Pentecostal Pomp and Circumstance
The Installation Service of General Superintendent Kenneth Haney
page 2 | continued from page 1
Next came Honorary General
Board Member (and Haney mentor) J.T. Pugh for the official charge. He called the
First Couple forward and they faced the pulpit as if it were a wedding and they
were the marriage couple. Reciting how Jesus proclaimed “Hear
O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Mark 12:29), he noted that Oneness Pentecost is the only major religious
breakthrough in the last 500 years.
He ticked off the Three
Rules of Successful Organizations:
1.
Organizations must have energy.
2. Energy comes
from the constituency.
3. The
Constituency won’t give it unless they are involved.
Bro. Pugh began his charge
with, “Inspire us all in excellence, to grow tall and strong…lead us across
the thresholds without fear. Spend yourself wisely and objectively to promote
the collective cause…lead this worldwide cause…and we will follow you.”
“I will accept that charge
tonight, Bro. Pugh. By the grace of God,” Bro. Haney replied. At
this, the crowd rushed to its feet and applauded.
The applause surged when
outgoing General Superintendent Nathaniel Urshan strode to the platform. He
placed an arm around Bro. Haney and said, “I love you, sir.” Pause. “Now
you say it to me.”
As everyone laughed, Bro.
Haney replied, “I love you, Bro. Urshan.” Immediately, Bro. Urshan said,
“And if you get wrong ideas about that, you’re sinners.” This was met with
universal acclaim.
With perfect timing, Bro.
Urshan continued. “I met him when he was 11¾look
what the Lord has done!” This elicited more laughter. “Now he’s General
Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International.”
He then respectfully
disagreed with earlier speakers about the UPCI going to the next level. It
won’t be the next level, Bro. Urshan insisted. “It’s gonna be an
explosion…and we’re going to see the greatest one God revival this world has
ever seen!”
After relating a story about
how God had healed the cancerous wife of a White House aide, he announced that
it was time for the symbolic act of handing over the General Superintendent’s
gavel. As he gave it to Bro. Haney, he said, “This is to keep the General
Board in shape.” As everyone laughed, he added, “Don’t use it on your
wife.”
“Thank you Bro. Urshan. I
respectfully receive the gavel and I’ll try to keep it in its place.”
Honorary General Board
Member C.M. Becton then shared a heart-felt and eloquent
prayer about the Lord filling the gap after “our former General
Superintendent stepped aside so gracefully. There was a gap and you found
him…a man of vision.”
His voice breaking, Bro.
Becton continued, “We are so grateful Lord…You never left us…Your great
blessings…Your greatest blessings upon the United Pentecostal Church.”
Once his voice slid
into silence, the new General Superintendent patted him on the back. As they
exited, Bro. Mike Carlen and Sis. Nancy Kilgore sang a transcendent “I’ve
Just Seen Jesus.” In response, storm clouds of worship burst out in all
corners of the church.
“From his youth,
his journey has been one of faith and courage,” Bro. Mooney stated. “It is
my distinct honor to introduce our General Superintendent Bro. Kenneth Haney.
God bless you, sir.” He then hugged the ascending leader.
Bro. Haney, 64,
opened with, “I cannot tell you how honored my wife, my family and I are
tonight.” After honoring different officials and explaining that he would be
reading, not preaching, for the next 23 minutes he shared his vision.
He pronounced this
was a “church of destiny… we cannot vacillate…it is time to march
forward…for such a time as this.”
After insisting
“We must leave nothing to chance…” he ticked off vision, perseverance and
unity as essentials for the future for, “We have been equipped for the revival
in the final hour.”
Next came
observations on the continuing efforts of Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and Muslims
to share their message with the world before likening today’s religious world
with Revelation’s church of Laodecia,
“secure in false comfort.”
Bro. Haney shared
the story of the young communist in tattered clothes handing out propaganda on
the street corner. When a passerby mentioned he was paying a high price to
spread his doctrine, the boy replied, “No price is too great when you’re
changing the world.”
