Pentecostal Political Power: The New Apostolic Reformation, with Leah Payne and Caleb Maskell

What is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)? And what does it have to do with conservative political power in the United States and abroad?

Leah Payne and Caleb Maskell join Mark Labberton for a deep dive into the emergence and impact of the New Apostolic Reformation—a loosely affiliated global network blending Pentecostal Christian spirituality, charismatic authority, and political ambition. With their combined pastoral experience and scholarly expertise, Payne and Maskell chart the historical, theological, and sociopolitical roots of this Pentecostal movement—from Azusa Street and Latter Rain revivals to modern dominion theology and global evangelicalism. They distinguish the New Apostolic Reformation from the broader Pentecostal and charismatic traditions, and explore the popular appeal, theological complexity, and political volatility of the New Apostolic Reformation.

Episode Highlights

• “Isn't this just conservative political activism with tongues and prophecy and dominion?”
• “At no point in time in the history of these United States … have Protestants not been interested in having a great deal of influence over public life.”
• “You can be super nationalistic in Guatemala, in Brazil, in India, and in the United States. … It is a portable form of nationalism.”
• “They are not moved by appeals to American democracy or American exceptionalism because they have in their mind the end times and the nation of Israel.”
• “Charismatics and Pentecostals, unlike other forms of American Protestantism … do not have a theological value for democracy.”

Main Themes

• Pentecostalism’s history and global influence
• Charismatic Christianity versus Pentecostalism
• Defining and explaining the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)
• C. Peter Wagner, Lance Hall, and Seven Mountain Mandate
• Dominion theology, Christian nationalism, and the religious Right
• Pentecostals and Trump politics
• Zionism in charismatic theology
• Vineyard movement, worship music, and intimacy with God

Linked Media References

• About Vineyard USA
• God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music by Leah Payne
• The New Apostolic Churches by C. Peter Wagner
• This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti
• Atlantic Article: “The Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows” by Stephanie McCrummen
• Bonhoeffer's America: A Land Without Reformation, by Joel Looper
• Another Gospel: Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity, by Joel Looper

Show Notes

• Leah Payne defines Pentecostalism as “a form of American revivalism”
• William J. Seymour
• Marked by interracial desegregated worship and spiritual “fireworks” like tongues and prophecy
• Mystical experiences of God
• Desegregation and physically touching one another in acts of miraculous healing
• The Azusa Street Revival (1906) identified as a global catalyst for Assemblies of God denomination
• There is no founding theological figure, unlike Luther or Calvin
• Caleb Maskell emphasizes Pentecostalism’s roots in “a founding set of experiences,” not a founding theological figure
• “Limits to what makes a church”
• Lack of ecclesiological clarity leaves Pentecostalism open to both renewal and fragmentation
• Leah highlights Pentecostalism as “a shared experience … a shared series of practices.”
• “Holy Rollers” and being “slain in the Spirit”
• “A different way of knowing”
• “Christians are made through an encounter with Jesus.”
• The global “charismatic movement” and how it has had cross-denominational Influence
• “Charismatic” was a mid-twentieth-century term for Spirit-led practices arising within mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions
• Charismatic means “gifted” or “being given gifts”
• “‘Charismatic’ has typically been a more inclusive word than ‘Pentecostal.’”
• Emphasis on personal spiritual gifts and intimate worship styles
• “They are not respecters of institutions.”
• Figures like Oral Roberts and Amy Semple Mc