Charismatic Movement

Brief History of the Charismatic Movement

It's time to put sanity back into the Charismatic Movement

Introduction--My thoughts on what I am attempting to accomplish

The obvious first question should be, was this ever a move of God? If it was, how did it go wrong? Can it be saved? Should it be saved? And should the body of Christ care?

I see the Charismatic Movement as having gone through a series of stages and changes. This is not the three waves of the Charismatic Movement as laid out by C Peter Wagner. I will later explain why I believe Wagner's explanation is wrong.

It is important to note that there has been divisions and splits within the Charismatic Movement and it is not a cohesive whole.

The Charismatic Movement started on April 3, 1960 at a Sunday morning service the Episcopal Priest Dennis J. Bennett of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California informed his congregation that he had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke with tongues. During the 1960s it was a movement confined to the Institutional churches including the Catholic Church. Two other movements started in the latter 1960s, the Messianic Movement, especially after the 6 Day War in Israel in June of 1967 and the Jesus People Movement or the Jesus Revolution in the late 60s.

This was a separate movement from the Pentecostal Movement. An overly simplistic explanation is Pentecostalism is a distinct denomination with its own theological framework and practices, while the Charismatic Movement is a renewal movement that brings Pentecostal-like spirituality into a variety of Christian denominations without requiring separation from them.

The 1970s brought a merger of some Pentecostals, some from the Jesus People Movement (Jesus Revolution) and some recently born again Jews, who called themselves completed Jews or Messianic Jews.

The 1980s brought John Wimber and the Vineyard Movement, Mike Bickle and his South Kansas City Fellowship and all the other names he changed it to. The late 1980s was the start of the NAR or New Apostolic Reformation by C. Peter Wager and others.

The 1990s was Bill Johnson and Bethel Church.

More to follow to bring us to the present.

What you will read below is a three part series on the Charismatic Movement that I wrote for Twitter, now X. It was written during the early stages of the fall of Mike Bickle, his IHOPKC and Forerunner Church. It wasn't meant as a history, just a few snapshots. But before that is an overly simplistic introduction.

The Charismatic Movement-Part I

The most complete history of the movement is The Charismatic Century: The Enduring Impact of the Azusa Street Revival by Jack W. Hayford and S. David Moore. I believe there are a few errors of fact and some wrong conclusions, but this is true with any written history. There is so much misinformation on the internet that it is not a reliable source unless you have a foundation that allows you to sort through it.

There is even incorrect information in the official meeting notes approved by different leaders. An example would be in the notes below where Ern Baxter is listed as a Charismatic. Ern was a Pentecostal that was influenced by William Branham and the Latter Rain Movement, and was not initially part of the Charismatic Movement. Same for many other leaders of the 1970’s and beyond.

Understanding this part of the history makes it easier to understand the 1980s and Mike Bickle, the Kansas City Prophets, Rick Joyner and Morningstar, Bill Johnson and Bethel, the problems with Toronto, Lakeland and Todd Bentley.

The first conference mentioned is for the Shepherd’s conference held in Kansas City in 1975. It originally was to be held in Montreat, NC. Billy Graham had hosted a conference in 1974 where he called Bob Mumford “his favorite bible teacher.”

The last conferenced mentioned is the Charismatic Renewal Conference held in Kansas City July 20-24, 1977. It does not appear in this first round of meeting notes.

Below starts the actual notes of the formal meeting of the men who created the Shepherding Movement. I just copied and pasted from my copy and did not edit or correct errors. My notes are for meetings between September 8, 1974 and August 10, 1977.

General Council Minutes of The “Ft. Lauderdale” Elders
Meeting of the Council
September 8-10, 1974
Ft. Lauderdale

There had been many informal discussions prior to this meeting. This meeting was to memorialize those discussions.

The “Five” Elders were: Bob Mumford of Lifechangers, Derek Prince (Assemblies of God), Don Basham (Disciples of Christ), Charles Simpson (Southern Baptist), and two years later Ern Baxter (Charismatic).