“It cannot be church as usual! No price is too
great,” he insisted. Disregard the excuses because “we can do all things
through Christ!”
After urging for a baptism of fire, he then began
listing the different specific divisions of the UPCI, starting with the
importance of the women’s ministry (“an untapped source of power…women of
the Word”), Sunday school (with emphasis on children’s revivals), home
missions (imploring everyone to reach toward the “misfits of society”),
foreign missions (after deploring the extended deputational periods of returning
missionaries, he recommended a printing press on every continent), youth (who
must energize these programs), and the World Network of Prayer (for heavenly
assistance in every endeavor).
“It is imperative
that we catch the vision. I give what I believe is the God-ordained vision of
the United Pentecostal Church.
“I am part of the
church of the unashamed…I cannot be bought…I won’t flinch…I will work
until He stops me. My banner is clear. I am part of the church of the
unashamed.”
He closed by asking everyone
to lift their hands and praise the Lord, stating that we must be a global light
in a darkened world.
Walking down the front
platform stairs, he met his wife and the house lights faded. As the Haneys held
aloft two small flashlights in the dark, the World Evangelism Center division
heads (with their respective wives) were called forward to stand beside them.
Then, in respective waves, the WEC staff, ministers, laymen and visitors were
asked to stand and shine their flashlights into the sky. Amid the 3,000 points
of light, everyone prayed for God to use everyone’s individual efforts for His
greater purpose.
When the lights returned,
the choir shared a rousing “The Water Way,” before Bro. Mooney introduced
General Secretary Jerry Jones, to answer the vision. Taking a page from Winston
Churchill, Bro. Jones spoke for ministers and laity alike when he declared,
“We accept your challenge. How could we do less?” Upon referencing
Christ’s call to “Go ye into all the world…” he said, “We will go…We will
go and we will go together. Nothing will get in the way! We will go and we will
all go! Youth…singles and seniors…arm-in-arm, we will go. Today is a sad day
in Hell. The sound of our marching can be heard. History changes here tonight.
We will go until they say of us what they said before, ‘They turned the world
upside down.’ Ladies and Gentlemen¾we will go.”
After the soaring rhetoric,
came good old-fashioned Apostolic analogy. Mixing humor and insight, Pastor
Nathaniel Wilson spoke on behalf of the Haney family. It was here that he
compared the family to auto racing and family get-togethers as collisions at 200
mph, but Bro. Haney as the lead car, cutting the wind ahead.
“We’d be dishonest to
say we weren’t following Bro. Haney’s vision,” he admitted. While others
had a button-down, conservative approach than never wins, Bro. Haney is
different. Wilson noted that when you get right behind the lead car, the drag
pulls you forward in its wake. Yet, if you get too far behind the lead car, it
creates turbulence. “A little insight,” Bro. Wilson added. “Don’t get
too far behind.”
“We want you to race to
win and not just to place…the future is bright and you are in the pole
position!” he proclaimed. “Lead on my dear elder brother¾we
are riding on your bumper!”
Next, the choir and
orchestra electrified the church with “Total Praise.”
Finally, Assistant General
Superintendent Randy Keyes stepped up to deliver the benediction. Now confident
that the end was in sight, he displayed none of the careful urgency felt by the
previous speakers, encouraging some untimed worship and praise to God. He
referenced similarities with Esther being ready “for such a time as this,”
then declared, “I’m gonna buy into his vision.”
From there, it was thanking
everyone for attending, offering a copy of Bro. Haney’s new
book to each family, welcoming all ministers to the official reception, and giving the
benediction prayer.
The Haneys then led a long
procession of officials, visiting dignitaries, and ministers out of the church,
shaking hands with numerous well wishers along the way, the music swelling
behind them in triumph.
ninetyandnine.com
ã
2002, Kent d Curry
--------
Kent
d Curry is an Executive Editor of ninetyandnine.com.
| 
