ time in the United States, they did not bring any direct denominational links to bear on the Brazilian organization.[10] The group began ordaining indigenous pastors in 1921; it transferred leadership to Brazilian pastors in 1930, and the General Convention of the Assemblies of God (CGADB) was founded. Over time, the church increasingly represented Christian interests before governmental authorities as well as to all segments of society. The CGADB became a legal entity in 1946. This decision set a precedent for future church-state-society relations concerning political involvement.
In the early decades of the church, the Assemblies of God in Brazil was resistant to formal theological education, a sentiment shared by its Pentecostal brethren in North America. However, given the growing resources, the church was able to establish its own formal institution of theological education — the Instituto Bíblico das Assembleias de Deus (IBAD) in 1958.[11] In 2011, the church celebrated its 100th anniversary that attracted nearly 30,000 people to Pacaembu Municipal Stadium in São Paulo.
In August 2017, Rev. Jose Wellington Costa, Jr., became the latest general superintendent of the General Convention of the Assemblies of God in Brazil. His vision for the future of the denomination included evangelization, material and spiritual assistance for the poor, and more churches built throughout the country with an emphasis on Bible-based preaching and social involvement.[12] The Assemblies of God is both Brazil’s largest Evangelical and Pentecostal denomination with 20 million affiliated in 2020.[13]
The Assemblies of God (AG) in Mexico traces its main origins back to the work of Henry C. Ball in south Texas in 1915, although the work in Mexico did not begin in earnest until 1917. That year Alice E. Luce and Sunshine Marshall (who later married H.C. Ball) went to Monterrey, Mexico, as AG missionaries. After three months of door-to-door proselytizing, preaching in prisons, and holding services in their home, the Mexican Revolution forced them to return to the United States. Upon their return to south Texas, they began helping H.C. Ball, who had already converted and sent out a number of Mexican nationals to Mexico as evangelists with the aid of the denomination sending funds to help support the training.
Key pioneers of the Mexican work include H.C. Ball, Miguel Guillén, Anna Sanders, George and Francisca Blaisdell, Rodolfo Orozco, David Ruesga, Cesáreo Buciaga, Modesto Escobedo, Ruben Arevalo, Manuel Bustamante, and Juan Orozco. David and Raquel Ruesga and Anna Sanders pioneered the work in Mexico City in 1921. A year later, Rodolfo C. Orozco traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, where he set up one of the first permanent AG churches in that country.
The AG in Mexico held its first national convention in 1926. In order to prepare native Mexican evangelists, pastors, and teachers, the AG opened a Bible institute in Mexico City in 1928. A few years later, in 1933, the AG in Mexico began printing the periodical Gavillas Doradas (Golden Sheaves). The Mexican work, which was under the supervision of the Latin District Council of the AG in the U.S., severed its formal ties with the U.S. church in 1929. Shortly after the Mexican work became autonomous, it experienced a schism led by David Ruesga, who founded the Church of God in the Republic of Mexico (Iglesia de Dios en la República Mexicana) in 1931. Despite this early schism, the AG in Mexico witnessed rapid growth. By 1935, there were approximately 31 congregations and 2,800 adherents in Mexico. During the 1950s, the AG in Mexico held large evangelistic campaigns throughout the country. By 1963, there were five Bible institutes, 647 ministers, 11 foreign missionaries, and approximately 13,500 adherents. In 1972, Gordon and Marilyn Maker opened the national office of the International Correspondence Institute (ICI) in Mexico City. By 1990, over a million people throughout Latin America had studied with ICI, and the work in Mexico had blossomed to an estimated 5,000 congregations and more than 550,000 adherents and 3,280 ministers and lay leaders.[14]
Throughout the 20th century, the AG in Mexico has worked closely with AG missionaries from the United States. Their cooperation is partly responsible for the rapid growth of the AG in Mexico in the latter half of the century, and the early willingness to engage with Mexican refugees has reciprocally affected the makeup of the AG in the United States, where 20% of AG congregations were Hispanic by 2017. By that same year, the AG in Mexico had grown to an estimated 7,000 congregations, 7,000 licensed ministers, operating over 48 seminaries and with over one million affiliated.[15] The AG in Mexico is the largest and one of the most efficiently organized indigenous Pentecostal denominations in Mexico today.
The Assembleias de Deus Africanas (ADA) is a Pentecostal denomination of Mozambique that operates under the umbrella of Forward in Faith Ministries International (FIFMI), also known as ZAOGA (Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa) in southern Africa. It was established through the work of Ezekiel Guti, who had already begun establishing ZAOGA in Zimbabwe and began to expand into Beira in 1969. Having grouped together a small nucleus of evangelists, he returned to Zimbabwe and sent the now-Archbishop Mateus Luis Simão, a convert of his, to Mozambique later that year. Beginning in Beira, the church expanded into the Caia province in 1971, and four years later Ezekiel Guti returned to ordain 16 pastors and form the executive committee consisting of a president/archbishop (Simão), vice president, and two other members. In 1978, the ADA bought land to build a Bible school in Beira and a second in Nampula in 1994, after the 16-year civil war that followed Mozambique’s independence from Portugal in 1975. The church now has congregations in several provinces of Mozambique, operated under the leadership of regional bishops (seven as of 2016) and is responsible for the missionary work of FIFMI in all Portuguese-speaking countries, with congregations claimed in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor.[16]
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) is the largest evangelical church in the country. It reports over 234,000 adherents and over 1,000 member congregations throughout Canada, with another 1.2 million adherents around the world. The PAOC is theologically evangelical and Pentecostal, emphasizing the baptism with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada was formed in 1919 and joined the Assemblies of God in 1920. As the Assemblies of God was a Trinitarian fellowship, the PAOC was required to repudiate its Oneness doctrine. This caused a split with the creation of the Apostolic Church of Pentecost in 1921. In the 1925, the union with the Assemblies of God was dissolved and PAOC became a truly Canadian entity.
Several bodies of the Assemblies of God World Fellowship are represented in the Pacific and Asia. The Assemblies of God of India was formed in 1995 from three regional churches (south, north and east Indian Assemblies of God) and by 2015 represented 8,500 churches. Dr. David Mohan of New Life Assemblies of God in Chennai leads a congregation of approximately 40,000. India also contains the oldest AG institution for ministerial training outside of the United States, the Bethel Bible College in Punalur. The Japan Assemblies of God claims approximately 260 churches and was founded in the late 1920s by Carl F. Jeurgensen and his family. The Assemblies of God in New Zealand was formed in 1927 and claims over 230 member churches. It owes its existence to the revival meetings of Smith Wigglesworth between 1922 and 1927. In the Philippines, the General Council of the AG was formed as an independent council in 1953, after having existing under the AG USA beginning in 1940, and today it claims more than 15,000 churches.[17]
In Samoa, the AG are represented by the Samoa AG, a united umbrella for churches in American Samoa and Samoa proper. It consists of approximately 300 churches, confined not only to the islands but also ethnically Samoan congregations in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. In Taiwan two main AG denominations exist, the oldest, China Assemblies of God Taiwan (CAG) originating from a mission birthed out of China AG in 1948. The other is the Assemblies of God of Korea Yoido General Council, which planted the Taiwan Full Gospel Church. The AG work in Vietnam was officially recognized by its government in 2009 even though its first general council had been decades prior, in 1989, and its roots go back to missionary Don Warren and his family in the 1970s. In 2015, there were approximately 420 churches and 27,000 members.[18] In Indonesia, the first AG missionary was Kenneth Short, who arrived in Kalimantan in 1936. Its first general council was held in January 1951, and its growth can largely be attributed to its intensive focus on theological education. There were approximately 3,000 congregations and 300,000 members in 2015.[19]
The Australian Christian Churches (ACC) is the Australian arm of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, incorporated in 1937 as the Assemblies of God in Australia by the merger of Assemblies of God Queensland and the Pentecostal Church of Australia. The former had been established in July 1929 by splitting from the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) of Australasia (itself named after the Azusa Street AFM, but not institutionally affiliated), and the latter in 1925, through the evangelization efforts of A.C. Valdez and Charles Greenwood during the Sunshine Revival in Melbourne.
It was not until the 1948 formation of its Alphacrucis, the ACC’s official training college for ministers, that the ACC experienced dramatic growth. Between 1951 and 1969, the number of congregations doubled from 50 to approximately 100, and the number of affiliates grew from 1,250 in 1945 to 12,000 in 1970. Over the next 20 years, under increasing influence of the Charismatic movement and Andrew Evans’ tenure as denominational president, the ACC grew to 160,000 members by 2000. Through the close of the 20th and into the 21st century, the ACC continued to expand and saw the creation of multiple megachurches that have exerted a global impact on Pentecostalism. As of 2015, the ACC claimed over 1,000 churches and 315,000 affiliated.
The ACC is led by a national executive board composed of three officers and six members. Members are elected biennially at the National Conference by voting members of the denomination (all its ordained ministers) and officers likewise, with the difference that they serve four-year terms. A state conference and executive manage the affairs of congregations in their corresponding region — excepting ordination or matters considered to be of national concern — and with the board exercising discretionary control to intervene when considered necessary. This leadership structure is a relatively recent departure from its historical structure, which would be better characterized as a democratic, congregationally organized national fellowship more typical of Pentecostalism. Indeed, decentralization and the increasing emphasis on pastoral leadership of congregations were significant factors in the growth of the ACC over the course of the late 20th century. However, the emergence of megachurches and their prominent role (all the board members are current or formerly in leadership at one such church) has led to an increasingly centralized control of capital, mission, and strategy via the board. This is exemplified in the voting structure of the National Conference, where each congregation is entitled to send one representative for every 250 adults (thereby giving greater weight to those congregations with greater attendance) as well as holding exclusive control of the board over the National Conference agenda.
Various national ministries are coordinated through the board and state executives throughout Australia, as well as an international missions and relief organization: ACCI Missions and Relief. While the ACC has largely remained in-step doctrinally with its AG roots, it has undergone the by now widespread de-emphasis on the speaking of tongues as the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, dispensationalist and imminent eschatology, and lifestyle of simplicity. A counter-emphasis, also resulting from the changing demographic impact of the board, is the espousement of “a theology of flourishing,” which some have equated to an altered form of the prosperity gospel.
Given the continued fulfillment of projections made in 2001 concerning the overall decline in Christian identification in Australia from approximately 68%, to 61% in 2011, the ACC has reported a remarkable countertrend in its own growth from approximately 180,000 constituents in 2005 to 315,000 in 2015.[20] The National Church Life Survey in Australia indicated a large portion of this growth is likely linked to absorption of Christians from other denominations.[21]
A Pentecostal megachurch in Sydney, Hillsong was founded in 1983 by Brian Houston, the son of Frank Houston, as part of the Assemblies of God Australia (now called Australian Christian Churches).[22] In 2001 Brian Houston merged his church, Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills, with his father’s church, Sydney Christian Life Centre, upon his father’s retirement to found Hillsong Church in Brisbane. In 1997, Brian Houston was appointed the General Superintendent of the AG, changing the name of the office to President.[23]
Brian Houston and Hillsong Church have been at the forefront of the centralization and remaking of the AG Australia into the Australian Christian Churches (still in affiliation with the World AG Fellowship) and a remaking of Pentecostalism. They have de-emphasized the premillennial eschatology of the AG, while promoting a modified form of the prosperity gospel that is geared toward an aspirational and individualistic ethos, with a faith that can be rewarded by material gain.[24] It is noteworthy that Hillsong has moved toward significant social and political involvement in Australia, with welfare ministries and the Prime Minister opening the 2019 Hillsong conference in prayer. Hillsong has also become involved in ecumenical causes such as the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders Against Modern Slavery. Hillsong’s influence has penetrated the Pentecostal world at large via its worship album sales; “Music and Resources” represented 13% of the church’s $110 million revenue in 2017.[25]
As Clifton has noted, this expansion is part-and-parcel of Hillsong’s leadership model, sometimes called the “Apostolic Revolution,” which is more centralized and less congregational than the historical AG. This shift to a leadership dominated by a few individuals has not gone without criticism from other AG affiliates, who cite significant disagreement over a doctrinal basis for such leadership. Nonetheless, this centralization has propelled a cyclical growth whereby the weekly ingestion of six-figure giving from members is quickly churned into ministry activities and global church plants that thereby become avenues for additional resources.
