Toronto Blessing

The Toronto Blessing has become synonymous within charismatic Christian circles for terms and actions that include an increased awareness of God's love, religious ecstasy, external observances of ecstatic worship, being slain in the Spirit, uncontrollable laughter, emotional and/or physical euphoria, crying, healing from emotional wounds, healing of damaged relationships, and electric waves of the spirit. "Holy laughter", as a result of overwhelming joy, was a hallmark manifestation, and there were also some reports of instances of participants roaring like lions or making other animal noises. Leaders and participants present in these services claim that most of these manifestations, including some people roaring like lions, were physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit's presence and power, while some Pentecostal and charismatic leaders believe these were the counterfeits of the Spirit as is mentioned in the biblical passage of 2 Thessalonians 2:9. In December, 1994, Toronto Life Magazine declared TAV as Toronto's most notable tourist attraction for the year. The events that occurred at the Toronto Blessing are not unique in Christian history; similar events were recorded as happening within the Azusa Street revival of the early 1900s as well as in other revival movements throughout the history of Christian church movements. The Bible also records supernatural events when people encountered God and describes lightning coming from the top of Mount Sinai in Exodus 20:18 when the 10 Commandments were given, Jewish soldiers and temple police falling down in the Garden of Gethsemane when encountering Jesus in John 18:6, Moses' face shining when descending Mount Sinai in Exodus 34:35, and a cloud of glory that appeared over the Hebrew tent of meeting in Exodus 40:34. Proponents of the Toronto Blessing point to these biblical examples as partial evidence of the activities in their meetings being legitimate. Clark testified to being miraculously healed after a bad car accident while a teenager many years earlier. This event made him believe in supernatural healing, even though at the time he was part of a denomination that believed the gifts of the Spirit were no longer part of the way God operates in the lives of Christians. A follow-up study conducted in 1997 also yielded similar figures from the original survey respondents. • Second Great Awakening led by Charles Finney ==Reaction and criticism==

Some Christian leaders were enthusiastic about what they saw as a renewal in North American Christianity, while others saw it as heretical and spiritually dangerous. The laughter portion of these meetings was endorsed by Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts and Pat Robertson, who said in one interview that "The Bible says in the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy." Critics referred to it as self-centered and evil and claimed that the strange manifestations were warning signs for other Christian believers to stay away. Others defended the blessing as historically rooted in earlier revivals, such as those seen by pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards, and as having positive effects in the lives of participants. James Beverley, a critic of the Toronto Blessing and a professor at Toronto-based Tyndale Seminary, stated that these events were a "mixed blessing", but was later quoted in 2014 as saying, "whatever the weaknesses are, they are more than compensated for by thousands and thousands of people having had tremendous encounters with God, receiving inner healings, and being renewed." He also stated, "My concerns have changed a bit. I regret saying that they did not give enough attention to Jesus. I think that was too hard. The leaders and the people, they love Jesus. We all do not give enough attention to Jesus." ==Timeline of immediate and subsequently impacted events==

1994: The Toronto Blessing began at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church, when pastors John and Carol Arnott were reportedly inspired by revivals in South Africa as well as those in Argentina that were led by Claudio Freidzon. In that first revival service, there were about 120 people in attendance, and Arnott stated that most members fell on the floor "laughing, rolling, and carrying on". A few months later, in May 1994, Eleanor Mumford, the wife of a Vineyard pastor who herself had attended the services at TAV, traveled to Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in London, England where, after sharing her testimony, manifestations and activities similar to those that occurred at TAV began to also occur at HTB. It was also recorded that members of the Newfrontiers group of churches visited Toronto, and upon their return home, revival began breaking out in their churches. 1995: Charisma Magazine reported that an estimated 4,000 churches in England and another 7,000 churches in North America had been impacted by this new revival movement. During this same year, Steve Hill, an Assemblies of God evangelist, who was recorded as being powerfully impacted when he attended Holy Trinity Brompton, was asked to preach at the Brownsville Assembly of God church in Pensacola, Florida. A handful of staff members of this church had also been to the services in Toronto, and had been praying for revival for several years. Nicky Gumbel was also later recorded as being in attendance at some of the Toronto Blessing meetings. Manifestations of the kind associated with the Toronto Blessing were also recorded in Colin Urquhart's earlier book, "When The Spirit Comes," which appeared during the 1970s and chronicled the renewals which occurred at the church in Luton, England where Urquhart was, for a time, incumbent. The phenomena associated with the charismatic renewal have been championed by such clergy as Urquhart and David Watson in Britain, as well as by countless preachers worldwide, but have also been criticized as dehumanizing and as being rooted in extreme aesthetic reactions to religious stimuli. ==Impact on Christian culture==

The events that started in 1994 spurred many Christians hungry for deeper encounters with God to visit the church in Toronto, or attend other events around the world that were also influenced by what occurred during the Toronto Blessing. These include Bill Johnson, Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, Heidi and Rolland Baker, Missionaries to Mozambique, Africa, and Che Ahn, Senior Pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California. Each of these leaders has also had a major impact on the 21st Century Charismatic Movement through regular conferences and revival meetings, including Azusa Now, Jesus Culture Conferences, The Call and The Send. Positive impact Many different ministers traveled to TAV, and later, Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) to experience for themselves what was happening during the Toronto Blessing meetings, as well as in the years to follow. These ministers have stated in various books and public teachings that they were present in the meetings, had differing positive encounters, and reported the fruit of those encounters: Harvest International Ministries (HIM): started nightly meetings after their pastor, Che Ahn, attended services at TAV. These meetings lasted for three years and, since that time, HIM has planted thousands of churches in over 60 nations. IRIS Global: Heidi Baker, after attending the meetings in Toronto, went back to Mozambique, and in the years since, along with her husband, Rolland Baker, has planted more than 10,000 churches throughout Africa and Asia. Their organization, Iris Global, also provides food for 10,000 children each day, operates three primary schools, and five Bible schools; all of this success is attributed to what started in Toronto. Bethel Church: One year after Bill Johnson, a pastor in Weaverville, California, visited TAV, he took over as the senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California. Bethel has become known as a place of supernatural healing, impartation, and ministry training as a result of what occurred in Toronto. He makes these claims in reference to phenomena that occurred during the Toronto Blessing such as shaking, jerking, and writhing on the floor. The claims of Strom have been directly disputed in a formal response by Randy Clark as well as in a book written by John Arnott with his explanation of the disputed events. Denominational splits - In December 1995, the Toronto Airport Vineyard church was released from affiliation with the Vineyard movement. The reasons for the disaffiliation were for growing tension over the church's emphasis on extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Spirit, the methods used to logistically manage the ministry time during the services, a concern about leaders not abiding by established Association of Vineyard Churches guidelines, and the Vineyard leadership's inability to exercise oversight over the revival. Bethel Church, located in Redding, California, and other organizations also later detached themselves from the Assemblies of God to support their own spiritual practices and movements that had occurred during the revival meetings. == See also ==