"Mission has political implications within the given situation... The Holy Spirit empowers and leads us to work for the structural transformation of society as well as the individual transformation of ourselves."

This claim may not sound unusual to Reformed ears, but behind it lies a long and not always easy discussion. It comes from the joint statement drafted by participants in the fifth session of the international Pentecostal-Reformed dialogue, which took place in São Paulo in Brazil in May.

Our discussions revealed the differences, but also the commonalties, in our interpretations of the working of the Spirit: of its immediate effect on our personal life as well as on our missionary task in the world.

As with the Holy Spirit and mission, we also struggled for agreement on the Holy Spirit and the word of God, the Holy Spirit and the church, and the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God, without in any way diluting or denying our respective views. At some points we found surprising similarities in our positions, at others we learned from each other, to the mutual enrichment of our two traditions, and at still others we clarified our differences.

In four preceding consultations, which took place between 1996 and 1999, we became acquainted with each other. We discussed, celebrated and sought for a common faith. A participant in our consultation compared this to two teenagers tentatively embracing each other at their first dance. To begin with, there is curiosity, mixed with fear of contact and awkwardness. In time their steps become more confident, their movements more decisive, and they find pleasure in each other and in the shared dance. That is how it was with us. Over the years, the first careful exchanges about our common faith, the first locating of our different positions, were followed by an ever deeper understanding and ever more direct questioning and answering. While at the beginning we were content merely to observe, in time we came to challenge ever more sharply the identity of the other, and therefore also our own identity. Finally it became clear to us that we cannot talk about each other's tradition without thinking very concretely of our friends from the other side.

We were helped in our dialogue by sharing our spirituality and by participating together in worship in the country where we met. We had quiet devotions and lively Pentecostal services; we sang in São Paulo with a Presbyterian church choir and on the same day prayed with the poor in a Pentecostal church on the edge of a favela.

It became ever clearer to the Reformed participants in the dialogue that there is no such thing as "the" Pentecostal. In spite of its short 100-year history, the Pentecostal movement (which prefers to call itself a movement rather than a church) is already diverse and highly differentiated. Everywhere in the world it is growing, but in the countries of the southern hemisphere it has really exploded. Here it is mixed with contextual and culturally-conditioned forms of piety. A Korean Pentecostal, for example, differs substantially from an Afro-Brasilian Pentecostal.

In Brazil, where for 500 years different cultures have collided and fought and mixed themselves together, we find a particularly broad spectrum of Pentecostal communities. Every month, new communities spring up. Usually they have no awareness of belonging to a fellowship of churches. They are shaped more by a charismatic preacher than by a specific tradition. We heard of quite strange practices in such neo-Pentecostal churches: of stones from Israel, which one must carry for four weeks in one's trouser pocket in order to find a job; of flowers from the Holy Land, which bring the aroma of God into one's living room; of a glass of water which, if placed on the TV when a Pentecostal service is broadcast, promises healing; of moral instructions appended to the Bible, which are not defined as an "appendix" to the Bible but as part of the Bible itself; of collections counted during the service, with permission to go to communion granted or withheld depending on their size; of drinking the blood of Christ, which is literally understood as a "guarantee of victory".

Where such practices are connected with the manipulation to the poor in the slum areas of São Paulo, they dismayed us, Reformed and Pentecostal alike. The neo-Pentecostal movements in Brazil are in competition not only with the established Roman Catholic church, but also with the classical Pentecostals (Assemblies of God) and, of course, with each other. Instead of constructive ecumenical dialogue, they compete for souls and for cash. In a visit to the Methodist University of São Paulo we learned from young scholars who are working on the Pentecostal movement that these neo-Pentecostal communities are violently criticized and called in question by more traditional Pentecostals.

We were all the more grateful for the ecumenical interest of our Pentecostal dialogue partners, which is not to be taken for granted, and which they demonstrated by paying their travel expenses personally. We were also grateful to our hosts, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil - and in particular to Abival Pires da Silveira - for their outstanding hospitality.

The growth of the Pentecostal movement is a challenge for Christianity worldwide. Dialogue is necessary. In our consultations we have tried to face this necessary challenge and, "like two teenagers at their first dance", to come close to each other. We hope that the dialogue will not now stop prematurely and that we can dare to take further steps together.

Gesine von Kloeden, Church of Lippe, Germany