In Appreciation: Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace With Justice (PCPJ)
I’m not a Pentecostal. One might fairly call me a semi-charismatic Baptist. The peace organization to which I have the most loyalty and identification is the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (followed closely by the Fellowship of Reconciliation) (BPFNA). But I want to pay tribute and express gratitude to my friends in Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace with Justice (PCPJ).
Because the vast majority of contemporary Pentecostals (at least in the USA) are extremely militaristic and hyper-patriotic, it surprises many to find that when they began in the early 20th C., most Pentecostals were pacifists and several Pentecostal denominations retained pacifism in their official doctrines for decades (e.g., the Assemblies of God did not change their pacifism until 1967). That story has now been told in several places: e.g., Jay Beaman, Pentecostal Pacifism: The Origin, Development, and Rejection of Pacific Belief Among Pentecostals; Paul Alexander, Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God; Paul Alexander, Pentecostals and Nonviolence: Reclaiming a Heritage.
What is less known is that a group of Pentecostals and Charismatics are working to reclaim that heritage. Think how difficult that must be. But since Pentecostals are 25% of the world’s Christians, the potential for peacemaking if that reclamation is even partially successful is amazing. I have been privileged to meet some of these courageous Spirit-filled, on-fire fools for Christ.
I want to commend them to you. There are far more of them than I can list, but these are my friends in the PCPJ:
Paul Alexander and Deborah Alexander; Eric Gabourel; Marlon Millner and Diana Augsburg Millner; Arlene Sanchea-Walsh; Murray Dempster; Anthea Butler; Dallas Gingles; Terry Johns; Shelly McMullin; Christa Savely; Rick and Jan Waldrop. I’ve probably missed some and to them I apologize.
I hope many of you check out PCPJ, subscribe to their journal, Pax Pneuma, and, if you consider yourself Pentecostal or Charismatic and want to become involved in Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, BOLD peacemaking, think seriously of joining them. This Baptist fellow-traveler will be praying for their every success.
About
Michael L. Westmoreland-White, Ph.D. Former academic theologian turned peace activist and educator. Married to the Rev. Kate Westmoreland-White, a Baptist minister who works at a Catholic charity for homeless people (St. Vincent de Paul Society). This is a theological blog from an Anabaptist, Social Gospel, and Liberation perspective. I expect Christians to be in permanent exile while the Lord tarries–not primarily citizens of their home countries, but of the Rule of God and the global church. I hope to interact with perspectives from around the world, although my own origin and social location remains in the U.S. South and among Blue Collar people.
Member: Jeff Street Baptist Community @ Liberty, Louisville, KY USA.
Denomination: Alliance of Baptists.
Member: Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA), Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB), Citizens of Louisville Organized & United Together (CLOUT), Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace with Justice (PCPJ), Fellowship of Reconciliation, Evangelicals for Human Rights, Peace Action, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Baptist History and Heritage Society.
Note: The opinions I express on this blog are my own. They do not reflect some kind of “official” perspective for either my local Baptist congregation or any other organization with which I am affiliated.
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