Kenneth J. Archer - The Gospel Revisited: Towards a Pentecostal Theology of Worship and Witness

I embraced the Pentecostal way of life at the age of nineteen and understand my Christian religion as Pentecostal. I am a male of Scot-Irish and English descent, born in the state of Ohio and raised by a hard-working blue collar family. I still marvel at the healing grace that the Lord has extended to me over the years. I married a Pentecostal preachers daughter (a fourth generation Pentecostal who can trace her spiritual lineage back to Aimee Semple McPherson), graduated from a Pentecostal Bible College, and together Melissa and I pastored two Pentecostal churches and one non-charismatic, non-denominational Community Church. I am now in my mid- 40s. Since 2002, we have been ministering to the College and Career young adults at Woodward Church of God in Athens, Tennessee. We have raised our sons as Pentecostal Christians and have had the privilege to pray for them and be prayed for by them at the altar. As Pentecostal parents, we have prayed with them for regeneration, healings, vocational direction, and deliverance. We also have prayed for them to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and, as I explained to my sons, the initial biblical sign will most likely be tongues as expressed with joyful tears. It is a personal delight that both our sons are actively involved in a local Pentecostal church. They help serve in the community through their participation in worship ministry.

I am grateful for the following individuals and communities for their contributions to my spiritual-theological journey. Foremost, I am thankful for my current Pentecostal Christian community, Woodward Church of God, Athens, TN. I am always amazed at how and through whom the Spirit works in the community. Wade Hockman, an elder in our church, is such a person. His commitment to peace, his prophetic ministry, and personal friendship has impacted me in ways that words cannot express. I will never forget the time I was sitting across from him in a restaurant. I was experiencing an ongoing difficult period in which depression seemed to be my constant companion. With tears in my eyes, I told him that I felt as though I had been in a cold dark winter. Just as I finished that statement, he looked intensely into my eyes, started to physically shake, and with spiritual intensity said, The Lord has taken you to this place and you will remain in it for some time. Some things can only die in the winterthe Lord is there with you but you cannot see, hear, or sense him. Embrace it, and the Lord will do his work. This is what the Spirit says. Then he sat back in the chair, exhausted. Later that I week I put a screen background up on my computer. It was of a winter scene that was cold and dark, with tress covered in ice... an eerie yet beautiful scene. Sometimes the terror of night is not the Devil.

I must say that the essays in this monograph all come out of my teaching experience at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, previously known as Church of God Theological Seminary. I began in 2001. I am grateful to the faculty, staff, and students who have encouraged me in both my teaching and academic writing. During this time I was also privileged to teach courses at the Asian Seminary of Christian Ministry, Philippines; SEMIDUD, Quito, Ecuador; and University of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico. These experiences have broadened my horizon of understanding the beauty, diversity, difficulty, and commonality of Pentecostalism.

The PTS community has contributed to my on-going theological understanding. In particular is Steve Jack Lands Pentecostal Spirituality. This has been a source of inspiration and direction for me. My work reflects important ideas he raised in this monograph and offers some further developments. Steve has served as president of Pentecostal Theological Seminary since 2002. In this capacity of President, he has made space for me to work as a theological educator, including academic research and writing. It is risky business to push traditional theological boundaries, but the Vice President for Academics, James Bowers, has helped to shelter me from potential problems and provided needed opportunities to develop my theological vocation.

Steve Land lifted up the importance of the Fivefold Gospel in his first monograph, but Chris Thomas made some significant connections between the Fivefold Gospel and ecclesiastical signs associated with it. I continue to develop that initial paradigm. Rickie Moore and Chris Thomas work in hermeneutics has also been influential in my own endeavors. Cheryl Bridges Johns work in formation and ecumenism played an important role in my understanding of the necessity of praxis and a hospitable yet sectarian identity.