Flannery Dolan Interview
I conducted an Interview with Flannery K Dolan on 1/12/15. She was raised in the Charismatic Pentecostal Movement from the ages of 3 to 14 but then converted to Methodism because of her mother. This interview is about her experiences and more about the religion from a child's point of view. She is now in her 40s and does not identify as having a religion.
Have you ever witnessed a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
"No, but i was encouraged to look for it. A physical manifestation-god is a spirit so there cannot be a physical manifestation and if it was that would be an idol and that is prohibited."
What do you mean by 'idol'?
"When you worship an idol, you are not worshipping god so it is forbidden."
Have you ever spoken in tongues or witnessed the speaking of tongues?
"I have not personally spoken in tongues, but I have witnessed it. It was entertaining to me because I was a kid and I thought all of the adults were crazy. It often happened when we got to a quiet part of the music, not the joyous stuff but the contemplative and slower stuff. And people would put their hands in the air and close their eyes, rocking back and forth and sing. Then they would start talking really fast in another language. It could be an actual language or it could be mate up. Sometimes they would get in the aisle and dance like they were possessed, and sometimes they would roll around on the floor. Sometimes they would jump up and down and just yell and shout. And then whatever was confusing them would taper off and they would just go sit down."
How long did you practice Pentecostalism?
"Well... From about the age 3-14."
And why did you stop practicing it?
"They treated single women like my mom very poorly. and when my mom said to the pastor of the church do you think that the widows of the New Testament were the same as todays welfare and single mothers? and the pastor said absolutely not so then my mom said she was done and we converted to Methodism."
Have you ever used pentecostalism to heal?
"I used to pray all the time. I would ask for signs from God, and lots of people would do it. They had something called 'The Laying of Hands' and that would be a person with pain or physical problems, and people would gather around and lay their hands on the person and pray for them."
Did you do that a lot?
"A lot of people did it constantly. I myself did not. My mom would take her Bible and shut herself in a room sometimes and pray, asking for signs from God."
What about Pentecostalism is different from other branches, such as the practices or beliefs?
"The speaking in tongues, dancing, being very free with their bodies to express that way in the church setting. I think other branches are more reserved. The closest I can come up with is the evangelical movement. It is very similar and suggests you should know God, it's a happy thing. But they do not speak in tongues.
Singing is a huge way of expressing like the Baptist Church. There weren't traditional hymns published in a hymnal. The music was put in a projector and you could write on the pages of songs so you could just put up what you wanted to sing and it would last for about an hour. I think singing is very similar to spirituals that way, because its talking about getting out of persecution like the Old Testament, the Jews would survive with God's help, if you love God and pray you will have a good life so the songs were very similar."
What was a basic schedule of a sermon?
"We would sing for an hour, then the sermon, At that time the kids would go to sunday school. Then we would have a coffee hour where the community would meet and discuss."
Pentecostalism afterlife that you were taught?
"The after life you can only get to heaven by having a personal relationship. It was simple just say 'Jesus come into my heart.' There was tremendous pressure to become born again so we would go to camps and rallys, and there would be speakers that would scare us and tell us that pretty much everything we were doing was wrong. That satan was talking to us, and the only way to be truly happy was by asking Jesus to come into our hearts, but hardly anybody was happy, we were teenagers , of course we could all stand to be a little more happy. They'd play quiet music and people would start crying. Ready to convert us they would say who wants to feel the spirit just raise your hand. you might be embarrassed but just raise your hand, and then they might be able to get people to go into a room and pray. But if you DID NOT want Jesus in your heart it was made clear to you that the afterlife was full of misery and suffering."
Have you ever witnessed a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
"No, but i was encouraged to look for it. A physical manifestation-god is a spirit so there cannot be a physical manifestation and if it was that would be an idol and that is prohibited."
What do you mean by 'idol'?
"When you worship an idol, you are not worshipping god so it is forbidden."
Have you ever spoken in tongues or witnessed the speaking of tongues?
"I have not personally spoken in tongues, but I have witnessed it. It was entertaining to me because I was a kid and I thought all of the adults were crazy. It often happened when we got to a quiet part of the music, not the joyous stuff but the contemplative and slower stuff. And people would put their hands in the air and close their eyes, rocking back and forth and sing. Then they would start talking really fast in another language. It could be an actual language or it could be mate up. Sometimes they would get in the aisle and dance like they were possessed, and sometimes they would roll around on the floor. Sometimes they would jump up and down and just yell and shout. And then whatever was confusing them would taper off and they would just go sit down."
How long did you practice Pentecostalism?
"Well... From about the age 3-14."
And why did you stop practicing it?
"They treated single women like my mom very poorly. and when my mom said to the pastor of the church do you think that the widows of the New Testament were the same as todays welfare and single mothers? and the pastor said absolutely not so then my mom said she was done and we converted to Methodism."
Have you ever used pentecostalism to heal?
"I used to pray all the time. I would ask for signs from God, and lots of people would do it. They had something called 'The Laying of Hands' and that would be a person with pain or physical problems, and people would gather around and lay their hands on the person and pray for them."
Did you do that a lot?
"A lot of people did it constantly. I myself did not. My mom would take her Bible and shut herself in a room sometimes and pray, asking for signs from God."
What about Pentecostalism is different from other branches, such as the practices or beliefs?
"The speaking in tongues, dancing, being very free with their bodies to express that way in the church setting. I think other branches are more reserved. The closest I can come up with is the evangelical movement. It is very similar and suggests you should know God, it's a happy thing. But they do not speak in tongues.
Singing is a huge way of expressing like the Baptist Church. There weren't traditional hymns published in a hymnal. The music was put in a projector and you could write on the pages of songs so you could just put up what you wanted to sing and it would last for about an hour. I think singing is very similar to spirituals that way, because its talking about getting out of persecution like the Old Testament, the Jews would survive with God's help, if you love God and pray you will have a good life so the songs were very similar."
What was a basic schedule of a sermon?
"We would sing for an hour, then the sermon, At that time the kids would go to sunday school. Then we would have a coffee hour where the community would meet and discuss."
Pentecostalism afterlife that you were taught?
"The after life you can only get to heaven by having a personal relationship. It was simple just say 'Jesus come into my heart.' There was tremendous pressure to become born again so we would go to camps and rallys, and there would be speakers that would scare us and tell us that pretty much everything we were doing was wrong. That satan was talking to us, and the only way to be truly happy was by asking Jesus to come into our hearts, but hardly anybody was happy, we were teenagers , of course we could all stand to be a little more happy. They'd play quiet music and people would start crying. Ready to convert us they would say who wants to feel the spirit just raise your hand. you might be embarrassed but just raise your hand, and then they might be able to get people to go into a room and pray. But if you DID NOT want Jesus in your heart it was made clear to you that the afterlife was full of misery and suffering."