An elders group will be established for the whole Ft. Lauderdale area. That group as a body will be responsible for the fellowship. The body will include Don Basham, Dick Key, Tom Monroe, Bob Mumford, Ray Ostendorf, Derek Prince and possibly some others.

Bob Mumford will be the presiding elder/head of the elders group.

The following will be the relationships of personal subordination within the body of elders: Derek, Dick, Tom and Ray to Bob; Don to Derek; Bob to Derek.

The Council itself:

We are a council of eight committed to care for and serve what God is doing to restore and reunite his people. We have a commitment as brothers to care for one another, including our personal lives-we wish to be mutually related and submitted. We will begin by entering into a relationship now and move toward a desired covenant with one another as our understanding of the relationship and our vision of God’s purpose for us becomes more definite.

The members of the council are currently: Don Basham, Ern Baxter, Steve Clark, Ralph Martin, Bob Mumford, John Poole, Derek Prince, Charles Simpson. We would like to add:

Larry Christenson, Paul DeCelles, and Kevin Ranaghan. Steve and Ralph will be responsible for talking with Larry, Paul, and Kevin.

The following will be the relationships of personal subordination within the council: Derek, John and Charles to Bob; Bob, Ern and Don to Derek; Ralph and Steve as previously.

Derek will chair the meetings of the council. Steve will be the secretary of the council.

The National Shepherds Conference

The proposed committee for the next conference: Larry Christenson, Steve Clark, Bob Mumford, Kevin Ranaghan, Charles Simpson (chairman).

The proposed administrative committee: Jim Cavnar, Dick Coleman, Dick Key.

The proposed time and place: the three middle weeks of September, 1975 at Montreat. The preferable week: 9/16-19. Otherwise: 9/9-12 or 9/23-26. Charles Simpson will work out the scheduling at Montreat.

Before I comment on the above notes of meeting, I would be interested in the readers thoughts on what is the fundamental error? What did these men miss? Why, based on Derek’s teachings before this meeting, did he not see what obviously violated his own doctrine?

The Charismatic Movement-Part II

What is it exactly?—How big a movement? Answer to the question, what fundamental error did the leaders of the Shepherding Movement make? What is the Lord really doing?

The Beginning Of The Movement:
In the Charismatic world, most historians agree the Movement began on April 3, 1960 at a Sunday morning service when Episcopal Priest Dennis J. Bennett of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California informed his congregation he had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

I’m sure it was a deer in the headlights moment for some folks, but most took the news calmly. However, some of the vestry members did not, and Dennis Bennett resigned that very day.

For Bennett, it all started in August 1959 when another Episcopal Priest came to him for advice. It seems a young couple in his church had attended a Pentecostal service and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. He wanted to know what to do because the experienced had so transformed their lives that this “baptism” was the only logical explanation.

The Priest persuaded Bennett to attend a prayer meeting at the couple’s home. After the meeting, as Dennis and his wife, Elberta, were driving home, he reflected on how “balanced the couple was, how sound in their faith, and that they truly loved Jesus.” He knew they had something he did not. Elberta said to him, “I don’t know what these people have, but I want it!”

Personal note: I’ve been there, done that. The Holy Spirit visited our Episcopal church two years later. It didn’t fall on the Priests, but primarily on a group of women, my Mom included, that started meeting in the home of Anne S. White, an Episcopalian with a prayer and healing ministry, who had received the baptism in the 1950s. I came to a place of knowing they had something I didn’t, something that I knew I needed. The Lord brings you to that place of need.

Before that first prayer meeting, Dennis firmly believed that his theology was correct, but he felt like he was spiritually empty. Some of his professors at seminary were atheists, others denied the virgin birth, or that Jesus was the son of God, and others saw no need for a personal savior. He was taught to dismiss miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Before that first prayer meeting, Dennis was having a crisis of faith, so the Lord set Dennis up to receive what He would freely give so Dennis could do what the Lord had called him to do.

It took three months of intense study about the baptism and attending the home prayer meeting for Dennis to say, “I want what you’ve got! How did you get it?” Then all it took was a short, simple prayer asking the Father for the baptism and then Dennis was filled to overflowing and began speaking in tongues.

