Catch the Fire: Soaking Prayer and Charismatic Renewal

by Michael Wilkinson

A recent phenomenon of charismatic renewal took place in Toronto in the mid-1990s. Commonly known as the “Toronto Blessing” and operated by the former Vineyard Church leaders John and Carol Arnott, the renewal was defined by reports of uncontrollable laughter, weeping, speaking in tongues, animal noises, and falling on the floor during worship. Sympathetic Christians embraced these practices while others who believed that this form of worship boarded on spectacle rejected them. By the end of the 1990s most people thought that the renewal was over.



Yet, in the first decade of the 21st century, the authors—a sociologist and a theologian—heard rumors that the Toronto church, now known as “Catch the Fire,” was still holding mass meetings with upwards of 2,000 people in attendance. They also learned of an emerging practice of “soaking prayer,” an adaption of Pentecostal-charismatic prayer that, participants and leaders claim, facilitates and expands the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. Soaking, the authors reveal, is a metaphor for practices like resting in the Spirit, prayer for spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, impartation, and supports overall charismatic spirituality. Attending “Catch the Fire” conferences, churches, and house meetings in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, Wilkinson and Althouse observed first-hand how people soak, what it means to soak, and why soaking is considered an important practice among charismatics.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2014

About the author

Michael Wilkinson, professor of sociology and director of the Religion in Canada Institute at Trinity Western University, is the editor of Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation.

Reviews

[Kathleen Krynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really know what to expect from a sociological study of Catch the Fire and its practice of soaking prayer, but this was actually pretty interesting! Seeing how churches that promote this practice engage with ritual, theology of the body, organizational authority and altruism was interesting. I feel like I have a better picture of what this church is about now, when it was previously a big mystery to me.

I wish there had been more substantial engagement with what (I thought anyway) was the central research question, regarding the specific relationship between soaking prayer and altruism. There were a few examples to indicate a positive correlation, but I don't think the authors did enough to back their assessment with their research. However, maybe the question of altruism wasn't quite as central as I thought it was, and that this study was meant to simply be an initial assessment of soaking.