Abstract

This ethnographic paper will examine, through interviews and participant observation, the ways that four women at NCPC act upon their spiritual gifts in their community outside the church. What will be addressed in this paper is how the gifts from the Holy Spirit empower women to effect change within their communities, in the workplace, at City Hall meetings, or amongst friends and family who are not Pentecostal. Too often, women who live and work in social systems like this one are unable to have their own voices be heard by outsiders. This paper will attempt to give credit to these four women for their dedication to their communities and to their faith, while also trying to find out what the Pentecostal church has to offer back to them in the way of personal empowerment. It will demonstrate how these women’s spiritual gifts empower them to evangelize and give support to their community outside the church.