Elberta hadn’t accompanied him that night and when he arrived home, she was already in bed. She said that “when Denis placed his hand on the front door, it felt like a jolt of power went through their home and woke her up!” She knew right away what it meant, and what had happened to her husband.

After Dennis’ resignation, the story aired on local media, then Time and Newsweek picked it up, and then it was on national television. The news was seen by an Episcopal bishop from Seattle who invited Dennis to pastor a dying church in a suburb. It didn’t take long for St. Luke’s of Ballard, Washington to turnaround. In fact, folks from all over the world started visiting the famous Friday night meetings.

The Friday evenings were the Charismatic Services and St. Luke’s became a revival center for the region, with an average of 20 people per week being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Over the course of the next ten years, 8,000-10,000 people received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

This pattern of having Charismatic meetings separate from “regular or normal” church services was part of the Institutional church model. Derek Prince encouraged us with our nondenominational church to not compete and offer other times for services. It worked as a basis to give people a chance to transition away from the mainstream churches. Something that was needed when many churches moved away from Biblical truths.

Besides Dennis’ life being transformed, the congregation grew from 500 to 2,600, with three services on a Sunday morning. Besides people just speaking in tongues, the church saw other gifts of the Holy Spirit being manifested: miracles, healings, prophecies, tongues and their interpretation, words of wisdom & knowledge and discerning of Spirits.

Beyond the spiritual gifts, new people were being added through salvation and not just changing churches. Marriages were being restored, lives were being changed and people knew the Lord was doing something they had only read about in the Book of Acts.

Dennis Bennett had gone from a man wanting a “Scientifically respectable religion that will be accepted by modern intellectuals!” to being the instrument the Lord used to open the gifts of the Holy Spirit to mainline churches.

The Charismatic Movement Spreads:
The news that an Episcopal priest, from a respectable upper middle-class church, was speaking in tongues, became a national story. Others in ministry from different denominations wanted to know more.

The movement spread to other denominations: Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, the Nazarenes, Disciples of Christ, and then it broke out to the Jesus People churches and has morphed into what we see today.

The benefits these traditional denominations were seeing were: Increased attendance, more ministry to the poor, a happier congregation with more interaction, miraculous provision and finances where needed, and peace that passes understanding.

So the original definition of Charismatic is: a member of an existing denomination who experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit within their own churches.

How big is the Movement?
By 1970, it was estimated that ten percent of the clergy and over 1 million laypeople were Spirit-baptized in the denominational churches.

According to a Pew Research, in 2010 there were about 279 million Pentecostals and 305 million Charismatic worldwide, together making up 27% of all Christians and 8% of the world’s total population.

The analysis shows that eight-in-ten of the world’s Pentecostals live in either sub-Saharan Africa (44%) or in the Americas (37%). Nearly one-in-six (16%) Pentecostals live in Asia and the Pacific. Almost half (49%) of all Charismatics live in the Americas, a region in which 16% of the population is charismatic. Nearly 30% of charismatics live in the Asia-Pacific region.

The numbers are larger now as we see below in the census of Cessastionists and Continuationists in Christianity.

Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements:
Pentecostal Denominations: Denominations such as the Assemblies of God, the Church of God in Christ, and various independent charismatic movements are strongly continuationist, believing that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are still active today.

Pentecostals and Charismatics make up a large portion of global Christianity, particularly in regions like Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Charismatic Renewal Movements: These movements, often within historically non-charismatic traditions (e.g., Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans), also believe in the continuation of spiritual gifts.

Estimates for Continuationists in Protestantism: Pentecostals and Charismatics are estimated to make up around 600 million Christians globally, about 25–30% of all Christians, meaning a large portion of Protestantism is continuationist.

Catholic and Orthodox Christianity:
Roman Catholicism: The Catholic Church does not officially endorse cessationism, but it also doesn’t emphasize the continuation of miraculous gifts in the same way Pentecostals do. However, Catholic Charismatic Renewal has a significant following.

Eastern Orthodox: The Orthodox Church also doesn’t typically focus on miraculous gifts in the same way, and while it's not strictly cessationist, it operates in a framework that does not expect regular manifestations of these gifts.

