Whence the Charismatic Movement?

Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the event most commonly considered to be the start of the Charismatic Movement in main-line and non-Pentecostal denominations, i.e. the resignation or Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett from his post as rector of St. Mark's Church in Van Nuys, California, over the issue of Tongues and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit..

So, where is the movement going after fifty years? Has the movement continuing, or has it fizzled or ended? According to an article in Christianity Today, it is more accurate to say the movement has "infected" American churches like yeast infects dough.

"Some analysts say the mainline charismatic renewal fizzled. It is more accurate to describe it the way Jesus pictured the kingdom of God: like yeast that spreads through bread dough. You can hardly identify it as a movement anymore, but it has changed the way most churches worship. Repetitive choruses and raised hands are now common. Except in pockets of hardcore resistance, the fact that a fellow Christian may praise God in a private prayer language hardly elevates an eyebrow.

Pentecostalism and the charismatic renewal have jointly given believers what historian Chris Armstrong calls Pentecostalism's chief contribution to Christianity: an awareness of "a deep well of living water from which everything else flow[s] … the personal, relational presence of the living God."

See also:  What  Now Charismatics? by Bill Farris