Signs and Wonders - The Beginnings of The Movement

The Beginnings of The Movement

The recent emerging emphasis on signs and wonders began in 1981 when John Wimber delivered a lecture at Fuller Theological Seminary entitled, “Signs, Wonders and Church Growth.” From 1982 to 1985 Wimber taught the course, “The Miraculous and Church Growth.” The story of this course that many in the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Neocharismatic traditions would consider historic is told in Wagner’s Signs and Wonders Today, published in 1983.

Prior to John Wimber, most healing ministries were tied to their leaders. A distinctive feature of Wimber’s teaching was what some have called the “democratization” of healing. From 1981 onward, a new “Signs and Wonders” movement was underway with an emphasis on equipping and empowering the laity to minister in the power of the Spirit. Wimber’s works include A Brief Sketch of Signs and Wonders through the Church Age, Signs and Wonders and Church Growth, Power Evangelism, Power Healing, Power Encounters and Power Points. John Wimber credited Trevor Martin’s Kingdom Healing as a significant item in the formation of his own theology.

As the Signs and Wonders movement began to emerge out of Wimber’s teaching, dialogue on manifestations of the Spirit became more active. The 1982 meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies in Pasadena, California focused on the gifts of the Spirit. S. S. Schatzmann, who had previously released The Pauline Concept of Charismata in the Light of Recent Critical Literature in 1981, presented his work to the society. A compilation of papers, entitled, Gifts of the Spirit: Papers Presented at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, November 18-20, 1982 represents the content of the 1982 meeting.