Optimistic Over the Next Generation

Using accounts of Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha as background, Assemblies of God General Superintendent George O. Wood in a keynote address Tuesday night expressed confidence in the capabilities of the upcoming generation of ministerial leaders.

In focusing on the transfer spiritually from one generation to another, Wood in kicking off the 2015 General Council in Orlando, Florida, urged the estimated audience of 12,500 not to be content with memories of glories past or the comfortable status quo.

"The walk with Elijah and Elisha has a lot to teach us about generational transfer of spiritual authority and power," said the 73-year-old Wood, who has been general superintendent since 2007. One of his five core values crafted for the Fellowship after his election was "strategically investing in the next generation."

Wood, in the midst of a four-year term as leader of the U.S. Fellowship with 3.1 million adherents, defined the opening of the biennial General Council as a crucial moment. Some of his age group are convinced the AG will fall apart when they leave the scene, Wood noted.

"Just as the Lord had a plan for one generation, so He has a plan for the next one," the energized Wood said. "In other words, the Pentecostal Movement is not coming to an end on our watch no matter what doomsayers in the spirit of Elijah might say."

Pastors must always be on the lookout for young people who have leadership qualities, Wood said. He urged each of the 12,849 U.S. AG churches each year to identify a young person who shows outstanding promise of a lifetime of service to Christ and His kingdom, take offerings, and provide scholarships so that young person could go to an AG college or university.

"We must not lose our young people," Wood said. "We must spend the time and resources to make sure we do everything in our power to effectively mentor the next generation, as Elijah did with Elisha."

Wood encouraged church leaders to be on the lookout for young people that could be God-called and Spirit-empowered servants.

"I'm seeing many young women whom God is calling into vocational ministry," Wood said. "But how can they fulfill their call if the doors are closed to them because they are a woman?"

Discipleship requires a valuable investment of time, Wood said. He noted that Jesus didn't just preach to or teach His disciples; he lived with them. Likewise, this generation needs deeply rooted believers to spend time with them so they may learn by example.

Some older-generation Pentecostals too fondly recall the stories and experiences of the past while discounting the possibilities of the future, Wood cautioned. Remembering Azusa Street, Hot Springs, the Jesus movement, and charismatic renewal is fitting, unless one gets trapped in nostalgia, he said. There are important issues beckoning attention today, he said.

"If we don't keep walking in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, being empowered by the Spirit, we will not have the spiritual discernment and authority to deal with the poison in our culture, and sometimes the poisonous attitudes in the church as well," Wood cautioned.

Wood said the evidence of cultural and family distress is evident by the power of addiction to drugs and alcohol, the confusion of sexual identity, the taking of life in and out of the womb, sex trafficking, racial animosity, and the desperate plight of orphans, widows, and the poor -- all the result of toxic sin.

"If this generation is not filled with the Spirit, if this generation only stays at the museum of Pentecostal history, then there will be no cure for the poison in the pot," Wood said. "The present culture may be more godless than any Elijah or Elisha ever faced. This evil day demands that God's people have a double portion of His Spirit." 

Wood urged those gathered not to fall prey to the prevailing attitudes of culture. Yet the general superintendent contended the Church isn't on an irreversible downward spiral. The young generation today is capable of, in the power of the Spirit, doing the greatest work of evangelism the world has ever seen with signs and wonders following the proclamation of the gospel, Wood declared. There has never been a greater need for Spirit-filled Christians than right now, he said.

"Those in this generation who desire to press through to receive the Spirit's filling, the Spirit's enablement, the Spirit's blessing, the Spirit's empowerment will be far more used of God in this generation than their contemporaries who prefer to stay behind with a more limited ministry and impact," Wood proclaimed. "One generation steps off the stage and another comes on. There will be a successful handoff to the next Pentecostal generation if that generation desires as earnestly as Elisha a double portion of the Spirit's power. 

"Young people and young ministers in this room, my generation has not finished the task," Wood said. "We may have made some progress -- but, there is so much that is left undone." 

Wood concluded by calling those zealous for a move of God's Spirit to come to the platform for prayer.

"Do you want to experience personally the theme of this General Council, to soar into the future with the wind of the Spirit of God lifting you?" Wood asked. "If He is calling you, then come and seek Him for the double portion you need for your life, your family, and your church."

John W. Kennedy

John W. Kennedy served as news editor of AG News from its inception in 2014 until retiring in 2023. He previously spent 15 years as news editor of the Pentecostal Evangel and seven years as news editor at Christianity Today.