Oneness
Pentecostal worship reaches it goal in the after service, when in the context
of community prayer and ecstasy, a "divine epiphany" occurs which
leads to individual conversion and congregational renewal. The excitement of
charged preaching creates an ambience for the altar appeal. A blending of
emotional background music and a rising "wall" of congregational
prayer enhances the moment of expectation and exerts enormous pressure on the unconverted
to respond. The calling of the uncommitted and the congregation to the altar by
the pastor signifies—in an outward and visible way—the inward readiness to
accept the grace of God. The altar symbolizes the dwelling place of God, the
place in which he is expected to move in decisive ways in the lives of
individuals. The altar appeal moves the congregation from hearing the
proclamation of God's word of salvation into direct participation in this
saving action.
All
the elements of classical Pentecostal worship converge in the altar call to maintain
pressure on the unsaved. Enthusiastic appeals by the pastor, moving musical
accompaniment, and even physical demonstrations add to this tension. Such
"overflows" of the Spirit's activities heighten the pressure on the
unconverted and provide a release for building tensions in the congregation. Arthur
Paris points out that this prolonged moment of tension is especially effective
in persuading those who have "withdrawn their assent but not their
conviction of the efficacy of the church" and "its claim to
truth." Therefore, "prior conviction," the pressure generated by
the atmosphere of enthusiasm, and the sense of guilt elicited by the sermon
compel the uncommitted into response.22 Such pressures create a
willingness to step out—despite
the potentially embarrassing admission of sinfulness—and act upon the promises
of salvation. This physical movement toward the altar is the initial step in the
conversion process.
After
the altar appeal is concluded, the congregation gathers around those responding
for a time of personal ministry. Congregation members and ministers "assist"
the seeker through prayer, encouragement, and counseling. Fervent, loud
corporate prayer, various positioning of the seeker, the clapping of hands, and
the before-mentioned spiritual "overflows" maintain the atmosphere of
expectancy at the altar. This scene often reaches its peak of intensity when
ministers gather and lay their hands on the seeker in a special prayer. This
action usually results in the first appearance of glossolalia in the seeker and
an "overflow" of rejoicing in the congregation.
Unlike
other Pentecostals who understand conversion as simple faith commitment,
Oneness Pentecostals demand the full Acts 2:38 "plan of salvation"—repentance,
water baptism administered to adults by immersion in the name of Jesus, and
Spirit baptism evidenced by tongue- speaking—for conversion. Naturally, the
altar service is expanded among Oneness congregations to include all of these
activities. The after service, therefore, reduces the building tension of the
service to an individual level and the congregation focuses on "praying
through" the seeker. Although the act of repentance is emphasized in Oneness
preaching and appeals, it plays only a small role in the altar service. Perhaps
the act of responding to the altar call has come to replace the lengthy periods
of repentance evident in early Oneness years. Seekers are almost immediately
considered candidates for Spirit baptism when they respond to this appeal. In
turn, the congregation directs its full attention and support to the respondent.
Many seekers, however, do not immediately receive Spirit baptism. Some actually
respond to altar appeals for years before finally personally experiencing a spiritual
"overflow" manifest in glossolalia and physical demonstrations. In
light of these cases, the notion of "tarrying" for Spirit baptism has
been popularized.
Baptismal
services, embodying another "essential" in the Oneness
"plan" of salvation, often occur during or following altar services. Counselors
admonish the seeker—whether he has manifested the spiritual
"overflow" and speaking with tongues or not—to be baptized for the "remission
of sins," thus completing and validating his experience of repentance. Baptismal
tanks are kept full and warmed for spontaneous baptisms. The seeker, having admitted
his guilt publicly and submitted himself to the pressures of the
congregational "overflow" in the altar service, will seldom reject
the admonition to baptism.
The entire Oneness service—its elements and order—gears
itself toward initiating the unconverted. The action of God in the life of the
individual always occurs in the context of the worshipping community. This
stands as the distinct feature of Oneness Pentecostal worship. All experiences—repentance,
water baptism, and Spirit baptism—gain meaning from the acts of public worship.
