Assemblies of God - Going Contemplative
Assemblies of God “Believe” Conference Makes Bold Move – Brings in Contemplative Key Player Ruth Haley Barton
This August, in Orlando, Florida, the Assemblies of God USA will be presenting their General Council Conference, which takes place every two years. The title of this year’s event is ”BELIEVE.” Scheduled to speak to “women in ministry” on one of the nights is Ruth Haley Barton. This is a bold move that the Assemblies of God is making because Barton is a major player in bringing contemplative mystical (i.e., mantra-based) prayer into the evangelical church.
The mission statement for the conference is “Believe we are on the cusp of an unparalleled Spiritual awakening.”1 On the conference website, it states:
GENERAL COUNCIL is the Assemblies of God’s largest gathering. It takes place every two years bringing church leaders together from all around the world.2 Click here to continue reading this article.
Assemblies of God General Superintendent Letter Responds to Lighthouse Trails Article – Defends Contemplative Spirituality
Regarding the Lighthouse Trails article, SPECIAL REPORT: Assemblies of God “Believe” Conference Makes Bold Move – Brings in Contemplative Key Player Ruth Haley Barton,” the General Superintendent of the AOG denomination, George O. Wood, has issued a response via e-email. Because this response has been sent out to an undisclosed number of people as a form letter, we consider this a public response; thus we are posting the entire response below. Dr. Wood has included a statement from “Dr. Jodi Detrick, chairperson for the Network for Women in Ministry, which is cohosting this gathering along with the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.” Lighthouse Trails will be preparing its own public response to Dr. Wood and to Dr. Detrick. However, at this time, we are only posting their letter. We will say this, however: Dr. Detrick has attempted to insert an ad hominem argument of Pentecostalism vs. non-Pentecostalism; Lighthouse Trails will not be engaging in that discussion as the true issue at hand is contemplative spirituality versus the Gospel and the authenticity of the Cross. Click here to continue reading.
For other articles related to the Assemblies of God move toward contemplative spirituality, click here.
It also says that the event will inspire encounters with God, shape the Assemblies of God movement, and enhance [AOG leaders] ”skills and be inspired to advance the kingdom of God.”
While the Assemblies of God denomination has been going in the contemplative direction for some time, especially within the AOG theological seminary, to bring a major contemplative player in as a speaker to the movement’s main leadership conference illustrates how much AOG has absorbed contemplative spirituality over the last few years especially.
