Convergence Movement

rdf:langString Convergence Movement

rdf:langString The Convergence Movement, also known as the Ancient-Future Faith movement, is a Protestant Christian movement that began during the Fourth Great Awakening (1960–1980) in the United States. Largely a result of the ecumenical movement and its foundation primarily attributed to Robert E. Webber, the Convergence Movement developed as an effort among evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic, and liturgical Christians of varying denominational backgrounds to blend charismatic worship with liturgies from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer; they also made use of other liturgical sources common to Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism. Christian denominations stemming from the Convergence Movement typically identify as Convergence, Ancient-Future Faith, Ancient Faith, Ancient Church, Ancient-Future Church, paleo-orthodox, Pentecostal Catholic or Orthodox, or evangelical Episcopal. Denominations in this movement have also been referred as some form of broader, or new Anglicanism or Episcopalianism. The pioneers of the Convergence Movement were seeking to restore a primitive form of Christianity different from what the Restoration Movement taught. It was inspired by the spiritual pilgrimages of modern Protestant writers like Thomas Howard, Robert E. Webber, Peter E. Gillquist, and ancient Christian writers such as the Church Fathers and their communities. These men, along with theologians, scripture scholars, and pastors in a number of Protestant denominational traditions, were calling Christians back to what they saw as their roots in the early Church prior to the Great Schism and rise of the state church of the Roman Empire.