A History of the Contemporary Church Movement

Early Wesleyan evangelical movements; and the Welsh revival; and early Pentecostal outpourings and others, experienced the Word of God and the manifestation of the presence and power of God impacting the unsaved.

But second-generation organised Pentecostals soon were not quite demonstrating the power of God as their own earlier Pentecostal outpourings, or earlier revivals and evangelical movements had.

Some concerned Pentecostals therefore began to pray and fast, and the Latter Rain movement was birthed.

But the Assemblies of God (AoG) largely denounced the movement, because it felt the movement didn't comply with some of its essential truths and fundamental doctrines.

Then the Spirit began to be poured out among non-Pentecostal denominations instead - and the Latter Rain movement merged with it, from among the Pentecostals who had experienced it: so together it became a church-wide, worldwide movement known as the Charismatic Renewal.

But still the AoG denounced it, partly because it thought its music was shallow, and dancing in the spirit was thought to be worldly.

But for all who did embrace it, it brought much rejoicing and fruit. Souls were saved, missions were started, people were filled with the Spirit and the Word of God was taught.

Yet as great as it was, there was still a yearning in hearts and an expectation that even greater manifestations of the Spirit had to come and would come.

Youth in Latter Rain/Charismatic churches such as those were enjoying the presence of God and seeing the power of God drawing the lost (like earlier Holy Ghost movements had seen) - but second- and third-generation Pentecostal-church youth were hardly seeing it.

What they were often hearing instead in their churches, was what was wrong with everything (what was wrong with Latter Rain/Charismatic teaching and practices: what was considered wrong with personal-prophecy, for example; what was considered wrong with deliverance ministry; what was considered wrong with the five-fold ministry, and with body-ministry, and with impartation through the laying-on-of hands; they were hearing End-Times predictions, and why Dispensational Pre-Millennialism was considered to be so important [despite its implications of future Leviticalism]; they were hearing what was wrong with wearing make-up and trendy clothes; and what was considered wrong with Charismatic songs and dancing in the spirit; etc). Pentecostal youth weren't seeing that making too much impact on their unchurched peers.

So the most spectacular, influential thing many Pentecostal youth were seeing in their world at that time, so they thought, was secular Rock concerts. And one of their biggest fears as Pentecostal pastors' kids and church kids who weren't seeing much of the power of the Spirit, was that they might be thought of by their peers as nurds. Whereas Spirit-filled Charismatic/Latter Rain youth had a boldness that almost matched many of their adult forbears in earlier moves of God.

"If only we could have a Christian version of MTV!" That would be the answer, many Pentecostal-church kids thought. So some of them came up with Christian Rock n Roll. Contemporary Christian Music. They started organising novel, entertaining youth activities. And then big combined youth rallies, like concerts - Rock concerts.

Many Latter Rain/Charismatic churches were happy enough to send their youth along to those Pentecostal kids' Saturday night youth rallies too, despite the harder music-style. It was seen as just an extra outreach event, without taking anything away from all the good-spirituality they were already experiencing in the Renewal in their Latter Rain/Charismatic congregations. It was seen as an extension-of; not as a replacement-of.

There was a lot of prayer and outreach going on across cities in those days - some overlapping and co-operation at a lay-level between Charismatic and Pentecostal church-members - many were getting saved and filled with the Spirit and the Word was being taught. There was a rising tide of impact. Many could see the momentum gaining.

Meanwhile many of those Pentecostal youth leaders soon became youth pastors/assistant pastors in their churches - and then became senior pastors. Then, urged along by some radical pastors, some were accepted as members of denominational Executives.

There was a deliberate attempt by some - self-styled social architects - to radically change church. To make it 'relevant'. So the Saturday night youth concerts started visiting Sunday night church, during youth week. Then it happened every Sunday night. Then on Sunday mornings too. Very soon it came to be just how AoG church was. Every Sunday. Christian Rock n Roll soon became imposed on many AOG churches nearly everywhere. Pentecostal churches were 'contemporised'.

That was ironic, because many Pentecostal churches hadn't embraced the Latter Rain/Charismatic Renewal but denounced it because they felt its doctrine and music and dancing was too worldly - but instead they ended-up with music and dancing in their churches that truly was even more worldly in its sound and look than Charismatic songs and services were - plus they ended-up with a lot of preaching that sounded even more 'worldly' (in comparison to the Charismatics' preaching at the time, and certainly their own old-time Pentecostal preaching). As a result of all that, many mature believers left Pentecostal churches, or felt sidelined.

Around that time some famous old-time Pentecostal stalwarts, and also some famous Charismatic ministers publicly experienced some personal difficulties. And some once-powerful, fruitful Charismatic churches also had the 'Seeker Friendly' approach of a non-Charismatic/non-Pentecostal organisation imposed on them by new leaders. Many mature-age believers therefore left Charismatic churches also, or felt sidelined - like what had now happened in many Pentecostal churches.

