A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
forms of worship. Most of the Messianic Jews were
Charismatic.
The coming of age of the Charismatic movement—
and perhaps its high-water mark—was signified by the
first national conference in 1977 in Kansas City. It drew
over 50,000 participants from many denominations—
classical Pentecostals, mainline Protestants, and Roman
Catholics (18,000). Officials of some classical Pentecostal
denominations took part, indicating approval of
the Charismatic movement and its ecumenical thrust.
Demonstrative worship occurred to a degree that was
quite unusual for Charismatics: “One firmly entrenched
memory from Kansas City was the ‘Holy Ghost breakdown’
which occurred while Bob Mumford was speaking.
For 10 unrestrained minutes the crowd worshipped
wildly.” 285
In 1987, another conference was held in New Orleans.
About 35,000 to 40,000 participated—much less than the
anticipated 70,000 to 80,000. 286 In 1990, an international
Charismatic conference in Indianapolis drew 23,000 people.
In both conferences about one-half of the participants
were Roman Catholic.
In 1994, a great revival began at the Toronto Airport
Vineyard Fellowship in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, under
Pastor John Arnott. People from across the world came to
receive the “Toronto Blessing” and bring it back to their
churches. The emphasis of this revival was on strengthening
and renewing existing believers. One of the
churches most affected was Holy Trinity Brompton, an
Anglican church in London, England, which in turn
became a revival center. In the first two years, an estimated
200,000 people visited the Toronto church, and
290