The Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) is an American

scholarly association A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

of biblical scholars, theologians, and others who are members of Pentecostal churches or are involved in the Charismatic Renewal. It was founded in 1970. The members of the Society consider themselves responsible for recording the history and developing the theology of these grassroots movements that have influenced Christianity worldwide.

Overview

SPS was first envisioned by three classical Pentecostals, Dr. William W. Menzies of the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

, Dr.

H. Vinson Synan Harold Vinson Synan (December 1, 1934 – March 15, 2020) was an American historian, author, and alliance leader within the Pentecostal movement. Synan published a total of 25 books, a majority related to Holiness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic mov ...

of the

International Pentecostal Holiness Church The International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) or simply Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) is an international Holiness-Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1911 with the merger of two older denominations. Historically centered in ...

, and Dr. Horace Ward of the Church of God. The original requirement for membership was adherence to the statement of faith of the

Pentecostal Fellowship of North America Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derive ...

. However, because

nontrinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the orthodox Christian theology of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ( ...

s and others were unable to sign the statement for doctrinal reasons, this requirement was eventually eliminated. The purpose of the Society, as defined on its website, is to provide a scholarly forum in which to interpret the

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

movement as well as "to stimulate, encourage, recognize, and publicize the work of Pentecostal and Charismatic scholars and scholars of Pentecostalism; to study the implications of Pentecostal theology in relation to other academic disciplines, seeking a Pentecostal world-and-life view; and to support fully, to the extent appropriate for an academic society, the following statement of purposes: * To encourage fellowship and facilitate co-ordination of effort among Pentecostal believers throughout the world. * To demonstrate to the world the essential unity of Spirit-baptized believers, fulfilling the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ, "That they all may be one" (John 17:21). * To cooperate in an endeavor to respond to the unchanging commission of the Lord Jesus, to carry His message to all people of all nations. * To promote courtesy and mutual understanding, "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, until we all come in the unity of the faith" (Ephesians 4:3, 13). * To afford prayerful and practical assistance to any Pentecostal body in need of such. * To promote and maintain the scriptural purity of the Society by Bible study and prayer. * To uphold and maintain those Pentecostal truths, "most surely believed among us" (Luke 1:1)." The Society holds annual conferences. The organization, which began as a scholarly branch of classical Pentecostalism, is now

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

, with over 500 members from all major

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s. For many years, the Society has hosted the meetings of the Roman Catholic/Pentecostal dialogue (see

Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, previously named the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), is a dicastery within the Holy See whose origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently fr ...

Past presidents

* William W. Menzies (1971) * R. Hollis Gause (1972) * Russell P. Spittler (1973) *

(1974) * Leonard Lovett (1975) *

Don Argue Don Argue (born 1939) was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals from 1992 to 1998.Randall Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism'', Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, p. 2/ref> He also served as the president of North Central ...

(1976) * Horace S. Ward (1977) * Anthony Palma (1978) * James Beaty (1979) * Stanley M. Horton (1980) * Ithiel Clemmons (1981) * William G. MacDonald (1982) * Cecil M. Robeck Jr. (1983) * Harold D. Hunter (1984) *

J. Rodman Williams J. Rodman Williams (August 21, 1918 – October 18, 2008) was a Presbyterian charismatic theologian and professor of renewal theology at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is widely regarded as the father of modern renewal theology ...

(1985) *

Peter Hocken Peter Hocken (22 June 1932 – 10 June 2017) was a British theologian and historian of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the Pentecostal movement in the twentieth century. Born in Brighton, England, Hocken was ordained a priest in the Roman Ca ...

(1986) * Edith Waldvogel Blumhofer (1987) * Ronald Kydd (1988) * Donald W. Dayton (1989) * Manuel J. Gaxiola-Gaxiola (1990) * Murray W. Dempster (1991) * D. William Faupel (1992) * Cheryl Bridges Johns (1993) * Roger Stronstad (1994) *

Eldin Villafañe Eldin is a masculine given name and surname. In the Balkans, Eldin is popular among Bosniaks in the former Yugoslav nations. The name is a modification to the suffix component ad-Din, and it holds the same meanings of religion, faith, creed. ...

(1996) * Grant Wacker (1997) * J. Chris Thomas (1998) * Rebecca Skaggs (1999) * Frank D. Macchia (2000) * Sherry DuPree (2001) * Samuel Solivan (2002) * Ralph Del Colle (2003) *

Steven Jack Land Steven Jack Land (born September 23, 1946) is a Canadian renewal theologian within the Pentecostal movement who began serving as the president of the Church of God Theological Seminary, now Pentecostal Theological Seminary, in 2002. He is the f ...

(2004) *

Anthea Butler Anthea Deidre Butler (born 1960) is an African-American professor of religion and chair of the University of Pennsylvania Department of Religious Studies, where she is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought. Early life and ...

(2005) *

Blaine Charette Blaine may refer to: People *Blaine (given name) * Blaine (surname) * Blaine (cartoonist), Canadian political cartoonist Places in the United States * Blaine, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Blaine, Idaho, an unincorporated community ...

(2006) * David Daniels (2007) * Terry Cross (2008) *

Amos Yong Amos Yong (; born July 26, 1965) is a Malaysian-American Pentecostal theologian and Professor of Theology and Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has been Dean of School of Theology and School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Seminary, sin ...

(2009) * Estrelda Alexander (2010) * Kimberly Ervin Alexander (2011) * Jeff Gros (2012) * Paul Alexander (2013) * Lee Roy Martin (2014) * Kenneth J. Archer (2015) * Michael Wilkinson (2016) * Jacqueline Grey (2017) *

Mark Cartledge Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

(2018) * Martin Mittelstadt (2019) * No Conference - Covid 19 (2020) * Martin Mittelstadt (2021) * Melissa Archer (2022)

Executive directors

* Vinson Synan (1970) * James Beaty (1973) * Horace Ward (1978) * Vinson Synan (1980) * Russell P. Spittler (1983) *

(1988) * D. William Faupel (1997) * David Roebuck (2004) * Lois E. Olena (2011) * Margaret English de Alminana (2016) * Adrian Hinkle (2019)

''Pneuma''

The society publishes '' Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies'', first published in 1970.

References

External links