Estimates for Catholics and Orthodox: These branches tend to have a more neutral position on cessationism versus continuationism. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal, for instance, accounts for about 10% of Catholics.

Global Estimates:
Globally, about 25–30% of Christians could be classified as Pentecostal or Charismatic (thus, strongly continuationist).

Among Protestants, cessationists likely make up around 25–35%, especially in the Reformed, Baptist, and Evangelical traditions.

Catholics and Orthodox form the largest group, but their views on the topic are more nuanced and not strictly cessationist or continuationist.

Therefore, it's plausible to estimate that cessationists may constitute around 20–30% of all Christians worldwide. The majority of Christians likely fall into continuationist or neutral positions.

Fading Movement in the denominational churches:
Although the number of Charismatics continues to grow, it has certainly diminished in the mainline denominational churches.

The Charismatic Movement created a split. Charismatics left as the denominations became more secular and as more Charismatics left, the less Godly the denominations have become.

Answer to the question, what fundamental error did the leaders of the Shepherding Movement make?
The following quote is from the General Council Minutes of The Ft. Lauderdale Elders that I posted yesterday. “Bob Mumford will be the presiding elder/head of the elders group. The following will be the relationships of personal subordination within the body of elders: Derek, Dick, Tom and Ray to Bob; Don to Derek; Bob to Derek.”

This statement exposes two issues. First, in the New Testament, the governmental structure of Jesus’ church is a plurality of elders. There might be a first amongst equals, a concept that we see in the Greek New Testament, such as James in Jerusalem, but there is not a “head” elder. This concept started in the 2nd Century, they called it a bishop over the elders, and has led to the false church government that has plagued the church ever since.

The second issue is the submission issue. Ephesians 5 is a key Scripture on the topic of submission. It says to submit to one another, as in all the members of the body of Christ submitting to one another.

There is absolutely no way this Scripture can be interpreted as having an individual elder submit to another elder and then “shepherds” submitting to an elder, and then individuals submitting to that shepherd. This is doctrinal error and by doing so, they created a circular firing squad that wounded many, including these men. It is the same spirit behind the damage that started with the Kansas City prophets in the 1980s.

Derek Prince never talked about or brought this concept into us. I knew Derek and the other men had this, and I voiced my concern about “this stupid and unscriptural nonsense.” It came back to hurt Derek in multiple ways. I will address these in another post.

What is the Lord really doing?
I believe the Lord is rebuilding His church. We are in the birth pains of that happening. Man sees and experiences a move of the Lord and wants to turn it into a movement. A standalone experience that he can then organize and lead. Doesn’t matter if it is the Charismatic Movement or the 24/7 prayer movement.

Jesus’ focus is on us and on His church. The movement is part of the process that can’t be separated from His goal of building His church. To do so will always bring excesses and error that hurts everyone involved.

Next post will be on the 1975 Shepherd’s Conference and the 1977 Charismatic Renewal Conference, both held in Kansas City. I will also discuss the Shepherding Movement and how it setup the Kansas City prophets and the New Reformation Apostolic Movement.

The Charismatic Movement-Part III

What is it exactly?—How big a movement? Answer to the question, what fundamental error did the leaders of the Shepherding Movement make? What is the Lord really doing?

High Point of the Movement

A high point of the Charismatic Movement was July 20-24, 1977, when 50,000 believers assembled for the Charismatic Renewal Conference at the Kansas City, Missouri, Arrowhead Stadium.

So the original definition of Charismatic is: a member of an existing denomination who experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit within their own churches.

The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gifts (charismata). It has affected most denominations in the US, and has spread widely across the world.

The movement is deemed to have begun in 1960 in Anglicanism, and spread to other mainstream protestant denominations, including Lutherans and Presbyterians by 1962 and to Roman Catholicism by 1967. Methodists became involved in the charismatic movement in the 1970s.

The movement was not initially influential in evangelical churches, and although this changed in the 1980s in the so called Third Wave, this was often expressed in the formation of separate evangelical churches such as the Vineyard Movement—neo-charismatic organizations that mirrored the establishment of Pentecostal churches. Many traditional evangelical churches remain opposed to the movement and teach a cessationist theology.

