It's not always easy to see if a church is Pentecostal because many Pentecostal denominations don't include the word 'Pentecostal' in their name. It is also a movement of renewal or revival within other denominations. Pentecostalism is not a church in itself, but a movement that includes many different churches. Most Pentecostals think that their movement is returning Christianity to a pure and simple form of Christianity that has much in common with the very earliest stage in the life of the Christian church. Pentecostalism is based on a key event in the life of the early Christians: the baptism of the twelve disciples by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The direct experience of God is revealed by gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing. This fills the believer with the Holy Spirit, which gives the believer the strength to live a truly Christian life. Pentecostal churches stress the importance of conversions that amount to a Baptism in the Spirit. Its members believe they are driven by the power of God moving within them. Pentecostals believe that faith must be powerfully experiential, and not something found merely through ritual or thinking. Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity that emphasises the work of the Holy Spirit and the direct experience of the presence of God by the believer. The research was based on an analysis of the English Church Census, carried out by the charity Christian Research and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

New Testament Church of God, Harehills, Leeds ©Īccording to research published in December 2006, Pentecostals are the fastest-growing group of Christians in the UK.

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