Gifted for Change: The Evolving Vision for Tongues, Prophecy, and Other Charisms in American Pentecostal Churches

Abstract

Over the past few decades many Pentecostal churches in the United States have experienced a decrease in the practices of prophecy and speaking in tongues during public worship. This article will explore how this change has taken place and why it matters to American Pentecostals. Three major trajectories will emerge in the discussion including: the changing self-identity of Pentecostals, the relations Pentecostals share with other Christian traditions, and Pentecostal efforts to reach out to a variety of groups. The thesis of this article is that the apparent declining interest in prophecy and speaking in tongues in America Pentecostal churches is misleading because it does not adequately acknowledge ecumenical developments in the broader Pentecostal theology of charismatic gifts. Many new approaches reexamine the roles of ordinary charisms, communal boundaries, non-Pentecostals, and those with intellectual disabilities. This shift in thinking has potential to reorient the larger tradition toward its ecumenical, interracial, and intercultural foundations.

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