Does Scott Walker Speak in Tongues?

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On August 29, 2008 I wrote a post entitled “Does Sarah Palin Speak in Tongues?”  It remains one of the most read posts at The Way of Improvement Leads Home.  It was published simultaneously at Religion in American History and it did quite well there too.

If I remember correctly, I wrote this post a day or two after John McCain picked Palin as his running mate in the 2008 presidential election. The piece was one of the first to raise the issue of Palin’s Pentecostalism.

I thought about my Sarah Palin post last night as I sat down to read Jud Lounsbury’s piece at The Progressive: “Speaking in Tongues Just Part of the Fun at Scott Walker’s Church,”  

Here is a taste:

Meadowbrook is one of nine churches in the Milwaukee area that end in “brook,” which sprung out of the Elmbrook megachurch in nearby Brookfield, Wisconsin. The church is not affiliated with any organized religion and was started by an Englishman named D. Stuart Briscoe, who came to Wisconsin in 1970 and had no formal religious training.

A 1988 Milwaukee Journal profile of the church said the congregation is “almost all white, young, and affluent.” And that “its critics say its emphasis is on saving souls while ignoring more earthly social issues, and its theology reinforces—even blesses the lifestyle of many of its members.”     
Although these churches advertise themselves as nondenominational, their beliefs mirror that of most uber-conservative Pentecostal churches, “a form of religion that is more conservative in its religious philosophy but also in the social and political philosophy that characterizes the majority of the church.”  In addition, “although Elmbrook calls itself nondenominational, couples cannot be married in the church unless they’ve had ‘born-again’ experiences.”  
“Many of those attending the church espouse an attitude that anyone that does not accept their born-again theology is not Christian,” the Milwaukee Journal article also states.
Walker’s branch, Meadowbrook, doesn’t have any female pastors or “Elders,” which are the governing body of the church. According to same Milwaukee Journal article, “the church has ordained female pastors, but cannot elect women to their Council of Elders because its constitution forbids it.”  On the church’s website, a similar note is struck when it states that women are the “weaker” partner and should obey the Bible’s teachings on submission to their husbands. 
In fact, church members believe that everything in the Bible is literally true and “without error” and that Christ’s return (and the ensuing Apocalypse) is “imminent.”   
They also speak in tongues. If you’re not familiar with speaking in tongues, it’s when God supposedly speaks through a person. But God apparently doesn’t speak any of the human languages, so it all comes out as gibberish. Luckily, if a trained man of God is nearby, he can translate it all for you.
Several things strike me about this article.
I was unaware that charismatic gifts such as speaking in tongues were a prominent part of the Elmbrook network of churches, either under the ministry of Jill and Stuart Briscoe or their successor, Mel Lawrenz.  The Briscoes came from the Holiness movement, but I don’t think their theology celebrated speaking in tongues.

Moreover,  a quick glance at the doctrinal statement of the Meadowbrook Church (including the section on the Holy Spirit) does not say anything about speaking in tongues.  In fact, the statement looks pretty boilerplate evangelical (non-Pentecostal).  The link in Lounsbury’s article embedded in the  words “speak in tongues” is dead.  This link apparently connects Meadowbrook’s former pastor John Mackett to tongues-speaking.

