About a year ago, CHRISTIANITY TODAY published a special report on the American Catholic Church (a topic that has gotten extraordinary coverage of late with the visit of Pope John Paul II). Looking at such questions as who America’s Catholics are, what they believe, and where they are going, that special section received an Award of Excellence from the Evangelical Press Association in May.
But long before that award was presented (indeed, even before those Catholic articles were completed), we set our editorial sights on another religious movement: American Pentecostalism.
The “who, what, and where” format again gave us a workable editorial structure; with historian Grant Wacker, theologian Charles Farah, and four Pentecostal denominational leaders “filling in the blanks.” But on the advice of our senior editors, we also decided to develop a first-person piece focusing solely on what it is like growing up in this movement. (Argued one of those editors persuasively: “We need to help the reader understand better the blessings and embarrassments of Pentecostal youth.”) Thus historian James Goff’s “Brother Westbrook Shouted ‘Glory,’ and Mother Spoke in Tongues” gives us that personal touch the senior editors felt would further strengthen this latest “award-winning” effort.
HAROLD B. SMITH, Managing Editor
