WASHINGTON – Delegations representing the Catholic Church and the Pentecostal Charismatic Movement met September 14-16, 2022, for ecumenical dialogue. The meeting, hosted by Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was attended by representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), and was a continuation of a theological exchange that began last year between the two faith groups.

The three-day meeting carried the theme of “healing,” which had been developed by the co-chairs for the meeting, Rev. Dr. Harold Hunter of the PCCNA and Fr. Walt Kedjierski of the USCCB with the intent to engage in exploratory dialogue on issues related to ritual, liturgy, and sacraments. The dialogue included the offering of two papers, the first by Dr. Andrew Prevot of the Department of Theology at Boston College on “Varieties of Healing: A Catholic Perspective,” and Rev. Dr. David Han, dean, Pentecostal School of Theology on “Healing in the Pentecostal Tradition.” Both papers explored aspects of Catholic and Pentecostal healing rituals and the call to healing in the lives of individuals and wider communities.

In addition to having an opportunity to gather and pray in the Oral Roberts University chapel, the theme of the meeting was enhanced with visits to Greenwood Rising, a museum of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed what was considered the wealthiest African American community in the country and known as “Black Wall Street,” and to the Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park. Participants of the dialogue also had the opportunity to meet with Rev. Dr. Billy Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University over lunch, and with Dr. Hal Reed, head of the Global Environmental Sustainability Program at ORU, who offered further insights Pentecostal engagement for climate justice.

Participants attending the meeting included:

  • Dr. Kimberly Belcher, University of Notre Dame
  • Rev. Dr. Tammy Dunahoo, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
  • Dr. Martin Mittelstadt, Evangel University
  • Rev. Dr. Leonardo Gajardo, St. Paul Catholic Community (Indiana)
  • Rev. Dr. Andrew Menke, Executive Director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
  • Rev. Dr. Frederick L. Ware, Associate Dean of the Howard University School of Divinity

Observers at the meeting included:

  • Rev. Mike Donaldson, Ph.D. student at Oral Roberts University
  • Rev. Allison Jones and Mr. Wesley Samuel of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church
  • Mr. Nathan Smith of Glenmary Missioners

The next meeting will be hosted by the USCCB at the University of Notre Dame in September 2023.

The PCCNA represents 40 million Christians through its member denominations and organizations serving in Canada, the United States, and Mexico (www.pccna.org). The USCCB is the assembly of the hierarchy of Catholic bishops who jointly exercise pastoral functions on behalf of the Christian faithful of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (www.usccb.org). The provisional dialogue is sponsored by the PCCNA’s Christian Unity Commission and the USCCB’s Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

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Chieko Noguchi
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
(202) 541-3200, @email 

and 

Barbara Gray, Executive Director
Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America
(973) 592-3411, [email protected]