Worship: Charisma on the Rise

The so-called "charismatic gifts"—prophecy, spiritual healing and glossolalia, or speaking in tongues—have long been characteristic of the zealous, fundamentalist Pentecostal sects. Increasingly, though, these unusual outpourings of spiritual feeling can be found in mainstream Protestant and even Roman Catholic congregations—and some church leaders are concerned about it. The 1968 General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church ordered a special study of the spread of glossolalia. This month an ecumenical assembly of 120 churchmen met at Roman Catholic Dayton University in Ohio to discuss the movement.

Defenders of charismatic worship argue that...