Catch the Fire: Soaking Prayer and Charismatic Renewal

By Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse

A recent phenomenon of charismatic renewal took place in Toronto in the mid-1990s. Commonly known as the "Toronto Blessing" and operated by the former Vineyard Church leaders John and Carol Arnott, the renewal was defined by reports of uncontrollable laughter, weeping, speaking in tongues, animal noises, and falling on the floor during worship. Sympathetic Christians embraced these practices while others who believed that this form of worship boarded on spectacle rejected them. By the end of the 1990s most people thought that the renewal was over.

Yet, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the authors—a sociologist and a theologian—heard rumors that the Toronto church, now known as "Catch the Fire," was still holding mass meetings with upwards of 2,000 people in attendance. They also learned of an emerging practice of "soaking prayer," an adaption of Pentecostal-charismatic prayer that, participants and leaders claim, facilitates and expands the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. Soaking, the authors reveal, is a metaphor for practices like resting in the Spirit, prayer for spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, impartation, and supports overall charismatic spirituality. Attending "Catch the Fire" conferences, churches, and house meetings in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, Wilkinson and Althouse observed first-hand how people soak, what it means to soak, and why soaking is considered an important practice among charismatics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
• Release date: Mar 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781609091569

Book preview

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© 2014 by Northern Illinois University Press

Published by the Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb, Illinois 60115

Manufactured in the United States using acid-free paper.

All Rights Reserved

Design by Shaun Allshouse

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilkinson, Michael, 1965–

Catch the fire : soaking prayer and charismatic renewal / Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-87580-705-8 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-60909-156-9 (e-book)

1. Prayer—Pentecostal churches. I. Title.

BV227.W55 2014

248.2’9—dc23

2013041738

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

ONE—Charismatic Renewal

TWO—Prayer and Altruism

THREE—Rituals of Renewal

FOUR—Embodied Love

FIVE—Apostolic Authority and Gender

SIX—Advancing the Kingdom of Love

Conclusion

Appendices

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

This research was made possible by a generous grant from the Flame of Love Project at the University of Akron and the John Templeton Foundation. In 2008 we (the authors) met at a restaurant in the west end of Toronto and made plans to apply for funds and conduct research on the charismatic renewal that was emanating out of Toronto and beginning to expand globally. We had heard rumors that charismatic phenomena were still happening despite comments regarding their apparent demise and wanted to see what was going on. We submitted a proposal and eventually received funding for Charismatic Renewal as Mission: Godly Love and the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship’s Soaking Centers. The project was one of five sub-awards funded through the Flame of Love that sought to look at the relationship between religious claims of experiencing divine love and the potential benevolence that resulted from these experiences.

Margaret Poloma, Matthew Lee, and Stephen Post provided leadership for the Flame of Love Project. We were also part of the Institute Core Research Group (ICRG), which provided a venue for lively discussions over research findings. Thanks to Craig Boyd, Julie Exline, John Green, Ralph Hood Jr., A. G. Miller, Thomas J. Oord, the late Clark Pinnock, Arlene Sanchez Walsh, Amos Yong, Candy Gunther Brown, Michael McClymond, Donald E. Miller, Richard Flory, Kimberly Alexander, Mark Cartledge, Paul Alexander, and Robert Welsh for thoughtful comments and suggestions on our work, as well as Margaret, Matt, and Stephen for their input and advice. We hope our suggestions for the research of other participants were equally helpful. We also benefited from a two-day seminar with Kathy Charmaz on Grounded Theory early in our fieldwork and incorporated some of these insights into our research. One of the venues for exploring our research goals was the Seminar on Godly Love at Calvin College. We enjoyed many fruitful conversations with participants of the ICRG who attended, as well as others in attendance, including Jim Zahniser, Tim Brown, Philip Jamieson, Mark Nickolas, and Jong Hyun Jung. Frank Macchia, Wayne Jacobsen, and Roger Heuser joined us as well at different stages in the seminars. Presenting our research at Vanguard College, Costa Mesa, at the Great Commandment Seminar: Theology and Science in Dialogue in 2010 gave us the opportunity to refine our views. We also presented our findings at the annual meetings of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, and the International Society for the Sociology of Religion. Steve Studebaker invited us to discuss our research at McMaster Divinity College, McMaster University, and the participants offered us valuable comments.

Special thanks to our research and teaching assistants Esteban Felix, Nicholas Tedeschi, Vincent Veach, and Danielle Temple, who filled in for us when we were away, performed administrative tasks, and helped us in all sorts of ways. We want to say a special thank-you to our families, who supported us in our travel schedules when we were away on our many research trips or speaking at conferences. Finally, this was a collaborative project made much easier by our good friendship and many thought-provoking conversations over the past five years of research and writing.

