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The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology
An engaging history of the Shepherding Movement, an influential and controversial expression of the charismatic renewal in the 1970s and 1980s. This neopentecostal movement, led by popular Bible teachers Ern Baxter, Don Basham, Bob Mumford, Derek Prince and Charles Simpson, became a house church movement in the United States. The Shepherding Movement is a case study of an attempt at renewing church structures. Many critics accused the movement of being authoritarian because of its emphasis on submission to a personal pastor or "shepherd" as they termed it.
240 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 4, 2017
3.5/5.
S. David Moore's "The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology," is a sympathetic examination of a movement that had an enormous impact on the Charismatic Renewal, both Protestant and Roman Catholic. It focuses on the five primary leaders of the Shepherding Movement - Charles Simpson, Bob Mumford, Ern Baxter, Derek Prince and Don Basham, with Moore able to draw upon an extensive collection of letters, memos and publications in his study. These five men each had unique ministry giftings and hoped they could collaborate together in a complementary way.
The Shepherding Movement arose during the 1970s at a time when thousands of young people had become Charismatic Christians in large part due to the Jesus People. These believers were zealous but largely undisciplined and often from homes where they lacked a strong parental figure. The Shepherding Movement proved alluring because it offered Christians close personal relationships with a "shepherd" who could guide the believer in important areas of their lives. However, this authority and submission structure was perpetually prone to abuse and many skeptics and critics of the Shepherding Movement and its teachers, including Pat Robertson, Demos Shakarian, and Dennis Bennett, expressed concern that this was an unbiblical model for church structure and discipleship. Furthermore, many independent Charismatics (though not denominational Charismatics) feared the Shepherding Movements' leaders were seeking to establish their own denomination which would tear the Charismatic Renewal apart (these charges would prove to be unfounded).
Moore recounts the close ecumenical bonds developed between the Shepherding Movement's leaders and charismatic Roman Catholics such as Kevin Ranaghan and Kilian McDonnell. Moore, who himself had been involved in the Shepherding Movement as one shepherded, clearly sympathesizes with the Simpson et al., asserting that critics rebuked the Movement without first reaching out in private to address concerns while the Shepherd Movement's five leaders proactively sought to address questions. Moore also notes that while many of those who were raised up and became pastors lacked formal theological education (and in some cases maturity themselves), these men (the Shepherding Movement was strongly patriarchal in its theology of the family) would eventually go on to enter into ministry and impact the wider Church.
The Shepherding Movement dissolved in the mid-1980s, first with Derek Prince leaving the group of five. Baxter, and especially Simpson, would gather up the remnants of the Movement while others vocally disassociated themselves from Shepherding teachings. The leaders acknowledged that sometimes their teachings and practices had been too extreme and vulnerable to distortion, but that they also genuinely believed they were acting out of God's leading. Moore provides us with a scholarly, nuanced account of the Shepherding Movement, though with its heavy focus on the five leaders, I wish there was more exploration of how the Movement affected average participants "on the ground" in their relationships with their shepherds.
S. David Moore's "The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology," is a sympathetic examination of a movement that had an enormous impact on the Charismatic Renewal, both Protestant and Roman Catholic. It focuses on the five primary leaders of the Shepherding Movement - Charles Simpson, Bob Mumford, Ern Baxter, Derek Prince and Don Basham, with Moore able to draw upon an extensive collection of letters, memos and publications in his study. These five men each had unique ministry giftings and hoped they could collaborate together in a complementary way.
The Shepherding Movement arose during the 1970s at a time when thousands of young people had become Charismatic Christians in large part due to the Jesus People. These believers were zealous but largely undisciplined and often from homes where they lacked a strong parental figure. The Shepherding Movement proved alluring because it offered Christians close personal relationships with a "shepherd" who could guide the believer in important areas of their lives. However, this authority and submission structure was perpetually prone to abuse and many skeptics and critics of the Shepherding Movement and its teachers, including Pat Robertson, Demos Shakarian, and Dennis Bennett, expressed concern that this was an unbiblical model for church structure and discipleship. Furthermore, many independent Charismatics (though not denominational Charismatics) feared the Shepherding Movements' leaders were seeking to establish their own denomination which would tear the Charismatic Renewal apart (these charges would prove to be unfounded).
Moore recounts the close ecumenical bonds developed between the Shepherding Movement's leaders and charismatic Roman Catholics such as Kevin Ranaghan and Kilian McDonnell. Moore, who himself had been involved in the Shepherding Movement as one shepherded, clearly sympathesizes with the Simpson et al., asserting that critics rebuked the Movement without first reaching out in private to address concerns while the Shepherd Movement's five leaders proactively sought to address questions. Moore also notes that while many of those who were raised up and became pastors lacked formal theological education (and in some cases maturity themselves), these men (the Shepherding Movement was strongly patriarchal in its theology of the family) would eventually go on to enter into ministry and impact the wider Church.
