Originally from here.

The term charismatic comes from the Greek word charismata, which means spiritual gifts. It is the informal name given to the movement which is calling the Christian church back to a fuller recognition of the Holy Spirit in Christian experience, and in the life and mission of the church, including the exercise of all the spiritual gifts described in the New Testament.

The modern Pentecostal movement which began in 1906 did not make much of an impact on the mainline denominations, affecting mainly the lower classes of society. What is called the charismatic movement emerged in the early 1960s in the mainline denominations and has had an impact on most denominations. It holds that being a Christian includes having a definite experience with the Spirit and the exercise of spiritual gifts, often speaking in tongues.

In the Mennonite Church (MC), in 1906 the Pacific Coast Conference resolved that all ministers, evangelists, and all members having the baptism of the Holy Ghost encourage everywhere that believers seek a definite experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Some lay leaders and ministers planned a churchwide charismatic conference in 1974, held at the Landisville (Pennsylvania) campgrounds and a second one at the Missionary Church campgrounds (Goshen) in 1975. Kevin Ranaghan, executive director of the Conference on Christian Renewal Among the Churches, wrote Nelson Litwiller and Harold Bauman, asking whether the Mennonite Church would help in planning the event.

A group of 32 people met in Youngstown, Ohio, in October 1975 and formed Mennonite Renewal Services (MRS). The purposes were to provide consultative and liaison services to individuals and conferences, to represent charismatic Mennonites to groups within and beyond the denomination, to converse with leaders of the Mennonite Church, to provide information and referral services, and to sponsor teaching ministries and conferences. Nelson Litwiller represented MRS on the planning for the Conference on Christian Renewal (interdenominational charismatic conference) at Kansas City in 1977 and for the North American Congress on the Spirit and World Evangelization, held in New Orleans in 1987. Mennonite Renewal Services has reported to each Mennonite Church (MC) General Assembly and has been affirmed in its work by Mennonite Church General Board. The leaders of MRS sought to renew the church and to encourage renewed members to stay with the church and not to leave it. A significant factor in the renewal in the Mennonite Church (MC) has been renewal conferences. Mennonite Renewal Services continued holding churchwide conferences until 1978. Annual regional conferences emerged in 10 to 12 areas across North America. The MRS organization also held annual consultations involving persons active in renewal ministries throughout the church. People from other Anabaptist and Mennonite groups were invited to participate in the early stages of this development. While some members of other groups joined MRS, no official delegates were sent more than a few times.

In April 1987 MRS decided to change its name to Believers Church Renewal Ministries and incorporated people from the Church of the Brethren renewal ministries. This was the result of working with these leaders for several years. In the same month an Apostolic and Prophetic Council was established as an aid to charismatic congregations which needed a different kind of ministry than what their conference leaders were able to provide. In November 1987 a consultation brought together leaders of charismatic congregations and conference leaders to work at strengthening relationships. Sponsored by the Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries, the consultation developed practical steps to strengthen relationships. By 1989 the new body was known as Empowered Ministries. This organization continued until 1995 when reduced financial support prevented its continuation. Its periodical, Empowered, also ceased at this time.

In a survey of one of every three Mennonite Church (MC) congregations in 1986, pastors reported 10 to 15 percent of the members called themselves charismatic. Between 25 to 30 percent of the pastors identified themselves as charismatic.

The General Conference Mennonite Church has been affected less by the charismatic movement in the United States than in Canada. A number of Canadian Mennonite congregations in the western provinces have a significant number of people with the charismatic experience. Some congregations have been able to minister to these persons while in others there have been tensions. Some members have left to join Pentecostal groups.

Some of the issues the charismatic movement has brought to congregations include whether the baptism with the Spirit is another name for the new birth, or is a definite experience with the Spirit as a part of conversion, or is an experience subsequent to conversion. Other issues involve worship: the raising of hands, speaking in tongues, prophecy, and the use of Scripture songs. Some charismatics have borrowed views of central leadership authority from other charismatic groups. Some of the contributions of the charismatic movement have been renewed vigor in worship, renewed interest in releasing spiritual gifts in congregational life, and new motivation for evangelism and missions.

