Graveyard Post 10: Church of Chrostal

hey beloveds,

i am clearing out my old drafts in my blog. here’s some stuff that i started working on and then didn’t finish. there’s going to be a lot, so it will take some time. the only change i am making is to give this little introduction at the beginning, brief comment at the end, and then to add “graveyard posts [#]:” to the beginning of what the title is saved as. there will be lines separating the post i drafted and these intros and conclusions. so enjoy this look at how my mind has worked overtime.

I was talking to a friend Ryan recently and the inevitable, “why are you a minister in the Churches of Christ?” conversation came about again. Part of his reasoning for why it was odd to him that I still remain in the Churches of Christ was that I am charismatic. Struggling to come up with a term to describe the fusion mash-up of Church of Christ and Charismatic he said I was a “Church of Chrostal.” I liked that. As soon as I heard it I knew I wanted to identify with it.

It is an attempt to come up with something like “Bapti-costal.” You may have heard of “Bapti-costals.” It is a term used to refer to those who are Baptist by Church tradition, but are of a more Charismatic variety. It is sometimes deployed as a slur to insult those who are Baptist and Charismatic, but I have also heard it used in positive ways by self-identified Bapti-costals before.

This term – like any other – is open to some misunderstanding. For example, it implicitly equates “pentecostal” and “charismatic,” which is problematic. Some clarification of the terminology will be helpful before proceeding.

Pentecostal –

Charismatic – 

Cessationism – 

Links, Readings, and Resources

• Amy Collier Artman, “The Encounter of North American Stone-Campbell Christians with the Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement.” Journal of Discipliana 62 no. 3 (2002): 81-93.
• Douglas A. Foster, “Waves of the Spirit Against a Rational Rock: The Impact of the Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Third Wave Movements on American Churches of Christ.” Restoration Quarterly 45 no. 1-2 (2003): 95-105.
• Scott Seay, “The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Stone-Campbell Missions and the Emergence of Global Pentecostalism.” Encounter 79.3 (2019): 1-22.
• The Acts of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ Today (Los Angeles: Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, 1971).
• Belmont Church (Originally established as Belmont Avenue Church of Christ). They have a great little documentary they put together about the history of their church. See on their website under the “Our History” page.
• Pat Boone, A New Song 
• Bobby Ross Jr. “Disfellowshipped Decades Ago, Pat Boone Insists He ‘Never Left’ Church of Christ.” Christian Chronicle September 24, 2017.
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part 1, Holy Ghost Conga Lines.” Experimental Theology. 
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part 2, The Pentecostal Worldview.” Experimental Theology.
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part3, Surprised By God.” Experimental Theology.
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part 4, Hermeneutics as Enchantment.” Experimental Theology.
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part 5, Bodies and Souls.” Experimental Theology.
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part 6, The Heart Has a Way of Knowing.” Experimental Theology.
• Richard Beck, “The Charism of the Charismatics: Part 7, The Preferential Option for the Poor.” Experimental Theology.
• N. T. Wright “Cessationism & why I pray in tongues // Ask NT Wright Anything”
• Blog post – NT Wright on speaking in tongues 

some good links here. i still would say i am charismatic or maybe charismatic curious.

a.