What we've inherited...

Heard yesterday of the death of Michael Harper. Michael Harper was the leading figure in the Charismatic movement in the Church of England (and through the Fountain Trust, in other historic denominations in the UK) in the 1960s and 70s. Later he became an Orthodox Priest, which is probably a tale in itself.

I always find reading and hearing about the early days of the charismatic movement both exciting and fascinating. There was such a sense that God was on the move, that something new was happening. There was also a lot of immaturity, wrong attitudes and opposition as well; and much of the opposition from very genuine Chrsitians who simply didn't "get" what was going on.

There's lots that could be said about this - I almost ended up starting a PhD on the history of the charismatic movement about 12/13 years ago. Not sure it would really have worked then, so glad I didn't with hindsight. But I'm reminded that so much of what we take for granted in church life nowadays builds on what a previous generation of leaders and ordinary believers discovered and taught, often at some cost to themselves. I guess we need to be careful about what we're passing on to the next generation too.