Am I an Evangelical?

A Tale of Two Conferences

Nov 04, 2022

Last week I attended the Center for Pastor Theologians annual conference, this year themed “Reconstructing Evangelicalism.” It was an incredible experience. Plenary speakers like Russell Moore, Kristen Kobes Du Mez, and the National Association of Evangelicals president, Walter Kim, alone would have made the conference worth it. But the sessions were also punctuated with rich, thoughtful liturgy and song, emphasizing—amongst other things—ecumenical love in the Holy Spirit. Perhaps best of all (jokingly), there was a Nando’s chicken just down the street. I thank God for peri-peri grilled chicken and fries with an ice cold Coca-Cola.

The conference provided me with yet another opportunity to wrestle with a question I’ve long considered: Am I an Evangelical?

Of course, you have to know what “Evangelical” means in order to answer the question. And defining the term was the subject of a good portion of the conference. I’m not sure any of us came away with a dictionary-style formulation. Commitments ranged from “it’s a particular American movement held together by a conservative subculture” to “anyone who holds to Bebbington’s quadrilateral.” In Pentecostalism, we have become very comfortable saying that there is no “Pentecostalism.” There are only pentecostalisms. And with its global spread, I think something similar ought to be said about Evangelicalism.

Some of you reading this might be wondering why I’ve asked myself this question. After all, the Assemblies of God is the largest participating member of the National Association of Evangelicals, and I’m an ordained Assemblies of God minister. So, let me explain why “Pentecostal” does not straightforwardly equal “Evangelical”—first (in true Pentecostal fashion) by personal testimony, and then by more publicly-available considerations.

This Spring, my wife, Dr. Holly Lear, and I attended the Society of Pentecostal Studies annual conference. At that conference, multiple plenary speakers were not only critical of North American Evangelicalism, but also claimed that we Pentecostals need not be beholden to that identity. Holly expressed shock, relief, and joy at hearing this. In her reckoning, “Evangelical” was an identity that she was stuck with. For her, it was (and is) associated with a particular and distasteful political and cultural posture in the American public sphere. In addition, she said that Evangelicalism is often identified with middle-to-upper-middle class white Christianity, “like the Episcopalians.” But this is not the kind of church she has known in Pentecostalism. She was relieved that instead of needing to deconstruct and reconstruct Evangelicalism for people who might ask about her faith, she could simply say, “I’m not an Evangelical; I’m a Pentecostal.”

Here’s a smattering of reasons why the Society of Pentecostal Studies’ plenary speakers are not wrong to differentiate between Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism, and why it so immediately resonated with my wife:

American Evangelicals have not historically affirmed women's ordination. American Pentecostals (with some complicated history) have.
As Du Mez has pointed out, the Black church in America has not generally identified itself as Evangelical. By contrast, the Black church in America (again, generally) welcomes the title “Pentecostal.”
Historically (circa the 1940s), the National Association of Evangelicals was hesitant to let the Assemblies of God and other Pentecostals join.1
Globally, Pentecostals and Charismatics outnumber evangelicals by more than 2 to 1.

The number of Pentecostals globally matters. There is no doubt that Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism are proximate and overlapping movements. But given Pentecostalism’s global numbers—in all of its racial, national, and cultural diversity, along with its empowerment of women, and its ecumenical existence (there are, in fact, Catholic and Orthodox Pentecostals)—then shouldn’t the problematic with which I began be flipped on its head? Why is it that I’m asking myself, “Am I an Evangelical?” Shouldn’t Evangelicals instead be asking themselves, “Why are we not Pentecostal?”

No doubt many Evangelicals have asked themselves that question, and have decided that they aren’t. But the framing of the question is as important as asking the question itself. We need to recognize that while American Evangelicals have historically wielded political, cultural, and ecclesiological power, the numerical power of Pentecostalism is of a different kind. In the Venn diagram of Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism, Evangelicalism is the much smaller circle no matter how much they overlap.

But let’s also be clear that if Evangelicals were to ask to join a newly-formed organization called “The National Association of Pentecostals,” I doubt we would hesitate to let them in.

With few exceptions, it has been with other Pentecostal pastors and churches—American Black, French and Swahili African, Latino, and women—that I have found solidarity, and with whom I have prayed and partnered here in Iowa City. By contrast, Evangelicals have been suspicious of Resurrection Assembly of God because we let Spirit-anointed women like Pastor Abby Anderson prophesy.