Since Hillsong Church has no formal membership, its remarkable growth has been enigmatic with respect to documentation and its appearance on the Australian landscape was behind the scenes as the general religious affiliation of Australia continued to decline as a whole. Its beginnings with the elder Houston were certainly humble, yet within a few years they numbered in the thousands, with Brian Houston’s church following a similar trajectory. Its international presence includes a church established in Paris in 2005, Moscow, and Cape Town in 2008, New York City in 2010, Germany in 2011, Spain in 2013, and Buenos Aires in 2015, all of which fall under Brian Houston’s executive leadership. In 2015, the church claimed 35,675 total attendees across its 26 locations in Australia.
The Congregazioni Cristiane Pentecostali (CCP) emerged from a minority of churches that, though present at the 1947 conference where the Assemblies of God in Italy was founded, retained an independent, congregational structure. While for most of the 20th century they rejected the formation of a state-recognized church entity, they did choose to form a state-recognized association that was recognized in 2005. This formalization seems to have been prompted both by the success of other Pentecostal groups of Congregationalist polity, particularly Giacomo Loggia, national coordinator of La Chiesa Cristiana Pentecostale Italiana. The CCP had approximately 59 congregations and 17,800 affiliated in 2015.[26]
The largest Pentecostal church in Indonesia is Gereja Bethel Indonesia (GBI, or Bethel Church in Indonesia), with a membership that exceeded 4.1 million in 2015.[27] Founded by Ho Lukas Senduk in 1970, GBI emerged from a merger between the Senduk-led Gereja Bethel Injil Sepenuh (GBIS, or Full Gospel Bethel Church) and the Church of God (Cleveland). GBIS had fractured from the larger Gereja Pentekosta di Indonesia (GPdI), which was originally established by missionaries (the Groesbecks and Van Klaverans) from Seattle, Washington. Bethel Temple was the first Pentecostal church in Seattle and the largest independent Pentecostal church in the United States Pacific Northwest.[28] The merger was not without controversy: Senduk faced criticism for his alliance with the Church of God (Cleveland), with some concerns that it would reassert foreign leadership, especially for a church that had incorporated its own indigenous leaders. Three different megachurches were established after a series of schisms: Mawar Sharon Church, Bethany Church of God, and Tiberias Church. Each has a strong presence in Indonesia and are all found abroad as well.
The growth of the GBI is representative of the popularity of Pentecostalism in Indonesia. Historically, the growth of the church at-large dovetailed with the general rapid growth in Indonesia following its independence immediately after World War II. In addition, with the departure of missionaries during the war, many indigenous leaders had assumed vacant leadership positions within the church. Pentecostalism demonstrates a flexibility with indigenous cultures; its array of expressions, its emphasis on spiritual experience, and its incorporation of the supernatural are just some elements of how it has provided Indonesians a relevant and attractive mode of religion in their rapidly modernizing contexts.
Native elements within Indonesian culture have also contributed to Pentecostalism’s growth: Anthropologist O.L. Wolters points to a Hindu bhakti devotion, for example, which promotes an egalitarian spiritual power that can be taught and achieved. However, GBI generally adheres to a fundamentalist theology marked by Pentecostal and Charismatic practices that often complement the prosperity gospel and its goal of material blessings. The demographic of the church draws from urban settings and typically skews toward young adults. The church is mostly composed of Chinese Indonesians, which is reflective of its history as a haven for ethnic Chinese Indonesians who fled to the church for the egalitarian nature of its Pentecostalism and to identify with a global citizenship as the Church of God.[29]
The history of the Church of God of Prophecy (CGP) dovetails with that of the Church of God (Cleveland). Over the years the relationship between the two groups have witnessed tension; however, today there exists a growing collaboration. The CGP identifies with the modus operandi of early Pentecostals, sharing an “intensity of faith, sincerity, devoutness, commitment, praxis, and humility.”[30] In 1923, the CGP first developed its own identity under the leadership of A.J. Tomlinson, a Pentecostal preacher who led the church as general overseer. The church ventured into formal missionary efforts in 1938, with an ethnically diverse staff of field secretaries headed by a general secretary. In 1944, A.J. Tomlinson’s son, Milton, succeeded his father as leader of the church. In 1952, the church adopted the name, Church of God of Prophecy.
The CGP is noted for its emphasis on worship experience and revivals. The church adopts the Pentecostal doctrine of a Spirit baptism with spoken tongues as the initial evidence. In terms of ecclesiology, the church posits a history of Christ founding the church on Mount Hattin (interpreting Mark 3:13ff), which had been interrupted before being revived in 1903. Despite such an exclusive epistemology, the church is known for its racially mixed congregations and for its historical stance against Jim Crow laws in their worship services and opposition to the Ku Klux Klan. The unique pedigree to which it subscribes has also led to the church retaining a Pentecostal identity; its refusal to join certain ecumenical bodies has kept it from being influenced by other Evangelical and Charismatic trends over time.
Given this history, the CGP still preserves a conservative posture toward culture, including abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and such ornamentation that leads to “idolatrous, occult, or lustful practices.”[31] The CGP has also recently struggled with its stance toward remarried divorcees, trying to remain faithful to a more fundamentalist reading of scripture while trying to attract new members in a modern society. Following a general assembly addressing the doctrine, the CGP has since softened its stance only in occasions where such persons were divorced and remarried “for any reason prior to their personal salvation and have demonstrated a willingness to seek restitution (forgiveness from the offended spouse) and restoration where possible”; due to a spouse’s “habitual adulterous behavior” with efforts to reconcile no longer possible; and if such divorce occurred “because of spousal or child abuse, such as incestuous behavior that seriously endangers the life and health of the spouse or family and violates the sanctity of holy matrimony.”[32] The CGP does not ordain women, but the church has “one of the highest percentages of female ministers who serve as pastors and state, national, and international leaders,”[33] with women having authority to administer ordinances. It is a worldwide movement with more than 1.5 million members and operates in all 50 states. However, there are now more members of the COGOP in South Africa (140,000) than in the United States (108,000).[34]
The Apostolic Church International traces its origins to Penygroes, South Wales, in 1915.[35] The founder of the church was Daniel Powell Williams, who later became the first president of the Apostolic Church Council. The church was founded on the belief that apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors should work together with the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit specified in 1 Corinthians 12:1–11. The UK church began to interact with existing Apostolic churches in Ghana in 1935 when Christian converts in Asamankese sought guidance from the main Apostolic Church (AC) and pastor George Perfect arrived to expand the church. The community later divided over differences in beliefs regarding medication and divine healing, with those who sided with the doctrine of divine healing breaking away in 1938 to form the Christ Apostolic Church. Other factions from the original Apostolic Church doctrine include the Divine Healers Church, the Apostolic Reformed Church, the New Covenant Apostolic Church, and the Church of Pentecost. Apostolics are now found worldwide in more than 30 denominations, with an emphasis on an intricate hierarchy of living apostles, prophets, and other charismatic officials. The vast majority of these churches are now in Africa. There are now approximately 1,800 AC churches in Ghana alone, and the church is also established in Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and the United States.[36] The church currently strives to provide education, health, and relief services to surrounding communities.
The origins of the Church of Pentecost (COP), is attributed to Peter N. Anim, who — though raised Presbyterian — embraced teachings of divine healing after he was healed from a chronic stomach disorder. He engaged in evangelistic ministries in Asamankese where revival broke out, complete with speaking in tongues. He became affiliated with the Apostolic Church in Nigeria and called for missionaries to come to Ghana. Irish missionaries James and Sophia McKeown arrived in the Gold Coast in 1937. McKeown had become a Pentecostal in 1919 via the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance.[37] He visited a European hospital after contracting malaria, which caused a division in the young church. McKeown became the head of the Apostolic Church of Gold Coast and Anim of the Christ Apostolic Church International.
Today, the Church of Pentecost places a heavy emphasis on planting indigenous churches, caring for Ghanaians abroad, and vibrant missionary outreach around the world.[38] The church recognizes the baptism of the Holy Spirit for all believers, complete with tongues as initial evidence, as well as healing (but not in opposition to medical practices). The Church of Pentecost has established healing camps around the country that intervene for good health, employment, children, and success in business, school, and other ventures.[39] Similar to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, most Christian growth in Ghana has been both indigenous and Pentecostal in nature.[40] Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are now the most prominent kind of Christianity in Ghana and have a deep missional focus.[41] The COP exists to “bring all people everywhere to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ through the proclamation of the gospel and the planting of churches.”[42]
Open Bible Standard Churches is an association of Pentecostal churches with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. There are more than 186,000 Open Bible members worldwide, and the movement traces its origins to two small Pentecostal groups from the Azusa Street Revival that merged in 1935. Both groups resisted authoritarian leadership and denominational ownership of church property. The Open Bible Evangelical Association began in 1932 when 32 ministers, led by John R. Richey, left the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. This separation came from the reluctance of the ministers to give ownership of local church property to the Foursquare Church denominational leadership.
Founded in 1948 in Japan by Ikuro Teshima, the Makuya movement focuses on grasping the inner truth of biblical religion and extols this existential love by embodying it and living accordingly. “Makuya” is the Japanese equivalent for the Hebrew word mishkan, which refers to the Holy Tabernacle; Makuyas seek to return to the Hebrew roots of Christianity. They are concerned both with individual salvation and the spiritual restoration of each nation and social group. Today, the Makuya movement has roughly 100 branches around the world, including in Japan, Israel, USA, Canada, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Indonesia.
Founded in 1911 in North Carolina, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church originated from a merger between the Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Fire-Baptized Holiness Association. In 2000, they reported over 1.7 million members and over 10,000 congregations worldwide. The group is heavily influenced by two American revival movements: the Holiness movement and the Pentecostal revival. The church’s theological roots derive from John Wesley’s teachings on sanctification.
