No Holy Spirit Please, We're United Church?

 

                                                         Asbury University Chapel Revival 2023

1 Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

2 Spirit of the living God, move among us all;

make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love:

humble, caring, selfless, sharing.

Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love!

                     Voices United 376

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

                            Acts 2:1-4 NRSVue

I've joked with some exasperation that when we refer to the Holy Spirit in our United Church of Canada we actually mean a committee, or the dreaded working group. Okay, the Spirit of the Living God works through many avenues, possibly committees, but at times we "quench the Spirit" by an over-dependence on organizational structure. 

Sure, the Holy Spirit is dutifully acknowledged in creeds and statements of faith, and most congregations observe Pentecost Sunday. We have a wonderful section of Holy Spirit hymns in our Voices United music resource. Yet while I have been part of the United Church for my entire life I can't recall even one report of a revival, a manifestation of the Spirit, a "Holy Ghost explosion" anywhere at any time -- including on the Sundays when we repeat the story from the Acts of the Apostles. I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit hasn't been at work in our midst but we don't exactly encourage the notion that God is on the loose. 

A month ago a revival began out of a daily chapel service at Asbury University a private Christian college in Kentucky. The young students continued in prayer for hours, and then days. The phenomenon attracted the curious, to the point that the university administration limited access to the campus, but in the end somewhere between 50 and 70 thousand people visited the community. 

From all reports this Holy Spirit infused revival was calm with plenty of prayer and singing. Supposedly there were also "signs and wonders" of a sort, with claims of healings and miracles which haven't been verified. It was also ecumenical as the university has students of different Christian backgrounds. 

What is intriguing is that Asbury has its roots in Methodism, as does the United Church, at least as one of our three founding denominations. We might be somewhat skeptical about what transpired (the revival as a worship marathon has now ended), but why? As the United Church continues to "age out" as a denomination with congregations closing in alarming numbers, do we need less earnest talk and more invocation of the Holy Spirit? Just asking. 

Spirit, Spirit of gentleness,

blow thro' the wilderness calling and free,

Spirit, Spirit of restlessness,

stir me from placidness,

Wind, Wind on the sea.

4 You call from tomorrow, you break ancient schemes,

from the bondage of sorrow the captives dream dreams,

our women see visions, our men clear their eyes,

with bold new decisions your people arise.  R

                                                           Voices United 375