"WHAT HAPPENED AT KANSAS CITY?" - A LIVING PROPHECY by John Blattner

NEW COVENANT October ) cents USA the 1977 What Happened At Kansas City ? From the Editor A Kansas City newspaper described it as the big gest, cleanest, and happiest convention the city had ever seen. The Conference on Charismatic Renewal in the Christian Churches was that, but it was much more. From July 20 to July 24, 50,000 Christians from many different Christian backgrounds con verged on Kansas City to pray, to sing, and above all to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord. Assessing the conference's significance will take time, but a few early observations are appropriate. This conference brought together for the first time Christians from the three traditions in the charis matic renewal— the classical Pentecostal, the neoPentecostal, and the Catholic pentecostal. This his toric gathering was a first response to a directive word that the Lord spoke at a conference on the Catholic charismatic renewal in 1974. At that time the Lord expressed his desire to bring the three streams together. In response, a planning committee of Christian leaders from diverse backgrounds formed. Their goal was to prepare a conference that would call together Christians from the three streams. The cooperation, friendship, and love that the plan ning committee experienced in the last two years of preparation was a foundation for the conference it self, which was a sign of hope for all the Christian churches. of the charismatic renewal for renewal of the par ticular Christian churches. This should and will con tinue to be their objective. However, at Kansas City the Lord called us all to reach beyond our denomi national walls to work and pray aggressively for a of all Christianity. higher goal— the unification The various streams have always been concerned Prophecies during the conference called us to mourn and weep for the brokenness of Christ's body on this earth, and to intercede for its healing. We should view Kansas City not as a culmination but as the beginning of our working in earnest, praying in earnest, learn ing to love one another in earnest, as we respond to the Lord's desire to have his body be one. As a service to our readers New Covenant is pub lishing in this issue a selection of prophecies given at the conference (see page 10). Groups and individ uals should look for ways of responding to what the Lord said and did at Kansas City. I, for one, hope that the planning committee will continue to meet to reflect on the message of the conference and to consider how to help us act on that word. I look forward to what they may have to say about the next steps for the converging streams of the charismatic renewal to take. We are engaged with the Lord in historic developments in the life of the church. Let's take it seriously. B.G. Editor: Bert Ghezzi. Managing Editor: Randy Cirner. Editorial Staff: John Blattner, Cindy Cavnar, Kevin Perrotta, Ken Wilson. Consulting Editor: Ralph Martin. Contributing Editors: Larry Christenson, Harold Cohen, David duPlessis, Tom Forrest, Robert Frost, Michael Harper, Kilian McDonnell, Bishop Joseph McKinney, Ken Pagard, Graham Pulkingham, Kevin Ranaghan, Brian Smith, Vinson Synan, J. Rodman Williams. Design Manager: John Williams. Design Director: John Leidy . Design Staff: Mike Andaloro, Patricia Pamment. Typesetting: Mary Charboneau. Proofreading: Jan Mertz. Photography: Nelson Burton (cover, p. 5 above, p. 13 right); John Leidy (pp. 4, 5 below, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 right, 13 left, back cover); John Blattner (p. 12 left); Ernst A. Jahn (p. 1 5); College of Steubenville (p. 22). Illustration: Hollace Gordinier (pp. 19, 20, 28, 32); Kevin Davidson of Christian Brothers Visual Communication (p. 24). Circulation: Maureen Moreau. Production: Stephen Peterson. Marketing: Jeanne Kun, Gary Morgan, Stephen Peterson, Russel Valvo. Publisher: George Martin. New Covenant is a monthly publication that seeks to foster the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church and to serve that church as an instrument of its renewal. New Covenant is also committed to encourage the development of the entire charismatic renewal and the renewal of the whole Christian people. Copyright © Charismatic Renewal Services, Inc. 1977. C.R.S. is a non-profit corporation established by the National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of the United States, Inc., the People of Praise, and The Word of God, serving the worldwide charismatic renewal. No part of the magazine may be reproduced or reprinted without per mission. Publication address: New Covenant, 617 E. Huron, P.O. Box 8617, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107 Phone (313) 761-8505. Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, U.S.A., and additional office. Postmaster: please send form 3579 to New Covenant, P.O. Box 8617, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107. NEW COVENANT. Volume 7, Number 4, October 1977 The Kansas City Conference John Blattner 4 A Living Prophecy Report on the conference. 10 Prophecies from the General Sessions 11 A Challenge to the Churches Leaders' comments on the implications of the conference. Special Jim McFadden 15 War Between the Kingdoms — The World and Christian Community II Features Don Basham George Martin Roslyn Kamoroff 18 24 32 Why Do We Need Spiritual Gifts? God's power for the body of Christ. Doctors, Medicine, and Divine Healing Should we pray for healing? Encounter with the Messiah "Faith in Jesus strengthened Dcpattments 22 George Montague 27 Jim Rolland 28 Theodore Jungkuntz 31 George Martin 34 News Scripture Companion Voice in the Wilderness Prayer Group Workshop How to Form A Music Group Books Gathering a People by Judith Tydings Your Word Judgment my Jewish identity." A Living Prophecy The Kansas City conference was a dramatic demonstration of unity in a divided church. by John Blattner A he keynote was unity. Kevin Ranaghan, chairman of the planning com mittee for the 