About
Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity is among the fastest growing religious movements in the world. Pentecostal denominations, and a rapidly proliferating network of charismatic churches and movements, are estimated to include at least half a billion members—approximately one quarter of the world’s Christian population. Pentecostals, more than other Christians, emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in religious experience and are marked by occurrences of glossolalia (speaking in tongues), divine healing and prophecy. The Charismatic renewal movement has also been a vibrant presence in Roman Catholicism and mainline Protestantism. The significance of both Pentecostalism and the renewal movement is found not only in distinctive and powerful forms of worship, prayer, and manifestations of the Spirit, but also in entrepreneurial drive resulting in major religious realignments as well as profound social, cultural and economic changes. Sustained academic research by sociologists, anthropologists, economists, political scientists and other scholars is required to understand the growth of these movements and their impact on society.
Through a competitive application process, the Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative (PCRI) will select and award up to seven grants to research centers and fifteen grants to individual scholars. The initiative will provide funding for research in four specific geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union. (Please see the Frequently Asked Questions page for additional information on eligible regions.) Comparative research projects are also eligible, including projects that explore the connections between Western countries and one or more of the four regions. Research projects should engage topics of interest not only to Pentecostal and charismatic specialists, but to a broader group of scholars interested in the dynamics of social change and the potentially dynamic role of religion in this process. Projects involving only theological questions are not eligible under this request for proposals, but collaborative research and interdisciplinary projects involving theologians may be appropriate.
This initiative, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, is intended to provide a scholarly framework to investigate Pentecostalism and the various renewal movements that have emerged in Roman Catholicism and mainline Protestantism. PCRI is administered by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California.
