An abbreviated history:
In the late 1960’s, a movement known as the Charismatic Renewal began to sweep through Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches. The Charismatic Renewal helped millions of Christians have a more personal and vibrant experience of the Holy Spirit.
They began to exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit and found new freedom to praise and worship the Lord. A number of Christian communities came into being at the same time as the Charismatic Renewal. These communities provided a great deal of service and leadership to the renewal in its early years. Eventually several dozen communities came into being, scattered around the world. The association of Christian communities that became
The Sword of the Spirit began in 1970 when the Word of God Community was formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The original members made a covenant to live as brothers and sisters in Christ, inaugurating a new form of renewal community: covenant community.
In the following years the Word of God Community built close relationships with other covenant communities around the world until in 1982 the leaders of the Word of God Community expanded the international work which the Lord began by organizing an international community called The Sword of the Spirit. Other communities were invited to join with them. The first group of communities did so because they recognized a common call from God to live as part of a single international, ecumenical community of communities, called The Sword of the Spirit.
Part 1:
Origins of the Charismatic Renewal
Part 4:
Relations Among Communities and Call to Build a Bulwark
Part 2:
From Prayer Group to Community
Part 3:
Community Life
Part 5:
Ecumenism and Church Relations
Part 6:
Outreach and Mission
Part 7:
Strengthening, Growth and the Future
About the authors
Bruce Yocum, Bob Bell and Henry Dieterich
Bruce Yocum, a leader of the writing team, and author in his own right, had been part of the communities movement since 1968 and held various leadership roles over the past 50 years. He was instrumental in the formation and growth of numerous communities in the Sword of the Spirit. He lived in London, England, and was part of Antioch, a member community of the Sword of the Spirit.
Henry Dieterich has been present in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, for most of the time since the beginnings of the communities movement. He holds a doctorate degree in history from the University of Michigan and did most of the actual writing of the history, fostering a rigorous standard of historical research and accuracy. Henry lives in Ann Arbor with his wife Roz and is a member of Word of Life there, a community of the Sword of the Spirit.
Bob Bell was also present in Ann Arbor for decades, starting in the autumn of 1967 and an eyewitness to much of the early history of the Sword of the Spirit and the communities movement. He was also part of the start-up team for Jerusalem, the Sword of the Spirit community in Belgium. He works for the Sword of the Spirit administrative and editorial staff and has made his home in London, England, and is also part of Antioch, a member community of the Sword of the Spirit.
