Kristen Welch

Here is my fragment for our discussion:

This is an excerpt from “Solemn Assembly Marks New Beginning for IPHC” by Shirley Spencer. It was published in the 1996 IPH Advocate.

Context: Over a thousand church members met in Fayetteville, N.C. to repent for seven sins of the denomination as a whole: pride, judgmentalism, greed, control, male domination, racism, and elder-brother syndrome (being like the elder brother in the prodigal son parable).

1^st, here’s the interpretation of a message given in tongues that was published next to a description of the prayer of repentance for male domination. I thought this might be interesting to those who have never heard a message and the interpretation of tongues. It is definitely a different kind of religious discourse! Of course, I don’t have a record of the “tongues” message, but here’s the interpretation:

“What God Said” (page10):

“You and I are standing at a river. The difference is that you see dust, but I see water. You see doubt, but I see belief. You see impossibilities, but I see possibilities. You see barriers, but I see breakthroughs, because I see a mighty river that I am unleashing before you. The dams are breaking on the other side. The water that is beginning to flow is but a trickle now, but I am going to fold upon you a mighty river like you have never had before. It’s not going to be just ankle deep, knee deep, or waist deep. It is going to be over your head, and you are going to have to learn how to swim. As you swim, I will be with you and nothing will hurt you, but the presence of the Lord will surround you, and I will chase you with the blessings of the Lord. Your churches will grow. Dead traditions will be broken down. I will take you into new dimensions of the power and Spirit of God. There will be healing in your services. When your pastors lay hands on the sick, they will recover. The lame will walk, the blind will see, and the deaf will hear. Trust only in Me, and I will bring it to pass, for I am the Lord God your Deliverer.”

Here is the repentance for “Male Domination.” I chose this because it is representative of the way Pentecostals have approached self-definition:

“CONFESSION: Maximizing the gifts of both men and women is essential if we are to fulfill our purpose as a church. The Bible clearly defines the distinctiveness of male and female and their importance in God’s plan (Genesis 1:27; 5:2, 6:19). Gender differences are never to become a platform for discrimination and division, but rather are attributes to enhance and complete Christ’s body.

The Bible clarifies that both men and women are responsible before God and reveals God’s impartial treatment of all individuals regardless of gender. The apostle Paul declares that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for [they] are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Christ did not abolish our gender differences, but rather the discrimination that historically has resulted from them.

We, the men of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, confess that we have not honored the precedent set forth in God’s Word. Often, we have not treated our wives as equal partners in marriage and ministry. We have distorted the doctrine of holiness by focusing on the external appearance of women. We recognize the sin of male domination and acknowledge that we have withheld from women places of honor in the church. We have not affirmed the ministries of qualified women by releasing them to serve in places of leadership. We also have shown inequity regarding their wages.

REPENTANCE: Forgive us, O Father, of the sin of male domination which has made our spouses feel like unequal partners. We repent of our unbiblical treatment of women with regard to their ministry and wages. We repent of targeting them in our teaching on holiness and of abusing them verbally, both in public and in private.

Create in us a new sensitivity to the God-given gifts of the women of the IPHC, that there may be unity and greater power in our worldwide ministry.