EPBC Graduates: Changing Allegiances

My recent travels are over and I am picking up a thread that came up in my last posting that recognized graduates who no longer attend church. As was noted, other graduates attend church and may be involved vocationally in church, but they have switched alliances from Pentecostal to another tradition.

In my survey of graduates this was a lacuna on my part as I did not formally take this into consideration. But during the interviews and the informal letters I have received, a significant number of individuals have thus shared this information. In some cases, the switch was simply a matter of convenience. A job opportunity became available, and the individual took it. But it is fair to say in most cases, it was a definite decision to change “franchises” out of personal convictions of one sort or another.

I remember well when I was still teaching at EPBC, prominent and respected professors Ron Kydd and John Stepheson resigned from EPBC and joined the Anglican Church of Canada. It sent a bit of a shock wave through the denomination. I remember in the early days of Facebook there was even a group started, perhaps indirectly inspired by Kydd and Stephenson, “Pentecostals who have not yet become Anglican.” During my interviews for this project, I have had people indicate they are now serving in one capacity or another in the Anglican, Being in Christ (BIC), Alliance, United, Catholic, Independent, and Mennonite churches to name a few. Surprisingly I have not heard to my knowledge anyone who left Pentecostalism for a Baptist church although I am sure they are out there.

I began my field of ministry alternating between pioneering a French Pentecostal church and a small English Presbyterian church. The Presbyterian church was outside my comfort zone at the time, but it was a blessing. A life-long Pentecostal it was in the Presbyterian church that I first learned about the Christian Calendar and the lectionary. I discovered advent (which saved Christmas for me) Lent, and Pentecost Sunday. (Imagine a Pentecostal is better guaranteed to have a sermon on Pentecost Sunday in a non-Pentecostal church). To be sure the Pentecostal church today is doing better in this regard. And I even had the occasion to baptize a child having never even seen an infant baptism until then and there was no YouTube or the internet :-0

As for me I have opted to stay inside on the outside rim of the Pentecostal institutional church, but I would like to hear from others who have switched allegiances. What were your primary motivations. Simple opportunity? Theological shift? Style of worship? Previous bad experience?