Since the launch of the modern Pentecostal movement from
Azusa Street 110 years ago in Los Angeles, man's attempts to harness the
global expansion of the Acts 2 experience have taken multiple routes.
From Azusa was birthed several contemporary denominations, such as the
Assemblies of God and Church of God in Christ. Other movements came to
embrace the charismatic outpouring, all with seemingly sincere
intentions to unite the body of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Groping
for this unity through the decades, much of the Pentecostal and
charismatic movement has ultimately come with divisions, with groups
splintering off, many times over the slightest of differences of
interpretation or experience.
Gathering in London this
week is the Empowered21 Global Council, a group with a significant grasp
on bringing unity to the evangelical and Pentecostal influence. Leaders
of churches, organizations, ministries and institutions are gathering
for two days to reflect and visualize the future of the half-billion
adherents of the Pentecostal movement.
Not the first
time this group has gathered, the E21 Global Council was formed as an
outgrowth of the celebration of the Azusa Street Revival, which took
place in Los Angeles in 1906 and was commemorated during a centennial
event in 2006 with over 50,000 charismatic believers from around the
globe. From that gathering came 17 "conversations" taking place in
strategic locations across six continents. From these meetings came the
first Empowered21 conference in 2010 on the Tulsa, Oklahoma, campus of
Oral Roberts University.
"What we found is there is a
hunger for these kinds of unifying meetings to take place around the
world," according to Dr. Billy Wilson, who serves as co-chair of the
Empowered21 Global Council along with Dr. George Wood, superintendent of
the Assembly of God. "It was vital that we establish a mission, vision
and a five-part purpose statement to guide us as we navigate the
drastically different global streams of this movement."
"Trying to import a North American Christianity around the
world is not the answer," Wilson told Tuesday's E21 Global Council
session.
Wilson, who also serves as president of Oral
Roberts University, outlined the established structure and foundation of
E21, which includes 14 regional teams or cabinets, the most recent of
which is Eastern Europe established earlier this year. According to
Wilson, leaders of these teams are prayerfully chosen for their
authenticity, integrity and spiritual experience and charged with
upholding five "descriptors" of E21: Holy Spirit, Future, Next
Generation, Unity and World Evangelization.
Wilson said,
"We are different in a lot of ways, but there are some aspects of this
movement (E21) which we must all agree upon and they are 1) Jesus is the
only way to salvation, 2) the Holy Spirit is alive and at work today,
3) the world is to be evangelized, and 4) the next generation needs to
understand and be connected with this movement." Wilson stated the
purpose of the Global Council is to give spiritual oversight to this
worldwide network of leaders.
The Global Council
concludes on Wednesday, May 11 prior to the opening service of London
2016, a three-day celebration to be held in the historic Gaumont Theatre
in downtown London.
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