Pentecostals in Detroit for 100th convention
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World has a socially conservative message, but elected its first female bishop at its 100th annual convention, being held in Detroit this week
- In Detroit for their 100th convention%2C Pentecostal group has socially conservative message
- Pentecostal Assemblies of the World elected its first female bishop at annual convention in Detroit
- Famous members of Pentecostal Assemblies of the World include Tavis Smiley%2C John Legend%2C MC Hammer
Late Wednesday night, Bishop C. Shawn Tyson exhorted a packed crowd inside the ballroom of a downtown Detroit hotel to stay true to their Christian beliefs.
"I want you to tell your neighbor: The Bible is still right and everybody else is wrong," Tyson of Youngstown, Ohio, declared inside the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. "It was right 100 years ago, and it will be right 100 years from tonight."
The strong message preached by Tyson was part of the 100th annual convention in Detroit of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, a Christian group led by Bishop Charles Ellis III, who leads Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
About 10,000 members of the group and others are meeting in Detroit this week for prayer services, religious education, and outreach to prisoners and the homeless. The group, which met in Detroit last year for their 99th convention, has 1.3 million members worldwide, about 10,000 of them in metro Detroit, said Ellis.
Leaders of Pentecostal Assemblies preach a socially conservative message backed with a worship style known for its emotions and dynamic music. But this week, the group broke with tradition and elected its first female bishop, one of 76 bishops on the board of the group.
Aletha Cushinberry of Topeka, Kansas, was elected Wednesday by about 50 other bishops who attended the vote. There was a standing ovation afterward when it was announced to general assembly, said Ellis.
"We have crossed that Jordan River," Ellis said of electing the first female Bishop in the group's history.
Founded in 1914, Pentecostal Assemblies came out of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles and is now the fourth-largest Pentecostal group in the world and the second biggest African-American Pentecostal organization, with about 5,000 churches in 27 countries.
While other religious groups, such as mainline Protestants, are facing membership declines, Pentecostals have been growing, especially in Africa and South America. Some famous members of Pentecostal Assemblies include Tavis Smiley, John Legend, and MC Hammer.
"We have a more demonstrative worship experience," said Ellis, Presiding Bishop of Pentecostal Assemblies. "A lot of music, a lot of dance. There is a lot of emotion. We're very proud of this being our 100th celebration."
Preachers at the convention said that the church should be a refuge for people, to help transform their lives and society.
"The Lord's church ... ought to have some power," Apostle Thomas Weeks of Delaware said during a service at the convention. "It ought to be a power that can change our lives, no matter who they are or their lifestyles."
"We have to walk away from the TV shows, from the movies ... from the phone ... get into a place where it's you and God," Weeks said.
Speakers at the convention said that society has lost its moral compass.
"You and I have witnessed the moral free fall of the United States with grief," Tyson said to a late-night crowd.
"Jesus must be the headliner in all of our services," he said. "Jesus must be the bedrock of our family structure. Jesus must be the backbone of the spiritual community...Some of us are not preaching Jesus because we don't want people to be offended."
The message was also taken to the streets of Detroit during the convention.
On Tuesday, Pentecostals went to Cass Park to prepare and distribute food to the homeless. They did drive-by prayers for people driving along Gratiot Avenue, offering prayers without them having to get out of their cars. And they also did outreach to prisoners inside a couple of local correctional facilities.
Tim Moore of Virginia, spokesman for Pentecostal Assemblies, said the group's message seems to resonate with many.
"Our hallmark is our worship style," he said. "People feel more comfortable in the Pentecostal church and sometimes feel attracted to that freedom...We've always been known as a church that's musical."
Near the end of Tyson's sermon after midnight, some raised their hands while others shook tambourines and a few danced in the aisles.
"Give God a radical praise," Tyson said, as the crowd clapped and hollered back.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow on Twitter @nwarikoo