1977 Conference on Charismatic Renewal in the Christian Churches, told the opening session of the conference, "The Spirit is saying that in the re newal, through the renewal, there will be Christian unity. I believe that God has spoken this conference as a living prophecy, in the church and to the world, that he has decided to have one people, one bride." Dr. Ranaghan said the conference represented "the largest grass-roots ecumenical movement that Chris tianity has known in the last 800 years," and his assess ment seemed to be borne out by the size and compo sition of the conference. More than 50,000 men, women, and children, from more than a dozen denominations, found their way to Kansas City July 20-24 to join in proclaiming the conference theme, "Jesus Is Lord." The opening session, Wednesday night, had unity as its theme, and the array of speakers amply illustrated both the unity and the diversity of the participants. The session was co-emceed by two classical Pentecostals: Bishop Samuel Green, of the predominantly black Church of God in Christ, and Dr. Howard Courtney, vice-president of the International Church of the Four square Gospel. Dr. Vinson Synan, general secretary of the Pente costal-Holiness Church, presented a brief history of the He then intro Pentecostal and charismatic movements. duced speakers from several segments of the presentday movement, who described how the Spirit has worked in their churches and traditions. Among them was Pauline Parham, daughter-in-law of Rev. Charles Fox John Blattner is an associate editor of New Covenant. ABOVE: On Thursday evening, Lutheran pastor Larry Christenson (right) delivered the main address on "Wholeness." Before he spoke, he was prayed with by Dr. J. Rodman Williams (center), a Presby terian minister and president of Melodyland School of Theology, teacher who was and Charles Simpson (left), a nondenominational master of ceremonies for the session. Parham, whose bible school in Topeka, Kansas— not far from the site of the conference— was the setting for what was, in the mind of many historians, the birth of the Pentecostal movement at the turn of the century. Rev. Dennis Bennett, a pioneer in the charismatic renewal among Protestants, described three streams of Christianity which, he said, were flowing together in the charismatic renewal. The Catholic stream, he said, brought an awareness of the history and tradition of the Christian people. The evangelical stream focused on the word of God, both in Scripture and in teaching. The Pentecostal stream centered on the immediate experi ence of God. All those in the charismatic renewal, Rev. Bennett said, share a common spiritual heritage, are solidly grounded in Scripture and doctrine, and have ex perienced God through being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The main address was given by Kevin Ranaghan. He discussed the unusual spectacle of Christians from widely divergent— and sometimes antagonistic— backgrounds coming together to proclaim their oneness: noteworthy aspects of the conference. The structure of the conference also re flected its ecumenical nature. Actually, it was several conferences within a conference: ten different denominational and non-de nominational groups held sessions and work shops during the day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. General sessions for all parti cipants were held in the evenings at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas Chiefs League. ABOVE: Arrowhead Stadium during one of the general sessions: LEFT: Dr. Vinson Syrian, general secretary Church, of the Pentecostal-Holiness Parham, introduces Mrs. Pauline of early Pentecostal daughter-in-law minister Charles Fox Parham. Sharings from representatives of various Christian traditions were presented each night at the general sessions. "We don't exactly have a reputation for mutual love, unity, and brotherhood. We're known to think dif ferently, to act differently, to pray differently, to sing differently, to dress differently. Frankly, we have tended over the years to hold some very firm opinions about and against one another. . . .Yet on all of us, in spite of our divisions and separation, God has poured out his Holy Spirit." He ended by relating a prophecy received by the planning committee, in which the Lord promised to protect the conference from a spirit of divisiveness. Dr. Ranaghan then led the crowd in prayer, rebuking any work of Satan to divide the participants, and encourag ing the crowd to approach the coming four days in a spirit of love and service. 1 he planning committee responsible for the confer ence was itself a sign of unity. Composed of represen tatives of each of the denominations participating in the conference, the committee began meeting more than three years ago to conceive and realize the conference. The degree of brotherhood and cooperation on the com mittee was, to many of its members, one of the most of the National Football The morning sessions in downtown Kansas City gave each group a chance to express its unique identity. The afternoon workshops, sponsored by the various denominations but open to all conferees, enabled participants to experience the life and worship of Chris tians from other backgrounds— an opportu nity which many participants seized eagerly. The conference was a time, however, not only for increasing unity among the differ ent groups, but also for increasing unity within them. Leaders of the charismatic renewal in the American Baptist and Southern Baptist Churches met to investigate the pos sibility of forming a unified service commit tee for charismatic renewal among Baptists. Methodists began to explore the possibility of establishing an official church office to oversee the charismatic renewal in that church. Three new service committees were Pente established during the conference: costal, United Church of Christ, and Holi- Leaders of several messianic their need to enter into acknowledged groups Jewish deeper, more loving relationships at a dramatic