The first of a two-part critical analysis of the growing British ‘revival’.
The Turning is an evangelistic campaign that was begun in Reading, UK in 2016 by the local Gate Church.
Following a prescribed method of street outreach imported from the States, a total of 1,850 people accepted the invitation to pray to accept Christ over a four-week period in the Berkshire town. It was seen as a miraculous response.
Based on these results, The Turning has become a national initiative, with churches and mission groups in over 230 towns and cities reportedly requesting to become involved.1
The Turning has support from the World Prayer Centre and accompanying resources have been produced in conjunction with the Bible Society. The London Mission Collective is looking to roll out The Turning across the capital. In Scotland, The Turning website boasts the support of “national leaders of: The Baptist Union of Scotland, Assemblies of God, Apostolic Church, Destiny Church, Scottish Network Churches, [and the] Redeemed Christian Church of God”.2
There are a number of positive aspects to The Turning. It challenges believers to step beyond the safety of their cosy fellowships and reach out to a world that is spiritually dying. It is firing believers with enthusiasm to share with those who know nothing of Christ. And it inspires churches of differing streams to come together, working as a team.
However, while I totally applaud the heart-desire behind The Turning, I have concerns about its roots and methodology. Does it represent a true revival, a widespread ‘turning’ back to God? Read on and make your own mind up!
The Roots
The Turning was brought to the UK by American ‘revivalist’ Tommie Zito, whose website boasts an international ministry of ‘awakening’ countries, ‘hallmarked’ by “the heavy Glory of God, unique signs and wonders and an unprecedented anointing to mobilize and equip the [Body] to win souls.”3 These are substantial claims – but do they bear out in reality?
Zito was hosted by Reading’s Gate Church, led by Pastor Yinka Oyekan. Much of the information in this article has been gleaned from Oyekan’s personal 2017 report on the outreach.
While I applaud the heart-desire behind The Turning, I have concerns about its roots and methodology.
‘The Turning’ uses a formula of evening meetings for believers, followed by morning outreach on the street aided by a simple script. It encourages believers of all ages and backgrounds to engage in mission. I applaud Oyekan’s concern that church not be a spectator sport and understand his frustration at fellowships not being geared towards large-scale outreach. However, in justifying his own approach, he also disparages virtually all traditional methods of evangelism and accuses Reading churches of hitherto squandering God’s grace.
Broad Street, Reading. See Photo Credits.
Oyekan claims that God has for some time been looking “to release this evangelistic grace” but has “not found an Apostolic or denominational outlet to land in”4 – until the Gate Church started The Turning. Again, these are significant claims about his own ministry and about other churches that warrant further exploration.
Worryingly, Oyekan’s report implies strongly that the success of the ‘outpouring’ depends to some extent on believers and churches embracing practices associated with the ‘NAR’.5 Oyekan claims that the Reading churches that welcomed The Turning were made more receptive by their previous embrace of ‘soaking’, a practice associated with the Toronto Blessing. Oyekan praises Christians who “have stood in the fire of the outpouring”6 (i.e. participated in each evening’s ‘soaking’ session). He himself is a self-confessed disciple of Bill Johnson,7 founder and leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, which has received criticism for its New Age overtones.
All this implies that churches participating in The Turning are not just buying into an outreach campaign, they are buying into a particular stream of charismatic Christianity – a stream that many Christians find to be at least partly, if not totally, heretical. Those who express concern are branded ‘resistant’ to the things of God.
It remains to be seen how these roots impact The Turning’s practical, on-street encounters. However, they are signs that should prompt further, prayerful investigation, not acceptance of the campaign at face value.
The Method
Oyekan dedicates several pages of his report to discussing the pros and cons of using a script as a basis for outreach. He admits openly that The Turning’s script is “virtually identical to the one formulated by Dr Rodney Howard Brown [sic] in his book “The Great Awakening, Power Evangelism Manual””, and that “The evangelist we invited, Tommie Zito, was a disciple of Dr Rodney Howard Brown [sic]”.8 It is unclear exactly why Oyekan believes Howard-Browne to be a worthy source of inspiration, but the fact that he does is another warning sign.9
The script takes the form of a short introduction, followed by three short Scripture verses quoted in succession. A prayer is offered, during which the subject is invited to repeat a version of the ‘sinner’s prayer’. Emphasis is placed throughout on being quick; the entire process can be over in a few minutes. The subject continues on his/her way – now apparently a new creature in Christ - and another ‘response’ (‘decision’) is recorded.
