Poge Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY By PAUL HASKINS It's Thursday evening on Ann Arbor's West Side and hundreds of townspeople converge on the social hall of a local junior high. Friendly and collected, the crowd is overstated neither in appearance nor be- havior, the kind of demographic cross-section that would do a soft drink commercial proud. As the group files in, another equally affable, though younger, assemblage enters the gym of a high school a few miles to the east, maybe a mile north of the University campus. Though separated -by dis- tance and years, the two groups are about to exper- ience a common phenomenon, the likes of which most Ann Arborites have never fathomed. The two groups, gathering for their weekly Thursday night prayer meetings, together comprise the Word of Gid Community, a charismatic Christian prayer fore eight. At first glance, they look much like any other group of their size - maybe a bit friendlier and' more serene than most. They exchange sincere hugs and professions of how happy they are to see one another. They mill about, their chatter criss-crossing the room as seats fill. By 8:15 over 400 are on hand, and they settle into their places, the banter ground- ing to a halt as Tony Redente, the evening's leader, begins the meeting: "I'd like us all to be attentive to what the Lord has to say tonight - with our ears, but more importantly, with our hearts . . His opening rap completed, Redente directs his audience's attention to the yellow song books resting on each seat. Pages fly open to the appropriate page number, as the lyrics virtually leap out of the song book. Clearly a pleasurable experience, almost everybody The Word of God A c ommunity .. , a /ife group claiming over 1,400 members from Ann Arbor and surrounding areas. The group can be located under, "Word of God, The" in the Ann Arbor directory, and its literature, leaders, and full time staff can be found working at Harris. Hall behind the door stenciled "Charismatic Renewal Services, Inc." But for all its businesslike efficiency and organization, the Word of God defies easy labeling, and can't be characterized as just another traditional denomination. Word of God was spawned in the infancy of the Charismatic Renewal Movement, a nationwide crusade of disgruntled Christians tearing away from what they considered to be the stagnant, entrenched ritual of established churches of the day, moving toward a more experimental approach to prayer and religious service. In eight years, the group has grown from a core of six members meeting in a dingy flat above Campus Corners to the largest single charismatic community in the world. In that time, the community has seen entire families pull up stakes from as far away as Pennsylvania to join their ranks. Though predominant- ly Catholic in makeup, WOG claims members from practically every major denomination. The four hours per week set aside for weekly prayer meetings and Sunday gatherings in no way accurately reflects the time and service commitment of WOG members to the community. Most members live in community houses, either in family settings or in groups of single people segregated by sex. The community is encouraged to eat meals and recreate together as often as possible. WOG members will tell you that a Christian life for them is a full-time experience, but nothing taps there reserve for religious fervor more than the midweek prayer meeting, climaxed by a prayer in tongues - a practice that has been described as dia- bolical by some, and inspiring by others. But for the secular majority who has never before witnessed it, the prayer can only be seen as bizarre in the extreme. At a recent Thursday evening get together at For- sythe Junior High, a predominately older group of WOG members began to congregate a few minutes be- joins in. The few whose anxious strains jump ahead of the group's are soon overtaken by a din that resonates off the high ceilings and distant walls of the auditorium. The first hymn finally fades, but a second is fast on its heels. Voices mend into one resolute force that sweeps the participants away to another level of consciousness. Their features are animated, t h e i r actions excited. Some reach to the ceiling, heads rais- ed, eyes closed. Others rock back and forth, a nerv- ous energy tapping their feet in double time to the music. An emotional staging ground has been reach- ed. They are ready now. An overwhelming percentage of the community are practicing members of other established religions. They carry their spiritual devotion into their daily lives, rarely speaking in angered tones or using lang- done programs in Northern Ohio and Southeasi igan. By early summer of 1973, he found in a local drug program. It was there, as he 1 that "I basically came to a point in my life I had to settle the whole issue of God." As hi unfolds, one is reminded of the Cheech and bit from a few years back: "I used to be all up on drugs . . . now I'm all fucked up on the But the stereotype just won't apply here. East The Saturday Magazine uage a clergyman would cringe at. Many Word of Goders come from tightly-knit, God-fearing Christian families. But for a significant minority, conversion to the Ann Arbor group represented a radical conversion from a sordid past life that left little room for spiritual considerations. Bob Rodriguez, a 27 year old Vietnam veteran was born in Detroit and raised a Catholic. At some point Bob got into drugs a bit more than he could handle. A heroin addict, he skipped through a number of metha- "Their features are animated, t h e i r ac- tions, excited . . . An emotional staging ground has been reached. They are ready now." articulate and engaging Rodriguez comes on coe of where his life is heading. The day after he left the methadone clinic two ago, he walked into a Word of God meeting a sythe. He's been going back ever since. Despite word of God's incredible growth ra members are encouraged to go out and solit converts, a practice widespread among certain campus Christian groups and a source of an for most of their targets. Though Word of God 0 believe in the hard sell, they will usually te all you want to hear and then some if you reve slightest interest in the community. At the F meetings, non-members are required to wear name tags while in the auditorium. The bright are usualy a ticket to a torrential shower of greetings and endless introductions. New coNe urged to return; if they show interest, they 5i asked to join the Life in the Spirit seminars, a week beginners course designed to prepare comers for active membership in the commun formal vows are taken, but members who ct the seminar are expected to pledge an "underwa mitment" to attend meetings and gatherings. years later, if one has successfully entered into with the spirit, they may be ready to make a commitment before the entire community. The ; Rodriguez explains, is twofold: making a ment to Jesus Christ, and bringing that comt out in action." Though its membership is limited by design ple within commuting distance from Ann Arb community has grown in numbers so quicklY third weekly prayer group is already being or on the east side of town. Any skeptics in sear scientific accounting for the rapid expansi6 might find their eyebrows raised a not-h by W God librarian Phil O'Mara's answer: "It W03 an idea whose time had come."