Oneness Pentecostalism emerged after 1914 from the Assemblies of God by individuals who challenged traditional Trinitarian doctrine and baptismal practice. They advocated for a modalistic view of God, a “Jesus-only” doctrine and rebaptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.[43] The Oneness movement traces to a Pentecostal camp meeting in Arroyo Seco, outside of Los Angeles in April 1913. Canadian evangelist R.E. McAlister preached a sermon and proposed the reason Jesus’s apostles baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ instead of the triune name commanded by Jesus (Matt 28:19) was that they understood “Lord-Jesus-Christ” to be the Christological equivalent of “Father-Son-Holy Spirit.”[44]
Oneness theology offers an alternative to the Trinitarian doctrine of God on three principles. First, the oneness of God is understood and preserved in God’s transcendence with God’s “threeness” only expressed by virtue of revelation. Second, the “personhood” of God refers to God’s immanent and incarnate presence in Jesus. It must be noted that Oneness Pentecostals prefer the term “manifestations” to distinguish the threefold divine reality, as opposed to “person,” which to them denotes a corporal (human) being. This leads to the third principle, that the Trinity is expressed as three “manifestations” of the one Spirit in the person of Jesus, where all three manifestations are simultaneously preserved, not revealed over time.[45]
McAlister’s sermon left a deep imprint on Frank J. Ewart, an Australian Baptist minister who had become a Pentecostal in Canada. Ewart worked at the Seventh Street Mission in Los Angeles with William Durham in 1911. In 1914, Ewart and Glenn A. Cook erected a tent with a baptismal tank outside of Los Angeles and baptized each other. Ewart’s theological perspective was a modalistic view of God with a name-only theology of Jesus. The new doctrine spread rapidly through evangelistic tours and Ewart’s new publication, Meat in Due Season. Garfield T. Haywood, an influential black preacher, was baptized with 465 members of his thriving congregation in Indianapolis. Haywood’s conversion was strategic because of his national popularity as an evangelist and preacher. His influence eventually resulted in large numbers of black Pentecostals becoming Oneness.
However, E.N. Bell, a prominent Assemblies of God leader and member of the executive presbytery, opposed the “New Issue,” as the Oneness doctrine came to be called, and campaigned heavily against it. For Bell, the issue was not so much as accepting the “Name of Jesus” as a valid alternative for baptism than it was the enforcement of rebaptism for those baptized in the Trinitarian formula. The next Assemblies of God council produced a 17-point “Statement of Fundamental Truths” that included a strongly worded section affirming the historic doctrine of the Trinity. With the adoption of the statement, 156 of the total 585 Assemblies of God ministers and their many congregations were instantly barred from membership. In response, Howard Goss, H.G. Rogers, and D.C.O. Opperman called for an organizational meeting on December 28, 1916, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Six days later the General Assembly of Apostolic Assemblies (GAAA) was formed, with a membership of 154 ministers, missionaries, elders, deacons, and evangelists. GAAA was short-lived, however, because most ministers needed a legally authorized organization to issue ministerial credentials. Consequently, the leaders initiated a merger with a small Pentecostal organization that already had an active legal charter, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW).
Meanwhile, Oneness pastor Garfield T. Haywood was building a movement among blacks in the North, as the PAW headquarters was moved to Indianapolis. Given racial segregation laws in the South, conventions were held in the North to accommodate the growing black contingent; however, financial considerations due to the relocation prevented many white southerners from attending. In 1924, a group of white Oneness Pentecostals at the General Conference proposed the formation of two racially separate administrations under one umbrella organization. Black Pentecostals rejected this proposal, which resulted in the majority of white groups to withdraw from the PAW, cutting its rolls by over 50%. In the following years, the white contingent split into three groups: The Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance (PMA), Emmanuel’s Church in Jesus Christ (ECJC), and the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ (ACJC). ECJC and ACJC merged in 1927, and PMA changed its name to Pentecostal Church, Incorporated (PCI) in 1932.
In 1931, PAW and the ACJC merged to form the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ (PAJC). But soon, PAJC was fraught with racial tension, and most black ministers rejoined PAW. Again in 1941, L.R. Ooten led nearly 1,000 ministers out of the PAJC to form the Apostolic Ministerial Alliance. PAJC and PCI finally negotiated a merger in 1945 to form the largest Oneness organization — the United Pentecostal Church Incorporated (UPCI) — creating a network of nearly 1,800 ministers and over 900 congregations. Two customs that distinguish the UPCI from many other groups are the injunction for women not to cut their hair (1 Cor. 11) and the disapproval of members owning a television in their homes. PAW continues to be predominantly black with an intentional policy of racial integration and a commitment to episcopal polity. Most black Oneness groups trace their origin directly or indirectly to PAW, and Haywood’s doctrinal teachings still guide the movement.[46]
In 1971, the Apostolic World Christian Fellowship (AWCF) was formed as a vehicle for demonstrating unity, assessing numerical strength, and coordinating evangelistic efforts among Oneness groups. It currently represents over 150 Oneness organizations worldwide with an estimated membership of 8.1 million. The Oneness stream of Pentecostalism has experienced remarkable growth since the 1960s. The UPCI now claims a global membership of nearly three million, and the worldwide Oneness movement is estimated to have nearly 19 million followers.
The United Pentecostal Church of North East India (UPCNEI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination that split from the UPC of India. The UPCNEI was started by the work of Elis Scism and his son Henry Scism in the 1940s and was part of the UPC work that was formally established in 1950. When the elder Scism left in 1965, the group divided into India and North East India branches and handed them over to indigenous leadership in 1972.
Its earliest growth coincided with the last of several Mizo revivals held over a decade, and in 1935 that created significant strife between the older mainline denominations. While this strife was partly due to the fact that the UPC benefited from the loss of members from other denominations, it undoubtedly was rooted in the nature of the revival, where dancing, singing, speaking in tongues, and other manifestations began to show. Thus, the UPCNEI established an early presence in the Mizoram region where, by 1974, 11% of all Christians were members of the UPCNEI. This fact ties the UNPC closely to what Lalsangkima Pachuau called the Mizos’ altered “self-understanding,”[47] an understanding that gave them a footing to develop an educated and politically active counter to the British raj before independence.
The early growth of the UPC has not tracked with some of the other Pentecostal denominations since 1970. In 1970 the UPCNEI had approximately 100,000 affiliated members and only 117,000 by 2015. The denomination has extended its presence to all the states of northeast India, and its highly indigenous forms in Mizoram stand as important examples of Pentecostal acculturation.[48]
The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) was formed in 1945 by the merger of two Oneness Pentecostal organizations: the Pentecostal Church, Inc., (PCI) and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ (PAJC). The UPCI continues the legacy of the Oneness movement, originated in 1914 by R.E. McAlister and Frank J. Ewart. While demurring over the “second work” doctrine of a separate work of the grace for full sanctification, the organization holds to the traditional Oneness doctrine along with maintaining traditional Holiness-Pentecostal norms such as full-immersion water baptism and speaking in tongues as initial evidence of Spirit baptism.[49] The UPCI rejects traditional Trinitarian doctrine that God the Father sent God the Son to earth to die for the sins of the world. They affirm, “The one true God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, took upon Himself the form of man, and, as the son of man, was born of the Virgin Mary.”[50] They also see Holiness as “almost interchangeable with pentecostal,”[51] describing a unique way of life with a specific system of values that include moral disdain for secular entertainment, liquor, and tobacco.[52]
In its union with the PAJC, it also demonstrates a push against the division-by-segregation that has marked the Pentecostal movement in its past, an ironic trend given the movement’s democratic origins from the Azusa Street Revival, which was ignited by the Holy Spirit and led through a black preacher, William J. Seymour. Since 1974, the United Pentecostal Church International has intentionally reached out to black communities through its Building the Bridge ministry. The UPCI’s current leadership is majority white and is one of the largest of the predominantly white Oneness Pentecostal churches.[53]
Denominational Pentecostalism (Type 1) is firmly rooted in the Protestant tradition, although virtually all Pentecostal denominations have spun off independent groups, such as Independent Apostolic Pentecostals, that have similar characteristics. In addition, all of the non-Pentecostal, mainline Protestant groups — such as Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, and Methodists — have experienced Charismatic renewal, either in positive ways with organized renewal agencies supporting growth or in negative ways with controversy, expulsions, and schisms. Some denominations have experienced both, either simultaneously or in chronological order. In the past, estimates for the size of the renewal in the mainline denominations have depended on informal surveys from supporting agencies such as Lutheran Renewal Services and the Presbyterian Charismatic Communion.
Charismatics are defined as Christians affiliated to non-Pentecostal denominations (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox) who exhibit many Pentecostal-like characteristics — healing, robust worship, prayer — in what has been termed the “Charismatic Movement.” The Charismatic movement’s roots go back to early Pentecostalism, but its rapid expansion has been mainly since 1960, later called the “Charismatic Renewal.” Charismatics usually describe themselves as having been “renewed in the Spirit” and as experiencing the Spirit’s supernatural and miraculous and energizing power. They remain within their non-Pentecostal denominations and even organize additional renewal groups within their older mainline denominations instead of leaving to join Pentecostal denominations. They demonstrate any or all of the charismata pneumatika (gifts of the Spirit), including signs and wonders, but glossolalia is optional.
Charismatics (Type 2) recognize the existence of Pentecostal individuals within the Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. These are designated “Charismatic” and evaluated by country as Catholic Charismatics, Anglican Charismatics, and so on, designating renewal within an existing tradition. For example, the beginning of the Charismatic movement in Anglican churches is described by Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett in Nine O’clock in the Morning.[54] Traditions are assessed to determine what percentage of adherents identifies themselves as Charismatics, ranging from 0–99%. Self-identification percentages for Charismatics are calculated by contacting renewal agencies working within denominations.[55]
Countries with the largest numbers of Charismatics include Brazil, the Philippines, and the United States (table 6). Guatemala is the country with the highest percentage of Charismatics in the total population, while Mauritius has the highest percentage in the Christian population. Charismatics typically grow by recruiting new members from within their existing mainline denominations. Catholics in some countries, such as the United States, have stagnant or declining numbers of Charismatics while others continue to grow rapidly, as in Brazil and the Philippines.
| Highest population 2020 | Highest percentage of country | Highest percentage of Christians | ||||||
| Country | Adherents | Country | % of country | Country | % of Christians | |||
| Brazil | 61,894,000 | Guatemala | 35.0 | Mauritius | 41.4 | |||
| Philippines | 26,732,000 | Puerto Rico | 31.7 | Guatemala | 36.0 | |||
| USA | 23,982,000 | Brazil | 28.9 | Puerto Rico | 33.2 | |||
| Nigeria | 16,573,000 | Colombia | 26.3 | Brazil | 31.9 | |||
| Colombia | 13,229,000 | Philippines | 24.4 | Colombia | 27.7 | |||
| Mexico | 11,852,000 | Anguilla | 17.6 | Philippines | 26.8 | |||
| Ethiopia | 10,815,000 | Uganda | 15.2 | Qatar | 24.6 | |||
| China | 7,491,000 | Chile | 14.8 | Saudi Arabia | 24.5 | |||
| Uganda | 7,166,000 | Mauritius | 13.4 | United Arab Emirates | 23.4 | |||
| Kenya | 6,668,000 | Argentina | 13.0 | Kuwait | 19.8 | |||
|
Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019) |
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In the early 20th century, there were numerous isolated “pentecostal” Anglican clergy and groups in several countries leading up to U.S. Episcopalian Agnes Sanford’s healing ministry from 1953,[56] Dennis Bennett’s well-documented experience of speaking in tongues in 1959,[57] and the formation of the Blessed Trinity Society in 1961. Fountain Trust, founded by Church of England clergyman M.C. Harper in 1964,[58] was present in 18 countries by 1978, expanding to 95 countries by 1987. Fountain Trust had 850,000 active adherents in the United Kingdom served by Anglican Renewal Ministries (ARM); 520,000 (18% of all Episcopalians) in the USA served by Episcopal Renewal Ministries; and branches of ARM in other countries as well. More recently, however, the center of gravity of the Anglican Renewal movement has shifted to the Global South, in particular, sub-Saharan Africa. Much of this expansion is being tracked by a uniquely structured international Charismatic ministry body begun in 1979 — called Sharing of Ministries Abroad (SOMA) — which now covers most Anglican provinces worldwide.
