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The Toronto Blessing is a term coined by the British press to describe the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January 1994 at Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship, now known as Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF), a neocharismatic evangelical Christian church located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants in the conferences and meetings sponsored by TACF have reported healings, incidents of personal transformation and a greater awareness of God's love. It has also been referred to as "The Father's Blessing", "The Anointing", "The Awakening", "The River", "The Fire". Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) is a Christian church and religious organization in Etobicoke, part of the city of Toronto, Canada. ... Neocharismatic is a reference to those Christians who have received Pentecostal-like experiences, yet they claim no association with either the Pentecostal or Charismatic movements. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The word evangelicalism often refers to... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 107 Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area...

At TACF Revival services, worshippers have exhibited unusual behaviours that they attribute to an encounter with God and the “fire of the Holy Spirit”. The most common described behaviours include hysterical laughter (or “holy laughter”), physical spasms or jerks, falling to the floor under the Holy Spirit's power (aka “slain in the Spirit”) and speaking in tongues. Other less common behaviours include manifestations that resembled roaring like lions and barking like dogs. At one time the TACF website described it thus: “The Toronto Blessing is a transferable anointing. In its most visible form it overcomes worshippers with outbreaks of laughter, weeping, groaning, shaking, falling, 'drunkenness,' and even behaviours that have been described as a 'cross between a jungle and a farmyard.'" The UK magazine 'Christianity' wrote an article on the subject, also noting, "In one meeting in Dudley a woman in the congregation kept making loud ‘cuckoo clock’ noises during the notices and sermon. Eventually John invited her to come to the front. It turned out that he knew her from a visit to Scotland and trusted her as a secure Christian through whom God had been working."^[1] Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      In mainstream... Being Slain in the Spirit is a religious phenomenon that occurs in many Charismatic or Pentecostal church meetings. ... Tongues redirects here. ...

TACF pastors John and Carol Arnott were initially inspired by the revival in Argentina. As a result of their spiritual hunger for revival in Canada, they invited Randy Clark of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, to minister at TACF in January 1994. Randy Clark had been greatly impacted by the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne, a South African preacher, founder of the Rodney Howard-Browne Evangelistic Association in Louisville, Kentucky, author of The Touch of God, and the earliest known proponent of the “holy laughter” revival phenomenon in modern times. Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ... Rodney Howard Browne at May, 2007 Revival Tour in Tampa Rodney Howard-Browne (Born June 12, 1961) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and raised in the Eastern Cape and Transkei, is a charismatic Christian preacher and evangelist who resides in Tampa, Florida, USA since the mid-1990s. ... Look up evangelist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The Blessing has proved immensely popular and in recent years, many Christian travellers have come to the TACF to experience it for themselves. Some estimates are as high as 300,000 visitors. The experience is usually deeply affecting and people are often said to leave the services with a renewed zeal for their faith and an overwhelming desire to spread the message. Some visiting pastors have been so affected by the experience that they have taken the message back to their own flocks, sometimes radically transforming the way that services are conducted in their own churches. Areas that have become known for Toronto Blessing revivals worldwide include Pensacola, Florida, in the United States and Bath in England. The Brownsville Revival (also known as The Pensacola Outpouring) was a widely reported religious phenomenon that began within the Pentecostal movement in 1995. ... , Bath is a small city in Somerset, England most famous for its historic baths fed by three hot springs. ...

The peak of Toronto Blessing prominence in the Christian community occurred in the mid to late 1990s. Since that time it has faded from public view, although the proponents of Discernment Ministries would suggest that these kinds of events are simply part of a wider theological cycle that has existed continually throughout modern era Pentecostalism / Charismatism. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christian theology. ...

Studies at the University of Virginia have pointed out that "the beliefs of... the Toronto Blessing are aligned exactly with those of the Latter Rain revival", which indicates that the phenomenon is not unique, but part of an ongoing and cyclical pattern.^[2] The Latter Rain was a post-war movement within Pentecostal Christianity which remains controversial to this day. ...

In more recent times, the Golden Sword Prophecy^[3] from TACF has been spreading amongst Charismatic churches.

Debates

Believers claim strongly that it is a revival or renewal of God’s true church, where the Holy Spirit manifests in a way that is directly tangible to the participant. They maintain that it is the coming of a new era, where the new leaders will be raised to prominence and people will be drawn to connect to an experience that is truly Godly. God is ready to be present and alive in the world again, they claim, and the true believers are the ones who can feel his presence among them.

Believers also point out the 'fruit' of what are deemed encounters with God and the presence that to many is very tangible at the meetings hosted worldwide by people and groups connected with the Toronto Blessing. Many people come away from the meetings and encounters with a new zeal for their faith and for life in general, as well as a renewed heart to see their faith spread in the world. Many also report physical, emotional, and psychological healings occurring at a very high rate, leaving the people empowered, uplifted, and better connected with God. They cite this as proof that it is a good and Godly movement. It is worth noting, however, that this behavior was never exhibited in the first century Church, nor was it ever condoned by any recognized Church.

It is also pointed out that the Toronto Blessing was never about the 'manifestations' - the laughter, the barking, and the other assorted physical signs - and that it was the non Charismatic church that has missed this point. Many maintain that from the very start, the Toronto Blessing was and continues to be about having made manifest the love of God for and through his church, as spoken of in the Bible in verses concerning Great Commandment, Romans 8, and 1 Corinthians 13. Believers in the Blessing point out that this is the real thing behind the outpouring, something that is missed by those critical of the move.

Neutral observers point out that this type of phenomenon is not at all new. Nor is the resistance to the movement by the average churchgoer who may be unfamiliar with religious experiences.

It should be noted that similar phenomenon such as being "slain in the Spirit", "swooning", "spasms and jerks", "speaking in tongues", and others have been reported during almost every major "revival", "renewal", or "awakening" of the past 200 years throughout the world and has given birth to many modern Christian church denominations including the Baptist, Methodist, and Assemblies of God denominations. Exhibitions of the forementioned activities also occured in 19th century Russia, where the movements were denounced as heresy by the Russian Orthodox Church.

References

Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 200th day of the year (201st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
• Toronto Blessing