Are we becoming a movement? At "The Gathering" several of our denominational officials were freely sharing a phrase a little too often to be a coincidence. The phrase went something like this "we are a movement" or "we want to become a movement". It remains to be seen whether it was just rhetoric being tossed around because it makes us feel good or whether it has real substance and direction and that in so sharing it they were endeavouring to subtlely express a vision of the church of the not too distant future. If it is the first, well honestly, it just doesn't have any legs to stand on. The phrase will get to be as annoying as the word synergy has become. If it is the latter then it suggests that changes are coming and action will ensue. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word movement means, "the act or process of moving" and also "tendency, trend; a series of organized activities working toward an objective". What sort of changes and actions a denomination will make to become more of a movement is challenging to predict but a brief glimpse of a religious movement might shed some light. For instance let's use The Pilgrim Holiness Church as a modest case subject. At its core it was a holiness movement. The Pilgrim Holiness Church (originally know as The International Holiness Union and Prayer League) was birthed from the convictions of Martin Wells Knapp and Seth Cook Rees for the proclamation of holiness of heart and life. It embodied four characteristics... 1)To unite holiness people under the banner of promoting worldwide holiness evangelism. 2)The Union was to be an interdenominational fellowship. What made it unique was its simplicity and the absence of restrictions. The only requirement for membership was a pure heart or the ardent desire for the sanctifying experience that would result in a pure heart. 3)Emphasis placed on divine healing and the theory of the return of a premillennial Christ. 4)Action. The Union was to aggressively spread its message through camp meetings, revivals, publications, and missionary work at home and abroad. (information for these characteristics comes from "An Outline History of The Wesleyan Church by Haines and Thomas) To be a movement suggests vision and goal. Also, it suggests general and specific direction as to how attain the goal. Being in part a religious movement suggest a seriousness of living the holy life that eludes many and very deliberately choosing to live the holy life every day. Again, how and if The Wesleyan Church embraces the idea of a movement will be interesting. If it is embraced ideas and perceptions will have to change. That change comes from within. We wouldn't be throwing the baby out with the bath water, we'd just be refilling the tube with hot water. Ryan | 