Churches participating in The Turning are not just buying into an outreach campaign, they are buying into a particular stream of charismatic Christianity.
Those who take issue with the script are casually dismissed: Oyekan admits that “one pastor was in tears as he felt it was deficient in its gospel proclamation. Emotionally, the script touches on everyone’s pride…”.10 In other words, those who are humble accept The Turning; those who dare to criticise it must have a prideful heart.
This lack of self-reflection is concerning, but Oyekan goes further, suggesting that local leaders surrender their authority and get on board with The Turning without dissent: “it is strongly advisable that the leaders humble themselves and acknowledge that their need of a grace from Christ is no less necessary than that of their flocks”.11
Oyekan then takes aim at traditional evangelistic tracts which, in his view, focus too much on explaining people’s need for salvation, appealing “primarily to the intellect” rather than to the heart.12 What is needed instead are touchy-feely, emotional ‘encounters’ of God’s love. Somewhat confusingly, however, Oyekan later admits that The Turning script needs more scriptural content and that it has been revised since the Reading outreach in 2016.
Obsession with ‘Decisions’
One of my main operational concerns with The Turning is its near obsession with clocking up ‘decisions’ (or ‘responses’ as Oyekan prefers to term them). Each day of the campaign in Edinburgh, Oyekan inserted in huge bold type on his Facebook page the number of decisions recorded. Scores of his followers exulted enthusiastically over such an amazing move of the Spirit – signs of a great spiritual awakening.
I, on the other hand, could in no way rejoice over such statistics. What ‘decision’ did the individuals make? Were they presented with the true Gospel? Do we really expect hundreds of people to truly be spiritually regenerated within a few short minutes of being approached?
I think we need to be wary of instant decisions. Christ calls for a deeper response – one which may not be so easily ascertainable. It’s not that a decision is in itself wrong, but it cannot be taken as synonymous with a true conversion.
I think we need to be wary of instant decisions. Christ calls for a deeper response – one which may not be so easily ascertainable.
Oyekan actually admits that Tommie Zito was happy to let the outreach happen without any follow-up whatsoever. However, Oyekan rightly disagrees with this and states that since the goal is to make disciples, not converts, follow-up is vital. Though Gate Church had “no credible follow-up plan” in 2016,13 an emphasis on follow-up is now much more visible on The Turning website, so one hopes that this aspect of the outreach is now receiving proper investment.
Click here to read part 2 of this analysis.
About the author: Tom Lennie has a long-standing interest in revival and has authored a trilogy of historical studies on Scottish revivals: ‘Land of Many Revivals’ (1527-1857), ‘Glory in the Glen’ (1880-1940) and the newly-published, ‘Scotland Ablaze: The Twenty-Year Fire of Revival That Swept Scotland 1858-79’ (December 2018). His interest in The Turning was sparked by reports of the Reading ‘outpouring’ and fuelled further by its arrival in Edinburgh, his home city, as well as by the involvement of several acquaintances.
References
1 The Story of The Turning, World Prayer Centre, 1 February 2017.
3 See Zito's website, here.
4 Oyekan, Y. The Turning Learning Review: ‘The Outpouring’, p7. All further quotes and page references are from this document, which is also available at http://theturning.eu/learning-review/.
5 p6. ‘NAR’ stands for ‘New Apostolic Reformation’, a short-hand term for a group of ministries that promote teachings from the 1940s Latter Rain Movement.
6 p10, p20.
7 p26.
8 p12.
9 For more information on this, see Blessing the Church?, chapter 4: ‘From North Battleford to Toronto’.
10 p13.
11 p7.
12 p14.
13 pp18-19.
