PUBLISHED WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19, 1997
Copyright 1997 The Pensacola News Journal. All rights
reserved
Brownsville Revival similar to one in Toronto
By Alice Crann
News Journal staff writer
PENSACOLA - People frequently compare the Pensacola
Brownsville Revival to the "Toronto Blessing."
Both draw thousands of people from around the world.
Both have been in existence for some time Brownsville's
revival started in June 1995 and Toronto's in January 1994.
Both promise an emotional and physical encounter with
God.
Both regard dramatically uncontrollable behavior as evidence
of salvation and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
A number of people who question the methods and theological
fundamentals of the Brownsville Revival see indications that it was planned
and modeled after what is going on in Toronto.
The Toronto revival occurs at the Airport Vineyard Church,
an independent charismatic church near Toronto's Pearson International
Airport. John Arnott is the pastor and revivalist.
The Toronto Blessing traces its origin to the signs and
wonders philosophy of John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard faith, and to
evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, the exponent of the "holy laughter" concept.
"Vineyard philosophy holds to a sound Christology but
is steeped in psychology, inner healing, visualization, deliverance and
occult-like experimental practices," said Albert James Dager. He heads
an independent, nonprofit and nondenominational Christian watchdog organization
based in Redmond, Wash. that analyzes Christian messages in the media.
The Toronto Blessing is known for behavior so bizarre
it appalls even people whose worship normally encompasses the manifestations
of talking in tongues and falling down under the power of God being slain
in the spirit.
In Toronto, behaviors that are called manifestations include:
uncontrolled laughter, roaring like lions, crawling on all fours and barking
like dogs, and flapping arms like eagles.
"In Toronto, any manifestation is allowed to occur at
any time," Dager said.
"Whether during worship time, sermons, prayer or whatever
might be taking place, if someone begins to exhibit laughter, barking,
roaring, or other manifestations, it is allowed.
"At Brownsville Assembly of God there is at least a semblance
of order in that the manifestations occur at the time of 'impartation'
the laying on of hands by either Steve Hill, John Kilpatrick or other members
of the prayer teams."
The prominence that the Toronto church gives the manifestations
prompted its dismissal in 1995 from its denomination the Association of
Vineyard Churches. The Toronto church has changed its name to the Toronto
Airport Christian Fellowship.
Toronto Blessing advocates say the manifestations are
caused by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Critics say that mass-producing physical responses, at
the instruction of a preacher, puts man more in control than God.
Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute
in Southern California, describes the Toronto Blessing as an "extremely
dangerous road to the occult."
When news of the strange goings-on in Toronto began to
spread, people from across North America and abroad flocked to that church.
Many took the news of their exciting experience back to
their churches, including Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in
London that is now drawing thousands and promoting manifestations on a
scale equal to the Toronto and Brownsville revivals.
But the Brownsville Revival leaders Kilpatrick and Hill
have consistently denied that their revival is a by-product of the Toronto
Blessing.
Critics of both, however, say that Brownsville's roots
are found deep in the Toronto Blessing.
"The basic idea behind impartation is that the anointing
of the Holy Spirit is transferable," Hanegraaff said. "Therefore, through
touch, people believe it can be imparted from one person to another a sort
of 'Have Holy Spirit, Will Travel.'''
Hanegraaff is author of "Christianity in Crisis," which
won the Gold Medallion for excellence in Evangelical Christian Literature,
and "Counterfeit Revival: Looking for God in All the Wrong Places."
Hill, who does most of the impartations at the Brownsville
Revival, received the Toronto Blessing impartation through a touch at Holy
Trinity Brompton.
Holy Trinity Brompton was the center in the United Kingdom
for the spreading of the Toronto Blessing the pastor there having also
received that impartation while attending the Toronto Airport Vineyard
Church.
And followers of one of the Toronto Blessing's most colorful
figures, Rodney Howard-Browne, visited Brownsville before revival began
there. Howard-Browne is a South African evangelist who calls himself the
"Holy Ghost bartender."
The Brownsville leaders are now taking the impartations
on the road around the nation. Last year, Kilpatrick solicited donations
from churches around the country to pay for a $310,000 motor coach in which
he travels.