A DIFFERENT CALL: COVENANT CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND JESUS PEOPLE USA

WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
David Lee Ledford (Creator)
Institution
Western Carolina University (WCU )
Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/

Abstract: This thesis is a case study of the Charismatic Renewal and the Jesus People Movement, two religious movements that formed in the 1950s and I 960s. They had historical antecedents in Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism, but they were also the products of various social changes that affected the two decades. The Charismatic Renewal was a reaction to a perceived decline in spirituality and waning social influence of organized religion. Relying on Pentecostal theology, the Charismatic Renewal emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit to enable and empower a Christian to obey the teachings of Christ. The Jesus People Movement appeared as part of a resurgence of spirituality within the Counterculture. The movement propagated a simple, experiential form of the Christian gospel based on Fundamentalist and Pentecostal theology. Both movements have significantly influenced American Christianity. While the Charismatic Renewal persisted as an influential movement into the early 1990s, the Jesus People Movement ceased to visibly exist by the mid-1970s along with the Counterculture. The essence of the Jesus People Movement still lives on in surviving organizations and in contemporary Christian music. This thesis seeks to illustrate the growth and development of both movements and of one specific ministry from each movement, Covenant Christian Church of rural Jackson County, North Carolina and Jesus People USA of Chicago, Illinois.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2002
Subjects
Covenant Christian Church (Sylva, N.C.)
Jesus People USA
Jesus People
Pentecostalism -- North Carolina -- Sylva
Pentecostalism -- Illinois -- Chicago
Pentecostalism -- History

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