The Shepherding Movement dissolved in the mid-1980s, first with Derek Prince leaving the group of five. Baxter, and especially Simpson, would gather up the remnants of the Movement while others vocally disassociated themselves from Shepherding teachings. The leaders acknowledged that sometimes their teachings and practices had been too extreme and vulnerable to distortion, but that they also genuinely believed they were acting out of God's leading. Moore provides us with a scholarly, nuanced account of the Shepherding Movement, though with its heavy focus on the five leaders, I wish there was more exploration of how the Movement affected average participants "on the ground" in their relationships with their shepherds.
May 19, 2016
S. David Moore does a great job writing a historical account of the Shepherding movement. He impresses me with his honesty and fairness as he evaluates the movement.
In the preface Moore states:
"I had left the movement because of what I believed were its problems, and therefore I imagined I would write a more critical document. My commitment to proper historical method did not lead me there.
There were, no doubt, serious abuses of spiritual authority among the Shepherding movement's practitioners. I knew that going into my research. When I went beyond the polemical rhetoric, however, and studied the movement's leaders, constituents, critics, and documents, I found it was difficult to make categorical judgments."
-page vii
As a youth I recall my Mom speaking fondly of several leaders mentioned in this book including Larry Christenson, Jamie Buckingham, Derek Prince, and Francis MacNutt. As a former member of a Sovereign Grace Ministries church and a 9Marks church it is my belief that these groups were significantly influenced by the teachings of the Shepherding movement. I desired to read this book to see if I could verify my beliefs.
In fact I noticed many similarities between the above mentioned groups; including unhealthy levels of submission to leaders who are many times heavy-handed authoritarians, a slavish insistence that all members need to be attending a cell group, or care group as they are now commonly called, finding a more mature believer to disciple you and to whom you are accountable and the necessity of being in a covenant relationship. The Shepherding movement seemed to stress more of a covenant relationship to a leader and it wasn't always a prerequisite to allowing you to join a church or cell group, whereas most 9Marks churches require one to sign a "church covenant" prior to allowing you to become a member.
Sovereign Grace has many similarities to the Shepherding movement, this is to be expected as they were "birthed" in the time when the Shepherding movement was at it's apex. Moore even mentions the unofficial alliance Larry Tomczak and PDI had with the leaders of the Shepherding movement. (Tomzcak, along with C.J. Mahaney were the founders of PDI which later changed their name to Sovereign Grace Ministries.)
While there are differences in the three groups, I was a bit shocked to discover just how similar Mark Dever's 9Marks organization and C.J. Mahaney's Sovereign Grace Ministries (Currently called Sovereign Grace Churches) are to the Shepherding movement. This, in my opinion is not a good thing and bears keeping an eye on.
In the preface Moore states:
"I had left the movement because of what I believed were its problems, and therefore I imagined I would write a more critical document. My commitment to proper historical method did not lead me there.
There were, no doubt, serious abuses of spiritual authority among the Shepherding movement's practitioners. I knew that going into my research. When I went beyond the polemical rhetoric, however, and studied the movement's leaders, constituents, critics, and documents, I found it was difficult to make categorical judgments."
-page vii
As a youth I recall my Mom speaking fondly of several leaders mentioned in this book including Larry Christenson, Jamie Buckingham, Derek Prince, and Francis MacNutt. As a former member of a Sovereign Grace Ministries church and a 9Marks church it is my belief that these groups were significantly influenced by the teachings of the Shepherding movement. I desired to read this book to see if I could verify my beliefs.
In fact I noticed many similarities between the above mentioned groups; including unhealthy levels of submission to leaders who are many times heavy-handed authoritarians, a slavish insistence that all members need to be attending a cell group, or care group as they are now commonly called, finding a more mature believer to disciple you and to whom you are accountable and the necessity of being in a covenant relationship. The Shepherding movement seemed to stress more of a covenant relationship to a leader and it wasn't always a prerequisite to allowing you to join a church or cell group, whereas most 9Marks churches require one to sign a "church covenant" prior to allowing you to become a member.
Sovereign Grace has many similarities to the Shepherding movement, this is to be expected as they were "birthed" in the time when the Shepherding movement was at it's apex. Moore even mentions the unofficial alliance Larry Tomczak and PDI had with the leaders of the Shepherding movement. (Tomzcak, along with C.J. Mahaney were the founders of PDI which later changed their name to Sovereign Grace Ministries.)
While there are differences in the three groups, I was a bit shocked to discover just how similar Mark Dever's 9Marks organization and C.J. Mahaney's Sovereign Grace Ministries (Currently called Sovereign Grace Churches) are to the Shepherding movement. This, in my opinion is not a good thing and bears keeping an eye on.
January 1, 2020
Fascinating and illuminating book, especially as relates to the ways some pastors relate to the categories of leadership, loyalty and covenant. Extremely insightful and critical for all pastors in the "Reformed Charismatic" world to consider given it's exploration of the understudied topic of charismatic ecclesiology.
I put together a summary of quotations from this book here: https://medium.com/@jacobyoung84/the-...
I put together a summary of quotations from this book here: https://medium.com/@jacobyoung84/the-...
April 26, 2018
As someone who survived Catholic Covenant Community under the Sword of the Spirit, I found this 'prequel' to my experience very helpful in understanding the thinking of my own leaders at that time (Steve B Clark and Ralph Martin.)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews