The Charismatic Renewal

Fr. Dale Matson

          Probably the last place one would expect a fresh infilling of God the Holy Spirit was the liturgical churches yet, the Anglican/Episcopal, Lutheran and later, the Roman Catholic Churches were some of the first churches to experience a contemporary renewal. This Neo-Pentecostal renewal began in the early 1960’s and remains evident in those same churches today. The Charismatic renewal has had less impact on the reformed churches and I believe this is possibly related to their dispensational approach to Scripture.

            I was a Missouri Lutheran in the mid 1980’s and was struck with the wording of a lesser known creed accepted by those churches. The Creed of St. Athanasius (Quicunque Vult) was recited only once a year in our congregation on Trinity Sunday. The following passage in particular resonated with me and I read it over several times. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other; none is greater, or less than another; But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. I had been thinking a lot lately about God the Holy Spirit and why Jesus seemed to be the only focus of my brothers and sisters in our congregation.

I heard that Pastor Erwin Prange (he passed on less than a year ago) from Minnesota would be preaching at Pastor Ferd Barr’s church near Milwaukee. Pastor Barr was the lone Missouri Synod pastor who boldly dared to be Charismatic in the heart of the LCMS.  He spoke on Baptism of the Holy Spirit and his experiences as a Charismatic pastor and with a deliverance ministry as a consultant to a local psychiatric hospital. I also read one of his books, A Time To Grow. I was seeking this experience within my faith tradition guided by Scripture and trustworthy leaders yet there was some apprehension. A local Baptist pastor told me, “Speaking in tongues is of Satan.”  

I had a cautious yet irresistible desire for this “second blessing” and privately studied Scripture with many examples of both water and Holy Spirit baptism. I wanted a deeper relationship with God the Holy Spirit and knew in my heart that it would not be a false path. After all, the LCMS was not a dispensational church and didn’t God give good gifts to those that asked? (Luke 11:13, Matt. 7:11).

As a member of a home bible study mostly populated by Roman Catholics, I asked to be prayed over for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I trusted those around me and stepped out in faith that God would provide. Following the prayer, I simply said two words. I did not know what the words meant but repeated them in my head phonetically. I had a Young’s Analytical Concordance at home and looked them up. I had said “Zebina (acquired) Shekinah (God’s glorious presence). I had spoken in faith the words Zebina Shekinah and did not know at the time that they meant that I had acquired God’s glorious presence. It was the beginning of a private prayer tongue that I have used for over 25 years. I was involved in the Charismatic renewal for over 15 years and attended the Conference on the Holy Spirit in Minneapolis. I remember Lutheran pastor Larry Christenson as an excellent author/speaker there. I can also remember being moved by the Holy Spirit to tears as thousands of souls sang Amazing Grace. I looked around and everyone was in tears. There were many workshops and lots to learn. It was an ecumenical experience to be there and my friend Morton Kelsey once told me that ecumenism was the heart of the Charismatic experience.

I must end on a note that is an unfortunate reality for Charismatics. There was a great deal of misunderstanding and divisiveness associated with the Charismatic renewal. The Charismatic movement was ecumenical since the Holy Spirit is a God of Unity but the human side of it was divisive and literally split congregations in two. I primarily blame the Charismatics for giving the appearance that they were a special class of Christians. If only, the fruits of the Holy Spirit had also been manifested. We should have memorized 1 Cor. 13 before we preached 1 Cor. 12.

Finally, I am also sad to report that the home bible study, where there was such openness, honesty, trust and love, no longer exists. Some have moved, some died and most no longer even attend church. It is truly tragic that what appeared to be good soil for so many turned into rocks and thorny ground. I pray that someday they would again turn to Christ.