Charismatic Renewal

The Charismatic Movement is the international trend of historically mainstream congregations adopting beliefs and practices similar to Pentecostalism. Fundamental to the movement is the use of spiritual gifts (charismata). Among Protestants, the movement began around 1960. Among Roman Catholics, it originated around 1967.

Pentecostalism began in the early twentieth century. Its doctrinal distinctive involved a dramatic encounter with God termed baptism with the Holy Spirit. The evidence for having received this experience was speaking in tongues. American Lutheran minister Harald Bredesen coined the term "charismatic" in 1962 to describe what was happening in mainline Protestant denominations. Confronted with the term "neo-Pentecostal", he preferred to call it "the charismatic renewal in the historic churches".

Before 1955 the religious mainstream did not embrace Pentecostal doctrines. If a church member or clergyman openly expressed such views, they would (either voluntarily or involuntarily) separate from their existing denomination. The charismatic movement represented a reversal of this previous pattern as those influenced by Pentecostal spirituality chose to remain in their original denominations.

The high church wing of the American Episcopal Church became the first traditional ecclesiastical organization to feel the impact of the new movement internally. The beginning of the charismatic movement is usually dated to Sunday, April 3, 1960, when Dennis J. Bennett, rector of St Mark's Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California recounted his Pentecostal experience to his parish, doing it again on the next two Sundays, including Easter (April 17), during which many of his congregation share his experience, causing him to be forced to resign. The resulting controversy and press coverage spread an awareness of the emerging charismatic movement. The movement grew to embrace other mainline churches, where clergy began receiving and publicly announcing their Pentecostal experiences. These clergy began holding meetings for seekers and healing services which included praying over and anointing of the sick. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal began in 1967 at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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