footwashing ceremony held spontaneously during an after nessAVesleyan/Nazarene. noon workshop. V-/ne of the most impressive aspects of the conference was that so large and diverse an undertaking was able to proceed in so remarkably organized and peaceful a It was the largest conference ever held in the charismatic renewal, and was also the largest conference that Kansas City— known as a convention town— had ever hosted. manner. of arenas, auditoriums, convention halls, and rooms were used to house the bewildering array of morning sessions and afternoon workshops. —More than 13,000 hotel rooms within 50 miles of the city were occupied by conference participants. —Local restaurants were swamped, even though thou sands took advantage of catered box lunches and dinners served at conference sites. Ice cream parlors did a par ticularly brisk business in the hot humid weather. —Traffic snarled each afternoon at 4 p.m. as streets —Dozens conference The conference gave participants an opportunity to hear speakers from a variety of backgrounds. RIGHT : Dr. James Forbes, a pentecostal minister and associ ate professor of worship and homiletics at Union Theological Seminary in New York, electrified the crowd at the closing general session with a sermon " entided 'See Me,* Saith The Lord," FAR RIGHT: Archbishop Bill Burnett of Cape Town, South Africa, spoke of the troubled racial and political situation in his country, and of his desire that Chris tians there lead the way to reconciliation. A short while later, Archbishop Burnett was moved to tears as a member of the word gifts group shared a pro phetic vision of whites anil blacks in a war-ravaged South Africa embracing in Christian brotherhood. were lined for blocks with yellow-and-black school buses, standing two and three deep, waiting to transport par ticipants to evening sessions at Arrowhead Stadium. Yet, through the heat and the crowds, the conference proceeded smoothly. Meals got served, buses appeared on time, complex public address and tape recording equipment functioned, and talks scheduled months in advance were given at the right time and in the right place. Participants had been urged to present a good witness to their host city, and it soon became clear that they had succeeded. The politeness and tidiness of the crowds earned them a front-page accolade from the Kansas City Times, which cited numerous examples of their exem plary behavior and concluded, "Downtown has been filled for the last three days with genuinely nice people." 1 he evening general sessions at Arrowhead Stadium were the focus of the conference. It was the largest nonfootball crowd ever to use the stadium; nearly two- thirds of the 78,000 red, yellow, and orange seats were filled each of the four nights. An enormous, computerized scoreboard, towering over the northwest end of the stadium, made both a practical and an entertaining contribution to evening activities. The scoreboard was used to announce songs, make special announcements, and introduce the speakers. As each major speaker stepped to the podium, the scoreboard beamed a remarkably realistic photograph like image of him or her. Some speakers arranged to have outlines of their talks or illustrative Scripture pas A number of sages displayed for their hearers' reference. phrases, such as "Alleluia," "God Is Our Refuge and Strength," and "Jesus Is Lord," flashed on and off throughout the sessions. Each of the three-hour-long sessions was packed with activity. In addition to the three main speakers each evening, there was time for praise and worship, for sing ing, for prophecy, and for a selection of personal shar- ings from leaders and participants in the charismatic re newal. Music was one of the most notable aspects of the worship at the conference, as well as an expression of the unity among the participants. The music group was composed of members of The Word of God, an ecumenical Christian community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and members of the St. John's Church of God in Christ young adult choir, from Newport News, Virginia. Enthusiastically led by Dick Mishler, a coordinator of The Word of God, the group covered the spectrum of Christian music. Traditional hymns and familiar songs of the Catholic charismatic renewal alternated with fa vorites from other streams— "Hevenu Shalom Aleikem" (messianic Jewish) and "To the Utmost, Jesus Saves" (black Pentecostal) became especially popular. W,' holeness was the theme of Thursday evening's ses sion. Fr. Francis MacNutt, a Catholic priest known for his work in the healing ministry, urged church leaders to follow Jesus' example of personal ministry to the sick and injured among his followers. It is not enough, Fr. MacNutt said, merely to talk in the abstract about God's healing power. "Somehow," he said, "we have to let the church and the churches know that this really does take place. God's power is made manifest among his people." Mrs. Ruth Carter Stapleton, president of Behold, Inc., described her work involving inner healing. Relating a number of her experiences of praying with people to overcome the bad effects of past events, she said, "Our inheritance in Jesus is wholeness: wholeness of body, wholeness of mind and emotions, and wholeness of spirit." The evening's main speaker was Rev. Larry Christenson, chairman of the Lutheran Charismatic Re newal Service Committee. Rev. Christenson urged all the Christian churches to open themselves to the re newal of the Spirit. "One of the problems God has with his church," Rev. Christenson explained, "is that she has LEFT: Simultaneous translation of talks and sharwas provided for Spanish-speaking participants at the general sessions. BELOW LEFT: In addition conferences, the planning to the denominational committee sponsored Youth A'Fire, a special series of afternoon sessions for teenagers. More than 3 500 young people attended the sessions, which included talks and Christian music concerts. BELOW RIGHT: from many Christian publishing Representatives companies