Introduction

Our desire is to see people in all the nations of the world soaking and receiving the Presence of God and then giving it away to their communities, reaching the world with Jesus. As we soak in His Presence we are changed. As a result our families are changed, our communities are changed and we reach the world with Jesus!

—John Arnott, Catch the Fire Ministries¹

In the mid-1990s a charismatic renewal was underway in Toronto known as the Toronto Blessing, led by Vineyard Church leaders John and Carol Arnott. The renewal was defined by reports of uncontrollable laughing, weeping, speaking in tongues, animal noises, and falling on the floor during worship. These practices were embraced by sympathetic Christians and rejected by others who believed that this form of worship bordered on spectacle. By the end of the 1990s most people believed the renewal was over. Yet, throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century we heard rumors that the Toronto church, now known as Catch the Fire (CTF), was still holding mass meetings with upwards of two thousand people in attendance. We also heard about a practice emerging out of Toronto called soaking prayer where charismatics were taught that to reach the world with their message, they needed to first learn how to be loved by God if they were to love others.

Soaking prayer is an adaptation of Pentecostal-charismatic prayer with several influences. Among the early twentieth-century Pentecostals, falling to the ground during prayer was referred to as being slain in the Spirit. Pentecostals believed that the experience of God’s presence was so real that they fell as if dead. Throughout the twentieth century the practice took different names, but the phenomenon remained the same. Some mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics preferred the term resting in the Spirit to describe what happened to people as they came to rest on the floor following prayer. It was the Roman Catholic Francis MacNutt (1974; 1977; 1988) who linked resting prayer with healing. He borrowed the term soaking from fellow charismatic Tommy Tyson to describe prolonged prayer for people where those who prayed would place their hands on the needy person, soaking him or her in healing love. MacNutt spoke on occasion at the Toronto meetings and no doubt had some influence on its practice. When people began to rest in the Spirit in Toronto, it was playfully referred to as carpet time because people could be seen strewn all over the floor. Carol Arnott explained that after one long meeting she had been tired and said she wished she could rest in the Spirit when God told her she could, and all she needed to do was lie on the carpet and let God renew her. Following this experience, she believed God was leading her to help people understand the importance of resting in the Father’s love, and by 2003 the first soaking prayer school was offered.

Soaking prayer is claimed by charismatics to facilitate and expand the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. Soaking is a metaphor that supports charismatic spirituality and practices like resting in the Spirit, prayer for spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, and impartation, which we describe and explain in this book. Throughout our research, attending conferences, churches, and house meetings in the United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, and Australia, we observed how people soak, what it means for participants to soak, and why soaking is considered an important practice among charismatics.² We heard that soaking prayer had expanded into a wide range of Christian traditions such as the Episcopal, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Christian Reformed, Pentecostal, and Independent churches and other denominations. We were told that soaking prayer was expanding through networks of charismatic churches and independent congregations. While Toronto was a key pilgrimage site in the 1990s (Percy, 1998), and continues to be a place where charismatics travel to seek spiritual renewal, other sites throughout the United States, such as Bethel Church in Redding, California, are just as influential. CTF offers conferences throughout the year to present teaching on their core values and to gather for charismatic worship. These conferences are held on a regular basis in the United States, Canada, Britain, and other locales in the world.

For the most part, soaking prayer is nonverbal. Participants do not pray to bring their cares and concerns in petition to God or intercede for one’s needs or the needs of others. It is meditative prayer, where charismatics focus on being still or quiet in a posture of listening and receiving. Soaking prayer is a multivalent term that can have multiple meanings that will become clear to the reader throughout the book. For now, it is helpful to identify the main uses of the term. CTF leaders speak about soaking prayer using the illustration of a sponge that, when soaked in water, can be squeezed to allow its contents to flow to other areas such as a dry counter top. Going to the beach and soaking in the sun is another comparison. In the same way, charismatics are encouraged to soak in God’s love in order to become more loving toward others around them. The term functions intransitively, as with I ‘soaked’ this morning, or it can function transitively, as with I ‘soaked’ my spouse this morning in the Father’s love. The latter suggests a kind of social transference from one actor to another through touch or what charismatics call the laying on of hands. Soaking can also be used to describe devotional reading of the Bible: I was ‘soaking’ in the Gospel of John and God ‘revealed’ to me that I am to encourage Bobby to follow God’s call.

