~ The Renewalists: There is a new study out from Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research that takes a closer look at Pentecostal and Charismatic evangelicals, and how they differ from other evangelical Christians. ~
Renewalists: Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelicals
The Renewalists: Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelicals shares insights gathered from a study of more than 1,000 American evangelical protestants.
One of the challenges of the study was identifying the group that does not identify as Charismatic or Pentecostal, yet speak in tongues. The research defines a Renewalist evangelical as anyone who self-identifies as Pentecostal or Charismatic or who attends a clearly Pentecostal/Charismatic church or who has personally spoken in tongues.
“Three main ways of defining Renewalists traditionally have been people who consider themselves to be Pentecostal or Charismatic, attend a Pentecostal or Charismatic church, or speak in tongues,” says Mark Dreistadt, founder and president of Infinity Concepts. “The challenge is that there is relatively little overlap among these three definitions.”
The study found that while 36% of all American evangelical Protestants qualify as Renewalists according to at least one of these definitions, only 6% qualify through all three.
“Six out of ten people who have spoken in tongues do not call themselves either Pentecostal or Charismatic,” explains Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research. “Among those who self-identify asPentecostal or Charismatic, 53% do not attend a clearly Pentecostal church or denomination, such as the Assemblies of God or Foursquare.
“Among those attending a clearly Pentecostal church, 45% have never personally spoken in tongues,” Sellers adds. “Many evangelicals are Renewalist through one definition, but not through others. That is why we chose in this study to qualify people as Renewalist through any one of those three definitions.”
A few facts regarding Renewalists that came from the study:
- Six out of ten people who have spoken in tongues do not call themselves either Pentecostal or Charismatic
- They are more likely than other evangelicals to read the Bible daily (48% to 36%)
- They are more likely than others to attend church more than once a week (32% to 18%)
- They are more likely than others to participate in a small group for Bible study or prayer (47% to 32%)
- On average, they spend a higher proportion of their media use with specifically Christian media or content
- The average proportion given to church is 20% lower for Pentecostals or Charismatics compared to other evangelicals
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