Page 150 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

pentecostalism 1451

fragmented, in the view of A. H.Anderson in “Dangerous
Memories for South African Pentecostal.” (1999). The
efforts of various North Americans and Europeans
resulted in the formation of the South African District of
the Assemblies of God. Many black Pentecostals opted to
affiliate themselves with a wide array of African inde-
pendent sects in South Africa. Some Pentecostals around
the globe are interconnected through the Pentecostal
World Fellowship, but apparently most are not affiliated
with this body.

Interpretations of
Pentecostalism
Robert Mapes Anderson, in Vision of the Disinherited
(1979), provides perhaps the most insightful analysis of
European-American Pentecostalism, noting that it serves
several functions, none of which seriously challenges the
larger society or significantly alters the position of Pen-
tecostals within it. Pentecostalism, he asserts, (1) consti-
tutes a cathartic mechanism for marginalized people;
(2) provides career opportunities for its leaders; (3) serves
as a “safety valve” for dissatisfaction within mainstream
churches; (4) facilitates the migration process from the
countryside to the city; (5) instills in its members pas-
The Reverend George T. Candlin poses in
sivity, industriousness, and thrift; and (6) develops a
Chinese dress in Tientsin, China, in the late
compliant working class.While the same could be argued
1880s. The photo quotes him as saying,
historically for African American Pentecostalism as well,
“This is Pentecost and behind is the con-
an increasing number of black Pentecostal congregations
version of the world.”
have become more politically and socially engaged due
to the impact of the civil rights and black power move-
ments on a third generation of black Pentecostal min-
occurred in Brazil, where various estimates indicate that isters. Pentecostal Institutional Temple, COGIC’s mother
Protestant churchgoers outnumber Catholic ones on any church (located about a mile east of downtown Mem-
given Sunday. Many members of Protestant mainstream phis), played an instrumental role in the establishment
congregations in Brazil have left in order to establish Pen- of the Ministers and Christians League, an organization
tecostal congregations.Although North Americans intro- that spearheaded a drive that doubled the number of
duced Pentecostalism into Latin America, by and large black registered voters in Memphis. Black Pentecostals
Latinos are now responsible for diffusion of the move- have won seats on city councils and in state legislatures
ment. As in the United States, South African Pente- and have been appointed to minor cabinet positions in
costalism emerged at the beginning of the twentieth the executive branch of the federal government.
century as a racially integrated movement that attracted McGuire views the search for empowerment as central
blacks and poor Afrikaners and quickly became racially to the Catholic charismatic movement. She asserts that