were on hand at conference bookstores to talk with participants. The three large bookstores, located at downtown conference sites, were jammed with people almost all week long. ings 13 Yet character, tends to shrivel there are some who want to cultivate a up. it renewal loses its ecumenical nice, cozy, well-insulated Episcopalian or Lutheran renewal. it is are Xriday holiness. one." evening's session was devoted to the theme of Speakers stressed that wholehearted surrender a Father it I is is a a in to Jesus was necessary to serve the Lord effectively and his body. to bring about unity Bishop J.O. Patterson, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, began the session with an introduction to the theology and practice of the holiness movement, descendant of Methodism and precursor of Pentecostalism which began in the late 1800's. "The Holy Spirit person," Bishop Patterson in toned, "who dwells in the cleansed temple of the believer. We must allow the Holy Ghost to have absolute and com 'Pente-cost.' Pentecost why call plete control. That cost God something. It will cost us more costly. than just the lifting of our hands and the praising of God upon stringed instruments. going to cost us our lives." Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens, of Malines-Brussels, Belgium, further advanced the theme of holiness as is It It pleases." Rev. Christenson also urged the charismatic renewal to continue, and further, its ecumenical stance: "A num ber of people have observed that where the charismatic But the Lord has not brought this renewal to prop up and bless the status quo. He has brought to advance his program, which to make us one as he and the is it is it, it, memorized his yesterday-words so well, and chants them so loudly, that she doesn't hear Christ's today -word." That "today-word," he said, is the charismatic renewal and the restoration of the gifts of the Spirit. Rev. Christenson defended the charismatic renewal against church leaders and theologians who question the necessity of the charisms. "You have looked upon these gifts as though we had chosen them on our own initiative," he said. "We did not choose these gifts; the Lord Jesus has chosen to come knocking at these doors, and we have responded to his knocking. Your contro versy, if you have one, is not with us but with him. "The issue is not spiritual gifts. The issue is the lord ship of Christ. This is his work, his initiative, his re newal. He will welcome you into but he will not nor trim account to you for to fit your theological Lord, to do in his church as he prescriptions. He ''^fTifflillflfll Special Report: The Catholic Conference J. he largest of the denomina tional conferences was the 1977 National Conference on the Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens was the main celebrant at the closing eucharist, held on Charismatic Renewal in the Sunday morning in Arrowhead Stadium. The mass stressed the need for unity among Christians. Catholic Church. Since no facility in Kansas Texas, spoke on ecumenism. City was large enough to hold all of the participants, Mr. Martin expressed a theme that was to run two sessions were held each morning: one in stately through the entire conference: the sinfulness of Municipal Auditorium, and one in nearby H. Roe the disunity of the church, and the need of repen Bartle Center, a modern convention hall that also tance and intercession to correct it. "It isn't the housed a number of workshops and other denomina tional conferences. Each site was, in essence, a confer Holy Spirit that got us where we are," Mr. Martin ence in itself, with its own speakers and music group. said. "It is our own pride and willfulness that has The themes of the morning sessions followed broken the unity of the body of Christ. And it is our lack of unity that blocks the Holy Spirit from those of the previous evening's general session. On convicting the world that it is wrong in its judg Thursday morning Ralph Martin, director of the ment about Jesus." International Communication Office in Brussels, Throughout the week, Catholics were led to a Belgium, and Bobbie Cavnar, a coordinator of the Christian Community of God's Delight in Dallas, deeper appreciation of the contributions that clascomplete surrender to God. "Christians," the cardinal said, "need eyes to see, ears to hear, a face full of love, hands to reach out, a heart to embrace, and feet to go forth and spread the good news." Impressing on his hearers the importance of dedicat ing their lives to God's service, Cardinal Suenens said, "The world is dying because it doesn't know the name of its Savior, Jesus Christ. We have to be Christianized again, in depth, so that the world will see something of the Lord shining through us." The main address Friday evening was an exuberant depiction of "The Beauty of Holiness," by Rev. Bob Mumford, a non-denominational evangelist and teacher. Welcoming the 45,000 participants to what he called "our little cell group," Rev. Mumford described a number of "helps and hindrances to holiness." At one point, urging his hearers to abandon what he called a "seige mentality" and become victory minded, he opened his Bible to the book of Revelation and cried, "If you take a sneak look at the back of the book, Jesus 8 wins!" At that, the huge crowd launched into a sus tained period of exultant praise and worship. For al most ten minutes they shouted and sang and danced and waved their arms. "Whew!" Rev. Mumford exclaimed when the crowd finally settled down. "You just had a Holy Ghost Breakdown!" He also stressed the importance of unity: "The Bible says the body of Christ does not function in all its power until all of its parts are together." Saturday night's main address was given by Dr. James Forbes, associate professor of homiletics at Union Theo logical Seminary in New York. Dr. Forbes said Chris tians must have both the "fire" of the Holy Spirit and the "focus" of active concern for all God's creation. Repeatedly returning to his central theme—" 