Charismatic and the Jesus People Movement

Charismatic and the Jesus People Movement

Almost forty years have passed since the movement known as the Jesus People first made its existence felt on the West Coast cities in the United States. It was able to influence and impact some of the smaller cities, also, through its short-lived movement. This paper will consider the nature of the transitory movement and its historical contribution to Christian revivalism (Hunt 1). Throughout history religion has undergone many changes and movements. When one generally thinks of most forms of religion, strict guidelines to worship comes to mind, but this was not the case for the Jesus People Movement.

The Jesus People Movement was a movement that initially began in the late 1960s before eventually fading out in the 1980s. Hunt stated in the journal PentecoStudies that:

While there was a considerable impact on the movement by way of Pentecostal teachings and praxis, the movement proved to be a hybrid form of Pentecostalism given its divergent expressions. Certainly, it was not a united movement. It was equally evident that during its brief existence the movement epitomized the response to the cultural dilemmas of the 1960s and early 1970s. For this reason the rise of the movement took Pentecostals, charismatics and the wider evangelical world by surprise. Yet the movement went on to inspire numerous charismatic and neo-charismatic 'streams' alike (27).

It was revered as a key Christian element among the hippie culture in the 1960s. At the end of its demise, "the movement left behind various denominations and other Christian organizations" (Sabatino).

By most accounts the Jesus Movement officially began in 1967 with the opening of a small storefront evangelical mission called the Living Room in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury district (Sabatino). Though other missionary type organizations had preceded them in the area, this was the first one run solely by street Christians. Within a short time of these first stirrings a number of independent Christian communities sprang up all across North America (Sabatino).

It can be said that unlike many other historical Christian movements or New Religious Movements of the time, there was no single leader of the Jesus People Movement. Hunt went on to state that:

There were nonetheless a number of individuals who, while involved in their own ministries, cast an invasive influence over the broad world of the movement. Many were inspired by Pentecostalism or were themselves classical Pentecostal or charismatics. Some began printing widely read newspapers. Others wrote influential books or headed-up significant ministries. Others still were enigmatic personalities and were largely itinerant speakers (15).

In Seattle, the Jesus People Army was born in response to a vision experienced by evangelist Linda Meissner. On the Sunset Strip, evangelist Arthur Blessitt