Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Rachel Tabachnick printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 12:38:30 AM EST
This post documents the extensive involvement of several of Sarah Palin's churches in the Third Wave Movement, also known as the New Apostolic Reformation, Joel's Army, and Manifest Sons of God.  Journalists, bloggers, and others who wish to make use of this information are advised to read the preceding post, Part One, in order to understand this movement in context of its history and theology. This movement is cross-denominational and there is no specific denomination that completely embraces it.  It has been condemned by the General Council of the Assemblies of God since 1949.  Please read the background information first if you do not have previous knowledge about the Third Wave Movement and an understanding of its relationship to Pentecostalism, Fundamentalism, and the larger body of Evangelicalism.

Again, if you are not familiar with the Third Wave, please take time to read this summary in Part One.  However, if you are someone who can readily identify Todd Bentley, and know why he is in trouble, you have passed the test. Continue reading.

[Below: Bruce Wilson video documentary on Sarah Palin's churches. Part 1 - Wasilla Assembly of God. Documentation for all of the footage used in the video can be found at the end of the article at http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/8/114332/7479]


Video documentary #2 "Palin and the Holy Laughter Anointing"

Wasilla Assembly of God
Senior Pastor Ed Kalnins

The church is a member of the General Council of Assemblies of God but is involved in numerous Third Wave/Latter Rain activities specifically condemned by the General Council of AoG since 1949 and again in 2000. This is the church of Palin's youth.  They have posted on their site that she was a member until 2002 and frequently participates in events there including a recent speech for the graduation ceremony of the Master's Commission class. Just below that notice is an advertisement for a prophetic conference at the church to be led by Steve Thompson who oversees prophetic ministry at Morningstar Ministries, one of the internationally best known organizations in the movement. This is a repeat visit for Thompson.

Morningstar is a major force in the Third Wave movement and its founder, Rick Joyner, is a prolific author of Third Wave and Manifest Sons of God theology.  You can purchase his books around the world including in Africa and Asia.  Morningstar purchased part of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Heritage Park for their headquarters and conference center. Becky Fischer, whose ministry was featured in the movie Jesus Camp, was a pastor for Morningstar before starting her own ministry.

The students of the Master's Commission program have visited Morningstar and feature pictures of the visit on their site.  This video is an example of the events that are held at Morningstar. A cell phone anointing can be viewed toward the end of the video. Frances Frangipane, co-author of a number of Third Wave books with Joyner and Thompson, has also spoken at the church.

Posted on the site is an upcoming visit by Bishop Thomas Muthee.  He is also a repeat visitor to the church.  Muthee  is featured on the first Transformation video by George Otis of Sentinel Group. See the previous post, Part One, for background on the Transformation videos. Muthee's story of saving the village of Kiamba, Kenya by combating a witch  is well known in Third Wave groups.

In addition to the Transformation Video, Muthee's story is featured in a book by C. Peter Wagner titled 'Praying with Power.' Wagner has served as the central coordinating figure of the Third Wave movement and heads the International Coalition of Apostles.  Wagner's approximately 500 Apostles each have churches and ministries under their authority, some with hundreds or even thousands.

The Master's Commission at Wasilla AoG is an international program that replaces college with religious training grounded in Third Wave ideas. The senior pastor, Ed Kalnins was a graduate of the Original Masters Commission Phoenix. The program at Wasilla last for three years and costs $7,900. per year. Students are trained in prophetic gifts, prayers, authority, and intercession. Books by Francis Frangipane and Steve Thompson are included in the curriculm. Other texts for the program are by John Bevere who trained under Benny Hinn ( must watch this video) at Orlando Christian Center.


Juneau Christian Church
Senior Pastor Mike Rose

Palin's church in Juneau is pastored by Mike Rose.  Juneau Christian is also listed as a member of the General Conference of Assemblies of God.  Mike Rose is a longtime associate of Rodney Howard-Browne, an international leader in the movement.  Many credit Rodney Howard-Browne with beginning the manifestation of Holy Laughter worldwide, including handing down the anointing for the Toronto Airport Blessing.  He was interviewed by Tom Foreman on CNN in July 2006. In this video he is speaking in tongues with Kenneth Copeland.

