Latter Rain Movement

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The Latter Rain was a post-war movement within Pentecostal Christianity which remains controversial to this day.

For clarification in discussion of the Latter Rain a distinction should be made between:

  • The Latter Rain Revival (1947-1952)
  • The Latter Rain Movement (1952-1960s)
  • Those influenced by the Latter Rain.

Contents

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Origin and Influences

The Latter Rain Movement had its beginnings in the years following World War II. It was contemporary with the evangelical awakening which was starting with Billy Graham at the forefront, as well as the Healing Revival with Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, and William Branham at the forefront. Although William Branham was never a part of the Latter Rain as such, he was revered by its leaders. It had in fact been a Branham meeting which triggered the start of the Latter Rain. Several Pentecostal leaders of a small orphanage outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, after visiting the meeting got a vision for a different dimension of Christianity and began to fast and pray in search of it. Later that year, revival events occurred. News quickly and swept across Canada and the United States, influencing many Pentecostal believers.

Because of its grassroots and unstructured nature, history may never know the breadth of its influence. As the revival itself died down after a few years, those who had been changed by the doctrine formed various groups which came to become known as "The Latter Rain (Movement)". The following list includes some representative leaders of various branches, both past and present.

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Founding Leaders

  • George Warnock (who had been Ern Baxter's secretary), wrote "The Feast of Tabernacles" which became very influential not only for its view of the feasts but for its approach to the Scriptures. One identifiable mark of those influenced by the Latter Rain is their spiritual hermeneutic.
  • George Hawtin and his brother Ern, were key in the early spread of the movement. They traveled widely, and as they traveled the spirit and influence of the Latter Rain caught on.
  • A. Earl Lee from southern California was one of the fathers of the movement in Southern California. He had previously been involved with Aimee Semple McPherson.
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Mainstream Leaders

  • Kevin Conner is a very influential Bible teacher who came out of the Latter Rain and who has taken the best of these new ideas and blended them with the more traditional hermeneutics. His approach has influenced such leading ministers as T.D. Jakes. Conner is in fact part of a larger movement known as MFI which represents perhaps the most theologically solid group to directly emerge from the Latter Rain.
  • David Schoch was a leader associated with this branch of the Latter Rain. The church he led is now known as "City At the Cross" in Long Beach, CA. They have a helpful article here [1]
  • Wade Taylor came out of the Latter Rain, and was mentor to Robin McMillan, pastor of the lead fellowship of Rick Joyner's MorningStar Ministry, which itself is very reflective of a Latter Rain ideal.
  • Glenn Ewing and his son Robert Ewing from Waco, Texas. Among others, the Ewings trained Jim Laffoon, leading prophet for Every Nation.
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Cult-like Movements

  • John Robert Stevens and his movement "The Walk" are an example of a ministry which emerged from the Latter Rain but became cultish. Royal Cronquist was another well known leader in this group. Influential charismatic Francis Frangipane came out of Stevens' ministry, leaving before it took the cult-like direction.
  • Sam Fife and his movement "The Move" are another example of a cultish movement which was associated with the Latter Rain
  • Bill Britton teaching about Jesus as a "sample" or "example" son is connected to the Manifested Sons of God Theology which was taken to theological extremes.
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Contemporary Figures

  • Bishop Bill Hamon from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Hamon has been very influential in the Charismatic movement, including being featured on the cover of Charisma Magazine.
  • Dr. Kelley Varner from South Africa has a teaching ministry which is Latter Rain based.
  • Charles Schmitt, pastor of the large Immannuel's Church in Silver Spring, MD, was spent time in the Latter Rain.
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Schools

  • Elim Bible Institute in New York was the center of much Latter Rain activity.
  • Portland Bible College, where Conner formerly taught, is another example of a Latter Rain influenced school.
  • Pincrest Bible School in upstate New York. Founded by Wade Taylor and Bill Britton
  • Destiny Image Publications, while founded long after the Latter Rain, prints sympathetic titles by Joyner, Hamon, Taylor and others.

As the list above demonstrates, the movement itself should be distinguished from those whom it ultimately influenced. Some branches of the movement ultimately led to cult like groups, some parts of the movement remained orthodox and also true to Latter Rain ideal, and other parts of the movement moderated the doctrine and ultimately had positive effects on the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches at large.

Historically, some of the most ardent critics of the Latter Rain and its offshoot theology, the Manifest Sons of God have come from within the Pentecostalism. With time however, the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements, while rejecting the more extreme elements of the theology, have been greatly influenced by other aspects such as the "fivefold" ministry and the laying on of hands. More recently, it has been those from Fundamentalist circles who have been the most severe critics of the Latter Rain, and have use various loose connections to the movement to paint everyone associated with a negative brush.