Shortly after Papua New Guinea secured its independence from Australia in 1975, the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea became an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. Early Anglican missionary activity in the area was interrupted by World War II, with many priests and laypeople killed by bombings and the Japanese invasion.[59] However, despite the war, Christianity in Papua New Guinea has grown exponentially during the 20th century, with the percentage of Christians in the country rising from 4% in 1900 to 95% in 2000.[60] The Anglican Church in New Guinea has five dioceses: Aipo Rongo, Dogura, New Guinea Islands, Popondota, and Port Moresby. Religious practices in the church are sensitive to the rich multiculturalism of the islands, with some magical practices accepted alongside local music, arts, and traditional religious practices. Local religious beliefs stem from a rich history of belief in ghosts and spirits. This accommodation to traditional rituals is also shared by Catholics in the region, while Protestants generally rejected anything related to traditional worship.[61] Despite a strong matriarchal culture, there are no women serving as priests in Papua New Guinea.
The birth of the South Sea Evangelical Church began with the plantation laborers “recruited” to work in Australia and New Zealand. While some of the laborers worked out of their own agency, some were forced to work on plantations on recruitment vessels. Of these laborers were some from the Solomon Islands who became Christians while working and then returned home to share their faith. Among these men were Peter Abuofa of North Malaita and Samson Jacko from Guadalcanal.[62]
Florence Young, an advocate for revivalism in the Solomon Islands, led meetings in which several laborers became Evangelical Christians. What began as a Sunday school class for kidnapped laborers became the Queensland Kanaka Mission (QKM) in 1886. Belief in the supernatural was endemic in Melanesia, with abundant rituals invoking spirits and ancestors; the arrival of Christianity supplanted previously held beliefs in power encounters with new ones. Thus, the gospel spread throughout the Solomon Islands with the help of these indigenous missionaries who returned home with a new faith.[63]
The QKM gave way to the South Sea Evangelical Mission (SSEM), which continued the push toward revivalism, and while such revivals encouraged adherents to reject traditional ways and accept Evangelical Christianity and the infilling of the Holy Spirit,[64] the early goal of the SSEM was to have indigenous people of the Solomon Islands leading their own church. Such revival meetings focused on repentance and confessions of Christ as Savior, in emulation of what adherents envisioned as the practice of the Early Church. However, following the evacuations during World War II, European missionaries returned to a more hostile environment with protesters demanding Ma’asina Ruru, or “Marching Rule,” which sought political independence and cultural integration. From this movement came the formation of an indigenous, anti-white body called the South Sea Evangelical Church. In 1970, the church saw widespread revivals during which attendees participated in ecstatic acts and worship. This led to the church claiming a new era in which the Holy Spirit takes precedence over traditional spirits and performs acts of healing and prophecy.[65]
The first Evangelical missionary to Ethiopia was German Peter Heyling in 1634, who became influential in the court of King Fasilides to bring renewal to historic Christianity. Although he translated the Bible into Amharic, he was expelled from the country and died a martyr.[66] More missionaries from Europe arrived during the 18th and 19th centuries under Emperor Tewodros (1855–1868), who sought to reform both the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the nation; however, in 1868, the endeavor ended with the Emperor’s suicide following an armed conflict with a British expedition. Despite several attempts by groups such as the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in the 19th century, Western missionaries did not encounter much success in the years thereafter. Indigenous evangelization thrived during World War II when Western missionaries were forced home and leadership transferred to locals, but when the missionaries returned, they were seen as obstacles to the goals of local evangelicals.[67] It was the reign of Haile Selassie, notably in 1944, that opened the door for Western missionaries, which included the American Lutheran Mission in the 1950s, followed by an influx of Protestant missionaries from various traditions seeking to help revitalize the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.[68] The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), translated as “The Place of Jesus,” was instituted as Ethiopia’s national church on January 21, 1959. Despite its origins in Lutheran missions, Mekane Yesus takes great pride in its indigenous evangelical roots.
The church has experienced exponential growth, from 1% of all Christians in 1970 (177,000 members) to 13% in 2015 (nearly 8 million).[69] A significant reason for growth is the preaching of eternal life in Christ for a nation struggling with poverty, famine, and conflict. The church was heavily influenced by the Charismatic movement in the 1960s, which emphasized personal and corporate prayer and mid-week prayer meetings.[70] In 2012, the EECMY severed ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) over the issue of same-sex marriage, the ordination of LGBTQ clergy, abortion, and the authority of scripture. However, on any given Sunday, there are likely more Ethiopian Lutherans worshipping at church than ELCA Lutherans.[71]
The Free Church movement came to Finland from Sweden in the mid-19th century, first by Baptists and then Methodists and Congregationalists.[72] At the heart of the movement was personal religious belief, living a pious life, and social and humanitarian work borne from the Christian experience.[73] The Free Church of Finland is an independent Christian community that hearkens back to the first-century church. It dates its activities a few years later than the Baptists to Constantine Boije and Jakob Forsberg, who began free religious meetings, in Swedish, in southern Finland (Sipoo) around 1873–1874.[74] A revival broke out in 1877, and the first church was built in Vehkakoski, near Sipoo. Revival came to the north in 1860 among the Swedish-speaking population and again in 1877, this time among youth. The Free Evangelical Mission gained traction through the ministry of Lord Radstock from England, who arrived in 1879 from the Plymouth Brethren. These evangelical Christians were deemed “enemies of faith” by state Lutherans, but the Swedish-speaking Free Church did not form a new denomination until 1921; the Finns followed in 1923. Membership of the Finnish-speaking Free Evangelical Church doubled between 1920 and 1930.[75] The Free Church Federation in Finland, founded in 1936, serves as the umbrella organization for six Swedish-speaking Evangelical Free Church groups in the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland.[76]
The history of the Gutnius Lutheran Church (GLC) dates to 1947, when the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia requested the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) to assist with mission outreach in unreached parts of New Guinea. Willard Burce and Otto Hintz arrived in Wabag in 1948, planted a church of 40 people there, and settled in what is now Enga province. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of (now Papua) New Guinea formed in 1956, but the Gutnius Lutheran Church remained separate in the western highlands,[77] later distinguished as the Enga Province upon the country’s independence in 1975. The GLC is a member of the International Lutheran Council, a global umbrella group for confessional Lutheran bodies.[78] The church is challenged by concerns of church-state relations and the influence of Western fundamentalism vis-a-vis the indigenous culture. Because of their traditional belief in spiritual and elemental powers, Melanesians have responded to Christian elements of ecstatic phenomena and movements of the Holy Spirit.[79] An animistic worldview continues to pervade the lives of the Enga people, including those who are Christian, and influences the theological education of the region.[80]
The Methodist Church in Singapore traces its roots to missionaries of the South India Methodist Conference, in particular, the arrival of James Thoburn in 1885 and William F. Oldham in 1886. Two girls’ schools began in 1887 and 1888, followed by ministries in local languages, medical missions, and schools for boys.[81] The Malaysia-Singapore Methodist Church became autonomous in 1968, and the two countries established separate churches in 1976.
The Charismatic movement arrived in Singapore in the 1970s, impacting the Protestant churches and sparking a movement that grew into the vibrant Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity found in many megachurches throughout the country by the end of the 20th century.[82] It traces its origin to boys at the Methodist-affiliated Anglo-Chinese School at Barker Road who regularly gathered to pray at the school’s clock tower. They received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1972 and began speaking in tongues. Charismatic experiences began to spread, with news headlines such as that in The Straits Times: “Students Go into Trance at Prayer: Some End Religious Session in Hysterics.”[83] Although initially rebuked by Methodist, Anglican, Lutheran, and Presbyterian leaders, opinions changed after prominent Anglican leader Joshua Chiu Ban It had his own charismatic experience and spoke in tongues. From 1973, the Charismatic movement received institutional support from the Anglican church, and Saint Andrew’s Cathedral — the largest cathedral in the country — became an important center of the movement.[84] The Charismatic movement in Singapore is marked by ethnic diversity and is multi-denominational.
Horace Underwood arrived in Korea in 1885 as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church of North America, and the Presbyterian Mission Council was organized in 1893. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) was established in September 1912 as the Chosun Presbyterian Church. The PCK split into Hapdong and Tonghap in 1959, with Tonghap more aligned with the World Council of Churches. Criticized by Hapdong for embracing liberal theology, Tonghap embraces a theology that in turn criticizes the narrowness of conservative Protestant theological views. Tonghap adheres to a Reformed church tradition while preserving an ecumenical spirit as well as a more moderate eco-theology. Nonetheless both of these traditions trace Charismatic gifts among their members to the Pyongyang Revival in 1907 and especially to the ministries of Kil Sun Ju (1869–1935) and Ik-doo Kim (1894–1950), who rejected the cessationist position taught by Presbyterian missionaries.[85]
The Salvation Army has its roots in the Holiness movement, with founders William and Catherine Booth influenced by the teachings of Phoebe Palmer and the doctrine of “entire sanctification.” While the Salvation Army today has doctrinally shifted more toward more toward a gradual sanctification process, however, the group still maintains its rich legacy in the Holiness movement. India is the Salvation Army’s oldest mission field. Frederick St. George de Latour Tucker of the Indian Civil Service became a Salvationist and took the Indian name Fakir Singh before commencing Salvationist work in Bombay in 1882. The church grew extraordinarily and had over 4,000 congregations by 1970, though this dropped to 2,000 by 2015.[86]
Their “aggressive evangelizing” posed a threat to British colonial authorities who feared both political and religious uprisings.[87] The church had support from a strong indigenous base but was not necessarily anti-colonist: “The Salvation Army may not have been anti-colonialist, but during its earliest days in India, it was quite capable of engendering state opposition in pursuit of its evangelical ends.”[88] The Charismatic movement in the Salvation Army in India has been strongest in states such as Mizoram. The many different denominations of the church there has almost continually experienced revivals and renewal since 1907, so that virtually every church, including the Salvation Army, has a strong Charismatic contingent.[89]
The United Church of Zambia (UCZ) was formed in 1965 from the merger of four missionary groups: the Paris Mission, the London Missionary Society, Scottish Presbyterians, and British Methodists.[90] It was formed from a spirit of African indigeneity and in opposition to local union proposed by white colonial missionaries. It is the fourth-largest denomination today with members throughout the country.[91] Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity boomed starting in the early 1960s with the growth of numerous prophet-healing movements that spawned both new independent churches and renewal within the existing Protestant churches. Some church members were excommunicated for speaking in tongues, casting out demons, and holding all-night prayer meetings. This period coincided with the coming of Scripture Union in 1963 and the first seven-day, open-air crusade by American evangelist Billy Graham.[92] Other evangelists, such as South African Reinhard Bonnke, also fueled the growth of the Charismatic movement. Zambia was declared a Christian nation in 1990. The United Church of Zambia lost many members to a schism in 1993 with the formation of Grace Ministries, which encouraged the UCZ to adopt more Charismatic practices such as healing, prophecy, and an emphasis on God’s blessings on earth.[93]
The best documented and organized of the various forms of the Charismatic movement can be found within the Roman Catholic Church. The origins of the movement trace back to both the United States and Colombia in 1967. National Service Committees have united Catholic Charismatics in over 120 countries since 1978. Streams of different emphasis in the USA and several other countries centered on (1) the Word of God Community (Ann Arbor, Michigan) with cohesive and authoritarian leadership, which originated as the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office (ICCRO) in Brussels, Belgium (moved to the Vatican in 1987); and (2) People of Praise Community (South Bend, Indiana) and a wide international network of covenant communities with a less-authoritarian structure and leadership style. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson worked with ICCRO in 1997–1998 to document the size of the Charismatic renewal among Roman Catholics.[94] A second round of questionnaires was distributed, collected, and analyzed in 2010–2011 to chart changes over the past 10 years. Table 1 shows that Catholic Charismatics make up about three-fourths of all Type 2 Charismatics in 2020.
