I’ll just say it: I’m a Lutheran Pastor and I was raised Pentecostal…
Honestly, I use to tell my Lutheran friends just to see how they’d respond. What I discovered quickly was that they didn’t respond! They didn’t care. They knew I was different. And they knew I wasn’t like them, at least initially. I think what they knew then, that I’ve learned now is that we’re all Pentecostal we just don’t always realize it.
As Dr. Gerhard Bode said in his Lutheran Witness article from 2008, Pentecost was celebrated by the ancient church with the same vigor (or more) than we have come to associate with holidays such as Christmas and Easter. But unlike Christmas and Easter it lacks the “cultural attachments” that remind us of its significance.
My Pentecostal Christian family was not afraid to celebrate Pentecostal experience despite the absence of cultural norms. They taught me, through our connection to the church of the original Pentecost that expression is key in knowing that the Son of God has come to earth, lived, died, resurrected and in his absence left the Spirit to continue the earthly ministry. Pentecost Season is the continuation of the ministry of Christ, through his Church, empowered by the Spirit. That’s a lot to celebrate!
On top of the theological and historical roots we share with the ancient and present Pentecostal Church, we continue the visual tradition of Pentecost by adorning our churches with red and green to signify the Holy Spirit (red) and the Spiritual and physical growth (green) of the Church through baptism and preaching of the Gospel.
This time of year is exciting! “He is risen!” might be the catch phrase of Easter but the spirit of Christ’s resurrection and commissioning of the first apostles is still moving through our Churches today and needs to be celebrated.
Come celebrate with the Spiritual Pentecostal Family of Grace Lutheran! We sing loud and our hearts dance with the love of Christ.