That series of events left many Latter Rain/Charismatic churches which had not too long before been enjoying the move of the Spirit, all the more open to embracing the growing influence of the newly contemporised Pentecostal churches and their youth ministries and music and concert-style worship.

More and more churches - both Pentecostal and Charismatic - started performing Contemporary Christian Music on Sundays, adopting the Rock Concert model in place of the Tabernacle of David or early Pentecostal concepts of praise and worship.

With that, the expression of spiritual gifts inevitably began to wane in Charismatic churches, as it had already in many Pentecostal churches. Much of the focus instead came to be on programs, and especially on the use of Contemporary Christian Music as a strategy.

The momentum that many had felt gaining, therefore seemed to come to a lull.

Then God graciously caused a cloud to blow-in and refresh the churches once again. This could be called the River movement. Both Charismatic and Pentecostal churches including Word of Faith churches rejoiced in it, for a season, worldwide. It brought manifestations of the Spirit such that believers had been yearning for and expecting to see since Charismatic Renewal days - and all so easily. Some new songs were birthed. New ministries were birthed. It was a dream come true.

It was so big a lot of Contemporary/Seeker-Sensitive pastors didn't quite know how to cope with the disruption it seemed to be causing to some of their new programs.

"We couldn't have been wrong," one leading Pentecostal-church pastor said.

So the new move of the Spirit soon became relegated mostly to poorly-attended midweek meetings. And then eventually the fresh move of the Spirit soon stopped almost completely, in many churches.

Many former Charismatic/Pentecostal churches then settled back into a fairly organised church-style which consisted mainly of Contemporary music without much manifestation of the Spirit. Almost all interest had been lost however in the so-called 'Seeker Friendly' style of service.

Then Y2K - and all the Dispensational End-Times predictions that accompanied it, outside of Latter Rain circles - fizzled into nothing.

Once again there came to be nearly an absence of spiritual manifestations - Charismatic/Pentecostal distinctives - in Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. This meant that many non-Charismatic/non-Pentecostal denominations now felt that they could embrace the Contemporary music and service-style of Contemporary-style churches into their own youth events first, then into many of their church services too. The Contemporary Christian Music style of service was beginning to become fashionable.

Meanwhile some groups who had experienced the River movement did try to keep the manifestations of the Spirit alive. And they sought to keep using Contemporary Christian music, though often with 'soaking' or 'River' themes in their songs. As in Contemporary-style churches, music often still dominated services though, so the manifestations of the Spirit weren't able to be as prominent in their services as it had been during earlier movements. Because music dominated.

Some famous leaders among some of them also publicly experienced some personal problems. By that time many Contemporary Pentecostal churches had also begun promoting and accepting tattoos. Many of the 'River'-type churches also accepted and promoted that. Because of all that, many mainstream mature-age believers weren't comfortably drawn to such-churches despite such churches stating their interest in the things of the Spirit.

The result was that in much of present-day church-life - church-wide, worldwide - in denominational, Charismatic, Pentecostal and River churches alike - Contemporary Christian Music came to dominate. The Rock Concert model became a dominant feature in services, where once there had been a broader more community/family-friendly style of music and the move and manifestation of the Spirit had been more prominent. 

The Contemporary Church movement came to be distinguishable among earlier River/Charismatic/Latter Rain/Pentecostal/revival/evangelical movements.    
  

Seeing Moses is Read in Every Place

The Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem decreed that churches among the Gentiles need not and should not become places which basically required Gentiles to become Proselytes to Judaism. Rather, the churches were to be places where everyone could belong, regardless of ethnicity, and eat together at the same table, without any one particular ethnic group's peculiar cultural practices being allowed to bar others. Specifically, churches didn't need to become especially Jewish in identity and practice, seeing any Jewish members of the churches could readily avail themselves of all things Jewish by attending their local synagogues which were everywhere. So the Jewish culture didn't need to be imposed on Gentiles and insisted on in the churches. But there was something to be said to Gentiles too, in order to keep the peace and unity in the churches across the potential divide of cultural backgrounds. And the Apostles and Elders listed those. 
Obviously those few things weren't the only things which believers in Jesus were to avoid. Of course there were others. There were new moral standards for believers to express, but those were not so much a matter of adopting cultural markers. The issue in the Apostles and Elders' statement wasn't just about what is the comprehensive list of moral rights and wrongs and where to find it. It was largely about cultural identity. It was a question of, Did Gentiles need to become Jews. And their answer was, No. But churches were taught about morals, beyond just the cultural markers listed. Like not stealing, for example. But churches weren't to teach that Gentiles needed to become Jewish. That's altogether a different issue and question - and answer. 

Any Jewish members of the churches could readily satisfy their cultural needs at their local synagogues. Neither becoming Jewish, nor offending Jews - nor offending Gentiles - wasn't what church needed to be about. Church was to be for everyone.