In 1967, students from Duquesne University, a Catholic college in Pennsylvania, broke out in sensational laughing, crying, and speaking in tongues during a retreat. The phenomenon soon repeated at the University of Notre Dame, and thus, the Charismatic renewal came to the Catholic Church — a movement that grew to 30,000 by 1974.[95] The phenomenon gained the approval of Belgian Cardinal Leon-Joseph Suenens (1904–1996), whose advocacy granted the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) legitimacy and a clearly defined Catholic identity. However, at the same time, Colombia experienced a renewal of its own when American Protestant Samuel Ballasteros served for six years in Bogota with Garcia Herreros of the Minuto de Dios ministry. In 1969, several students began Charismatic prayer groups, and in 1971, the priests of Minuto de Dios expressed the presence of “a true explosion of the Holy Spirit” to Colombian bishops.
Francis MacNutt,[96] an American Dominican priest who had an experience of Spirit baptism at a Protestant conference, began a journey that began in Bolivia and Peru in 1970, which “introduced Latin Americans and missionaries to baptism and the Spirit, speaking in tongues, and divine healing.”[97] Participants experienced what amounted to them a “second conversion,” while many of them went back to their parishes to advocate and teach renewal, starting with small prayer groups.
In Mexico, the CCR was expressed through catechesis and evangelization through the Sistema Integral de Evangelizacion (SINE) and Escuelas de Evangelizacion San Andres, while in the Dominican Republic, Canadian priest Emiliano Tardif won “acclaim for teaching and healing” and popularized the movement. Although few bishops participated in the movement, the CCR revitalized Catholicism and brought in marginal Catholics, winning over many despite hesitations about its theology. The fact that the movement was gradually becoming more consciously Catholic and tied to the hierarchy made it palatable for bishops.[98]
The CCR in Brazil began with the influence of two American Jesuits, Edward Dougherty and Harold Rahm, and a Brazilian priest named Jonas Abib. While Dougherty and Rahm held retreats sharing the Charismatic experience, Abib in 1979 started Comunidade Cancao Nova (“New Song Community”), which integrated covenant communities and popular Catholic worship music. The CCR in Brazil grew from a handful of people in 1969 to 60 million in 2010. According to Todd Hartch, “The relational side of the movement then met some of the deep needs for connection and intimacy created by the fragmentation and dislocation of urban modernity.”[99] In the 1990s, Marcelo Rossi, a newly ordained priest, set off to found one of Brazil’s first Catholic megachurches, the Santuario Terco Vizentino (Sanctuary of the Byzantine Rosary). His celebrity and appeal fueled the lasting impact of CCR in Brazil.
MacNutt’s influenced extended to Bolivia, when in the 1970s North American Dominican missionaries who participated in his retreat brought the Charismatic movement to the country’s major cities. But it was Crisóstomo Geraets and Daniel Roach who made the greater impact through their Charismatic prayer meetings and Masses from their base at a local diocese called La Mansión. The Charismatic message soon spread throughout the country by means of retreats and the use of mass media.
The Charismatic movement in Latin America boosted the confidence of Catholics in the region. It was an attractive alternative to many in the face of a booming Protestantism; Charismatic Catholicism allowed many to participate in Spirit-filled, ecstatic worship while adhering to traditional elements of Catholicism, such as Marian devotion. In addition, it reshaped the fabric of the ecclesial experience, with much of the vitality coming from small prayer groups (and Protestantism) rather than from clergy.[100]
The ancient roots of Christianity in Ethiopia represent a tradition different from that of Western Christianity. Similar to the Eastern Christian churches, the Orthodox church in Ethiopia inherits a form of worship derived from the Old Testament. The church emphasizes its indigenous, biblical roots by claiming a lineage tracing to the children of Israel, stewardship of the Ark of the Covenant, and a history that begins from the Ethiopian eunuch (as further corroborated by Early Church father Irenaeus). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was formally institutionalized in 328 CE, is one of the oldest churches in the world, and is a founding member of the World Council of Churches. Purely indigenous to Africa, it is also known as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo (“made one”) Church.[101] The Tewahedo tradition also emphasizes social action. Christian spirituality goes hand-in-hand with action; it is considered a spiritual act to give to the less fortunate.[102]
In the 1960s, the Charismatic revival within the church dovetailed with the Meserete Kristos Church, an informal gathering of Mennonite and non-Orthodox evangelical Ethiopians who desired a more personal relationship with Christ and regular Bible study and also believed in the transformational power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.[103] A similar, but separate movement was Semay Birhan, a charismatic fellowship that grew from a Bible study led by Rohrer Eshleman.
While the classification and chronology of the first two types is rather straightforward, there are thousands of churches and movements that “resemble” the first two types but do not fit their definitions. These constitute a third type and often pre-date the first two types. For lack of a better term, these are called Independent Charismatics.” Part of the rationale for this term is the fact that they are always found in the “Independent” category of Christians (separate from Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants). Thus, Type 3 includes Pentecostal or semi-Pentecostal members of the roughly 250-year-old Independent movement of Christians, primarily in the Global South, of churches begun without reference to Western Christianity. These indigenous movements, though not all explicitly Pentecostal, nevertheless, have the main features of Pentecostalism.[104] In addition, since Azusa Street, thousands of schismatic or other independent Charismatic churches have emerged from Type 1 Pentecostals and Type 2 Charismatic movements. They consist of Christians who are both unrelated to or no longer related to the Pentecostal or Charismatic denominations. They have become filled with the Spirit or empowered by the Spirit and have experienced the Spirit’s ministry (though usually without recognizing a baptism in the Spirit separate from conversion) as well as exercise gifts of the Spirit (with much less emphasis on tongues, as optional or even absent or unnecessary). Furthermore, they emphasize signs and wonders,[105] supernatural miracles, and power encounters. However, these Christians do not identify themselves as either Pentecostals (Type 1) or Charismatics (Type 2). In a number of countries, they exhibit Pentecostal and Charismatic phenomena but combine this with a rejection of Pentecostal terminology. These Christians frequently are identified by their leadership as Independent or Post-denominationalist — those who reject close control of local churches by centralized denominations, preferring networks or loose affiliations.
Thus, the third type is Independent Charismatics (also known in the literature as neo-Charismatics or neo-Pentecostals) who are not in Protestant Pentecostal denominations (Type 1) nor are they individual Charismatics in the traditional churches (Type 2). Type 3 is the most diverse of the three types and ranges from house churches in China to African Initiated Churches to white-led Charismatic networks in the Western world. It includes Pentecostals who had split off from established Protestant denominations (Type 1) and who are then labeled “Independent.” Independent churches formed by Charismatic leaders (Type 2) who founded new congregations and networks are also included. Some Independent Charismatics speak in tongues, but healing and power evangelism are more prominent in this type than in the other two.[106]
Perhaps the most controversial of all questions related to counting Pentecostals is whether or not many of the indigenous and independent church movements around the world should be included. David Barrett felt that they should and offered this rationale in 1988 (revised in 2001):[107]
Indigenous denominations, which, though not all explicitly pentecostal, nevertheless have the main phenomenological hallmarks of pentecostalism (charismatic spirituality, oral liturgy, narrative witness/theology, dreams and visions, emphasis on filling with the Holy Spirit, healing by prayer, atmospheric communication [simultaneous audible prayer], emotive fellowship, et alia). Note that the term “indigenous” as used here refers to the auto-origination of these movements, begun among Non-White races without Western or White missionary support.[108]
Note that the “independent” designation now includes large numbers of white-led movements such as the Vineyard churches. But the majority of the movements are found in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It includes African Initiated Churches, Chinese house churches, Brazilian megachurches, and thousands of other groups. All Independent networks coded as 100% Charismatic exhibit these characteristics. In addition, networks that were not 100% Charismatic were interviewed to determine what percentage of their adherents self-identified as Charismatics.
While found in many of the same countries as Pentecostals and Charismatics, Independent Charismatics are largest in the United States, China, and Nigeria (table 7). Independent Charismatics experience growth by planting new churches and by schisms from traditional denominations. Of the three types, Independent Charismatics are most strongly concentrated in the Global South where new forms of Christianity have grown in the past 120 years.
| Highest population 2020 | Highest percentage of country | Highest percentage of Christians | ||||||
| Country | Adherents | Country | % of country | Country | % of Christians | |||
| United States | 33,326,000 | Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) | 36.9 | North Korea | 90.0 | |||
| China | 29,450,000 | South Africa | 36.6 | Nepal | 62.8 | |||
| Nigeria | 26,719,000 | Zimbabwe | 34.7 | Bhutan | 50.6 | |||
| Brazil | 21,525,000 | Botswana | 30.5 | Iran | 48.0 | |||
| South Africa | 21,507,000 | DR Congo | 23.6 | South Africa | 44.6 | |||
| DR Congo | 21,138,000 | Saint Vincent | 20.8 | Botswana | 42.6 | |||
| India | 13,800,000 | Chile | 20.0 | Zimbabwe | 41.8 | |||
| Philippines | 9,665,000 | Sao Tome & Principe | 16.5 | Eswatini | 41.3 | |||
| Zimbabwe | 6,129,000 | Ghana | 13.8 | Cambodia | 32.2 | |||
| Kenya | 5,915,000 | Nigeria | 13.0 | Algeria | 28.5 | |||
|
Data source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed July 2019). |
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Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Independent Charismatic churches continue to grow in Africa, Asia, and Latin America while slowing in North America and Europe. Exceptions to this trend can be found among Independents in the United States (still growing) and Charismatics in Europe (some growth among Catholics). Another significant trend is the migration of Spirit-empowered Christians from the Global South to the Global North. Thus, some of the largest congregations in Europe are African Independent charismatic in origin. In the United States, many recent Hispanic arrivals, both documented and undocumented, are either Catholic Charismatics or Pentecostals.[109]
The origins of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) are rooted in a spiritual vision with promises of divine healing to Samuel B.J. Oshoffa, a Methodist “carpenter-turned-prophet” of Gun and Yoruba descent. Oschoffa demonstrated healing miracles and began to attract followers after spending time in the bush. On September 29, 1947, he claimed to have a divine commission to start a church intended to cleanse the world. Begun with a strong spiritual-healing movement with very little internal organization, today it has a ritualized culture with prescribed norms and structure. From its origin in Porto Novo, Dahomey (now Benin), the church spread to Nigeria in 1950 via Egun fishermen linked to the Yoruba by trade, but CCC is now found among all professional and social classes.
