Dr. Adam Stewart and I published an article on “Spiritual Vitality among PAOC Credential Holders” in Enrich. One thing we didn’t comment on in the article is an interesting shift regarding the spiritual practices of PAOC credential holders according to their education levels. Back in 1985/86 Carl Verge concluded that “those clergy of the PAOC […]
What makes a Pentecostal a Pentecostal? …particularly a PAOC Pentecostal. In the earliest days of the Pentecostal movement in Canada, most of the people attending a Pentecostal church would have spoken in tongues. In fact, the reason that many Christians joined a Pentecostal church was that they were no longer welcome in their previous churches […]
While I appreciate the fact that some sermons don’t lend themselves to having an altar call, it seems to me (and others that I talk to) that altar calls are becoming less common in Pentecostal churches today (at least in North America). At first less frequent altar calls might seem to be a problem, but is it? […]
Each year for my Church history class I have my students attend Orthodox or Catholic worship services and write a reflection paper on their experience. As I have graded their assignments, I have been struck by their observations regarding worship. These served as important reminders for me. 1. Worship should involve reverence for God A […]
The PAOC has published another booklet: His Witnesses: Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World (2013). It would be too much to discuss all thirteen essays here, so I offer only a few reflections and highlights. David Wells (the PAOC general superintendent) expresses the impetus for this timely book: church life has many aspects that can […]
I recently had an e-mail asking, “could you please recommend a good ‘Pentecostal/Evangelical’ commentary.” I thought my response would be worth posting here. Most commentary series include a mix of scholars, some evangelical and some not. However, here are a few that immediately come to mind and that I am pretty sure include all evangelical scholars: the […]
The PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada) recently published a booklet entitled, Authentically Pentecostal: Here’s What We See—A Conversation, which is a collection of essays, largely coming out of the PAOC’s “Theological Study Commission.” The publication covers the themes of Christ as savior, baptizer, healer, and coming king from theological and pastoral perspectives. In the section […]