'See Me,' saith the Lord"— Dr. Forbes urged his listeners to look beyond their own interests and problems and seek the coming of the kingdom of God. It was on Saturday night that the Lord's word of morning, Fr. Francis MacNutt and Fr. Tom Forrest, pastor of a large parish in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, gave the main addresses on the Both stressed a similar theme: subject of wholeness. that God was interested not just in curing particular ailments, but in restoring the whole person. "There are some who make the mistake of only looking for aspirin," Fr. Forrest said. "But Jesus is not just a healer of parts. Jesus is a healer of people." Friday afternoon, Bishop Joseph McKinney of Grand Rapids, Michigan, celebrated a "Mass for Wholeness" in the Bartle Center auditorium. The homilist, Fr. Jim Ferry of Newark, New Jersey, called the crowd to a more expectant faith in the Lord's healing power, especially as it is present in the eucharist. The mass ended with a general unity came forth most clearly. During a time of prayer early in the session, the Lord spoke in prophecy and called his people— and especially the leaders of his peo ple—to repentance and mourning for the divided condi tion of his body (see p. 10). It was a theme that had been sounded before during the conference, and this night the leaders of several denominational groups led the en tire conference crowd in prayer, repenting of bitterness, prejudice, and hardness of heart, and interceding for the unity of God's people. Fr. Michael Scanlan, president of the Catholic char ismatic renewal's National Service Committee, summed up the Lord's prophetic word: "We know that we are called to be one body. We know that a spirit of unity— the Holy Spirit of God— has been given to us, and that the Spirit won't rest until we are one." In his talk, Fr. Scanlan referred to an incident re corded in the Acts of the Apostles that had already made a deep impact on many denominational leaders and planning committee members: Peter's vision that paved B oth Saturday morning sessions were addressed by Cardinal Suenens, who enlarged his previous night's talk at the general session in calling his listeners to holiness. In particular, he spoke of the need to renew Christian life in the power of the Spirit: "In the past, you were faithful because father and mother were faithful; you were Chris tian because the social context helped you to be. In the world of today, we cannot build Christianity that way. The sociological context will no longer support simply being a Christian out of tradition or by heredity. "We have to accept that we were not Christian ized enough. Sacramentalized, yes— but not Chris tianized enough. We have to introduce Christianity to already baptized and confirmed people, to help them rediscover what happened on the first Pente cost." The Catholic conference closed with a Sunday morning eucharist held at Arrowhead Stadium. Cardinal Suenens was the main celebrant, assisted by a number of bishops who joined him at the altar and by several hundred priests who filled the inner rows of the seats around the apron of the field and distributed communion to the huge congre gation. ■ the way for the opening of the early church to the gen tiles (Acts 10:9-16). "Corporately," Fr. Scanlan said, "we are Peter, sent to bring about the unity of God's people. We have a mission. We have to be true to the word that we've heard: that we are to be one, and that there's no other way." Confronting the magnitude of the task of reuniting the separated churches, Fr. Scanlan said, "The Lord wants us to know that as big as this problem as dif ficult as looks, it's not to difficult for him, and he's solved bigger problems before." is, Or'n Friday prayer session for healing of specific ailments, led by Bobbie Cavnar and Sr. Briege McKenna, a nun from Ireland known for her work in the healing ministry. The prophetic word, as well as the talks, served to send forth the conference participants to spread the Lord's call to unity, and to echo the words of Kevin Ranaghan on the opening night of the conference: "From this night onward, no matter where we go or what we do, even we have our own separate activities in our own separate churches, we will always be together the Spirit. By the grace of God, we will be one people." ■ if have made it and neo-Pentecostals in sical Pentecostals to the charismatic renewal. At Thursday evening's general session, Mr. Martin acknowledged the debt: "The Lord used classical Pentecostals and our Prot estant brethren to help begin the Catholic charis matic renewal. That's how it began. Pope John prayed the prayer to send a new Pentecost, and you answered it. And it was no accident; I think God planned it that way. He wanted to let us know that we need each other." Later, during an un scheduled visit to one of the Pentecostal conference morning sessions, Cardinal Suenens told the gath ering, "The Lord has given me one message for you: Thank you, thank you, thank you." <-- Prophecies from the General Sessions This is a hard word, but I want you to hear it. You have not come to me and made important in your lives and in your efforts those things which were most important to me, but instead you chose to put other things first. You have tolerated divisions among yourselves and grown used to it. You have not repented for it or fasted for it or sought me to bring it to an end. You have tolerated and you have increased it. And you have not been my servants first of all in every case, but you have served other people ahead of me, and you have served this world ahead of me, and you have served your organ am God, and you are my servants; ization ahead of me. But I I 10 I I is I is It is It I is is if I is it I a if in I I in it in in in unity with one another, and let nothing tear you apart, and by no means separate from one another [because of] your jealousies and bitternesses and personal preferences. But hold fast to one another because am about to let you undergo severe time of trial