COURTESY PHOTO.
Pentecostals or Spirit-empowered Christians (those who place an emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in their faith praxis), are leading the world in conversions, according to a report from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.
The study was done in collaboration with Oral Roberts University and Empowered21, whose vision is to see every person on earth have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
In the debate over what to call the movement—which has been dubbed “global Pentecostalism,” “Pentecostal/Charismatic,” and “renewalist”— Professor of Global Christianity and Director of the Center for Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Dr. Todd Johnson and his co-author and co-director Gina Zurlo propose another option: Spirit-empowered Christianity.
“The name has been a perennial problem,” Johnson told Christianity Today. “One of the first things we asked is what is it that is common with all these groups. It turned out to be the baptism of the Holy Spirit. People talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit and an older term is ‘Spirit-filled.’ But a lot of groups have emphasized being empowered.”
In gathering information on the spread of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity around the world since 1900, Johnson unfolded myriad statistics on its explosive growth in addition to surprising projections for the coming decades, which include:
- From 1900-2020, Spirit-Empowered Christianity grew at nearly four times the growth rate of both Christianity and the world’s population;
- Currently, Spirit-Empowered believers comprise one quarter of the entire Christian community, which is expected to grow to one third by the year 2050;
- Asia and Oceania experienced the most rapid growth of Spirit-Empowered Christianity. However, the Spirit-Empowered population in Africa is expected to grow more quickly within the next 30 years;
- Today, the countries with the most Spirit-Empowered Christians are Brazil, the United States and Nigeria, whereas, in 1900, the nations with the most were South Africa, Nigeria and the United States; and
- Afghanistan and Cambodia, where Christianity remains relatively new, are the countries currently experiencing the fastest upsurge in Spirit-Empowered Christianity.
The map below depicts Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians as a percentage of each country in 2020. (Credit: gordonconwell.edu)
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