There is a Meadowbrook Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin that is Pentecostal and not affiliated with the Elmbrook network of churches. I do not think Walker attends this church.
I also found a similar piece written by Jud Lounsbury in The Progressive.  It is entitled “Palin Got Hounded for Her Pentecostalism, But Not Scott Walker.”  In this piece Lounsbury once again tries to paint Meadowbrook as a Pentecostal church but provides no evidence on this front beyond a vague reference to a BBC website on Pentecostalism which states “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.”  Based on this, he concludes that Walker’s Meadowbrook Church must be Pentecostal.
Both of Lounsbury’s pieces reveal a general lack of knowledge of evangelical Christianity.  For example, in the “Speaking in Tongues” piece he quotes a 1988 Milwaukee Journal article on the Elmbrook Churches that is close to thirty years old and does not appear to have a very strong grasp of American religion.  Again, here is the paragraph from Lounsbury’s article with the stuff from the Journal in quotes:
Although these churches advertise themselves as nondenominational, their beliefs mirror that of most uber-conservative Pentecostal churches, “a form of religion that is more conservative in its religious philosophy but also in the social and political philosophy that characterizes the majority of the church.”  In addition, “although Elmbrook calls itself nondenominational, couples cannot be married in the church unless they’ve had ‘born-again’ experiences.”   
There are several problems with this:
1. The Journal’s definition of Pentecostalism could apply to any conservative evangelical church in the United States. So could a similar definition of Pentecostalism he uses in the “Palin Got Hounded”
piece.  I don’t think Lounsbury understands the difference between a Pentecostal evangelical and a non-Pentecostal evangelical.
2. Lounsbury seems to have no clue about the meaning of “nondenominational.”  Nearly every nondenominational church that I know is an evangelical church that celebrates the “born-again” experience and will only marry those who have confessed to have had such an experience.  The idea that churches like this exist in the United States may be news to the readers of The Progressive, but there are millions of people who would embrace such a view of marriage and there are thousands of evangelical churches–conservative, moderate, and progressive–that would uphold these views.
While I am not fan of Scott Walker, I am a fan of accurate reporting on religion and politics.  It appears that this piece at The Progressive is an attempt to discredit Walker by connecting him to the religious beliefs of Palin.  (And even if he was connected to Pentecostalism in some way he would be part of one of the world’s fastest growing religious movements).
As my 2008 post argued, Palin was a Pentecostal.  She attended an Assemblies of God Church–a historic Pentecostal denomination.  Walker may or may not speak in tongues.  And perhaps the Meadowbrook Church does have a certain charismatic flavor that the mother church–Elmbrook–does not.  But if this is the case, Lounsbury and The Progressive are going to need some better evidence.
Here is a much better piece on Walker’s church.

ADDENDUM:  You should also check out Heath Carter’s recent piece on Walker and evangelicalism at The New Republic.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom Van Dyke says

    It appears that this piece at The Progressive is an attempt to discredit Walker by connecting him to the religious beliefs of Palin.

    It won't be the last, I'm sure.

    Nice job, Dr. Fea. I hope you're there when more of this slime is published.

    BTW, I'm still amazed that the “Black Value System” [?!] of Barack Obama's Trinity Church in Chicago never got any press.

    https://trinitychicago.org/the-black-value-system/

    Well, actually, I'm not amazed at all, but you know what I mean. In a sane world, at least some of this would have been found questionable in a president of all the people.

    Commitment to the Black Community. The highest level of achievement for any Black person must be a contribution of strength and continuity of the Black Community.

    Commitment to the Black Family. The Black family circle must generate strength, stability and love, despite the uncertainty of externals, because these characteristics are required if the developing person is to withstand warping by our racist competitive society.

    Adherence to the Black Work Ethic.

    Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness.”

    Pledge to Make the Fruits of All Developing and Acquired Skills Available to the Black Community.

    Pledge Allegiance to All Black Leadership Who Espouse and Embrace the Black Value System.

  2. Jud Lounsbury says

    Hi — This is Jud Lounsbury. Meadowbrook has confirmed to me that they do, in fact, speak on tongues at their church and Elmbrook (Meadowbrook's daughter church) also has it and other charismatic practices as well.

    I'd also like to point out that my point in the first article was to defend Obama from Walker's thinly veiled attack that he wasn't a Christian, by pointing out that a lot Christians don't think some of the practices at Walker's church are Christian. And in the second article, my larger point was that Palin (as well as Michelle Bachmann) got put through the ringer about the beliefs of their church that are considered outside the mainstream.

  4. John Fea says

    Hi Jud: Thanks for the response. I appreciate it. I am no fan of Palin or Walker, but if the “Brook” churches are now Pentecostal or Charismatic they must have changed considerably from the 1990s when I visited there a few times. I will need to check this out.

    It seems the problem here relates to what is “mainstream” and what is not. This gets complicated when you consider that roughly 1 in 4 Christians worldwide are Pentecostal. http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/november/why-are-pentecostals-growing.html I am sure Pentecostals would be outside the mainstream for your readership at The Progressive, but it is hard to say that the readers of The Progressive represent the mainstream of America.

