John Maiden’s newly published volume Age of the Spirit: Charismatic Renewal, the Anglo-World, and Global Christianity, 1945-1980 offers an alternative view of the long 1960s. Rather than a time of denominational religious decline, it brings to the fore the exhilaration and vibrancy of a global and spirit-filled movement: the charismatic renewal. Maiden’s argument demonstrates that this charismatic renewal created what he identifies as a ‘Spiritscape’, a global spiritual landscape that was translocal, transnational and shaped by multidirectional cultural flows. The term Spiritscape does not imply homogeneity. The Anglo-world being examined in this volume, North America, Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Australasia, offered ample space for local distinctiveness. What united the mainline (denominational), independent and Pentecostal charismatics of the long 1960s was the eschatological certainty that God was doing something ‘new’. The close reading (and listening) of the rich source base that Maiden has unearthed—archival sources, published testimonies, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, albums and song lyrics—is also testament to another point of commonality that is analysed in great detail: the wealth of media being created, distributed, shared and consumed.
Like many thoughtful scholars of the long 1960s, Maiden begins by reminding readers that this ‘cultural moment’ did not materialise out of thin air. His exploration of the pre-history of the charismatic renewal demonstrates its numerous precursors. In the case of the Catholic charismatic renewal, the Cursillo lay apostolate founded by Eduardo Bonnin Aguiló in the 1940s is credited as an important antecedent. Maiden demonstrates this with Donald A. Schmit, whose journey to the Charismatic renewal was travelled via Cursillo. He and his wife Jenny along with a parish priest launched an interdenominational charismatic prayer group. Such vignettes, scattered throughout each chapter, reveal the human faces of the charismatic renewal. This is one of several pre-histories that set the stage for the vibrant Spiritscape of the long 1960s.
Maiden shines in his unpicking of the translocal movement of the charismatic renewal from one group to another and from one location to another. What he calls ‘scripts for empowerment’ contributed to the ‘translocal coalescence of believers around the themes of authentic empowerment and unity of the spirit’ (p. 81). David Wilkerson and John Sherrill’s The Cross and the Switchblade (1963), Arthur Wallis’ In the Day of Thy Power (1956) and Kevin and Dorothy Ranaghan’s Catholic Pentecostals (1969) were three of these ‘narratives of charismatic empowerment’ which combined personal testimony with theology. These authors identified the charismatic renewal as a response to the perceived moral crisis of the long 1960s. Specialist charismatic magazines such as Trinity, Renewal and New Wine disseminated stories of renewal which were eagerly read and shared by charismatic enthusiasts. Technological advances of the 1960s allowed for the dissemination of non-print media as well, the ‘cassette-tape ministry’ moved across countries and continents. Books and magazines, audio tapes, video tapes and cassette tapes enabled the translocal movement of ideas that shaped charismatic cultures.
The vehicles for consumption of these media flows were the numerous prayer groups (like that of the Schmits) and house churches. Here print and non-print media was read, heard, viewed, debated and absorbed in small gatherings that consisted of a mix of prayer, study of Scripture, personal sharing and encounters with the Spirit. Many of these groups were denominational, but, like the Schmits prayer group, they could be places of interdenominational encounter as well. Catholic Kevin Ranaghan wrote of ‘Catholics, evangelicals and fundamentalists sitting around the Word in a common experience of salvation to praise our Father with one voice in unity and love’ (p. 127). Maiden characterises the charismatic renewal as an example of ecumenism from the ground up.
The media flows that shaped the Spiritscape of charismatic renewal were experienced in larger events as well. Prayer groups would meet together for large regional or national conferences and workshops. In Christ Church, New Zealand, the ‘Group70’ gathering of both Catholic and Anglican prayer groups met at the Catholic Cathedral. As travel by air became less exclusive and more commonplace due to technological advancements in aviation, global events became more frequent. The 1965 Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International World Convention in London attracted three chartered planeloads of church leaders and North American businessmen and their wives. Many of the media creators and church leaders became the personalities that led or influenced the charismatic renewal becoming sought after speakers. David du Plessis, one of the leaders of the Pentecostal charismatic renewal, travelled over 100,000 miles in 1964 visiting charismatics in ten countries.
What comes across from Maiden’s work is the interconnectedness of the charismatic renewal. There was much that united charismatics but equally, much that divided them. They could be strictly denominational, or interdenominational. Their differing ecclesiological stances allowed for a distinctiveness between mainstream, independent and Pentecostal approaches to charismatic renewal. Most were lay led, though some, like many Catholic groups, had more traditional ecclesial structures with clergy as leaders. Authority structures varied in other ways. Some groups used the practice of ‘shepherding’ as a form of oversight where leaders identified as ‘shepherds’ were tasked to maintain submission to spiritual teaching. Structures of authority were typically gendered male, though in the early years of the renewal notable women had important leadership roles such as Merla Watson’s position in the Toronto Catacombs, where leadership was more egalitarian. Some communities, such as Judith Tydings and Edith Difato’s Catholic-ecumenical Mother of God Community, were founded by women. But these were exceptions. Maiden’s work suggests that as the spirit-filled charismatic renewal became more established, it became more male-led. Some communities such as the non-denominational ministry of Melodyland in southern California and the Catholic People of Praise communities developed a model where male ‘coordinators’ worked alongside female ‘handmaids’. The recent leaked video with Dorothy Ranaghan, co-founder with her husband of the Catholic Charismatic Group ‘People of Praise’, indicated that ‘teachings on headship, and the roles of men and women and all sorts of things we hadn’t counted on at all’ left some women in the group ‘always crying’.Footnote 1
And this leads, perhaps not unexpectedly, to Maiden’s final chapter which addresses the fizzling out of this distinctive ‘cultural moment’. Like many of the social movements of the long 1960s, the burst of energy that was the charismatic renewal dissipated though did not disappear. Legacies include the creativity of worship that remained a part of the Anglo-world and the transition to a new era of mega-churches, ‘abundant life’ teaching and television ministries. Maiden also addresses the darker legacies: the tensions, disillusionment, schisms, scandals and most troubling, the sadly now ubiquitous reporting of spiritual, emotional, sexual and physical abuse and the related coverups of abusive leadership practices.
For one not immersed in this charismatic world, it is challenging keeping track of the many individual prayer groups, churches and movements (and their related acronyms) being examined. A more thorough list of acronyms would have been a useful addition to the volume. But this small quibble aside, the volume succeeds in explaining the complex nature of the charismatic renewal in its denominational and non-denominational forms and above all its significance as a global spiritual enterprise in the long 1960s. It has laid the groundwork for future research regarding the post-history of the charismatic renewal, the nature of the interrelationship (or not) with non Anglo-World Pentecostal movements, the significance of social class and the gendered nature of the charismatic renewal.
