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Religion Evangelism

Catch the Fire

Soaking Prayer and Charismatic Renewal

by (author) Michael Wilkinson & Peter Althouse

Publisher
Cornell University Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2014
Category
Evangelism, Pentecostal & Charismatic, Prayer
Recommended Age
18
Recommended Grade
12
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780875807058
    Publish Date
    Mar 2014
    List Price
    $56.95

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Description

A recent phenomenon of charismatic renewal took place in Toronto in the mid-1990s. Commonly known as the "Toronto Blessing" and operated by the former Vineyard Church leaders John and Carol Arnott, the renewal was defined by reports of uncontrollable laughter, weeping, speaking in tongues, animal noises, and falling on the floor during worship. Sympathetic Christians embraced these practices while others who believed that this form of worship boarded on spectacle rejected them. By the end of the 1990s most people thought that the renewal was over.
Yet, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the authors?a sociologist and a theologian?heard rumors that the Toronto church, now known as "Catch the Fire," was still holding mass meetings with upwards of 2,000 people in attendance. They also learned of an emerging practice of "soaking prayer," an adaption of Pentecostal-charismatic prayer that, participants and leaders claim, facilitates and expands the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. Soaking, the authors reveal, is a metaphor for practices like resting in the Spirit, prayer for spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, impartation, and supports overall charismatic spirituality. Attending "Catch the Fire" conferences, churches, and house meetings in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, Wilkinson and Althouse observed first-hand how people soak, what it means to soak, and why soaking is considered an important practice among charismatics.

About the authors

Michael Wilkinson is associate professor of sociology, and director of the Religion in Canada Institute, Trinity Western University.

Michael Wilkinson's profile page

Peter Althouse's profile page

Editorial Reviews

[This book] makes an important contribution to the social scientific research on prayer by focusing on the relationship between a form of charismatic prayer and the change of practitioners toward benevolent action.

Pneuma