While its early emphasis resisted ecclesiastical organization and remained a spiritual-healing movement, the church eventually developed ritualized and standardized practices within its parishes, especially as it spread to more urban contexts. In 1972, on the church’s 25th anniversary, it produced a booklet with regulations and doctrines that represented their first attempt to examine its own identity and purpose and share that with the broader public.[110] The CCC is Bible-based while also relying on rituals that stem from their founder. Water is an important symbol for life and power for the church and is frequently used in ritual sacraments such as worship, healing, and chasing away unwanted spirits. The church is also known for preserving hymns and songs composed by Oschoffa.[111]
Early influences of New Life Churches date to Bethel Temple (Seattle) missionaries planting congregations in New Zealand in the 1940s. It became formally established in the 1960s and was led for many years by Rob Wheeler and Peter Morrow. The aggressive style of evangelism by Ron Coady initiated the development of Latter Rain-type churches that evolved into the New Life Churches.[112] A distinguishing feature of this movement was an emphasis on “singing in the Spirit.” New Life churches began in India in the mid-1960s by missionaries from New Life Churches in New Zealand. These missionaries established the New Life Centre in Pune and New Life Fellowship in Mumbai. There were over 625,000 affiliated with the church in India as of 2015.[113]
Begun in 1974 by Kenn Gulliksen and officially established in 1982 by John Wimber, the Association of Vineyard Churches now claims over 2,400 churches in 95 countries.[114] This Independent Charismatic church (associated with the Signs and Wonders movement, the Kansas City Prophets, and the Toronto Blessing) emerged from the countercultural “Jesus Movement” milieu of the 1960s, composed of young men and women of an evangelical, experiential, and Charismatic faith.[115] What began as a small group that became the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in the 1970s eventually expanded into its own branch of churches with an emphasis on evangelism and relevance to culture.[116] In 1982, with the support of Gulliksen, John Wimber became the leader of Vineyard and organized and expanded the church, creating the Association of Vineyard Churches in 1986.[117] The Association’s doctrine simply entails that everyone come as they are and that the environment is non-conformist. The Vineyard movement emphasizes the believer’s personal connection to God, a relevancy to culture, and a strong emphasis on contemporary musical worship.[118]
The Kimbanguist movement, named for founder Simon Kimbangu, emerged from a Baptist Missionary Society mission church at Ngombe Lutete, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1921. The church, officially the Eglise du Jésus Christ sur la terre par Son Envoyé Spécial Simon Kimbangu (EJCSK), views Kimbangu as Christ who carried the cross, mediating power from God to this world as the third person in the trinity — himself in person with God and the Holy Spirit. The Kimbanguist church enforces strict moral codes of all church members, codes that work to keep believers connected with the Holy Spirit, which is crucial to spiritual salvation. They also emphasize spiritual practices such as prayer at certain times of the day and regular fasting. Having visions and performing miracles are considered strong manifestations of power of the Holy Spirit. The Kimbanguist church is present in eight countries: Angola, Belgium, Burundi, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, and Zambia.[119]
Jesus is Lord (JIL) was founded in the Philippines in 1978 as a Bible study at the Polytechnic University by Bishop Eddie Villanueva (“Bro Eddie”), a former activist and professor. It has grown to be one of the largest independent megachurches in the country. However, its distinction among other megachurches in the Philippines is its particularly strong Filipino identity that shares characteristics of certain Western and evangelical theological positions.[120] With its indigenous culture and use of Filipino vernacular, JIL focuses mainly on the working class (including overseas Filipino workers) and preaches a prophetic movement that galvanizes Filipino believers to shape a nation for Christ, especially by reforming its political figures.[121] Villanueva has been outspoken about ushering in moral renewal by way of political power, himself running for office, unsuccessfully, several times. The organization has been caught up in several corruption allegations.[122] Presently, it has over 1.6 million members and churches all over the Philippines and in 55 other countries.[123]
India has experienced many indigenous attempts since the 19th century to form Hindu-Christian churches that affirm faith in Jesus Christ and promote Hindu culture and Indian nationalism while rejecting Western missionary control.[124] The largest of these that still exist is the Subba Rao Movement, founded by Kalgara Subba Rao of the Kamma caste (primarily agriculturalists) among the Telugu in Andhra Pradesh. Based on a vision in 1942 and subsequent healings, Subba Rao drew people into a movement that refused to be labeled as “Christian,” but placed its “emphasis on the material, the social and historical dimensions of the New Humanity in Jesus Christ.”[125] His healing ministry gained a large following in Andhra and Karnataka, yet opposed the characteristics of a formal religious organization.[126] It eschews all other churches, stresses elements of Hindu culture, is virtually unorganized, and holds massive healing crusades with the slogan “no caste, no creed, no religion.”[127] The movement illustrates one way to follow Jesus as a Hindu even while rejecting traditional Western Christian characteristics like Bible study and the sacraments.[128] Today, like many other charismatic, figure-centric movements, Subba Rao faces succession issues. It still commands a large following (170,000 in 2015) despite being virtually unorganized.[129]
While the spread of Christianity in modern India has been mainly through indirect means, such as Christian education in schools founded by Western missionaries, Christians were quick to utilize new means for evangelization on the sub-continent with the development of new communication technologies in the 20th century. Conservative Christian groups, most notably Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal groups, have been particularly effective in utilizing mass media technologies to propagate their messages in India. According to Pradip Ninan Thomas, “It was in the immediate post-Independence years that this objective of explicitly employing Christian broadcasting was carried forward by conservative Christian groups, although it is the period coinciding with India’s tryst with the global satellite and cable revolution that has seen the greatest expansion of Christian broadcasting in India.”[130] India was home to an estimated 800,000 “media believers” in 2015.[131]
One of the first Christian radio programs in India was Bringing Christ to India (1955), produced in the United States by the Lutheran Layman’s League and transmitted to India on Radio Ceylon and Radio Goa in Tamil and Malayalam. The League helped form the Christian Arts and Communications Service in Madras (now Chennai) in 1967, with the objective of using media to spread the gospel throughout India. Another prominent station is Athmeeya Yathra TV, founded in the 1980s with a single radio broadcast in Malayalam and today producing resources in 110 different languages for radio, television, and print media. Groups such as this have helped birth a new kind of Christianity in India. The Pentecostalism that began in India in the 1920s experienced tremendous growth from 1980 to 2005 because of media influence and represents one of the major Christian movements in the country, particularly among Dalit (low caste) communities. Christian broadcasting in India today is primarily owned and operated by Independent Pentecostal churches and their televangelists, though many of these individuals are based in the United States.[132]
With the rapid progress of digital technology, it is worth noting the role of media in the lives of Indian Christians in light of the controversy over “disinformation” and the politicization of religion. Nevertheless, India’s Christians continue to face not only the ideological battles within Christianity, but also the struggle to redeem inter-faith relations in light of radicalized/nationalized Hinduism and Islam. Well-funded campaigns employed by politically conservative groups in the United States seek to fuse worldly and eschatological concerns as part of their strategic plan for world evangelization, often resulting in separatist ideologies that can hurt the ecumenical and interfaith relations so critical for Christians living as minorities in a large, Hindu-majority country.[133] Neo-Pentecostal influence on the media in India thus has its drawbacks, particularly regarding what kind of Christianity gets represented as the “mainstream.”
Christianity in China, notably among unregistered house churches, has been influenced by revivalist movements since the early 20th century, blending indigenous culture into a hybrid faith that confronts health, fortune, and the supernatural realm. While denominational Pentecostalism may be difficult to track in China, elements of Charismatic worship can be found among Chinese house churches, especially in rural areas. Among such unregistered house churches, it is not uncommon to encounter Charismatic practices of healing and speaking in tongues, likely due to influence from Chinese Pentecostal groups from Hong Kong and farther abroad. Additionally, Christians in Wenzhou may resemble Pentecostals in the vein of the prosperity gospel, linking God’s blessings with material gain. Chinese Charismatic worshippers can also defy traditional taxonomy: while some would self-identify as Chinese “Pentecostal” (wuxunjie), such as the True Jesus Church originated by the Chinese in association with Oneness Pentecostals from the West, others would identify (in various degrees) as ling’en pai or ling-en practioners, meaning “Spirit-gifts” or “gifts of the Spirit,” involving charismatic elements of ecstatic worship, miracles, and speaking in tongues.[134]
Also known as Winners’ Chapel, Living Faith World Outreach Center (“Living Faith”) was founded by Bishop David Oyedepo in 1981. Having received a spiritual mandate “to liberate the world from all oppression and wickedness of Satan through the preaching of the word of faith,”[135] Oyedepo began a weekly prayer and fellowship group called the “Faith Liberation Hour” before formal services began in Kwara State in 1983. The church has a sprawling network that spans throughout Nigeria, organized in separate dioceses. Living Faith also has within its umbrella an organization for missions (World Missions Agency), publishing (Dominion Publishing House), and education (Faith Academy, Covenant University, Landmark University, and Word of Faith Bible Institute).
In 1987, Oyedepo reportedly received a commission to “Get back home and make my people rich,”[136] suggesting a particular bent toward prosperity messaging. A branch in Lagos was established and went by the name of “Winners’ Chapel,” the headquarters of which is called “Faith Tabernacle.” In addition to its land holdings, the church also counts as its assets several aircraft for its missionary work and a fleet of buses for the use of transporting churchgoers to its headquarters. With this wealth, Oyedepo is considered the “wealthiest preacher in Nigeria” with an estimated net worth of $150 million.[137] However, Oyedepo is only one of many who seem to reap the rewards of a prosperity gospel that has swept Nigeria. With tax-exempt privileges with the government and an ecclesiology that grants them an “anointed” status among their followers, prosperity preachers benefit from such wealth that provide them political clout in Nigeria.[138]
The criticism facing Living Faith is the same facing many prosperity-oriented churches as far as its theological thrust, its service to the poor, and its financial integrity relative to any other civic organization. In addition, with the amount of wealth involved, such churches also face succession issues within their ranks.
The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) was established in 1924 by Joseph Engenas Matlhakanye Lekganyane, a farm worker in a rural area that later became Zion City in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Trained by Scottish Presbyterian missionaries, Lekganyane received a prophetic calling coupled with miraculous healing and later founded the ZCC. Lekganyane was initially inspired by a Scottish-born Australian faith healer, John Alexander Dowie, whose leanings toward healing, prophecy, and millennialism shaped a poignant character that even earned him a place in James Joyce’s Ulysses.[139] The focus on Zion stems from Dowie’s vision of Zion City (Illinois, USA) becoming “the capital of a millennial kingdom” just north of Chicago.[140] Dowie cast himself as a prophetic, almost messianic prophet, with tendencies toward Charismatic expressions such as prophecy and healing.
