This coming Sunday is the celebration of Pentecost, the Jewish Feast on which the Holy Spirit descended in Power upon the 12 Apostles. In today's Church different sects and denominations hold widely differing views of the Spirit and His role in the life of the Church and the believer. So where exactly does the Anglican Church stand on this important theological point?
Well, of course we need to first note that the Anglican Church stands in line with Christ's One Holy catholic (meaning universal) and Apostolic Church. In the universal Creeds of the Church we affirm that we believe in the Holy Spirit and that He is the Lord and Giver of Life. But what of his activity in today's Church? Well, we cannot deny our story and what we have experienced.
In 1929 a discouraged English missionary to Rwanda named Joe
Church traveled to Kampala, Uganda for a few weeks of respite. While there Mr. Church searched the
Scriptures and came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit that, “There can be
nothing to stop a real outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Rwanda now except our
own lack of sanctification.”[1]
Church returned to his post in Gahini, Rwanda where he began to fervently pray
for personal and national revival.
The Lord answered those prayers and within weeks Joe Church led a number
of people through the process of conversion to Christ. Additionally, many of the local
Christians became deeply convicted that they were not loving and honoring their
neighbors the way Christ would want them to.
The result was a massive outpouring of repentance. As the people repented the Lord
continued to pour out the gifts of His Holy Spirit. Not only were relationships healed but sicknesses and
infirmities of all kinds were miraculously cured. The tidal wave of God’s Spirit was unleashed. This revival quickly spread like
wildfire into Uganda and Kenya. Thousands
upon thousands turned to the Lord Jesus as Savior or returned from their
wanderings to follow him as Lord.
This was a rebirth and indeed the dawning of a new chapter in the Church
in Africa. Perhaps the most
remarkable aspect of this revival is its lasting affect. Even today most East Africans will
trace their own conversion and the faith of their family to the Revival. The Spirit is still surging through
Africa, turning hearts toward God, healing and revealing Himself to the
believers there.
This reality is a real challenge to the image of Anglican churches as stuffy, dead museums devoted to an antiquated tradition. Certainly and sadly many churches in the West fit that description. But across the globe Anglicans of many tongues, tribes and nations continue to experience the vibrant, enlivening, surging power of the Third Person of the Trinity. We cannot deny our corporate experience nor the witness of saints throughout the ages who knew the transforming power of God. We believe in the Holy Spirit!
[1] As quoted in the article, New Dawn in East Africa:
The East African Revival, Michael
Harper, Christian History and Biography, January 1986.
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