The former General Superintendent of the Australian Assemblies of God, Andrew Evans, has written about Mike Rose as an example of someone who has learned how to accommodate manifestations of the Third Wave, such as Holy Laughter, in his own church without disrupting services.  The article in Renewal Journal #7, 1996, described Rose as "an advisor of Howard Rodney-Browne's Revival Ministries committee... He informed me that he had sat in on over 110 of Rodney's meetings.."

An additional note about Juneau Christian Center - a Christians United for Israel (CUFI) event is scheduled for Juneau Christian Center but the reference has been scrubbed from John Hagee's CUFI site.

The Juneau Christian Center changed its name from Bethel Assembly of God.  Recently they have built a new youth center called the HUB for which they applied for $50,000 from the city council and were attempting to get a total of $600,000 in public funds.  They presented this as a community center that would be open to all youth.


Church on the Rock, Wasilla
Senior Pastor David Pepper

The youth of Church on the Rock attended The Call, Nashville in July 2007.  The Call is a Third Wave/Latter Rain youth movement designed to lead "Joel's Army" in taking dominion over the U.S. for the Kingdom.  Lou Engle was also featured in the movie Jesus Camp. He can be seen toward the end of this trailer leading the kids to repeatedly yell `righteous judges.' This video features both Rick Joyner of Morningstar and Lou Engle of The Call explaining their view of the 'Joel's Army' movement.  Engle is also founder of the Justice House of Prayer or JHOP.

An additional note on Church on the Rock - Jonathan Walker, Youth Pastor, lists `teaching abstinence in public schools' in his bio.


Wasilla Bible Church
Pastor Larry Kroon

I have not seen a direct connection to the Third Wave.  They have had repeat visits by David Brickner, the international leader of Jews for Jesus.  Promotional materials for the Liberated Wailing Wall, one of the major performance projects of Jews for Jesus, have included testimony from Larry Kroon, senior pastor of the church.  See the ad with Kroon's testimony on page four.

Also, they have had seminars led by  Art Mathias, former head of Alaska Christian Coalition. Mathias is head of Wellspring Ministries and  teaches healing, and deliverance from evil spirits and generational curses. Mathias also conducts seminars around the country teaching Hebrew Roots materials. [Because of the significance of this story, it is important that each piece of documentation be precisely correct. This paragraph concerning Art Mathias should have been placed under the Church of the Rock, instead of Wasilla Bible Church, as documented in numerous places on Art Mathias’ Wellsprings Ministries site, www.akwellspring.com. My apologies for the error.]

These are just some examples of the Third Wave Movement at work in several of Sarah Palin's churches.  An excellent summary of the dangers of the movement can be found on Southern Poverty Law Center's site  This site also includes the answer the first question posed at the beginning of this article.  Todd Bentley has now fallen from grace and left the Lakeland Revival but not because he repeatedly kicked a colon cancer patient in a healing ceremony. (The printed commentary on the video is not mine.) Bentley's activities were widely supported by much of the movement leadership including Morningstar's Rick Joyner who participated in a special anointing ceremony for Bentley. See incredible prophecy scene at about 50 seconds into this video. Joyner and other major leaders of the Third Wave are in the background. Answer to question two - he has had to leave the Revival because he is getting divorced.

Return to Part One for the history and theology of this movement.


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Palin's Churches and the Third Wave | 23 comments (23 topical, 0 hidden)
Do you have a timeline (none / 0)
of when Sarah Palin was involved in each of these churches?  I also would be interested in her children's involvement in various churches (especially if they were sent off to some of these summer camps) or at least their ages while the family attended.  I have to say, that's a lot of AOG churches for a town of 5000-9000 residents (some mega-churches have more members).

by Rusty Pipes on Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 08:36:50 PM EST
timeline (5.00 / 1)
Palin belonged to Wasilla AoG from the time she was ten years old until 2002.  This is posted on the church's website.  She still returns for special events.  The pastor of  Church of the Rock has stated to reporters that Palin has sometimes attended there.  Six years ago the Palins joined Wasilla Bible Church, which is there current church home according to the pastor.  Both of these last two churches are independent.  According to a posting on the church's website, Palin occasionally attends Juneau Christian Center, which is also affiliated with AoG.

