Tony Richie

Tony Richie is an U.S. Pentecostal minister and theologian with research in interfaith dialogue including Christian Zionism and with Islam. Developed in a program joint between Asbury Theological Seminary, and the London School of Theology (through Middlesex University), his doctoral dissertation is titled "Speaking by the Spirit: Exploring the Classical Pentecostal Tradition of Testimony in Developing a Pneumatological Theology as a Model for Interreligious Encounter and Dialogue".

He is an Ordained Bishop in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), and Senior Pastor at New Harvest Church, Knoxville, Tennessee. In addition, he is a missionary teacher at SEMISUD (Quito, Ecuador), guest lecturer at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary and Lee University (Cleveland, TN) and adjunct theology professor for Regent University Divinity School (Virginia Beach, VA).

Interfaith activities

In the the Society for Pentecostal Studies, he is Ecumenism Interest Group Leader and Liaison to the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of Churches (USA), and represents Pentecostals on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches (WCC, in Geneva, Switzerbald). He is also an ecumenical representative to the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), an ecumenical and international think tank and advisory board to the WCC and the United Nations, the first Pentecostal in this role.

At the National Council of Churches of Christ General Assembly, held in New Orleans on 9-11 November 2010, which was the centennial of a missionary meeting, he spoke on "The Future of Ecumenism: Moving Forward from a Pentecostal Perspective." His emphasis was on the

explosive global growth of Pentecostal-type Christianity contributing to a rediscovery of experientialism and primal spirituality in a postmodern age characterized by globalization and shifting centers of gravity for historic Christianity. He argued that holistic Christian mission includes unity, evangelism, and advocacy, and that so-called mainline churches should build trust together with Evangelicals and Pentecostals for purposes of partnering in doing Christian mission more effectively in the future. Richie stressed that the churches can come together only through the renewal of the Holy Spirit and accordingly called for ecumenical and interreligious testimony and dialogue. He closed with an appeal quoting an important initiative of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God, Dr Raymond Culpepper, on “a quest for trust.”

Christian Zionism

In a paper on Christian Zionism, he agrees that it covers a substantial range of views, but that Penteconstalism might provide insights. "...equally intelligent and ethical people sincerely hold diametrically opposed positions regarding it. The temptation to demonize the “opposition” is strong on both sides but must be steadfastly resisted if progress is to be made. A non-dispensationalist Pentecostal point of view may help because Pentecostalism’s background in dispensationalism, and its current transitional distancing from the same, provides a unique perspective on inherent tensional elements."