Book Reviews 155

Timothy B. Cremeens, Marginalized Voices: A History of the Charismatic Movement in the Orthodox Church in North America 1972–1993 (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publica- tions, 2018). xii + 197 pp. $20.80 paperback.

It is a common refrain among many in the Christian West that the Charismatic Renewal impacted every Christian body, except the Eastern Orthodox Church. Marginalized Voices: A History of the Charismatic Movement in the Orthodox Church in North America 1972–1993 offers a clear challenge to this popular asser- tion, which this reviewer must confess to having accepted as general knowl- edge. An Orthodox priest himself, the author, Timothy B. Cremeens sets out to disabuse the readers of this common error, shares the story of pentecostal and charismatic movements, and places the historic ministries of Orthodox charismatics in that context. The Orthodox Church has consistently claimed to be the Church that was born at Pentecost and, for Cremeens, that asser- tion requires observing the movement of the Holy Spirit through the history of the Church. The pentecostal and charismatic movements, and particularly the Charismatic Renewal movement within the Roman Catholic Church, raise the question about that Orthodox identity, and Cremeens writes, in part, to answer that question. It begins with a foreword from Vinson Synan, who served as the director of the doctoral dissertation which resulted in this book. Synan presents Cre- meens’ credentials as someone who grew up in the Holiness and Pentecostal churches and entered the ministry in the Orthodox Church, eventually receiv- ing his PhD from Regent University. The unique voice Cremeens is able to offer as someone who speaks within the communion of the Orthodox Church, hav- ing a lifetime of experience and study in pentecostal and charismatic settings gives authority to his writing. Rather than relying on that personal authority, however, Cremeens provides a historically-grounded testimonial through the witness of priests and laity in the Orthodox Church—a careful account that illuminates a story lost to the rest of the Movement. Cremeens presents Chapter 1 as a conclusion before the work is even started: the Orthodox suspicion of the Charismatic Movement as something born in Protestant (ergo heretical) spirituality and the failure of charismatic leaders to adequately translate and present the gifts of Renewal in a sufficiently Orthodox manner accounts for why one cannot at present speak of a pervasive Renewal movement in the Orthodox Church. The reality, says Cremeens, is that what appears to be innovative to Orthodox Christians has no power by compari- son to the ancient charisms of Orthodoxy. This is drawn out well by exploring the seeds for charismatic renewal in the ancient church, especially in the per- son of St. Symeon the New Theologian, followed by a concise history of the

PNEUMA © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/15700747-04101005 156 Book Reviews pentecostal movement in North America, in all its streams (Chapter 2). The historical analysis continues with the Charismatic Movement (Chapter 3), the Charismatic Renewal of the Roman Catholic Church (Chapter 4), and a cursory foundation to the Charismatic Movement in the Orthodox Church (Chapter 5). Here, the book’s focus and method shifts from the historical generalities of movements at work in ecclesial bodies to the specific experience of charis- matic leaders in the Orthodox Church: Archimandrite Eusebius Stephanou (Chapter 6), Father Boris Zabrodsky (Chapter 7), and Father Orest Olekshy (Chapter 8). These chapters, intensely biographical, present the testimonies and communities formed by Orthodox clergy who encountered the Holy Spirit in a way that they had not been prepared for. The way in which their ministries sought marginalized groups and preached the reconciling power of the Gospel has echoes of the words shared at Asuza and other places that pentecostals and charismatics can identify with. The consistent rejection of the hierarchy and the suspicion of the laity that flows through their narratives resonates strongly with the stories of leaders from William Seymour to John Wimber. There is a common heritage of struggle for the renewal of the Church shared by charis- matics in Orthodox and other Christian fellowships. In these three chapters, Creemens provides an intimate knowledge of the story of Renewal ministry over its first twenty-one years (1972–1993) that raise the question Chapter 9 is devoted to: “Was there a genuine Charismatic ‘Movement’ in the Orthodox Church?” This chapter explores the current state of Orthodoxy in North Amer- ica and its disposition towards the characteristics of charismatic renewal, and the barriers that would need to be overcome for such a movement to flourish. Marginalized Voices is simple enough in form: history and testimony con- cerning the efforts of the Charismatic Renewal in the Orthodox Church in North America. As history, Cremeens provides one of the most thorough and concise histories of the various streams of pentecostal and charismatic move- ments in North America that I’ve encountered in pentecostal scholarship. His ability to connect that with both continuity and discontinuity of Orthodox testimony and experience in the succeeding chapters generates a wealth of knowledge for the Movement, and opens the door to further study and dis- cussion, both in ancient resources (St. Symeon the New Theologian) and the charismatic luminaries who so devotedly labored in the Orthodox Church. Our knowledge of the Charismatic Renewal would be remarkably incomplete with- out this work. Synans’ commendation in the foreword is well-deserved. This is a much- needed resource that illuminates a neglected area of charismatic history in North America. For very nearly any reader, Marginalized Voices enables us to hear the tongues of Orthodox brothers and sisters who worship in Spirit and

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