Introduction
Churches form an important part of the human beings. This is because they offer the human beings with an opportunity to explore and exercise their faith . The church must look outward. It is not itself.
The whole purpose of the internal organization of the Christian community is precisely to facilitate its outreach into the world, both to proclaim the message of the Gospel values of justice and peace. The church’s mission is to evangelize and to serve as an instrument for the coming and realization of the kingdom of God in our world.
Thus the outward mission of the church, its serve to the kingdom, is to announce the good news, inviting individuals to receive it and to become members of the body of Christ.
At the same time, this evangelization entails acting on behalf of the growth within the society of the gospel values which Jesus taught and which lead to human fulfillment in dignity, communion and freedom.
The Pentecostal church
The term ‘Pentecostal’ is very loosely applied to all churches upholding reformist traditions that charismatic gifts experienced on the day of Pentecost are still operative .
Basically, all Pentecostals believe that the Bible is God inspired scripture, simplicity in worship, the Christ will visibly return to earth, holiness of life and believer’s baptism. Individual believers as well as the church shall be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit.
History of Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism has become a major movement in the contemporary Protestant Christianity. In little more than a century, it grew from meager beginnings at Azuza Street in Los Angeles to nearly half a billion followers around the world.
Once thought attractive only to the poor, disenfranchasized, and disconnected, the modern movement has spread across class and ethnic lines and includes the educated world.
Given its success, few would dare speculate that this institution shares a common descent with those who practice the handling of venomous serpents in their worship.
However, a perceived direct encounter with God was what made the early Pentecostalism appealing to many observers, and such an encounter involved manifestations that were believed to be supernatural signs – all of which persist today as important markers in the serpent handling tradition.
The doctrine
The person responsible for introducing this practice as a formally stated doctrine was the Rev. Charles Fox Parham of Kansas. He was the first one who singled out “glossolalia” (speaking in tongues) as the only evidence of having received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and taught that it should be part of “normal” Christina worship rather than a curious by product of religious enthusiasm.
The service
It was my first time to attend a Pentecostal church service and I found it to be very interesting. This was because of the order of the service. I chose to attend a Pentecostal church because I am used to the Roman Catholic kind of service.
The two services are quite different. For instance, the Pentecostal service is more inclined on creating a spiritual experience which is based on the Holy Ghost as compared to the catholic experience. The Pentecostal movement has got predominant traits that make it to stand out among many other denominations.
The Pentecostal church has focused on several aspects which include evangelism, baptism of the Holy Ghost, faith and rich worship. Furthermore, this church has a heavy emphasis on fellowship and expectancy. In addition, I realized that the Pentecostal service was more inclined to singing loud praise songs and then followed by soft and cool, worship music.
Much emphasis is on the personal encounter with the Holy Ghost. It is a unique service in the sense that the majority of those got captured in this moment found themselves crying and pleading for mercy. The focus of this service is based on purity and holiness.
This is in light of the sanctification process where every believer should seek to purify his or her life and live in accordance with the tenets of the Holy Scriptures. Essentially, the preacher has the liberty to decide how long a service can take. This is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In addition to this, the sermons are characterized with responses to the key points which are made by the preacher. In this case, if the preacher feels that the responses are not enough, he would urge the congregants to cheer him up and respond.
The sermon is picked from the Bible and the preacher is the one who has the obligation of dissecting the meaning to the congregants and letting them apply it in their lives. Most of the sermons in these churches are geared towards repentance, purity and holiness without which nobody will see the Kingdom of Heaven.
The emphasis of the Pentecostal movement is based on individual hope for the future. Believers in this church seek God for a deeper and higher life. This is based on personal faith and the willingness to transform a person’s life.
In this movement, a person plays a major role towards transformation which ensures that change is seen and experienced in a very personal manner. Reflections
The analysis of the Pentecostal experience per se is not enough. If traditioning is to be effective, it has to be carried out in the ecclesial community . The Pentecostal church must become the traditioning community for Pentecostal faith and practice.
But here, the Pentecostal church faces two formidable challenges. First, Pentecostalism thus far has been too individualistic in its conception of the spiritual life. The church is usually seen as a ‘fellowship’ to meet ‘my needs’. It needs to move to a more communal understanding of the Christian life.
In fact, Pentecostalism’s central experience makes better sense when it is interpreted within its own communal – liturgical context.
The Pentecostal Christian needs a Pentecostal community to make sense of his or her own spiritual experience. The second challenge that is faced is that we are living in times when the general drift of many ecclesiastical traditions is towards the ‘free church’, non – hierarchical type.
However, one understands why a movement that cherishes the freedom of the spirit would find the free type more congenial. But if the Pentecostal movement is to bequeath its heritage to the next generation without diluting the core it needs to have an adequate tradition structure.
Works Cited
Chan, Simon. Pentecostal theology and the Christian spiritual tradition, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001. Print.
Henn, William. Church:The People of God, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004. Print.
Menzies, William W. and Robert P. Menzies. Spirit and Power:Foundations of Pentecostal Experience, New Jersey: Zondervan, 2000. Print.
Varghese, Alexander P. India : History, Religion, Vision And Contribution To The World, Atlanta: Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2008. Print.