See also Amor Viviente, Honduras; Holy Spirit; Sanctification

Bibliography

Bauman, Harold E. and Ernest Hershberger in Gospel Herald (27 January 1987): 52-55.

Wittlinger, Carolton O. Quest for Piety and Obedience: the Story of the Brethren in Christ. Nappanee, IN: Evangel Press, 1978: 527ff.

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Originally from here.

Spirituality

Charismatic Manifestations

Within the inspirationist wing of the Anabaptist movement, it was not unusual for charismatic manifestations to appear, such as dancing, falling under the power of the Holy Spirit, “prophetic processions” (at Zurich in 1525, at Munster in 1534 and at Amsterdam in 1535),^[39] and speaking in tongues.^[40] In Germany some Anabaptists, “excited by mass hysteria, experienced healings, glossolalia, contortions and other manifestations of a camp-meeting revival”.^[41] The Anabaptist congregations that later developed into the Mennonite and Hutterite churches tended not to promote these manifestations, but did not totally reject the miraculous. Pilgram Marpeck, for example, wrote against the exclusion of miracles: “Nor does Scripture assert this exclusion…God has a free hand even in these last days.” Referring to some who had been raised from the dead, he wrote: “Many of them have remained constant, enduring tortures inflicted by sword, rope, fire and water and suffering terrible, tyrannical, unheard-of deaths and martyrdoms, all of which they could easily have avoided by recantation. Moreover one also marvels when he sees how the faithful God (Who, after all, overflows with goodness) raises from the dead several such brothers and sisters of Christ after they were hanged, drowned, or killed in other ways. Even today, they are found alive and we can hear their own testimony…Cannot everyone who sees, even the blind, say with a good conscience that such things are a powerful, unusual, and miraculous act of God? Those who would deny it must be hardened men.”^[42] The Hutterite Chronicle and The Martyrs Mirror record several accounts of miraculous events, such as when a man named Martin prophesied while being led across a bridge to his execution in 1531: “…this once yet the pious are led over this bridge, but no more hereafter.” Just “a short time afterwards such a violent storm and flood came that the bridge was demolished.”^[43]

Holy Spirit Leadership

The Anabaptists insisted upon the “free course” of the Holy Spirit in worship, yet still maintained it all must be judged according to the Scriptures.^[44] The Swiss Anabaptist document titled Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists – Why They Do Not Attend the Churches. One reason given for not attending the state churches was that these institutions forbade the congregation to exercise spiritual gifts according to “the Christian order as taught in the Gospel or the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 14.” “When such believers come together, ‘Everyone of you (note every one) hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation’ (1 Corinthians 14:26), and so on. When someone comes to church and constantly hears only one person speaking, and all the listeners are silent, neither speaking nor prophesying, who can or will regard or confess the same to be a spiritual congregation, or confess according to 1 Corinthians 14 that God is dwelling and operating in them through His Holy Spirit with His gifts, impelling them one after another in the above-mentioned order of speaking and prophesying.“^[45]

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[39] Klaassen 1973, p. 63. Klaassen, Walter (1973), Anabaptism: Neither Catholic Nor Protestant, Waterloo, ON: Conrad Press.

[40] Little, Franklin H (1964), The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism, New York: Beacons, p. 19.

[41] Williams 1992, p. 443. Williams, George Hunston (2000) [1962], The Radical Reformation (3rd ed.), Truman State University Press

[42] Marpeck 1978, p. 50. Marpeck, Pilgram (1978), Klassen, William; Klassen, Walter, eds., Covenant and Community: The Life, Writings, and Hermeneutics, Scottdale, PA: Herald.

[43] van Braght 1950, p. 440. van Braght, Thieleman J (1950) [1938], Martyrs Mirror, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press

[44] Oyer, John S (1964), Lutheran Reformers Against Anabaptists, The Hague: M Nijhoff, p. 86.

[45] Peachey, Paul; Peachey, Shem, eds. (1971), “Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists – Why They Do Not Attend the Churches”, Mennonite Quarterly Review 45 (1): 10, 11.