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Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Welcome to Bridgebuilders Ministry new website! We are in the process of building the site so please check back on a weekly basis for new additions.
The Purpose of Bridge Builders Ministry
In November 2004, I wrote a letter to hundreds of you stating:
“I am writing to share with you what I believe has been laid upon my heart by our Lord. For several years, I have had a deep desire to share the Orthodox Faith with Christians of the Pentecostal/ Charismatic movement. As some of you may know, I came to Holy Orthodoxy from the Pentecostal/ Charismatic movement and believe that many within the movement are searching for a depth of spirituality that is only available in the Orthodox Faith. The importance of sharing the Faith with Pentecostal/Charismatics is based upon the following facts:
- In 1900, the Pentecostal movement broke out upon the Protestant churches, beginning in Topeka, Kansas, spreading to Los Angeles, California and from there throughout the entire world. The latest statistics are undeniable that the Pentecostal movement is the fastest growing of all Christian denominational groups and that its growth shows no sign of abatement.
- In 1900, 20,000 people around the world claimed to be Pentecostal. In 2000, that number jumped to a phenomenal 523,767,390. It is predicted that at the present rate of growth there will be 811,551,60 Pentecostal/Charismatics by 2025!
- Eight of the ten largest parish churches in the world are Pentecostal. The largest single congregation in the world, the Yoido Full Gospel Central Church in Seoul, South Korea has over 800,000 active members and is growing by the hundreds weekly.
- In the past twenty years the Pentecostal movement in South America has grown numerically to such an extent that it will soon overtake the Roman Catholic church in numbers of active members and be the dominant Christian faith in the region.
- In the 1970’s the mainstream, or “classical” Pentecostal, movement found a home theologically, and experientially, in the Roman Catholic church and virtually every Protestant denomination. There are now Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite and a host of other denominational members who identify themselves as “Pentecostal” or “Charismatic”.
- For the past 40 plus years, the Orthodox Church has exclusively participated in ecumenical dialog through the World Council of Churches and National Council of Churches, while ignoring, for all intent and purpose, the burgeoning growth of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement throughout the world.
Simply put, I believe that God is calling me to be a witness to the Orthodox Faith among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. I believe that this can best be accomplished by studying alongside them. Three years ago, Regent University, a Pentecostal/Charismatic university in Virginia Beach, Virginia, instituted a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Renewal Studies program. This program centers upon the study of the theology of the Holy Spirit employing the disciplines of Patristics, Church History, Scripture and Pastoral Theology in an ecumenical setting. I believe that I can effectively represent the Orthodox Church by entering this program, by establishing friendships and academic dialog with students and professors, and living and witnessing to the Orthodox Faith among them. It is my hope that my ministry among Pentecostal/Charismatics will grow and become a resource for the Orthodox Church to reach out and share Her faith with this ever increasing number of Christians.”
© Fr. Timothy Cremens 2009. All rights reserved.