Stanley J. White, the Assemblies of God minister and then a postulant for the priesthood, had pushed the envelope any number of times since succeeding his father as pastor of Evangel Assembly of God. His devotional readings had led him to the Book of Common Prayer, among other sources of spirituality, and he had already grown weary of evangelicalism’s endless quest for innovation. Some time after he initiated a liturgical procession ”” perhaps still the only instance in the century-long history of the Assemblies of God ”” some complaints alerted denominational authorities in Springfield, Mo. White was quickly sacked, but, much to his surprise, a significant number of his congregants indicated their willingness to accompany him on his spiritual journey, wherever it might lead.
It led, finally, to the Episcopal Church and to that memorable Sunday evening in 1990. The evangelicals sought the structure and connectedness of historic Christianity, but they also had no intention of leaving their pentecostal enthusiasm behind. Harry Shipps, the bishop of Georgia, said that they didn’t have to, that in fact he welcomed their enthusiasm, though I don’t know that he was quite prepared for that event. After the confirmands queued up before five bishops and all the confirmations were completed, the congregation erupted in orgiastic celebration.
I was more than a tad hesitant about returning to Valdosta. I was afraid, frankly, that the journey from Assemblies of God to Episcopal Church might have been a bridge too far, that pressures from within and without might have triggered a conservative backlash….
Professor Balmer wrote this piece for The Living Church, at my invitation, and we will publish it soon.
Over the past 10 years the church has gone from an ASA of around 220 to one of about 140 — a loss of more than a third in attendance.
I’m guessing that Professor Balmer didn’t see such a loss as all that significant a detail?
I wonder why Stan White hasstayed in TEC and hasnoit migrated to the ACNA?
Doug (#1),
I’m glad you solicited this interesting article. Lots of individual evangelicals have followed my college mentor Bob Webber on the Canterbury Trail, but few whole congregations have done so. Or those few that have made the transition to prayerbook worship and gofvernance by bishops have generally shunned TEC and joined bodies like the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC) or the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches (CEEC). Many of those CEC churches then continued their pilgrimage even further in a catholic direction and became Roman Catholic, or many of their leaders did, like the famous +Phil Zampino in MD.
Still, it’s sad to see that Fr. While has bought into the pro-gay lie. As a Wheaton grad, I can readily understand White’s desire to distance himself frrom his fundamentalist roots and to escape from the obscurantism and sheer prejudice that so often marks Petnecostalism in particular. But like many folks, White has overreacted and gone to the opposite extreme. It’s understandable, but still tragic.
The Valdosta congregation of Christ the King sounds like it fits the Emerging Church model. Brian MacLaren would probably feel right at home there, and they’d be very comfortable with him too.
A final observation: could it be that the highly experiential nature of Pentecostalism set up this priest and congregation for trouble? Although I’m a charismatic myself, I fully recognize that it’s very dangerous when spiritual experience is assumed to be self-authenticating. It’s not. Just because our experience may be intense or satisfying, doesn’t make it theologically or spiritually sound. Or put another way, the faddish-prone nature of charismatic Christianity, ever open to the latest “move of God” that comes down the pike, and quick to jump on and exploit new trends in the wider culture, leaves charismatic Anglicans especially vulnerable to embracing uncritically popular new trends in the secular culture. It’s one thing to adopt contemporary musical style, casual worship attire, or use of the latest video technology in worship. It’s another matter entirely to adopt radical revisions in traditional moral values just because they’ve gone viral in the general culture.
David Handy+