Pentecostal Mission Must Learn to Walk Together

Pentecostal testimony often begins with a person: someone was healed, called, delivered, empowered or sent. Yet the day of Pentecost did not produce a collection of isolated spiritual achievers. The Spirit formed a witnessing community. Different languages became intelligible, gifts were distributed and the gospel moved through a body.

That communal beginning matters now. The challenges confronting Christian mission are larger than any platform, denomination, theological school or national church. Migration, inequality, urban precarity, ecological disruption, violence and technological change cross the boundaries within which institutions usually plan.

Pentecostal churches bring indispensable resources to this moment: prayer, hope, local presence, missionary courage, confidence in the Holy Spirit and an ability to mobilise ordinary believers. But spiritual energy alone does not guarantee wise public action. We must also listen, research, cooperate, evaluate and remain answerable to the people our mission affects.

Walking together is therefore not an ecumenical courtesy added to Pentecostal mission. It is a spiritual discipline through which gifts are tested, knowledge is shared, power is restrained and the witness of the Church becomes more credible.

On 24 July 2026, the University of South Africa reported on the conclusion of the sixteenth Assembly of the International Association for Mission Studies, held in Pretoria from 17 to 21 July. The gathering brought together 268 delegates from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania and…