November 1, 2009
Generations of Pentecostals divided on doctrine of speaking in tongues
by Tim Townsend
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
STEELE, Mo. -- At the beginning of an evening worship service at the First Assembly of God church, the Rev. Ryan Harris pitted teens against adults in a trivia game called Battle of the Generations.
Wednesday Night Alive is the church's outreach service to a swath of the city's troubled teenagers here in the southernmost tip of Missouri's Bootheel. After a few more games, worship began in a style typical of evangelical churches.
Harris, a husky 26-year-old wearing a sweater, untucked shirt and baggy jeans, led 20 teenagers and 20 adults in a few upbeat, contemporary praise songs, and then delivered the night's message.
"The gift of the Holy Spirit is placed upon you, it's placed inside you," Harris told his congregation, his voice thundering through his headset to the back walls of the tiny church. "The Holy Spirit gives you strength to stand up to those who don't want you to stay in school, who want you to try drugs, to try sex."
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