Soaking prayer is also spoken of in a playful way by charismatics with an idealistic image of childhood where participants are invited to come and play in God’s presence. Stepping into the strange world of the charismatic renewal is disconcerting for the outsider, and as researchers we often found it difficult to grasp what was occurring in these emotionally intense settings. It is a unique subculture or habitus with unusual notions and narratives. Charismatics playfully envision God using the romantic language of love and play as regularly observed among charismatics who practice soaking prayer. Phrases like walking hand-in-hand, gentle whisper, spontaneity, love and acceptance, trust, embrace, playing, being children, and sons and daughters of God are rhetoric heard in the various CTF sponsored events. The language of love—the wide-eyed love of a child in her father’s presence, the giddy love of a young couple just learning who the other person is, the mature love of a parent who wants good things for a child, or of those who want to help their community in a way that benefits people in the neighborhood, are all aspects of the kinds of love emphasized by CTF.

The practice of soaking prayer is not without its critics.³ In their teachings, CTF leaders spend much time explaining that soaking prayer is not simply a technique (though it is obviously a technique), but that its goal is to spend time in God’s presence, to experience God’s love, and to love others. Also they try to distance themselves from New Age spirituality and Eastern practices such as transcendental meditation, suggesting an awareness of these criticisms. Moreover, one informant revealed to us that some people were critical that the practice, or at least the term, was not found in the Bible. Consequently, practitioners and teaching manuals spend a great deal of time justifying the practice of soaking prayer with references to the Bible. We also noted its similarities to self-help therapeutic techniques for reducing stress and instilling relaxation.

Observing Soaking Prayer

As researchers, we wanted to understand how charismatics practice soaking prayer. Furthermore, we wanted to understand how the culture of charismatic Christianity motivated practitioners to act in altruistic ways, which, they claimed, were related to the practice of soaking prayer. In February 2009 we attended our first soaking prayer school at the Founders Inn, Virginia Beach. The soaking prayer school was held in conjunction with a week-long conference that brought together about 1,500 charismatics for prayer, worship, seminars on healing, and teaching on soaking prayer. We attended the course on soaking prayer with about fifty other participants, mostly women, from across the United States. The leader of the seminar was Marguerite Evans, a former South African runner-up for the Miss Universe contest. She identified herself as a non-Christian who came to faith through a charismatic group in South Africa. She first heard about the Toronto Blessing in the 1990s. Eventually she came to Toronto to attend a ministry school where she developed into a leader for CTF, giving supervision as the National Soaking Prayer Coordinator in the United States until 2010. Evans, a dynamic speaker, took the group through a series of teachings on soaking prayer. The seminar focused on practicing soaking prayer as well as offering a theological rationale. In the morning we would follow a series of teachings from the Student’s Manual about the problems of trying to please God, the need to hear God’s voice, enjoying God’s presence, the importance of spiritual intimacy, contemplation, experiencing the love of God, and loving others.

In the afternoons there were a series of exercises to practice soaking prayer. During these times the lights were dimmed and worship leaders Rob and Kelley Augi played soft contemplative music. Participants pulled out pillows and blankets, making themselves comfortable on the floor, taking us by surprise since we did not have any such items. We remained seated at the back, observing people resting on the floor, eyes closed, and in a prayerful state. Not long into the first session a middle-aged woman began to laugh. Evans told everyone, Sometimes people are filled with joy when they come into God’s presence as they experience unconditional love. Not long afterward someone else started laughing across the room, and for the next thirty minutes waves of laughter rolled from one side of the room to the other. After the session, participants were invited to share what they experienced while praying. Some spoke about feeling loved for the first time, others said they had a vision of Jesus playing with them, someone fell asleep and felt refreshed, another person claimed God was healing her of emotional hurts and helping her forgive. Another person said he was blessed by God and believed he was being called to start a soaking prayer group back home. Someone else claimed to have a greater love for others.

At the conclusion of the soaking school, John and Carol Arnott came in to speak to the group. As John spoke about prayer, he referenced the inward, upward, and outward directions of prayer. We are on three journeys, an inward journey, an upward journey, and an outward journey. We have since heard him speak numerous times of the inward, upward, and outward. At the Voice of the Apostles Conference in Baltimore in 2010, John spoke again of the inward, upward, and outward journey as being filled with a river that flows from the throne of God. He said,

As you drink it you begin to get touched with the love of God. Then you begin to honor Him and love Him, and there’s an overflow that pours your heart out toward heaven. The next thing you know, He’s saying, Okay, now it is time for the outward journey. You begin to take that river of God to the nations of the world. It is in the Father’s heart to fill this earth with His glory, and He wants you to be a part of it. This is your inheritance. This is your destiny. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

At the soaking prayer school, Arnott said the inward, upward, and outward is related to the outworking of love in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.⁴ The Great Commandment is the commandment of love: Love God and love your neighbor. In charismatic renewal this love is not viewed as obligatory, a duty to be performed before a vengeful God, but a relational love that is intimate, passionate, and full of hope. The Great Commission is how that love is expressed to the world as Christians are sent out to share God’s love with others. Love, therefore, is viewed by these charismatics in relation to what they offer to God in worship, what is received from God, and what is released in love to the world through mission. As Arnott said, Mission is life under the anointing not only for relationship with God, but also so that you are fruitful. Arnott’s sense of mission is that it empowers all people to spread God’s love in diverse ways. In reference to the expansion of early Christianity, and by implication how he envisions ministry in the church he said, The apostles led, but it was the people who did ministry.