She is also seen in  pictures and articles with these pastors at various events such as touring the new youth facility, The Hub, at Juneau Christian Center.  At the opening night of the 2008 AoG Alaska District Council, Mike Rose of Juneau Christian Center and Ted Boatsmen, her former youth pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God, "laid hands on the Governor and led the Council in prayer."  Palin then gave an address to the delegates and guest.    

There are a lot of AoG churches there and also a lot of independent churches involved with the Third Wave movement, both in Wasilla and Juneau.  Juneau papers advertise a "Friends of Rodney Howard-Browne" event that is sponsored by another church founded out of the "Holy Spirit Signs and Wonders Revival."  Howard-Browne seems to have had a lot of impact in the area in the 1990s.  It is also interesting that the small town of Wasilla drew such interest from both top leaders of the Third Wave movement as well as the international head of Jews for Jesus.  

by Rachel Tabachnick on Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 02:22:51 PM EST
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One example from the article (none / 0)
I live in Kenya and was interested in reading about George Otis and Peter Wagner's reports on Kiambu. I looked up the account on the web and found it interesting. I have two comments:

1- Don't confuse what the Kenyan pastor Thomas Muthee has done with the Third Wave, or any of these Pentecostal movements from the West. This is a very typical African understanding of how the world operates. See Stephen Ellis and Gerrie Ter Haar's book, Worlds of Power and Ogbu Kalu's African Pentecostalism for more on this.  (I tried to put a link to these books, but was unsuccessful.)

2- Kiambu remains one of the strongholds of the Mungiki sect in Kenya. The Mungiki are a group which combines traditional Kikuyu religion with more modern gangism and mafia-like behaviour. Kiambu is far from being a safe place. Perhaps the spiritual warfare was not so successful.

by chipmunk on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 09:06:08 AM EST

Muthee and Kiambu (none / 0)
Thanks for your comments.  I would be interested in reading those books! I also have some close ties to Africa and have been watching the merging of local beliefs with Pentecostal movements there.  The Transformation I video which features Muthee's story was produced by George Otis, who worked closely with C. Peter Wagner and is himself a major player in the New Apostolic Reformation.  The videos are played around the world as an example of the effectiveness of the spiritual warfare as a method of social healing.  

It is clear that the claims made on the Transformation videos are false.  One of the examples was Cali, Colombia!  However, they are still being used all over the world to promote the idea that social change must come by supernatural means. Many of the ideas for strategic level spiritual warfare were brought by NAR leaders out of South America or were a hybrid of native and NAR ideas.

Muthee and his ministry are linked in multiple ways to the Third Wave/NAR movement and can be found throughout the NAR and Transformations literature around the world.  This may be a more natural way of looking at the world for Muthee as you described above.  However, this obsession with demons is being reinforced in places like Africa by the NAR and spread through the Western world through these testimonies.

by Rachel Tabachnick on Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 01:57:55 PM EST
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Question (none / 0)
This post and Bush's glowing endorsement of Palin reminded me of something I read awhile back. Is the 'Third Awakening' referred to in the article below the same or something similar to the 'Third Wave'? Or just a name coincidence? (2006) Bush Tells Group He Sees a 'Third Awakening' http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/A R2006091201594.html

by EvilPoet on Mon Sep 08, 2008 at 04:26:47 PM EST
Third Wave and Third Awakening (none / 0)
The Third Wave is considered third because it follows the first wave, or formation of Pentecostalism and the second wave, the Charismatic movement.  However, many in the group do talk about a "Third Awakening" in reference to another "Great Awakening," in order to describe their movement as part of historical stream in the vein of Jonathan Edwards and others.

The use of "Great Awakening" is very popular now and an example of this can be seen at the site of Rodney Howard-Browne's Revival Ministries at www.revival.com/www/r.aspx, where you can watch videos about his "Great Awakening Tours," past and present.  Clearly Bush's writers stay very up to date on the lingo.  They also have known to use much of the "Transformations" lingo that is so popular with the movement.

by Rachel Tabachnick on Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 01:42:30 PM EST
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