and testing, and you will need to be unity with one another. am Jesus, the victor-king. And tell you this also: But you hold fast to one another and follow after me, will vindicate my the sight of the people of this earth. holy name on this earth and will be manifest, and will be will be clear, and your life time, because am Jesus, the victor-king, and have promised ■ you victory. I it I I in is a a a a a 1 he Lord has word to speak to the leaders of all the Christian churches. If you are bishop or superintendent or supervisor or an overseer or the head of Christian movement or organization, this word for you. The Lord says: You are all guilty my eyes for the condition of my people, who are weak and divided and unprepared. have set you office over them, and you have not fulfilled that office as would fulfilled, because you have not been the servants that have had have called you to be. 5tand I . . . it broken. I The body of my Son is your God. if a a a is is is 1 have made you light on mountaintop, city glor ious and splendorous that all the world would have seen, but the broken. body of my Son dim. My people are scattered. The body of my The light Son broken. Turn from the sins of your fathers. Walk in the ways of my Son. Return to the plan of your Father, return to the purpose of still the heart that comes to seek and to save the would have you, my people, come to know the kind to know my the world around you ness of my heart. For kindness, not . . . necessary for you, my people, to turn from those things that have bound up your own hearts? To turn from self-centeredness, to turn from self-security, from the fears of re For how shall the world know jection, from your own rebellion? your hearts are yet in bondage? Therefore, desire my kindness to draw you into my heart . . . that you may willingly and freely shed the garments of your old ways . . . and that my heart and your heart may beat as one. lost, and so I broken. would IVly heart I is I is is is is and weep, for the body of my Son broken. Mourn and weep, for the body of my Son broken. Come before me with broken hearts and contrite spirits, for the body of my Son broken. Come before me with sackcloth and ashes, come before me broken. with tears and mourning, for the body of my Son would have made you one new man, but the body of my Son am not pleased with the state of my church, the condition of my people. . . .There suspicion and hostility among you; there argumentativeness among you. . . .Some of you are still more committed to your friends and your neighbors and your acquain tances than you are to my people, to those who bear my name. . . . important that you repent. important that you turn away from all those sins that keep you separated from your the time for you to turn away from brothers and sisters. Now will give you the understanding and the strength these things. that you need ... to be one people. is McLourn people. . . . is this day and remember it. . . .Call it to mind; de clare it publicly. Have no fear, because I am faithful to my word, and I will fulfill it. I am going to restore my people and reunite them. I am going to restore to my people the glory that is mine, so that the world will not mock or scorn [them] , but so that the world might know that I am God and king and that I have come to redeem and save this earth. . . . I am restoring my people, bestowing upon them honor and glory, bringing back to them the glory that is proper to my peo ple, and making them look again like a kingdom, the kingdom of God on this earth. I I IVlark down a I why are you not serving me first of all? know your hearts, and know that many of you love me, and have compassion on you, for have placed you in very hard have placed you there, and call you to account for place. But it. Now humble yourselves before me and come to me repentant, in fasting, mourning and weeping for the condition of my I "uring the conference, the Lord repeatedly spoke through prophecy of his deep concern over the disunity of his church. The following are excerpts of prophecies given at the evening general sessions. The Lord's call to mourning, repentance, and intercession for the unity of his body is one to which individuals, prayer groups, and communities should begin to respond right away. In addi tion, in coming months the National Service Committee for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal will be considering ways in which the entire charismatic renewal can make a unified response to this word. Their recommendations will appear in New Covenant when they become available. it, D. hallenee to the Churches New Covenant asked thirteen leaders, representing all ten denominational conferences, to reflect on what the Kansas City conference will mean for the charismatic Here are excerpts from renewal and for the churches. their remarks. ViriSOn. 3yn«in, costal-Holiness Church general secretary of the Pente The conference was not just a call for unity. It was demonstration of the unity the Lord has already given. I think it was one of the most significant religious gath erings in the history of this nation. It was certainly the most important denominationally sponsored ecumenical gathering in our history. Nothing quite like it has hap pened before. I think the conference will confront religious leaders who are not in the charismatic renewal. The message of Kansas City is that the charismatic renewal is the most vibrant, powerful force in Christen dom today, and that this great force is not going to be fragmented but is going to move in the same direction. a lunHia'i Herbert Minnich, member of the executive of Mennonite Renewal As with other Christian traditions, we Mennonites are subdivided ourselves. We had representatives of the three subdivisions of the Mennonite Church present at Kansas City. That's a significant step toward spiritual unity. Our Mennonite Renewal Services for the charis matic renewal had tended to serve the Mennonite Church. Now, I believe, we're probably going to widen our min istry to General Conference Mennonites and Mennonite Brethren. DOD riclWn, executive Charismatic Fellowship secretary of the Episcopal At the Episcopal conference, we realized that we need to speak boldly within our church about the new life that comes in the Spirit. I think that the Episcopal Charismatic Fellowship will begin to concentrate more on bringing the message to the leaders of the Episcopal Church, our bishops and priests. continued*- a committee Services I'm inspired by what took place at the conference. I feel it was a foretaste of things to come in terms of having brothers and sisters of dif ferent denominations and fellow ships getting together in local areas. RIGHT: Joyful song and praise at a morn ing session of the Mennonite conference. Speakers included Bishop Nelson Litwillcr (left of rostrum) and Rev. Herbert Minnich (right of rostrum). 