By Richard C. Brown
June 10, 2002

 

( Washington , D.C. ) Leaders of America’s major Pentecostal and Charismatic groups, including the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI), met privately in late April to help them understand one another’s doctrinal distinctions as well as to talk about areas where the groups agree, ninetyandnine.com has learned.

According to Charisma reporter Andy Butcher, “Almost 30 senior figures representing Word of Faith, Charismatic, traditional Pentecostal and Oneness Pentecostals met for three days at a Washington, D.C.-area hotel to talk and pray in an unprecedented move toward unity.”

Participants from the Trinitarian side included televangelists Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, International Foursquare President Paul Risser, and Assemblies of God General Superintendent Thomas Trask. Representing Oneness Pentecostals were UPCI General Superintendent Kenneth Haney and former General Superintendent Nathaniel A. Urshan.

Also taking part were Billy Joe Daugherty, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Okla.; Church of God of Prophecy General Overseer Fred Fisher; Lamar Vest, general overseer of the Church of God Cleveland; Bishop George McKinney of the Church of God in Christ; and Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The meeting, entitled “Together 2002,”was the brainchild of Robert Fisher, director of the Center for Spiritual Renewal in Cleveland, Tenn. Fisher was also the force behind last year’s “Solemn Assembly,” a conference devoted to uniting thousands of Pentecostals from various organizations for a 50-hour prayer vigil repenting of past divisions.

Fisher said this most recent meeting is the first time in history that “top leaders from all the streams of Pentecost-classical, Charismatic, Oneness, Word of Faith, Third Wave-came together in a spirit of unity, not to discuss doctrinal differences, but to rejoice in their common spiritual heritage."

In Butcher’s Charisma article, he quoted Regent University ’s Vinson Synan as saying, “the Oneness brethren were warmly received and participated equally in all the discussions. "This may mark a new day in relations with Oneness and Trinitarian Pentecostals."

 

 

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