Archive: Prayer and praise denote Aldersgate ’94 gathering
A whole lot of praying and praising was going on in Washington, D.C. when more than 1,450 United Methodists gathered for Aldersgate ’94, the 16th denomination-wide conference on the Holy Spirit. The four-day event was sponsored by United Methodist Renewal Services Fellowship Inc., an affiliate of the denomination’s Board of Discipleship. The conference focused on charismatic worship experience and prayer for renewal of the United Methodist Church by the Holy Spirit.
Much of the praise was in song, often accompanied by tambourines, interpretive dancers waving brightly colored pennants, guitars and other musical instruments. Prayer and Scriptures were integral parts of lessons and sermons. Days began at 6:30 a.m. with an hour of prayer and concluded with an altar call at the end of the evening worship. Bible-study sessions, workshops, and additional worship filled time between.
“Every area of the ministry is growing,” Gary L. Moore, executive director of United Methodist Renewal Services Fellowship, told Good News. “People are seeking a vital relationship with a living God. They are hungering and thirsting for real discipleship in Jesus, not just revamped religion.
“There is an intense desire for opportunities to worship Jesus and not just go through the motions of forms that fail to touch the heart,” Moore said. “I believe there is a smoldering fire in the heart of Methodism that only needs the wind of the Holy Spirit to stir it into a raging fire of revival. Our ministry strives to be a part of fanning the flame.”
The Rev. Rodney Smothers of Atlanta, preaching at the first of four 2 1/2-hour worship services, spoke of United Methodism’s tendency to over structure. Urging the church to go back to basics, Smothers said Jesus did not criticize but introduced sinners to the love of God: “We serve a God who is in the business of renewing us.”
The Rev. Robert Stamps of Arlington, Virginia, said the conference “Witnesses to the diversity of the church,” adding that members of the denomination do not look alike, dress alike, or worship alike, but are united. Addressing racial diversity, he projected that, by the year 2044, white people of northern European ancestry will make up less than half the U.S. population, a statistic he said most white people—himself included—may find threatening. But God is not threatened, Stamps said.
Church members’ reactions to these changes will determine the future, Stamps said. He warned that United Methodism could become “a small homogeneous sect with a few black congregations thrown in.”
“We’re to do as God did [at Pentecost] … learn to speak [others’] languages. Sooner or later you have to be a part of this whether you want to or not, and the later is heaven,” Stamps asserted. “Heaven isn’t going to make us homogeneous. Heaven itself is a rainbow.”
The Rev. Gregg Parris of Muncie, Indiana, told worshipers the third evening that “for too long … the charismatic movement [has] been overequipped and underchallenged.” Observing that members have great faith in the God of yesterday and of tomorrow, Parris urged belief in “the God of now.” He advised “a global perspective,” citing statistics about church growth in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
“We need to move in the power of the Holy Spirit,” he concluded. “The power of God has a single purpose … to empower the church to take the Good News where it hasn’t been heard.”
The Rev. Lawrence Eddings, an evangelist from WoodinviIle, Washington, warned against weakening the message of salvation to make it culturally and socially palatable. “People must be saved [by] the name of Jesus,” Eddings said. “Wherever the church has affirmed that faith, … the church flourishes.” He advised, “Boldness is the ability to articulate faith in love. … It doesn’t mean to be abrasive and attacking. It doesn’t mean to be controlling.”
Eddings challenged the church “to take up its ministry of healing” spirits, emotions, bodies, and relationships. God can work miracles through “unschooled, ordinary people” as well as through the highly educated, he said. He emphasized prayer as essential to a relationship with Jesus and to learning God’s will. Eddings said, “We are the people of God. We are authorized to be in ministry to the world in the name of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and there will be results guaranteed by God.”
Similarly, in one of the Bible-study sessions, the Rev. Seth Asare, the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at UM-related Boston University School of Theology, advised that the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit “should be used in the ministry to bring people to know Jesus Christ.”
In 1995, the 17th annual conference on the Holy Spirit will be held in Orlando, Florida.
Adapted from United Methodist News Service
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