1975 Shepherd’s Conference  Kansas City, MO
New Wine Magazine Reports on the Kansas City Shepherds Conference 1975 held at Municipal Auditorium
I have made no secret of the fact that I believe Ern Baxter's message; "Thy Kingdom Come!" - which was the closing address at the Kansas City Shepherds Conference 1975 - was probably the most dramatic and powerful message that he ever preached in his life. That's not just my opinion. Charles Simpson said of that meeting;

"Many people have said that it was the single most powerful meeting that they ever attended, and that the message was the most inspiring that they had ever heard".

Here's what they said about it:
"The climax of the conference came Friday night at the last session. As praise and worship poured forth with increasing and deepening quality, the Presence of God filled the entire auditorium.

As the worship heightened, the Word of the Lord came forth in a scriptural exhortation from Joshua 5:13-15, the story of Joshua's encounter with the Captain of the Lord's hosts. When His command to Joshua was read; "Remove your sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy", all present simultaneously removed their shoes, moving even further into worship.

Next prophecy came forth directing the men to bow down in the Presence of God. 4, 500 men went prostrate before the Lord, initiating an awesome period of deep intercession. At intervals throughout the worship, intercessory prayer was offered for God's sovereign movement in America, and for the realization of maturity in the Body of Christ throughout the world.

Against this backdrop of worship, Ern Baxter came forward to speak on the theme, "Thy Kingdom Come!". As Ern portrayed the majesty and Lordship of Christ throughout eternity and the inevitability of Jesus' victory, both now and at the end of the age, the men repeatedly came to their feet in spontaneous worship, acknowledging the King of Kings and rejoicing at the end result of Jesus' Lordship, the establishment of His Kingdom by His supreme authority.

At the close of his message Ern instructed the gathering to greet each other, embracing and praying for one another in a spirit of love. As his request was carried out all over the auditorium, the Spirit of God moved among the men, breaking down barriers, dissolving suspicions and healing relationships. And that was how the conference ended. With brothers in Christ affirming and blessing one another, pledging love and faithfulness, leaving the auditorium united in the love of Jesus Christ.

Of the fellowship and openness, Ern Baxter observed, "We seemed to be witnessing God's kind of ecumenism, which is first that of the Holy Spirit and then of 'the faith."

Whatever the ultimate results, one thing is evident. God chose September 23rd through 26th in Kansas City, Missouri as His appointed time to instill almost 5000 Christian leaders a fresh vision of the Kingdom of God and of the Body of Christ, joined together by covenant love, functioning in a balance of diversity and authority. May the same cry that was formed on the lips of the shepherds who gathered in Kansas City be transported into the hearts of all those who seek Jesus' Lordship; "Thy Kingdom Come!"

I would hope that every minister or spokesman of God has a "Now" moment when God seems to anoint their ministry so powerfully that it seems heaven has come down. I don't think I will be contradicted if I say that Ern Baxter's message on "Thy Kingdom Come" at Kansas City in 1975 was quite possibly his crowning moment of his service to God. The anointing on this message make it a "Must Hear" for anyone interested in his preaching.

It is interesting to hear what Charles Simpson had to say on this message: "In 1975, Ern ministered in the closing session of the Kansas City Shepherds' Conference. Nearly 5000 men had gathered; His message was "Thy Kingdom Come."

As the message closed, they pulled off their shoes and bowed in God's presence. As they left the auditorium, they sang, "He is Lord." The men sang through the streets of Kansas City. Many people have said that it was the single most powerful meeting that they ever attended, and that the message was the most inspiring that they had ever heard".

Ern Baxter's Message:

"I had composed what I thought were some rather clever introductory remarks which now, in the atmosphere of this momentous gathering, seem to have become inappropriate. I sense the Presence of God in this final meeting in a confirmatory way that serves to underline what I have felt all week - that we have been in the Presence of the Living Word of God. That we have not only been ministered to out of the hearts and minds of gifted men, but we have been ministered to on a higher level that marks times of special direction that God gives to His people, when He lifts us up into special dimensions of awareness and insight."