    Thanks!

  5. Jud Lounsbury says

    Those are some good points. I think what the “Brook” try to do is be like a Wal-Mart for evangelical Christians and try to get as many in the door as possible. To do that they try to appeal to as many as possible, including charismatics.

    As far as what is mainstream, I agree that is difficult to gauge, but in the U.S. only 3.6% identify as pentecostal and http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/ (click on the %'s) and then there is probably another 2-4% that call themselves “nondemnominational” or something else, but have most of the attributes of a pentecostal church.

  6. Tom Van Dyke says

    For the record

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/walker-says-he-is-unaware-whether-obama-is-a-christian/2015/02/21/6fde0bd0-ba17-11e4-bc30-a4e75503948a_story.html

    “I’ve actually never talked about it or I haven’t read about that,” Walker said, his voice calm and firm. “I’ve never asked him that,” he added. “You’ve asked me to make statements about people that I haven’t had a conversation with about that. How [could] I say if I know either of you are a Christian?”

    Walker said such questions from reporters are reflective of a broader problem in the nation’s political-media culture, which he described as fixated on issues that are not relevant to most Americans.

    “To me, this is a classic example of why people hate Washington and, increasingly, they dislike the press,” he said. “The things they care about don’t even remotely come close to what you’re asking about.”

    Walker could have been making a point about the fatuousness of the press, and indeed, he's right.

    I'd also like to point out that my point in the first article was to defend Obama from Walker's thinly veiled attack that he wasn't a Christian, by pointing out that a lot Christians don't think some of the practices at Walker's church are Christian.

    What I find harder to buy is the Mr. Lounsbury is proceeding here out of an honest pursuit of truth and not a partisan agenda–and in doing so isn't guilty of the same fatuousness Walker was rightly calling out.

  7. Jud Lounsbury says

    @Tom — The larger point of the question directed at Walker was to see if we was one of an alarming number of Republican leaders that speculate about Obama's religion and suggest if he is a Muslim.

    As for your other point about religion not being part of the public arena, that depends. It is Walker that has said that his religion guides everything he does in his public policy life. If his religion stats that we are in the end times, then that's not an insignificant footnote about this guy.

  8. Tom Van Dyke says

    Blogger Jud Lounsbury said…
    @Tom — The larger point of the question directed at Walker was to see if we was one of an alarming number of Republican leaders that speculate about Obama's religion and suggest if he is a Muslim.

    Exactly, a trap. And Walker quite contemptuously stepped around it. And this fact makes your original explanation

    I'd also like to point out that my point in the first article was to defend Obama from Walker's thinly veiled attack that he wasn't a Christian

    untenable.

    As for your other point about religion not being part of the public arena, that depends. It is Walker that has said that his religion guides everything he does in his public policy life. If his religion stats that we are in the end times, then that's not an insignificant footnote about this guy.

    Would that you'd been as curious about Barack Obama's church and its racialist “Black System of Values,” the sort of thing that would knock any Republican right out of the election.

  9. Dave Hoffner says

    Hi,

    I'm kind of late to the conversation, but since I was a member of Elmbrook for several years, and have maintained several friendships despite moving away, I was very surprised by what I read here. Speaking in tongues was not a practice at Elmbrook, nor at any of its sister churches when we we there. I believe Mr. Lounsbury has some unfortunate wires crossed here. There are two Meadowbrook churches in Wisconsin, and they both have websites. The one in Wauwatosa (a suburb of Milwaukee) has a website that can be found at http://www.mbctosa.org. The website for the church in Green Bay can be found at http://www.themeadowbrookchurch.com. Mr. Lounsbury weaves back and forth in quoting the Milwaukee Journal article and the church website, so it's hard in this comment to isolate them, but all the doctrinal statements that are backed up by expired links in the article match quite well with the doctrinal statements on the website of the Green Bay church. If that is the church Governor Walker goes to, then Mr. Lounsbury has a point. But if Walker goes to the church in Wauwatosa, then I would say that the statements about that church's beliefs and practices are not accurate (specifically the roles of women, and speaking in tongues).

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