The Giggles Are For God
On a recent weeknight in Toronto, 1,500 worshipers gathered in the Vineyard Christian Church and had a good laugh. It began when a dozen pilgrims from Oregon got up to introduce themselves and then began to fall to the floor, laughing uncontrollably. An hour later, the huge new church looked like a field hospital. Dozens of men and women of all ages were lying on the floor: some were jerking spasmodically; others closed their eyes in silent ecstasy. A middle-aged woman kicked off her pumps and began whooping and trilling in a delicate dance. Scores of others proclaimed deliverance from emotional and physical pains. "I've been living in my spirit," said a woman from Long Island, N.Y., still giggling after 20 minutes on the floor.
These communal laugh-ins have been going on six nights a week, every week, for over a year at the charismatic congregation near Toronto's Pearson International Airport. In all, more than 100,000 people have experienced "the Toronto Blessing, " which believers interpret as an experience of the Holy Spirit much like the "speaking in tongues" mentioned in the New Testament. Hundreds of visiting pastors have taken the Blessing home to roughly 7,000 congregations in Hong Kong, Norway, South Africa and Australia, plus scores of churches in the United States. "It's a gusher of the Holy Spirit," says Pastor John Arnott of the Toronto Vineyard, who now travels around the world spreading the hilarity of the Lord.
Anglicans -- known for their reserve at worship -- seem especially prone to catching the new spirit. At Holy Trinity Brompton Church in the toney Knightsbridge section of London, Vicar Sandy Millar has added a Sunday-evening service to accommodate the 2,000 faithful who weave and laugh and shed their Burberrys raincoats while writhing in the aisles. The laughter is real, but is it really spiritual? On that question church leaders are divided. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, says that while he had not experienced the Blessing himself, those who have report that "it was a very refreshing event." John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard, a network of 600 conservative charismatic congregations around the world, cannot find precedent in the Bible for laughter and falling to the floor. But neither does he find such actions prohibited by Holy Writ.
Recently the laughter has taken a beastly turn. Now some people who get the Toronto Blessing are beginning to roar like animals as well. To Hank Hanegraaff, who hosts a California radio show as "The Bible Answer Man," such fearsome noise suggests possession by the Devil -- and the need for exorcism. But pastor Arnott can point to plenty of holy shaking and quaking at revival meetings in the 18th century. Indeed, some proponents of the Blessing believe that roaring may be a prophetic sign. After all, in the Bible God is called the Lion of Judah.
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Kenneth L. Woodward is a contributing editor of Newsweek where he had been Religion editor for 38 years. In that time he reported on a variety of subjects from six continents for various departments of the magazine. Woodward is the author of some 750 articles for Newsweek , including more than 100 cover stories He has written articles, essays and book reviews for other publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, Commonweal, America, First Things, Concillium, The Christian Century, The Tablet (London) and The Nation. He is a contributor to the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Protestantism and the author of three books: Grandparents Grandchildren: The Vital Connection, with Arthur Kornhaber; MD, Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't and Why, and most recently, The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. He is a winner of the National Magazine Award among other honors. He has lectured at over 50 universities; has been a Fellow of the National Humanities Center and Regents' Lecturer in Religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He holds four honorary degrees, and appears frequently on television as a commentator.
Mr. Woodward is a native of Cleveland Ohio. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has done post-graduate work at the University of Michigan Law School, the University of Iowa and the University of Strasbourg, France. He and his wife, Betty, have three grown children and five grandchildren.
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