11 * KANSAS CITY CONVENTION CENTER One of the most moving incidents at the Messianic Jewish conference was an un scheduled foot-washing ceremony among leaders of a number of messianic Jewish organizations. Here Mike Evans, president of B'nai Yeshua, washes the feet of Moishe Rosen, leader of Jews for Jesus. Dr. David Stern, also of Jews for Jesus, is at the rostrum. I think we have to recognize declining Episcopal Church membership and the numerous problems our church has at the moment over change. The only real hope for the church, and not just the Episcopal Church but the whole church is charismatic renewal. Mike EvanS, president of B'nai Yeshua, national Jewish youth ministry a The first day of our Jewish conference we had a symposium on what the church needs to know about Messianic Judaism. When we got together, every leader had something different to say. By the last session— another symposium on the same topic— I wondered if some of the guys were even going to be talking to each other. I chaired the final session, and when I stood up to announce the symposium, the Spirit of the Lord said to me: "No!" The Lord said, "I want a foot washing, right now." I didn't know how it was possible because we were in a theater. But I turned to someone near me and said, "We're going to sing the song, 'Alleluia,' and I am going to believe God that by the time that song is over you're going to be standing in front of me with a pan of water and towels." To make a long story short, they brought the pans of water. Two of the Jewish leaders who had had their differences of opinion got down on their knees. One of them washed the other's feet and wiped them with his 12 Ralph Martin addressed one of the opening sessions of the Catholic con ference. His call to mourning and repentance over the disunity in the Christian church was echoed by nu merous other talks, sharings, ana pro phecies throughout the conference. own shirt. All the Jewish leaders started washing each other's feet and asking forgiveness. Catholic priests started coming up and saying, "We have a need for recon ciliation," and they started washing Jewish leaders' feet. Jewish leaders who had felt very bad about what Cath olics had done to Jews started washing Catholics' feet. About 2,000 people were jammed in the room, weeping and singing in the Spirit. When it finally ended, Dr. David Stern, who was closing the conference, offered a prayer: "Thank you, Lord, for telling us all what the church needs to know about Messianic Judaism." Brick Bradford, general secretary of the Presbyterian Charismatic Communion The conference showed the strength of the charis matic renewal. Sometimes when you show strength, you appear to be a threat and create further resistance. On the other hand, sometimes you bring people to a realization that the renewal must be of the Lord. In some areas in the Presbyterian churches, the re sistance is stiffening. In other areas, things are opening up. Hopefully, the Kansas City conference will help us to have more influence upon our respective denomina tional churches. The conference promoted an ecumenical spirit. I think this should spawn more area and regional cooper ation across denominational lines among us who are involved in the charismatic renewal. Speakers from widely divergent Christian backgrounds shared the podium at the evening sessions, giving a simple but dramatic witness of unity. Pictured at Thursday evening's general session, from left: Bishop J.O. Patterson, pre siding bishop of the Church of God in Christ; Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens, Roman Catholic primate of Belgium; Dr. Thomas F. Zimmerman, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. Jlldy TydingS, of the advisory committee of the National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of the United States a member Out of all the marvelous things at the conference, I heard two things particularly clearly. One was what Ralph Martin said at the Catholic conference, that by living in disunity we are living in an objective state of sin. I think that's true; I'm glad he said it. The other was the prophecy we heard at the end of the conference, in which God called us to mourn the brokenness of his Son's body on earth. God was calling us to fasting and mourning, and it was like what it says in the book of Joel, "Proclaim a fast." For me, although there was a distinct joy at being united on a number of levels with different parts of the Lord's body, I felt we were being confronted with the seriousness of the dis unity among the churches. God was saying that it's sin ful and displeasing to him and was leading us into a time of mourning and weeping and fasting over it. RllSSell Splttler, a minister in the of God Assemblies and associate professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California For me, the leading significant development of the whole conference was the presence of the superinten dent of Bishop Samuel Green, pastor of St. John's Church of God in Christ, Newport News, Virginia, was one of the main speakers at the Pentecostal conference, which brought together members of many pentecostal denom inations. the