Pfingstkirchliche Frömmigkeit und ihre Praxis im Wandel

Abstract

Pentecostal piety has many expressions, as global forms of Pentecostal faith exist in new and traditional denominations and differing cultural environments. Common to these forms is that salvation and knowledge of God are not primarily based on priestly mediation or on the foundation of the bible, but rather sought in personal experience. Church worship services function to convey such experiences. This is typically characterized by a procedure (which some criticize as being manipulative) that intends to lead, step by step, into the presence of God. This is facilitated in particular by the choice and sequence of worship songs and a ministry time, in which spiritual services are offered under the leadership of the preacher for specific groups that may have been chosen by means of prophetic utterances. Besides this, other ecstatic manners of behaviour can occur.