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Forces Reshaping Christianity Around World
In Nigeria, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles congregation holds huge all-night revivals. Across Asia, the True Jesus Church preaches biblical interpretations that include shunning Christmas as a pagan-tainted holiday. In Brazil, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God says rewards spiritual and material may await those who give to its fast-expanding empire.Such ways of worship that challenge the dominance of Christianity's mainline denominations on every continent will be high on the agenda this week as envoys from the faith's main branches gather in Brazil for their most ambitious conference in eight years. The World Council of Churches hopes to leave its assembly in Porto Alegre, starting Tuesday and running through Feb. 23, with a clearer vision of how to address the sharp growth of Pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical groups around the globe. The head of the council, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, will urge delegates to fully recognize the spiritual shifts and begin serious dialogue with Pentecostal and other groups, who have often regarded the WCC as a threat to their independence, fundraising methods and animated worship style. "We need a fresh look at global Christianity," Kobia told The Associated Press from the WCC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. "I will also call on Pentecostals, charismatic and others to approach us in an open mind and not with the hostility of history that has led to suspicion." Still, it's the WCC that needs to reach out. The core of its nearly 350-church membership the mainline Protestant denominations and Orthodox churches have felt the full force of the rise of Pentecostal and other movements. More cooperation could energize some old guard denominations and help stem defections to evangelical-style churches, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Failure to find more common ground, however, could reinforce polarizing trends: the traditional churches vs. movements preaching bold messages of salvation and, sometimes, good fortune... The article only suggests the *real* split, that these new churches reject the far-left Marxism and "revolutionary theology" embraced by much of the WCC, are very conservative and traditional in their essential doctrines, and are confronting and conquering Islam wherever the two meet. Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-02-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=142465 |