Toronto Blessing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Toronto Blessing is a term coined by the British press to describe the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January 1994 at Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship, now known as Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF), a neocharismatic evangelical Christian church located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants in the conferences and meetings sponsored by TACF have reported healings, incidents of personal transformation and a greater awareness of God's love. It has also been referred to as "The Father's Blessing", "The Anointing", "The Awakening", "The River", "The Fire".

Contents 1 Blessing 2 Debates 3 Mentions in Popular Culture 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Blessing

At TACF Revival services, worshippers have exhibited unusual behaviours that they attribute to an encounter with God and the “fire of the Holy Spirit”. The most common described behaviours include hysterical laughter (or “holy laughter”), physical spasms or jerks, falling to the floor under the Holy Spirit's power (aka “slain in the Spirit”) and speaking in tongues. Other less common behaviours include manifestations that resembled roaring like lions and barking like dogs. At one time the TACF website described it thus: “The Toronto Blessing is a transferable anointing. In its most visible form it overcomes worshippers with outbreaks of laughter, weeping, groaning, shaking, falling, 'drunkenness,' and even behaviours that have been described as a 'cross between a jungle and a farmyard.'" The UK magazine 'Christianity' wrote an article on the subject, also noting, "In one meeting in Dudley a woman in the congregation kept making loud ‘cuckoo clock’ noises during the notices and sermon. Eventually John invited her to come to the front. It turned out that he knew her from a visit to Scotland and trusted her as a secure Christian through whom God had been working."^[1]

TACF pastors John and Carol Arnott were initially inspired by the revival in Argentina. As a result of their spiritual hunger for revival in Canada, they invited Randy Clark of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, to minister at TACF in January 1994. Randy Clark had been greatly impacted by the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne, a South African preacher, founder of the Rodney Howard-Browne Evangelistic Association in Louisville, Kentucky, author of The Touch of God, and the earliest known proponent of the “holy laughter” revival phenomenon in modern times.

The Blessing has proved immensely popular and in recent years, many Christian travellers have come to the TACF to experience it for themselves. Some estimates are as high as 300,000 visitors. The experience is usually deeply affecting and people are often said to leave the services with a renewed zeal for their faith and an overwhelming desire to spread the message. Some visiting pastors have been so affected by the experience that they have taken the message back to their own flocks, sometimes radically transforming the way that services are conducted in their own churches. Areas that have become known for Toronto Blessing revivals worldwide include Pensacola, Florida, in the United States and Bath in England.

The peak of Toronto Blessing prominence in the Christian community occurred in the mid to late 1990s. Since that time it has faded from public view, although the proponents of Discernment Ministries would suggest that these kinds of events are simply part of a wider theological cycle that has existed continually throughout modern era Pentecostalism / Charismatism.

Studies at the University of Virginia have pointed out that "the beliefs of... the Toronto Blessing are aligned exactly with those of the Latter Rain revival", which indicates that the phenomenon is not unique, but part of an ongoing and cyclical pattern.^[2]

In more recent times, the Golden Sword Prophecy^[3] from TACF has been spreading amongst Charismatic churches.

[edit] Debates

The neutrality or factuality of this article or section may be compromised by unattributed statements. You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel worded statements.

Believers claim strongly that it is a revival or renewal of God’s true church, where the Holy Spirit manifests in a way that is directly tangible to the participant. They maintain that it is the coming of a new era, where the new leaders will be raised to prominence and people will be drawn to connect to an experience that is truly Godly. God is ready to be present and alive in the world again, they claim, and the true believers are the ones who can feel his presence among them.^{[citation needed]}

Believers also point out the 'fruit' of what are deemed encounters with God and the presence that to many is very tangible at the meetings hosted worldwide by people and groups connected with the Toronto Blessing.^{[citation needed]} Many people come away from the meetings and encounters with a new zeal for their faith and for life in general, as well as a renewed heart to see their faith spread in the world. Many also report physical, emotional, and psychological healings occurring at a very high rate, leaving the people empowered, uplifted, and better connected with God. They cite this as proof that it is a good and Godly movement.^[who?]

It is also pointed out that the Toronto Blessing was never about the 'manifestations' - the laughter, the barking, and the other assorted physical signs - and that it was the non Charismatic church that has missed this point. Many maintain that from the very start, the Toronto Blessing was and continues to be about having made manifest the love of God for and through his church, as spoken of in the Bible in verses concerning Great Commandment, Romans 8, and 1 Corinthians 13. Believers in the Blessing point out that this is the real thing behind the outpouring, something that is missed by those critical of the move.

Observers of an opposing view point out that this type of phenomenon is not at all new, but may simply be a case of 'mass-hysteria'. Nor is the resistance to the movement by the average churchgoer who may be unfamiliar with religious experiences.^{[citation needed]}

Behavior similar to participants in the "Renewal" is exhibited by Chi Kung exponents during their practice. Other non-Christian groups report "Renewal" like behavior as well, generally associating it with spirit possession of one form or another.

It should be noted that similar phenomenon such as being "slain in the Spirit", "swooning", "spasms and jerks", "speaking in tongues", and others have been reported during almost every major "revival", "renewal", or "awakening" of the past 200 years throughout the world, and have given birth to many modern Christian church denominations including the Baptist, Methodist, and Assemblies of God denominations. Exhibitions of the aforementioned activities also occurred in 19th century Russia, where the movements were denounced as heresy by the Russian Orthodox Church.^{[citation needed]}

In late 1995, the US Association of Vineyard Churches (AVC) Board requested that the Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship end its relationship with the AVC. Originally, the leader of the Vineyard churches, John Wimber had been part of and endorsed the Toronto revival meetings. The revised name Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship was adopted in January 1996. ^[4]

[edit] Mentions in Popular Culture

The "Toronto Blessing" was referenced in the 2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Careless."

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Toronto Blessing
• videos of the Toronto Blessing (Note:Site disagrees with validity of the Toronto Blessing