In Pentecostal Sacraments I have suggested that Pentecostals are intuitively sacramental. In other words, even though most Pentecostals do not have an informed sacramental theology, nonetheless they encounter the presence of God in the various sacramental observances.
In the course of my doctoral project the Pentecostal Worship Assessment (PWA) was given to nineteen Church of God congregations in southern Georgia. The PWA consists of 50 questions that were designed to assess: (1) demographics, spiritual disciplines, and experiences; (2) frequency of Pentecostal manifestations and sacramental observances; (3) sacramental theology and practice; and (4) the Attitudes Towards God Scale (ATGS-9). Responses were graded on a scale of 1 to 10, strongly disagree to strongly agree, respectively. There were 531 respondents. The pretest responses are very interesting and significant in revealing how Pentecostals discern the presence of God in worship.
First, when asked if tongues-speech is a sign of God’s presence the respondents cumulative mean score was 8.46, signifying strong agreement. There is no surprise here.
When asked if anointing with oil and laying on hands is a biblical healing rite the respondents cumulative mean score was 9.2, signifying strong agreement. Again, no surprise.
When asked if Christ is present in the Lord’s Supper the respondents cumulative mean score was 8.65, signifying strong agreement. Here is a surprise on two counts. First, many Pentecostals have been taught that the Lord’s Supper is memorial observance with no salvific efficacy. The encountered “presence” is due to the act of obedience in the worshiping assembly. The results of the PWA challenge that assumption. When asked if the Lord’s Supper nourished the believer, the respondents mean score was 8.16, signifying agreement. It seems apparent that Pentecostal worshipers have an intuitive awareness of the presence of Christ and Spirit in the Lord’s Supper in spite of being taught otherwise. Second, and this will be surprising for many, the PWA results indicate that Pentecostals encounter God in the charismatic dynamic of tongues-speech (8.46) and in the sacramental rites of the Lord’s Supper (8.65) and anointing with oil (9.2). In fact, the Lord’s Supper scored slightly higher than tongues-speech.
The PWA reveals some tensions in thought among Pentecostals about sacraments. For example, although the PWA pretest indicates that Pentecostals encounter God in the sacraments, they hesitate to strongly affirm sacraments as sanctifying gifts (mean score of 6.3 indicating “tend to agree”). However, for those respondents who participated in the Pentecostal Worship Project, the PWA posttest indicates that respondents strongly affirm sacraments as sanctifying gifts in which divine grace is conveyed (mean score of 8.59). The PWA did not seek to assess how the respondents believe grace is present or mediated. In other words, concepts of ex opere operato, transubstantiation, or consubstantiation were not specified.
Several years ago, I had a conversation with the Roman Catholic scholar Killian McDonnell at a meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. I told him that I was writing about “Pentecostal sacraments.” He smiled and replied, “You Pentecostals are really closet Catholics.” At the time I didn’t fully understand his meaning. However, my research has enriched my view of Pentecostal sacramentality. What McDonnell was trying to tell me was that Pentecostalism, like Catholicism, embraces a material spirituality. God’s grace may be conveyed, or mediated, through the material substances of bread and wine, or anointing oil. The results of the PWA seem to affirm Father McDonnell’s observation.
Helpful comments are appreciated.
