The 14th Annual Convention of the EPA (Evangelical Press Association) was held last January in Springfield, Missouri. This fast-growing organization now represents in its membership list 113 evangelical publications and this number is increasing year by year. Here is a legitimate type of ecumenicity, an example of the basic unity of all Christians who hold to the evangelical faith. This and similar organizations prove that no church councils in which both evangelical and modernists are represented are needed to give expression and implementation to the spiritual unity of all true believers,

One of the reasons that the EPA held its 1962 convention in Springfield, Missouri , was the desire of its members to see and visit the new three million dollar Gospel Publishing House of the Assemblies of God—a strictly up-to-date and very beautiful building with a modern printing plant. In this same building are the headquarters of the Assemblies of God, whose General Superintendent, Rev. Thomas F. Zimmerman, is the able and eloquent president, this year, of the National Association of Evangelicals. This modern plant employs 550 people.

The Assemblies of God is one of the fastest growing denominations, if not the fastest, in the United States. It was established less than half a century ago, in 1914, and today has 8,129 churches in this country, more than 9,000 ordained ministers, over 5,ooo licensed ministers, and a Sunday School enrollment of 951,178. It has a foreign membership (adherents and communicants) of 957,738, publishes 12 periodicals, and daily prints more than 5 tons of Christian literature. The avowed purpose of this denomination is to organize 365 churches in 1962, one for every day of the year. Judging by past performances, the success of this effort is well within the range of possibility.

We hold no brief for the errors of the Assemblies of God. It rejects infant baptism, believes in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a spiritual experience distinct from regeneration, seems to incline to perfectionism, and practises “divine healing” and speaking in tongues. Its principal emphasis is on the work of the Holy Spirit and holy living. Its errors are serious indeed, but in spite of them the leaders of this large group make a favorable impression because of their sincerity, their spiritual warmth, and the earnestness of their endeavor to shun worldliness and to lead lives of consecration.

The question what may be the secret of the phenomenal growth of this denomination intrigued us. We inquired about this of the young minister who was the guide of our group as we spent an hour inspecting the magnificent Gospel Publishing House where our Tuesday sessions were held. The answer was in effect: This is all the work of the Holy Spirit in answer to our prayers. But the reply requires some amplification, we believe. Perhaps the fact that these people usually build small churches, though there are notable exceptions, should not be overlooked. Small churches are often spiritually strong churches. They provide close fellowship and, when the need of personal witnessing is stressed, have a strong mission program in the community. The Assemblies of God do not build costly churches, do not pay high salaries to their ministers, probably have low budgets, and so carry a special appeal to those of the lower middle class, who cannot afford to belong to churches that have large expenses and a heavy indebtedness.

But there are other factors of greater weight. The Assemblies of God have an exceptionally effective Sunday School system, a vigorous youth program, and a powerful radio service emanating from the new building in Springfield. Yet all this fails to account fully for the tremendous growth of the movement. More important than anything else, it seems to us, is the strong emphasis on personal piety, on prayer, and on holy living.

There is an old saying that “the sects are the unpaid bills of the church.” They usually stress, often over-emphasize and pervert, those truths of Scripture which the churches have forgotten or neglected. Churches like the Assemblies of God, which underscore the need of the H01y Spirit and the indispensability of the inner, spiritual life, exhibit the warmth, the intensity of zeal and fervor which so often are lacking in other denominations. That members of such churches attract outsiders who are seeking the satisfaction of their religious needs can easily be understood. And who would dare to say that the Holy Spirit withholds his blessing from such groups because of their unintentional misinterpretations of Scripture?

Our churches need the spiritual vigor and zeal which stem from a strong emphasis on the spiritual life. There was a time when many of our people of Reformed persuasion loved to speak about their spiritual experiences. Those among our readers who knew the Christian Reformed Church as it was before the present century will bear us out on this. Life was simple, books were few but of the devotional type, and the distractions of modem life with all the diversified interests which engage the attention of our people today were unknown.

Gradually, however, the emphasis shifted to matters and questions of doctrine. These occupied the center of attention. But during the past few decades the emphasis has shifted again. Our people became impatient with doctrinal discussions while the rise of our educational system, the expansion of our missionary fields, and the establishment of institutions of Christian benevolence began to take first place in their religious consciousness. Our principal emphasis today is on Christian activity of one kind or another. Questions of doctrine have begun to recede into the background. The inner life, however, has almost become a forgotten domain. Who among us preaches, talks and writes on the inner life? How much attention do we give in books, dissertations, and articles on the wealth of material in the epistles, especially of Paul, on the experiential, mystical side of the Christian life?

Here is a great lack which has resulted in much spiritual coldness, shallowness, prayerlessness, doctrinal unconcern, and religious formalism threatening to turn into a showy but barren ritualism. Piety has almost become a dirty word among us. We worship knowledge, science, academic degrees, and are cager to be prominent in the eyes of our communities. We fear the contempt of the world and refuse to bear the reproach of Christ. We are surrendering to the spirit and forms of worldliness and losing our Christian distinctiveness because we do not want to be a peculiar people.

What is our greatest need today? A revival of true piety, a new emphasis on the spiritual life, the life of personal fellowship with God. Here lies the deepest root of our entire religious life. If we nourish it, our families, our churches, our schools, and all our activities will flourish. If we neglect it, a blight will fall on all the rest.