Pentecostal Worship Must Not Confuse Fluency with Anointing

A worship leader pauses before a word. A preacher repeats a sound. A child cannot complete a public reading at the speed others expect. Too often the congregation tries to rescue the moment: someone finishes the sentence, takes the microphone, laughs nervously, commands the speaker to relax or turns the difference into a public battle with fear and evil spirits.

The result can be exclusion presented as help. Fluency begins to function as an unwritten qualification for testimony, preaching, prayer, teaching and leadership. People whose speech moves differently are heard as less prepared, less confident or less anointed before anyone has listened to what they are saying.

Pentecostal worship should offer another witness. The Spirit who gives utterance does not reduce the body of Christ to one speech pattern. A voice that pauses, repeats or blocks still bears testimony, wisdom, authority and praise. The church must learn to wait without pity, interruption or spiritual accusation.

International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed on 22 October. The 2026 theme, “Shades of Stuttering—What's Yours?”, emphasises that stuttering is not experienced or expressed in one way: it may be overt or concealed, mild or pronounced, accompanied by techniques, acceptance or both. The online conference runs throughout October and centres the perspectives of people who stutter, families, clinicians and researchers. International Stuttering Awareness Day 2026

This is an awareness campaign…