The occurrence of these basic experiences in the uninitiated and the renewal of
these experiences in the believer dominate the acts of worship and serve as
sure tokens of God's action in the worshipping community. Such "crisis conversions"
occur within the context of and as a result of corporate worship rather than
subtle persuasion or theological instruction. Although Pentecostal writers affirm
the possibility of isolated conversions, this contradicts denominational
practices. Entering into normal Pentecostal life occurs within and is
maintained within the arena of community worship.23
Conversions
occur when the elements of worship are focused in such a way that the seeker is
motivated to commitment. These elements highlight the need and availability of
salvation. Oneness preaching largely consists of instructing the uncommitted of
their present state and the salvation provided by Christ. The sermon motivates
the seeker to bold decision, a public admission of sin and the need for
salvation, and tangible acts of faith in responding to the altar call,
repenting, and submitting to water baptism. The music during the altar call
likewise enhances the appeal by presenting the basic doctrines of salvation,
promising the desired effects of conversion, influencing the seeker toward
decision and determination, providing an avenue of emotional release,
emphasizing the expectancy of the congregation, and offering a background for
exhortation, encouragement, and prayer. Altar hymns always focus on the
"real presence" of Christ at the altar with terms like "here
right now," "passing by," and "watching and waiting."24
At
the altar, the seeker is invited to salvation, placed in the middle of
believers, and bombarded by prayers, songs, and tangible manifestations of the spiritual
"overflow." These elements occur simultaneously, resulting in a
fevered pitch of ecstasy and the experience of the immediate encounter with
Christ—not just part of God or an abstract notion of deity according to Oneness teaching, but the
quantitative fullness of God's person—and his saving power. Together, the
congregation and seeker share this explosive over powering of the "divine
epiphany." After this initiation experience, the seeker enjoys full
fellowship in the congregational family, passing from the individual life of sin
to the corporate experience of salvation.
The
Oneness Pentecostal worship service shares the basic elements and order of
general Pentecostal worship, but the zeal to restore the Azusa purity which spawned
the Oneness movement pushed these elements of worship to their extreme
expressions. This is not to say that Oneness Pentecostal worship has yet to be institutionalized.
On the contrary, Oneness churches have followed much the same pattern of
denominational maturation as other Pentecostal bodies. But the forms of worship
standardized in Oneness churches tend to reflect the more primitive, more
demonstrative Pentecostal worship of the earliest revivals, whereas the other
major Pentecostal expressions institutionalized the worship of second generation
Pentecostalism. While lacking the true spontaneity of the early revivals,
Oneness worship does welcome the more extreme physical demonstrations which accompany
such spontaneity. This is clear in the after service due to the expansion of
the "simple faith" rite of initiation to the complex three-step
"plan" of Acts 2:38. Oneness worship captures the form, but not the
continued revivalist zeal, of Azusa.
--------------------------------------------
22Paris, Black Pentecostalism, p. 67.
23Ranaghan, "Rites
of Initiation," pp. 292-93, 374, 402.
Joe, it was a pleasure to read this chapter of your dissertation once more. I read it, of course, years ago when you first wrote it, but having been on the outside of this denomination for the past three and a half decades, I had almost forgotten the psychological dynamics that played such a forceful role in the denomination where I was born. I must say, you described it very well indeed!
ReplyDeleteA couple of things intrigue me... One is the amount of influence Pentecostal worship may have had on the larger world of evangelicals. Several decades ago, it was uncommon, for instance, for mainline evangelicals to clap their hands or raise their arms in worship, but this is now fairly common, even in Baptist and other evangelical congregations. Just last month, I was invited to teach some lessons on biblical archaeology in a Missouri-Synod Lutheran congregation, and in the worship service that followed, I was surprised to see both hand-clapping and arm-raising as apparently acceptable modes of worship.
The other question that intrigues me--and having not attended a Pentecostal worship service for many years, I have no way of knowing--but what is the effect of performance oriented worship as opposed to participatory oriented worship having on Pentecostals? Many evangelical congregations today, especially the seeker-sensitive and mega-churches, have very little congregational participation in worship. Mostly, they have semi-professional musicians and singers who perform, while the congregation sits and watches. I wonder how much this type of performance orientation may have filtered back across the lines into Pentecostalism from the other side?