"Catch the Fire"

Revivalist Spirituality from Toronto to Beyond

Authors

  • Mark Cartledge University of Birmingham

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ptcs.v13i2.217

Keywords:

charismatic, pentecostal, Toronto blessing, revivalism, spirituality

Abstract

This paper revisits the scholarship associated with the so-called Toronto Blessing. Since the revival meetings associated with the Toronto Blessing in the mid 1990s, the church has developed from a single congregation into a network of churches with centres in a number of cities around the world. The network is called “Catch the Fire” and propagates revivalist Pentecostalist spirituality. Leaders from the network have allied themselves with others also advancing revivalism from North America and beyond. This global relational network of churches and ministries is called “Partners in Harvest”. The paper aims to describe and interpret the narrative that is central to this global network of churches and which sustains spiritual identity and global relevance. In particular, it considers the Toronto church as a centre of revivalist spirituality, providing a continued place of centripetal pilgrimage, personal catharsis, as well as centrifugal global mission.

Author Biography

  • Mark Cartledge, University of Birmingham

    Mark J. Cartledge is Senior Lecturer in Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology and Director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies in the University of Birmingham. His current research (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council) is focused on megachurches and social engagement in London.

References

Beckerlegge, G. 2001. From Sacred Text to Internet. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Cartledge, M.J. 2006. Encountering the Spirit: The Charismatic Tradition. London: Darton, Longman & Todd.

Collins, R. 2005. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Davie, G. 2007. The Sociology of Religion. London: Sage.

Dawson, L.L. and D.E. Cowan (eds). 2004. Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. London: Routledge.

Gunther Brown, C. 2012. Testing Prayer: Science and Healing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674064867

Hopewell, J.F. 1987. Congregations: Stories and Structures. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.

Hunt, S. 1995. “The ‘Toronto Blessing’: A Rumour of Angels?” Journal of Contemporary Religion 10: 257–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537909508580745

—. 2009a. A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain and the United States of America. Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press.

—. 2009b. “The ‘Toronto Blessing’ – A Lesson in Globalized Religion?”. In M. Wilkinson (ed.), Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation. Montreal: McGillQueen’s University Press: 233–348.

Hüwelmeier, G. and K. Krause. 2010. “Introduction”. In G. Hüwelmeier and K. Krause (eds), Traveling Spirits: Migrants, Markets and Mobilities. London: Routledge: 1–16.

Latham, S. 2003. “‘God Came from Teman’: Revival and Contemporary Revivalism”. In A. Walker and K. Aune (eds), On Revival: A Critical Examination. Carlisle: Paternoster Press: 171–83.

Lee, M.T., M.M. Poloma and S.G. Post. 2013. The Heart of Religion: Spiritual Empowerment, Benevolence, and the Experience of God’s Love. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lindhardt, M. (ed.). 2011. Practicing the Faith: The Ritual Life of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Percy, M. 1996. The Toronto Blessing. Oxford: Latimer House.

—. 1998a. Power and the Church: Ecclesiology in an Age of Transition. London: Cassell.

—. 1998b. “The Morphology of Pilgrimage in the ‘Toronto Blessing’”. Religion 28: 281–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/reli.1998.0135

—. 2011. “Adventure and Atrophy in a Charismatic Movement: Returning to the ‘Toronto Blessing’”. In Lindhardt, 2011: 152–78.

Poloma, M.M. 1996a. “By Their Fruits …: A Sociological Assessment of the Toronto Blessing”. Paper presented to the Society for Pentecostal Studies Conference, Toronto, Canada, March.

—. 1996b. The Toronto Report. Bradford-on-Avon: Terra Nova Publications.

—. 1997a. “The Spirit and the Bride: The ‘Toronto Blessing’ and Church Structure”. Paper presented to the Society for Pentecostal Studies Conference, Oakland, CA, March.

—. 1997b. “The ‘Toronto Blessing’: Charisma, Instititionalization, and Revival”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 36: 257–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1387557

—. 2001. “A Reconfiguration of Pentecostalism”. In D. Hilborn (ed.), ‘Toronto’ in Perspective: Papers on The New Charismatic Wave of the Mid 1990s. Carlisle: Paternoster Press: 99–127.

—. 2003. Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and Reviving Pentecostalism. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Poloma, M.M. and L.F. Hoelter. 1998. “The ‘Toronto Blessing’: A Holistic Model of Healing”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37: 257–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1387526

Richter, P.J. 1995. “‘God is Not a Gentleman!’: The Sociology of the Toronto Blessing”. In S.E. Porter and P.J. Richter (eds), The Toronto Blessing – Or Is It?. London: Darton, Longman & Todd: 5–37.

—. 1997. “The Toronto Blessing: Charismatic Evangelical Global Warming”. In S. Hunt, M. Hamilton and T. Walter (eds), Charismatic Christianity: Sociological Perspectives. Basingstoke: Macmillan: 97–119.

Robbins, J. 2011. “The Obvious Aspects of Pentecostalism: Ritual and Pentecostal Globalization”. In Lindhardt, 2011: 49–67.

Wilkinson, M. 2012. “The Institutionalization of Religion: Impediment or Impetus for Godly Love”. In M.T. Lee and A. Yong (eds), Godly Love: Impediments and Possibilities. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield: 153–70.

Published

2014-07-11

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Cartledge, M. (2014). "Catch the Fire": Revivalist Spirituality from Toronto to Beyond. PentecoStudies, 13(2), 217-238. https://doi.org/10.1558/ptcs.v13i2.217