Have you ever heard the phrase “move of God?”
The worship team at Southeastern University released an album called “Move of God.”
A Catholic worship band based in Ohio said they believed their first album was part of “an authentic move of God in Catholic worship.” Well-known activist Dutch Sheets believes we are now caught up in a “move of God” during which the United States will experience a “third great awakening;” Sheets and his followers have popularized the “Appeal to Heaven” flag to advertise this belief.
Here is what you need to know. “Move of God” is a restorationist idea. Christian restorationists believe that essential doctrines, practices and characteristics of authentic Christianity died out or were suppressed centuries ago and are being restored now. Such a revival comes about only at God’s initiative; thus, authentic revival is called a “move of God” or “sovereign move of God.”
This language first appeared among Protestants tied to the Latter Rain Revival that began in 1947 in Saskatchewan. Its leaders thought they were seeing a “move of God” evidenced by the restoration of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophetic utterances, praise dancing and spiritual gifts being “imparted” from one person to another. They also expected further restoration would follow, including the raising up of modern-day prophets and apostles.
The same people who talk about a “move of God” are attracted to revivals that last a long time. Randy Clark, who came to prominence during the “Toronto Blessing” revival in 1994, says his ministry “was birthed in the greatest revival movement of the last half of the 20th century, a move of God resulting in the longest protracted meeting in the history of North America.”
Clark says that many revivals, including the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 40s, the Second Great Awakening (1780-1810), the Cane Ridge Revival (1801), the meetings of Charles Finney (1792-1875), the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905, the Azusa Street revival, and especially the Toronto Blessing were all part of “one great worldwide move of God.”
More recently, several authors have asserted that the next move of God will be a “last days” awakening of the Church, leading to a huge harvest of souls, even though there is nothing like this in the Bible. Others say that the next move of God will bring an “army” that will spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Most Catholics have never heard or spoken the phrase “move of God.” It’s not part of Catholic doctrinal tradition or pious practice. It does not appear in the Catechism, the prayers of the Mass, the works of the Church Fathers or great theologians or popes. Nevertheless, some Catholics have begun to use it, especially those influenced and formed by non-Catholics of a Pentecostal or NAR bent.
One Catholic participant in the Encounter School of Ministry expressed gratitude that she was able to be part of a “move of God” by learning to heal the sick. The documentary-style film “FEARLESS” shows Catholics practicing prayer for healing and receiving “words of knowledge” about people, practices usually associated with Pentecostal revivalists.
Catholic evangelist Jeff Cavins endorsed the film in these words: “In FEARLESS, the viewer will come face to face with the reality that the kingdom of God moves in power from the sacred page to the predicament of our lives. Open your hearts to a new move of God in your life as you watch this powerful film.”
Dan DeMatte spoke in 2024 at an Encounter Ministries event on the theme “Seeds of Revival.” DeMatte employed classic restorationist language: “Revival breaks out, not because of our human activity, but because of a sovereign move of God. … The revival is his sovereign move, and that sovereign move comes from him, and from him alone.”
Some Catholics have used this kind of language in reference to the “Eucharistic Revival” requested by the Catholic bishops of the United States. Catholic writer Susan Windley-Daoust says that many saw the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress as a “move of God.”
Dr. Mary Healy, a seminary professor and member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, sees a connection, not only between the Asbury Revival and the Eucharistic Revival but between the Eucharistic Revival and the classic restorationist understanding of what a revival is: “revival, which literally means a bringing alive of what was dead, is something only God himself can do.” In other words, revival is a sovereign “move of God.”
Healy also tries to connect the Eucharistic Revival to a new interest in the Real Presence among leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation who speak of a “communion revival,” or renewed interest in the Lord’s gift of himself in Holy Communion.
What Catholics need to remember when they hear talk about a “move of God” restoring or reviving something that was missing from the life of the Church is that the Church is indefectible. That means that the Church cannot die out. It also means that no essential characteristics of the Church can cease to exist at any time, so that the Church always preserves the essentials of faith and morals, along with the fullness of the sacramental life. There are Christian communities that have failed to preserve a valid priesthood and a valid Eucharist, but they cannot properly be called “churches.”
The language of “revival” and “move of God” presumes that something essential died out at some point and needs to be restored, such as speaking in tongues or the demonstrations of power through signs and wonders. But this framework does not apply to the Eucharist because the Eucharist was never lost to the Church. The Eucharist never died out; it does not need to be revived.
If some Catholics don’t believe that the Eucharist is what it really is, that person’s faith needs to be revived. In fact, the Catholic bishops of the United States have stated that what they wish to see revived is not the Eucharist but the eucharistic faith of the Church.
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