When its proponents brought the new doctrine into the Pentecostal Churches and in particular the Assemblies of God it nearly split the church. Leaders of the Assemblies of God were concerned that it glorified men among other things and pointed to the "ye are gods" as evidence of severe theological error. They were also concerned that the movement espoused a post-millennial rather than premillennial scenario of the "End Times." In 1949 the Assemblies of God condemned the doctrine of the 'Latter Rain Movement' as heresy.

The Latter Rain brought in a new focus on the spiritual elements of Christianity including personal prophecy and typological interpretation of Scripture. The term "Latter Rain" stems from Bible passages as Jeremiah 3:3 and 5:2, Joel 2:23, Hosea 6:3, Zechariah 10:1, and James 5:7. The idea of a "Latter Rain" was not new to the movement, but in fact was present from the earliest days of Pentecostalism, who believed at the time that return of speaking in tongues and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit marked the "Latter Rain" of God's Spirit, near the end of history.

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Beliefs

It is difficult to communicate the Latter Rain through reference to doctrine alone, because its most distinctive element is its Spiritual atmosphere. Once one understands this basic point, it is easy to identify within the Pentecostal movement who has been impacted by the Latter Rain, and to what degree. Latter Rain proponents saw Pentecostalism as very dry in the post-war period, and in danger of slipping into a dry or mental formalism like many of their evangelical peers. When the Latter Rain hit the dryness was replaced with an almost "hyper-Spirituality", and the various doctrines lined up this basic idea.

  • The latter rain. The movement derives its name from its interpretation of Joel 2:23. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost had been the "former rain" that established the Church, but the current "move" of the Spirit was the "latter rain" that would bring the Church's work to completion, and culminate in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which was imminent. Although this doctrine in itself had been around since Parham and the early Pentecostals, the Latter Rain broke with the dispensationalism which had become entrenched in Pentecostalism. Whereas dispensationalism is a pessimistic premillennialism, the Latter Rain emphasized victory. This led to various expressions of victorious minded premillennialism and ultimately postmillennialism. Rather than just try and save a few souls before rise of the anti-Christ, the Latter Rain emphasized the Church as overcoming and victorious. This shift alone is extremely significant and can be seen behind the Word of Faith movement, as well as most branches of the Charismatic movement.
  • Christian Unity. A major theme of the Latter Rain was unity among the believers, in the church service, in the geographic region, and at large. They taught that God saw the church organized not into denominational camps, but along geographical lines. They expected that in the coming last days, the various Christian denominations would dissolve, and the true church would coalesce into citywide churches under the leadership of the newly-restored apostles and prophets. These theme was recurrent among the Kansas City Prophets of the 1980s.
  • Laying on of hands. Unlike mainstream Pentecostalism, which holds that the baptism of the Holy Spirit usually comes after prolonged "tarrying" or waiting for the Spirit, the Latter Rain movement taught that the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit can be imparted on one believer by another through the laying on of hands. This impartation was not given to the body at large, but to specifically selected or qualified leaders.
  • The fivefold ministry. The Latter Rain taught that of the five ministerial roles mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher), the foundational roles of apostle and prophet had been been lost after the time of the first apostles, but God was restoring these ministries in the present day. This theme has continued to this day, and has been recently rebranded by C. Peter Wagner as the "New Apostolic Reformation"
  • The Manifest(ed) Sons of God. Some leaders of the Latter Rain movement taught that as the end of the age approached, a select group of "overcomers" would arise within the Church. These Manifest Sons of God would receive the "spiritual bodies" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15. They would become immortal, and receive a number of divine gifts, including the ability to change their physical appearance, to speak any language, to teleport from place to place, and to perform divine healings and other miracles. They would complete the Great Commission, spreading the gospel throughout the world, and at last usher in the millennial reign of Christ.
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See also

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External links

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Books

  • Pentecostal scholar Richard Riss wrote a master's Thesis on the Latter Rain, which was repackaged as a book entitled "The Latter Rain" and is available from Honeycomb Visual Productions in Canada. This book is supportive of the movement. It is one of the only scholarly works available on the topic.
  • This Site [2] has some biographical interviews with some key Latter Rain leaders.
  • Reg Layzell, The Pastor’s Pen (Vancouver, British Columbia: Mission Publishing, 1965)
  • Dick Iverson. The Journey, A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments (Portland, OR: Bible Temple Publishing, 1995)
  • Stanley Frodsham "With Signs Following"
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