wfn.org | Q&A: United Methodist charismatics focus on prayer, revival

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 24, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
{440}

NOTE: This is a sidebar to UMNS #439.

By Diane Huie Balay*

Over an omelet breakfast in an Irving, Texas, hotel dining room, the
Rev. Gary Moore and his wife, Sally, recently talked with The United
Methodist Reporter about the charismatic movement within the United
Methodist Church. Moore is executive director of Aldersgate Renewal
Ministries, which is affiliated with the United Methodist General Board
of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn.

Q: You said after the (Aldersgate) conference that many of your people
were upset about the diversity dialogue (among church leaders holding
varying theological points of view) held earlier this year. What were
they upset about?

A: The flashpoint is not the issues of abortion and homosexuality. Those
are the symptoms of a deeper problem. The real issue is centered in
whether Scripture is God's word and whether it should have final
authority in our lives. All other issues are peripheral.

Q: Will this group join political forces with other groups in the church
that may share your point of view?

A: No, our agenda is revival and our special interest is prayer. And
we're going to push that any place we can. If everybody keeps praying
for his or her own agenda, nothing will happen. So we're praying for God
to pour out his will for the church. 

Q: Charismatics talk about being "filled with the Holy Spirit." What
does that feel like?

A: To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to live with a deep abiding
peace. A joy that circumstances can not destroy. A great sense of having
a heart full of God's love and being able to express that to folks. The
sense of God's presence and power in my life that's expressed in
ministry. A sense of intimacy in relationship with God. Freedom to
express my love in worship and prayer.

I express how I feel to my wife. I tell her several times a day that I
love her, and I think our relationship with God should be the same way.

Q: Pastors sometimes get nervous when they find out that some people in
their congregations are speaking in tongues. They believe it is
divisive. Some people believe that those who speak in tongues think that
you aren't a Christian unless you speak in tongues. Are these
perceptions correct?

A: Well, people say the same thing about those who have gone on the Walk
to Emmaus. When people have any experience that brings a sense of
renewal, when they encounter the reality of God's grace and love, they
get excited and they want everyone to have the same thing.

In the charismatic movement, we embrace the gift of tongues,
interpretation and prophecy. No one would expect us to abandon the gifts
of knowledge, teaching and giving. Why abandon the other gifts of the
spirit?

But we are not Pentecostal. We don't push a particular manifestation of
the Spirit to validate an experience. These are misconceptions the rest
of the church has about us because they don't talk to us. Why? We'd be
ecstatic to have a dialogue with church leaders to share what this
ministry has to offer. What we hope to achieve is an atmosphere of faith
and expectation of God's presence, where people can be touched and
transformed into disciples for Jesus Christ.

For more information about spiritual gifts and the church's guidelines
about the charismatic movement, see The Book of Resolutions. 

# # # 

*Balay is an associate editor of The United Methodist Reporter.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/