Lekganyane eventually adopted most of his theology from the then white-led Apostolic Faith Mission, a Pentecostal group he belonged to from 1910 to 1916. He also incorporated many syncretic practices from African Traditional Religion. The most important of these was to incorporate ancestral worship into his church, a practice that he adopted from an early Zionist leader, Daniel Nkonyane. He began his church with 14 members and within a decade had 926 affiliates; today it is the largest church in South Africa (5 million in 2015) with a significant amount of influence on African Independent Christianity.[141] Despite the influence of Dowie, the Zion Christian Church has been rooted in indigenous culture since its foundation in 1924 and is entirely African-led. The church is critiqued for many of its practices that are steeped in supernaturalism, prophecies, visions, healings, as well as belief in the power of ancestors and the practice of polygamy.[142]
Church members are known for their different sets of uniforms according to age, gender, and occasion, marking their distinct identity as Lekganyane’s people.[143] Lekganyane died in 1948, and now there are two branches of the church, one led by his grandson and the other by his great-grandson. The organizations are similar in theology in the blending of Christianity and African traditional beliefs. They all adhere to a strict moral code that prohibits drinking, smoking, and eating pork.[144]
The Iglesia Metodista Pentecostal de Chile (IMPC) has its roots in the missionary work of Willis and May Hoover, who in 1893 began preaching among the Chileans after teaching in an Iquique school the previous four years. They planted several churches with the church in Valparaiso being the most eager for spiritual growth and activity. Valparaiso soon had a building for 1,000, and many in the congregation began to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit through visions, tongues, words of knowledge, and others. This soon caused conflict with the other Methodist churches in Chile, as members of the Valparaiso church caused members of the Methodist churches in Santiago to withdraw and begin to meet at homes, on account of the clergy’s opposition to the reality of the experiences at Valparaiso. At the annual conference in 1910, the Board claimed that the practices of the Chileans were “anti-Christian, contrary to the Scriptures and irrational.”
Willis Hoover agreed to be superintendent of the new Iglesia Metodista Pentecostal de Chile. Yet, from 1932–1934, the church split over a struggle for indigenous control of the denomination, which Hoover was reluctant to grant, and over allegations of immorality against Hoover. This resulted in the creation of the Iglesia Evangelica Pentecostal after his death in 1936. The fact that the Pentecostal churches had, from the very start, appealed to the lower classes seems to account for its spread after the 1930s, when Protestants began to make their presence known in the country. Many of the church’s practices are indeed adaptations of Chilean culture that other missionary works were unwilling to make, such as the use of traditional instruments and musical styles in worship, the maintenance of processionals as a counter-point to the dominant Catholic religion, and the retention of infant baptism, a unique mark among older Pentecostal movements in South America.
The grassroots nature of the IMPC has also manifested itself in its complicated political situation. The working-class members of the denomination were undoubtedly affected by the popular sentiment to support the rise of Marxist president Salvador Allende, elected in 1970, and his policies, directed against the economic elite that had presented an obstacle to integrating the rural poor with the developing economy. The denomination as an entity, however, presented no unified front. This changed when the military coup of 1973 began a suppression of the organizations that had sprung up during the Allende presidency. Upon the rejection of the Pinochet dictatorship by the Catholic Church, the former turned to the Pentecostal church, where leaders in the IMPC went so far as to allow him to cut the ribbon at the inauguration of its largest church to date, Jotabeche Cathedral (La Catedral Evangélica de Chile). Yet, a survey conducted in 1990, at the end of Pinochet’s rule, showed that only 15% of Pentecostals (the IMPC constituting the overwhelming majority of the group in Chile) supported the right, and most had a negative view of Pinochet.[145]
The indigenous strength of the IMPC has, in a sense, also been its weakness. A major form of evangelism in the early decades was street preaching and teams of bicyclists who would travel to rural areas. While pastors are trained by a long trial of experience and mentorship, the IMPC produced 20 schisms with the original group by 1967. This did not stymie growth, however, with the IMPC nearly doubling its number of affiliated adults from 400,000 in 1970 to 740,000 in 2000. This followed the general trend of Pentecostalism during Pinochet’s rule, yet shows a remarkable resilience in the fact of such continual division. With 920,000 affiliated and 4,400 congregations in 2015,[146] it remains the second largest denomination in the country after the Catholic Church.[147]
The Universal Church of Kingdom of God (Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, IURD) formed in Rio de Janeiro on July 9, 1977, by Edir Macedo, a Pentecostal convert with a vision from God to start a new church, which he established in the same year. The church can be categorized under Paul Freston’s “third wave” of Pentecostalism in Brazil, where churches emerged out of a situation of radical poverty in the country with distinctively modern adaptations and theological fluidity not present in the older denominations. In 1989, Macedo bought an entire network of television and radio stations for $45 million and, in 1995, furthered that holding to the tune of $15 million. This massive communications network operates every day and projects the IURD into the heart of religious life of Brazil. The IURD had 7.5 million affiliated members in 2015.[148]
The IURD everywhere has emphasized exorcism, healing, and prosperity in ways that have brought it into conflict with other groups, such as the AG in Brazil, but have not presented any obstacle to its growth, despite significant changes from older forms of Pentecostalism. In common with many Pentecostals, though accented much more strongly, the IURD publicly and frequently engages in exorcisms of “exus,” spirits associated with the Afro-Brazilian religion of Umbanda.[149] The church in Brazil also has weekly healing services that attract large numbers and has practiced multiple controversial methods, such as selling objects for their healing power, sometimes with fraudulent claims such as oil originating from the Mount of Olives. Despite this, it is without question that the emphasis and propagation of healing and exorcism provided a major impetus for the IURD’s phenomenal growth among lower classes. In its congregations globally, it has brought a fundamentally spiritual view of the struggle between good and evil and has adapted to the forms such ideas take in the destination countries.
This attraction of the lower classes has been balanced by the IURD’s emphasis on material prosperity. This is another point of significant friction between the IURD and other Pentecostal churches, where practices such as the purchase of prayers for healing and high emphasis on giving to the enrichment of its leaders have come under heavy criticism. On this point, Mariz has insightfully noted that the attraction for large swaths of poorer Brazilians is in the received gifts of God’s favor and blessing. For the middle class, a major growth factor was the economic uncertainty, and the fact that the IURD itself is worth $400 million and has various business holdings creates an ability to see what will happen vicariously. Macedo’s personal net worth exceeded $1 billion in 2015, with the purchase of a 49% stake in the Brazilian bank Banco Renner in 2013.[150]
Macedo acts as the primary theologian for the movement and does not emphasize the longstanding connection between Pentecostal practice and moral purification, going so far as to say that, “In the IURD it is prohibited to prohibit. People are free to do what they understand to be right.”[151] This modern attitude toward day-to-day practice is reflected in other ways, such as the ordination of women (since 1993) and prominence of women with the gift of healing, both emphasized by Macedo. It is also evident by the denomination’s political involvement. Mariz has argued that endorsing candidates is part-and-parcel of most religious groups; Macedo’s own nephew and bishop of the church, Marcelo Crivella, established the Brazilian Republican Party in 2005 and was elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The IURD has established a political party in Portugal as well, making the claim that such efforts are marginal to its intentions not credible. The church engages the political process despite its identity as Pentecostal group whose focus is so drastically centered on the personal experience of its members. One explanation is a view of spiritual warfare that the IURD carries everywhere, here applied to another physical space where power is contested, much as the ministry of healing is an application of this worldview to the physical space of the body.
While mission activity from the Global South to the North has been noted since the turn of the 21st century, the presence and future of newer Pentecostal missions such as the IURD present a litmus for its durability worldwide. The IURD expanded into Paraguay in 1977 and Argentina, the USA, and Portugal by 1990. Within the next eight years, it expanded to every continent except Australia and established over 500 churches. An important adaptation occurred in the United States, where it began to hold all of its services and television programs in Spanish, thus expanding within the Hispanic community. In contrast, the church in South Africa has established an indigenous presence and sends its own missionaries to the rest of Africa. In England, it has created an essentially black “Afro-Caribbean” church. This variability in ethnic make-up in different countries is a testimony to the IURD’s core goal of expansion.[152]
The Igreja Pentecostal Deus E Amor (“God is Love Pentecostal Church”) is a Brazilian Pentecostal denomination headquartered in São Paulo and founded in 1962 by missionary David Martins Miranda. It is now led by his wife, Ereni Miranda de Oliveira. The church had 4 million members and more than 4,000 churches in Brazil in 2015,[153] with membership in 136 countries. They use radio as the main form of communication and broadcast the program “The Voice of Liberation.” Members also live by rules, such as not watching TV, and men and women are expected to follow a particular dress code.
The African Church of the Holy Spirit (ACHS) formed in 1927 after a schism in the Friends African Mission. The church gained full independence in 1933, later recognized as a religious community in 1957. The ACHS is a Trinitarian church; holy communion is not practiced due to the belief that each individual internally hosts the Holy Spirit. African culture is incorporated into the church through the traditional belief in dreams, visions, and prophecies. The church claims 700,000 members, 1,260 congregations, and 3,780 pastors.[154] The community is based in Kenya, and members come from a wide variety of ethnic groups.
The Pentecostal Mission (TPM, or CPM) was founded by Alwin R. de Alwis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1923. The church is known to be one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the world, with more than 20 million members spanning 65 countries. The CPM preaches separation from the distractions of the world, and members abstain from jewelry and Western medicinal treatments, while giving central focus on the return of Christ.[155] The church owns a variety of Pentecostal magazines to spread their teachings.
The Christian Congregation of Brazil was founded in 1910 by Louis Francescon, an Italian American missionary from Chicago. He was particularly successful among fellow Italian immigrants in Brazil, and there are 2.5 million members in 5,500 congregations.[156] Although it began as a church of Italian immigrants, it transitioned to using Portuguese in 1935. Unlike many other independent Charismatic groups, the Christian Congregation rejects mass propaganda methods like radio and television. Direct inspiration is emphasized, with all church and most personal decisions being confirmed by revelation. Services follow a pietistic style.
Founded in Jacksonville, Florida, by Crawford Bright, John Bright, Aaron Matthews, Sr., and Nathaniel Scippio in 1914, the church received its official name in 1922 when the charter was drafted. There are over 170 churches today in the United States and an international church in Talcahuano, Chile. The church is in the holiness tradition, teaching that entire sanctification is an instantaneous work obtained by faith but preceded through the consecration of the individual. There is a belief in divine healing, but they do not reject the use of medicine and doctors if necessary.[157]
The Church of the Lord (Aladura, Yoruba for “owners of prayer,” “Prayer Fellowship,” or “The Praying People”) was established by Joshua Oluwono Oshitelu in Nigeria in 1930. A Ghanaian branch was established in 1953 by two Nigerian apostles, E.O. Adele Adejobi and S.O. Oduwole, with headquarters in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Monrovia, Liberia.[158] The Ghana branch became autonomous after a National Conference of Ghana Churches held in Kumasi in 1965, adopting the new name “The Church of the Lord (Ghana)” under the leadership of Bishop Albert Yamoah.[159] Most of the founders of Aladura churches were associated with Anglicanism and opposed traditional African religion.
