Charisma on the Rise

The so-called "charismatic gifts"--prophecy, spiritual healing and glossolalia, or speaking in tongues--have long been characteristic of the zealous, fundamentalist Pentecostal sects. Increasingly, though, these unusual outpourings of spiritual feeling can be found in mainstream Protestant and even Roman Catholic congregations--and some church leaders are concerned about it. The 1968 General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church ordered a special study of the spread of glossolalia. This month an ecumenical assembly of 120 churchmen met at Roman Catholic Dayton University in Ohio to discuss the movement.

Defenders of charismatic worship argue that there is Biblical warrant for it. Prophecy was an accepted spiritual gift among the Jews, while both Jesus and his disciples, according to the New Testament, practiced faith healing. St. Paul's epistles refer to "speaking in tongues"--which to its modern practitioners means the sudden effusion of prayer in nonsense syllables.

Faith healing is now so common in Protestant churches that there is a nationwide Fellowship of St. Luke, which claims more than 20,000 members. Denominational leaders are considerably less enthusiastic about glossolalia, which is usually carried on by small groups, led as often as not by laymen outside the confines of the church. In Los Angeles alone, Lutheran Minister Rodney Lensch claims, there are hundreds of glossolalia cells. One of the few parishes that openly espouses the charismatic approach is the Church of the Good Shepherd in Elk Grove Village, Ill. Its pastor, the Rev. Lloyd Weber of the United Church of Christ, had long been interested in Pentecostalism, and says that he received the "gift of tongues" three years ago. He gradually introduced his parishioners to the practice, and glossolalia prayers are now a regular feature of Sunday worship.

Pray for Baptism. The most notable recent spread of faith healing and glossolalia has been among college-level Roman Catholics. The movement began last year, when three young theology instructors at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh met to pray and found themselves, according to their testimony, simultaneously speaking in tongues. Similar experiments have since been tried at other Catholic schools. At Notre Dame, there is a cell of 30 glossolalia enthusiasts, including students and teachers from nearby St. Mary's College, who meet one night a week for prayer session.

Critics of the charismatic movement argue that it is fundamentally an unhealthy cult experience, which tends to separate the gifted illuminati from the majority of believers. California Psychologist Dr. Paul Morentz believes that it thrives among insecure personalities who are in desperate need of certitude. On the other hand, the Rev. Larry Christianson of Trinity Lutheran Church in San Pedro, Calif., contends that the gifts are "God's answer to the hyperintellectualism of our age" and the cold impersonality of formal worship. Surprisingly, even some Roman Catholic participants at the Dayton conference were cautiously optimistic about the prospect of incorporating glossolalia and healing into the spirituality of their church. Biblical Scholar Barnabas Mary Ahern, a peritus (expert) at the Second Vatican Council, argued that glossolalia should be "running at the very heart of the church," since "the life of the church is the life of the spirit."

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