Assemblies of God, Dr. Thomas Zimmerman. I had known that the church was sending several obser vers. I had not known that Dr. Zimmerman himself would be one of them. His presence was encouraging. The fact that he was willing to be on the platform and offer prayer at the Friday night service is even more exciting. I have no knowledge what his private reactions are, and I don't know what his presence may auger, but I found it very striking. The vision which many of us in the classical Pente costal tradition will long remember is Dr. Zimmerman sitting on the platform beside Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens, who was next to Bishop J.O. Patterson. [Edi tor's note: Bishop Patterson is the head of the Church of God in Christ, a predeominantly black Pentecostal denomination.] Black Pentecostals have never partic ipated in the Pentecostal Fellowship of North Amer ica, which is kind of a classical Pentecostal establish ment in the United States and Canada. Even for Bishop Patterson to be associated with the conference was significant. I would like to hold out as a possibility that within a few years this kind of conference and the World Pente costal Conference would convene a joint meeting. The World Pentecostal Conference is an international assembly of classical Pentecostal people. My hope and dream is of an international marriage supper between the classical Pentecostals and participants in the char ismatic renewal in a large Kansas City-type conference. continued^- r 13 Jamie Buckingham, a member of the board of Logos International Fellowship, pastor of a non-denominational church in Melbourne, Florida executive I was terrifically impressed with the handling of the arrangements, which say something about the discipline that is developing in the charismatic move of the Spirit. Not only were 50,000 people moved around the city could tell; but it looked like most of the logistics were being handled by members of communities that have grown up in the Catholic Pente costal movement, people used to working under dis cipline. This says something to me about the direction of the charismatic move, away from just froth and hal lelujah's toward in-depth discipline. without mishap, as far as I Bishop Samuel Green, pastor of st. John's Church of God in Christ, Newport News, Virginia The results will be far reaching— across the country and across the world. We feel very strongly that this is the beginning of the universal coming together of the Lord's body. We see this as a spiritual move, not some thing based on humanistic efforts. My people that went to the meeting were tremen dously impressed. We realized that we had different life-styles. But at the same time we realized that we all had the same spiritual life-style, and that's what we should be looking for. My observation is that Bishop Patterson, the pre siding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, was very pleased at the meeting. I think he's looking forward to see what future developments will be. I think he will be prone to involve more Church of God in Christ mem bers in this kind of meeting in the future. Don Pf OtenhaUer, member of the Lutheran Charismatic Services Committee and pastor of the Way of the Cross, a Christian community in Minneapolis, Minnesota There was a mighty, creative work of God at the general sessions, bringing healing to the whole body of Christ. Some of us were looking for physical healing to take place. But while I'm sure the Lord wasn't un interested in the people at the conference who, for ex ample, were in wheel chairs, he didn't want to take the focus off the need for the healing of his body. I felt the Spirit was drawing our attention to the prophecy given Saturday night about the call to sorrow and re pentance because the Lord's body is broken. 14 Robert StampS, a minister of the United Methodist Church serving as chaplain at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma We felt a tremendous harmony among the Methodist people at the conference toward affirming their tra dition. We want Methodists to have warm hearts again. That's kind of our battle standard because it was John Wesley who said his heart was "strangely warmed." Because the United Methodists haven't had a denom inational coordination for renewal services, they've gotten much of their food from other bakeries. The Methodist conference, representing the charismatic re newal within the church was like a rallying point. Every one felt a tremendous coming together as Methodists. the same time, they felt a tremendous coming At together with other Christians. Roy Lambeith, chairman of the National Southern Baptist Charismatic Renewal Movement The unity everyone felt at the general conference produced a feeling of unity among the Baptists of different conventions who were there. The leaders of the charismatic renewal among Southern Baptists and American Baptists made plans to get together in the coming year to have, maybe, a three or four day retreat when we can dialogue about what we could do together. I think the overall conference gave everyone the motivation to work together more. We don't have any plans for another Kansas City conference yet, but may be there will be another in, say, five years. Whatever may arise in the future, I know Baptists will want to be part of it. i-JereK 1 nnCe, international Bible teacher and ruling elder of Good News Fellowship in Fort Lauder dale, Florida I would say the conference was a triumph for the Lord, because ultimately the attention of everyone was focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. There was no attempt made to exalt any kind of human personality or organi zation. I think in a certain sense the conference is a water shed; we'll never be the same again. I think it's been demonstrated that Christians can get together and work together and have genuine fellowship in spite of doc trinal or denominational differences. So we're left with out an excuse if we don't do it. I think it's a very serious ■ challenge to us.