Using the Yoruba term, Harold Turner used “Aladura” as an umbrella term for West African Independent Charismatic churches, which today include groups such as the Christ Apostolic Church, the Cherubim and Seraphim movement, the Church of the Lord (Aladura), and the Celestial Church of Christ. These are among the “spiritual/prophet-healing churches” composed of a large variety of African Initiated Churches.[160] The Aladura emulated the Garrick Braid prophetic movement, characterized by prophetic leadership, prayer, and healing.[161] As opposed to the older Nativist (Ethiopian) churches, Aladura churches did not disengage from Western-founded mission churches but rather claimed a special emphasis on the movement of the Holy Spirit.[162]
Two guiding principles of the Aladura movement include belief in God and the development of a Christian outlook rooted in an African worldview. According to Deji Isaac Ayeboyin, “Aladura spirituality employs resources of Christian tradition introduced by the formal agents of Christianity synthesized with traditional religious culture to develop a life based on the precepts of the Lord Jesus…. The worldview of the members is taken into consideration in their beliefs, such as in the forces of evil, malevolent spirits, witches and wizards.”[163] Ancestral veneration is expressed through prayers and other worship practices, similar to the posture of Israelite religious practices in the Old Testament. In African culture, generally, ancestral veneration can be compared to eschatology because it illustrates the belief that time is continually moving forward.[164] Worship services are lively and participatory, sometimes with spontaneous singing, bell-ringing, drumming, and use of other indigenous instruments but also features Western-style hymnody.[165] The popularity of Aladura churches in West Africa has many thinking that the survival of Christianity in the region lies in the direction of these churches.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCC) is an independent Nigerian church begun by Olufemi Akindayomi as a schism from the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in 1947. The church spread throughout Nigeria, and Akindayomi was succeeded by Enoch Adeboye as General Overseer, a position he retains despite stepping down from the pastorate in 2017. Distinctive from many of the older Pentecostal churches in Nigeria but in line with the new wave of independent churches, the RCC has adapted to Western musical styles and dress while retaining a heightened level of spiritual activity in its fasts, prayers, and emphasis on spiritual warfare. They have also adapted a form of the prosperity gospel with a distinctive imprint stemming from an assumed connection between spiritual and material power among Nigerians, particularly the Yoruba.[166]
Until the past decade, the RCC generally tracked with the Pentecostal churches of Nigeria in maintaining some distance from political practices, save for the constant vigilance over the threat of Islamic rule over the country, a reality embodied in the adopting of Shariah law in many states of the north and the ravaging effects of Boko Haram. The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, to which the RCC belonged, threw vocal support behind Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 under the hopes of pushing back on Muslim influence from the north. In defiance of any easily dichotomous view of Nigerian politics, Obasanjo put his own support behind Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, who changed his own position on religious freedom from an earlier support of Shariah law on a national scale and began an offensive to reclaim territory held by Boko Haram. Regardless of the official policies of the state, religious violence erupts continually between Muslims and Christians over multitudes of disputes in the north since 1987 and continues today.[167]
Organizationally the RCC attracts a significant number of educated Nigerians as pastors, with local churches governed by them as the sole head. Its growth is certainly tied to its ability to maintain relevance among the poorer members and draw significantly from the upper-class neighborhoods via its “parish” model. A notable innovation is the Christ the Redeemer’s Friends Universal, a fellowship of educated Nigerian members of the church. During Adeboye’s tenure in Nigeria, the RCC established over 2,000 such parishes that serve as bases for church plants and other operations. The RCC also established the monthly Holy Ghost festival, a weekend event that attracts roughly half a million Nigerians every month. This one event reflects the massive growth of the RCC, from 2,000 in 1970 to 1.25 million in 2000 and 1.57 million in 2015, with approximately half a million other members globally. They have churches in Asia, the USA, and Europe, with 50 church plants in England and congregations as large as over 1,000. These latter churches were about 96% Nigerian in 2000, a strength for its early growth but an unknown factor to its continued spreading. While the effect of newer Pentecostal groups remains to be seen, the RCC has played a major role in the formation of Pentecostalism in Africa and beyond.[168]
The Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Nigeria had its beginnings in the Aladura movement that arose out of the work of Garrick Sokari Braide, a Nigerian whose use of the gift of healing led to a revival, yet ultimate removal from the Anglican church. His influence on Anglican priest Joseph Shadare and his relative Sophia Odulami was peripheral but traceable on account of Shadare’s participation in the ecclesial investigation of the Braide movement. Shadare and Odulami established a prayer group around 1918 to pray for victims of the influenza outbreak and engaged in various Pentecostal practices such as divine healing. In 1921, the group was expulsed from the Anglican church and formed a loose affiliation with the Philadelphia, USA-based Faith Tabernacle.[169]
Faith Tabernacle, in turn, grew to have a branch in Lagos, led by D.O. Odubanjo. In 1925, the church severed ties with Faith Tabernacle USA, over a scandal that split its own congregation. Damage from this change in support was soon eclipsed by a revival that broke out in 1930 around the work of Joseph Babalola, a 24-year-old Nigerian member of Faith Tabernacle in Ilesha, who had been encouraged by Shadare and Odubanjo to preach and begin ministering. Reports of his ability to heal the sick and prophecy attracted large numbers of followers. Churches under the Faith Tabernacle name spread throughout the region under the leadership of other prophets and preachers.[170]
In 1931, Faith Tabernacle churches affiliated with the Apostolic Church of Britain, along with Peter Anim’s Christ Apostolic Church in Ghana (at that time also searching for affiliations on account of the severance with Faith Tabernacle). They subsequently followed Anim’s lead and discontinued their affiliation with the Apostolic Church and became the Christ Apostolic Church in 1941.[171]
Through to 1970, the CAC grew in-step with the Apostolic Church from which it had split. Upon the introduction of American influence in Nigerian higher ducation, it was able to retain many of the mainstays of African Pentecostalism while adapting its methods of evangelization to this new wave of revival, as well as shedding the incompatible features of its Aladura theology, to the point of its ceasing to call itself an “Aladura” church at all. Its growth from 1970 to 2000 (from approximately 400,000 to two million) reflected this ability to become a Pentecostal church with global emphases, and the revivals that swept through the country during these decades put Nigerian Pentecostalism into public view. In 2015, the CAC had 2.6 million affiliates.[172]
Verbo Ministries, based in Guatemala City Zone 16, began in 1977 by missionaries Carlos and Linda Ramirez, Jim and Mary De Golyer, James and Lynn Jankowiak, Bob and Myra Trolese (née Cromwell), Tom Becotte, and Dick Funnell. These missionaries arrived from the Gospel Outreach ministry in Humboldt Country, California, a community born out of the Evangelical Jesus People movement in the 1970s that Jim Durkin established. In 1980, Bob and Myra Trolese left the Guatemala missionary base and moved to Nicaragua to plant another church, and Verbo made contact with a New Orleans pastor who affiliated his congregation to become the first Verbo church in the United States. A church was established in Ecuador in the early 1980s, Brazil in 1985, and a Mexican network of churches in 1989. Today, Verbo operates Pan-American University, an accredited post-secondary institution founded in 1998 in Guatemala City, as well as the Foundation for Aid to Indigenous People, which serves Ixil Indians.[173]
Estimates for the size of the ministry are unavailable prior to the year 2000, though the church claims to have grown to 100 members in their first year. The fast, early growth is likely as several factors contributed to its high visibility in the 1980s. Of special importance was the eldership of General Efrain Rios Montt, who became president of Guatemala after the 1982 military coup. Montt ruled for 13 months and was deposed by a second coup. During this time, the Guatemala City church grew to approximately 1,000 members. However, the affiliation with Montt has also been a negative marker because he was convicted for overseeing the genocide of 2,000 Ixil natives in 2013; however, the conviction was overturned in a retrial that began in January 2015. Montt passed away in 2018. Montt’s affiliations with Verbo were well-known, but no evidence of the denomination’s involvement with the accusations against Montt has surfaced. In Guatemala, Verbo grew to 43,000 affiliated in 2015 among 360 congregations and claims roughly 100 additional congregations in 14 countries from Canada to Peru and Spain.[174]
Iglesia La Luz del Mundo was founded in Mexico by Eusebio Joaquin Gonzalez in 1926 at the time of a violent struggle between the anti-clerical government and Catholic rebels. The church practices a form of restorationist theology centered on three leaders: founder Gonzalez, Samuel Joaquin Flores, and Naason Joaquin Garcia. These three men are considered the modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ. As of 2019, the church claims a presence in 58 countries, with more than 15,000 temples worldwide.[175]
In 1895, the gathering of the Foreign Mission Baptist Convention, the American National Baptist Convention, and the Baptist National Educational Convention led to the formation of the National Baptist Convention, making it the largest African American Baptist organization in the United States.[176] This organization endured another split in 1919, creating the National Baptist Convention of America (Unincorporated) and the National Baptist Convention USA, Incorporated (NBCUSA), the latter of which was led by E.C. Morris. L.K. Williams succeeded Morris in 1922, and in 1925, the convention, in collaboration with Southern Baptist Convention, created the American Baptist Theological Seminary.[177]
Despite the split, the goals of the convention included uniting the National Baptist churches, promoting missions, supporting Christian education, publishing Christian literature and art, and advancing the cause of Jesus Christ throughout the world.[178] In addition, the NBCUSA espouses a liturgical embrace of emotional spirituality and an anti-dualistic view of worship that goes against the “sterile, lifeless, disembodied worship”[179] that characterizes various churches in American Christianity. Owing to its roots to the African American experience, the NBCUSA welcomes a worship life that looks back to Pentecost and celebrates the work of the Holy Spirit in its present context.
At its annual conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in October 2019, Jerry Young became the first unopposed, seated president of the National Baptist Conference, USA, in nearly 30 years to be reaffirmed for a second term. While Young’s rallying call was on “Envisioning the Future Exceptionally,” the NBCUSA is facing the dilemma of waning attendance at such events due to a low response from the millennial generation and younger.[180]
The Jesus Family, founded in 1927 by Jing Dianying in Manzhuang, Shandong, is the most significant Chinese Pentecostal church after the International Assembly of the True Jesus Church. It began as an economic cooperative of Christians in 1921 and, after Dianying’s encounter with a Pentecostal community, began to take in members through an intensive communitarian ethic, a rejection of the world, and evangelization whereby members were dispatched to create other such communities. By 1949, there were over 10,000 members of the Jesus Family, but this growth was pushed underground into the obscurity of the Chinese underground church as the Communist Party began to repress the movement in 1952.
The Jesus Family’s missionaries and membership were an indigenous peasant class, and the communitarian formation of the community enabled it to maintain its existence throughout the repression of the government of the 1960s and its outright ban of Christianity in 1966. During this time, it also developed a hymnal that puts on full-display the incorporation of local religion (primarily Confucianism) with the core Christian commitments most identifiable with Pentecostalism. In 1977, the movement re-emerged to visibility as the government stricture was removed. While it has experienced growth, the end of the 20th and early 21st centuries saw the movement pushed underground again with increasing support of the Chinese government for churches affiliated to the governmental Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the imprisonment of prominent leaders, and the destruction of church buildings. Despite this, of the approximately 34 million Pentecostal Christians in China, a large portion is likely to have its roots in the Jesus Family churches.[181]
The APCI is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination founded December 5, 2010, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently the largest known Pentecostal, Apostolic, LGBT-affirming group in the world, it arose out of a merger between independent ministers and others leaving the Global Alliance of Affirming Apostolic Pentecostals. The latter had been established in 2007 as an evolution of the Apostolic Restoration Mission and National Gay Pentecostal Alliance (NGPA), founded by William H. Carey of New York.[182] The NGPA had been the first LGBT-affirming Apostolic denomination, formed originally as the Gay Apostolic Pentecostals in 1980 in Schenectady, New York.[183] As of December 2015, the APCI claimed 126 churches and ministers in 27 countries throughout the world, including Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Its leadership is largely the same as other Oneness Pentecostal denominations, with one apostolic general, bishops, geographic overseers, and auxiliary leaders. The APCI publishes a monthly newsletter, The Apostolic Voice, and runs a ministerial training program incorporated in Michigan — the Apostolic Institute of Ministry — founded by William H. Carey, who served as its first President and Dean of Students.[184]
