MONUMENT, Colo.—As the 50 or so congregants quake to the music at Abundant Life Assembly of God, Armand Jamie lets loose by dancing and twirling in the sanctuary’s aisles.
“I worship God with my body, my mouth, everything,” said Jamie, a 58-year-old Palmer Lake resident and member of the Monument church. “I dance to praise the Lord.”
Like many who attend an Assemblies of God church, Jamie believes that speaking in tongues is a sign of the Holy Spirit, and that demonic possession is real, and he accepts that when the Rapture comes, he will be spirited away to heaven.
Founded in 1914, the Assemblies of God denomination sprang from the spiritual revivals across the U.S. in the early 20th century, in which Christians would dance, speak in tongues, roll on the ground (so-called holy rollers), laugh uncontrollably and shake their bodies in a state of divine rapture.
In its 94 years, Assemblies of God has rarely made headlines. But with the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate a couple of months ago, attention to the denomination has skyrocketed.
Palin has been a member of Wasilla Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska, for most of her life, and she also attends Juneau Christian Center, an Assemblies of God church, when governing in the state capital. But Palin and the McCain campaign have downplayed the governor’s Pentecostal roots to focus on her six-year membership at Wasilla Bible Church, a nondenominational evangelical center that is less demonstrative than Assembly of God churches.
The McCain campaign hasn’t said why the governor’s ties to Assemblies of God are rarely discussed, but part of the reason may be that the church’s practices are not mainstream, said the Rev. James Hagan of Friendship Assembly of God in Colorado Springs.
“They might feel Assembly of God and its belief in talking in tongues is not widely accepted, and they don’t want to give the liberal news media more ammunition,” Hagan said.
Despite their reputation for over-the-top practices, however, Pentecostal denominations—including Assemblies of God, Pentecost Church of God, Foursquare Gospel and the Apostolic Assembly Church—have been taming their emotional expressions of faith to emphasize expository, garden-variety preaching.
Most Assemblies of God churches in the Pikes Peak region hold “contemporary” services containing some talking in tongues and other demonstrative expressions of faith. But more are including sober, Bible-based sermons on how Scripture relates to the nuts and bolts of life.
“I believe both extremes are incorrect,” said the Rev. Rex Townsley of Abundant Life.
“The Assembly of God has a really healthy balance.”
In 2007 Assemblies of God had 1.6 million U.S. members in 12,350 churches, all of which are overseen by one of eight district councils and the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Mo. Though its growth in the U.S. has been modest in recent decades, the denomination’s missionary work has ballooned its worldwide following—particularly in Africa and South America—to more than 60 million.
Because each church is autonomous, with its own board, bylaws and constitution, ministers have great latitude in establishing the level of spiritual fervor during worship.
One of the more dramatic manifestations of spiritual fervor is speaking in tongues, which has roots in the Book of Acts. According to tradition, the disciples were filled with the spirit on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost and spoke in an indecipherable language.
Speaking in tongues is considered a sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence, but nothing more than that, Hagan said.
“Whether you believe in the tongues or not, it is immaterial to getting into heaven.”
John Isakson of Colorado Springs, a 63-year-old member of Abundant Life, said that when he speaks in tongues he doesn’t know what he’s saying, “but I know it’s of the spirit because it is so peaceful.”
The Rev. Ryan Bachman of Living Springs Worship Center in Colorado Springs said he experiences it as something that must be said, but when it comes out “it’s in words that don’t make sense.”
It’s not known whether Palin has ever spoken in tongues. But based on her public comments and years in the church, Hagan said, she certainly believes in miracles, divine purpose, God’s favor toward Israel and America, and probably even the Rapture and demonic possession.
“All that is from Assembly of God,” he said.
Debbie Townsley, known to sing in tongues while leading worshippers in song at Abundant Life, said she believes Palin was chosen by God, not McCain, to be the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Looking upward, Townsley said of Palin’s spectacular rise: “God, you never cease to amaze me.”
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