A short time later, John’s wife Carol came into the room to speak about prayer. At one point she asked John what he said. On learning that he spoke of the inward, upward and outward journey, she said, Oh, John, you’ve got it wrong, and then went on to explain that soaking prayer is about we, He, they. On the surface this may seem a trivial matter in describing soaking prayer. According to Carol, we is the community of believers who are loved by God and receive God’s good things. Group solidarity is an important element in the charismatic renewal as people approach the sacred through worship together and feel a sense of emotional closeness to God and each other. He is a reference to God and the love and praise given to God through prayers, but also one that is reciprocated from a loving Father. They refers to the families, communities, and the world that need to hear and experience God’s love, once again producing a sense of solidarity as people are equipped and empowered to love others in the world and to show them love through their actions. Carol’s image is more communal and relational, while John’s was more spatial and individualistic. The distinction suggests a difference between how men and women experience and understand prayer. This is important because women are the ones who are the most active in soaking prayer and hosting prayer meetings in their homes and churches. However, with some notable exceptions the leadership of the renewal is mostly male.

Although one can observe overlap, the language of rest, receive, and release offers important themes in soaking prayer. Either by what appears to be spontaneously falling down in the context of ecstatic worship or by intentionally lying down to soak in prayer, charismatics interpret this posture as a position of rest. Both John Arnott and Marguerite Evans explain it theologically as a baptism in the Holy Spirit, which means to immerse in God’s love. We heard leaders teach that love is not something that can be received by striving or performing in order to earn God’s love, but rather is freely given and freely received. Within this context, charismatics claim rest is an important component of soaking prayer and by extension effective ministry. According to CTF teaching, by settling the mind and body a person will place herself in a state to receive God’s love. By lying down and allowing the body to relax, the person can let go of anxiety. People are expected to perform in the workplace, to perform in the home, and to perform in church. But, as CTF leaders teach, a person who is constantly busy is unlikely to hear from God. One prayer coordinator put it this way: I actually kind of felt a little bit of a disconnect from God personally, and I had been a vice president of a major brokerage firm, and I was running and gunning. I was busy, and we had these house meetings and I had just come to a place of dryness in my own self. But the Lord was actually calling me out of that career into ministry (P91).⁵ Marguerite Evans recommended that participants cultivate a resting place for the habitation of the Lord. In some cases charismatics dedicate specific rooms in their homes for prayer. If someone falls asleep while engaging in soaking prayer, then the body is in need of rest, we were told, and God is providing for one’s need. Besides, claimed Evans, God can speak to a person through dreams. Divine communication through dreams and visions is a common belief in charismatic spirituality, one that is practiced in CTF.

Receiving is another important element in soaking prayer. Through the practice of receiving, participants claim to experience a deeper sense of God’s love that leads to greater intimacy with God. Experiencing divine love through soaking prayer energizes the participants, which, charismatics claim, allows them to show similar love to family members, friends, co-workers, and those across the world who

Reviews for Catch the Fire

[stephenbarkley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Soaking prayer is a relatively new phenomenon. Participants are brought together in a worship setting. They then lie down, often with pillow and blanket, as worship music is played. During this time they rest—soak—in the Father’s love. Leaders of the meeting don’t pray verbally, although they may lay hands on the soakers for a time.Soaking has a purpose beyond the appeal of a new spiritual experience. Those who soak believe that they are being filled with the Father’s love in order to express that love to others. Soaking has an altruistic motive which aligns with the vision of Catch the Fire churches: “… to walk in God’s love and give it away, until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.”There are two roots to soaking prayer. Classical Pentecostals spoke of being “slain in the Spirit.” This occurred when someone receiving prayer fell over under the Spirit’s power. The Catholic tradition, especially with Francis McNutt, rejected the violent language of Classical Pentecostals and preferred to speak of “resting in the Spirit.” This aligns with Catholic contemplative tradition. The purpose of resting in the Spirit is to receive healing.In Catch the Fire, sociologist Michael Wilkinson and theologian Peter Althouse share the results of an extensive study of the soaking phenomenon. The book is methodologically rigorous and theologically generous. It was written not to support or criticize, but to understand and explain.If you are interested in what is happening in the charismatic renewal, this is your book.