In just over a century, Pentecostalism has rocketed from its humble beginnings in an interracial congregation on Azusa Street in Los Angeles to a global movement counting more than six hundred million members. Confronted with the bewildering array of Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Neocharismatic beliefs and practices, Lutherans are often at a loss as to how to think about Pentecostals, much less how to engage them in positive ways that build up the whole body of Christ. In this guide, Lutherans will find tools for just such an engagement. Building on a foundation of Pentecostalism's history and varieties, Wilson undertakes an in-depth survey of biblical teaching on baptism, the Holy Spirit, and spiritual gifts. The guide then brings innovative new lenses to bear on the questions at stake: the use of church history in defending denominational borders, right and wrong approaches to prosperity, the power of the Spirit and corruptions of power, and the role of experience in theological discernment. Written in a style accessible to laity and clergy alike, this guide will strengthen Lutherans' appreciation of their own tradition while enabling them to encounter Pentecostals as fellow believers in the salvation given by the triune God.

This unique guidebook from cultural tour guide David Housholder is an engaging and easy-to-understand tool for readers who seek a better understanding of the Holy Spirit and Pentecostal Christianity.

In the last fifty years, religion in America has changed dramatically, and Mainline Protestantism is following suit. This book reveals a fundamental transformation taking place in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA is looking to postdenominational Christianity for inspiration on how to attract people to the pews, but is at the same time intent on preserving its confessional, liturgical tradition as much as possible in late modernity. As American religion grows increasingly experiential and individualistic, the ELCA is caught between its church heritage and a highly innovative culture that demands participative structures and a personal relationship with the divine. In the midst of this tension, the ELCA is deflating its church hierarchy and encouraging people to become involved in congregations on their own terms, while it continues to celebrate its confessional, liturgical identity. But can this balance between individual and institution be upheld in the long run? Or will the democratization and pluralization of the faith ultimately undermine the church? This book explores how the ELCA attempts to resist the forces of Americanization in late modernity even as it slowly but surely comes to resemble mainstream American religion more and more.