In the small Midwestern town of Coffeyville, Kansas, God is redefining revival to a group of pastors and leaders through a fresh move of the Holy Spirit that has been branded “The Coffeyville Outpouring.”
If you ask most church-goers, there is a somewhat universal understanding about the definition of revival. The typical interpretation is confined to a guest speaker and special services that are in addition to the normal church schedule for the purpose of spiritual revitalization. For the Spirit-filled believers and a group of leaders and purveyors of Pentecost in Coffeyville, there has been a paradigm shift.
Beginning in 2019, God chose to deposit fire into a town that is most famously known for a failed bank heist by the Dalton Gang on October 5, 1892. As the fire has settled on the prairie of the Heartland, a unique template has taken shape that redefined revival in the hearts and minds of the caretakers of this latest move and has resulted in an intense spiritual unity in the community, churches and, most importantly, the altars for those who participate.
The first and foundational aspect of this move is the unity of the pastoral team itself. At its inception, a group of six pastors who barely knew each other came together with one heart cultivated by the Spirit in an effort to see revival in their city. The understanding of unity matured to mean much more than co-existing as churches that did not engage in proselytizing, competition or conflict. This was about members of a body functioning together in oneness with the Holy Spirit and leaders forging ahead from His direction.
Very quickly the theme of every outpouring service became “Jesus is the guest of honor.” As agendas were abandoned and denominational labels were removed, hungry believers came together under the banner of Jehovah-Nissi and the subsequent manifestations of the Spirit and the presence of God were, and are to this day, powerful and observable. The foundation of unity brought the flames of revival.
The second aspect of the ministry of the Coffeyville Outpouring is the heart cry of “Thy kingdom come.” With the expansion of understanding about revival, there has come a fresh revelation of the kingdom of God to those who labor in the harvest field of this movement. The kingdom is “us” and not “us and them.” The coldness of autonomy that can easily be felt in an exclusive atmosphere of denomination building or church growth efforts has been replaced by the warmth of kingdom building. There has been a collective awareness among the pastors that a lot more could be accomplished for the kingdom if no one cared who got the credit. The kingdom belongs to Jesus Christ, and He alone shed His blood and birthed the church. Simply, ministries are tools and ministers are vessels by which the King graciously builds and pours out on His people.
Another aspect that is an ongoing and developing revelation is the use of the five-fold ministry within the context of a city-wide revival. Each minister accepted initial roles as the outpouring began, but as the Spirit has led and the ministry has continued, a need for each office has been more apparent. If a city is to have revival collectively, there must be evangelists to carry the heart of revival while preaching salvation, shepherds for new sheep, teachers for new converts, prophets to hear, speak and pray, and apostles to oversee and guide the ministry.
Most pastors have a secondary gift in addition to that of pastor and this is where the Lord has used the ministry of Coffeyville pastors to maintain the move. Where one pastor has a strong administrative gift, another is gifted with prophetic anointing and so on. The zeal of ministering to the move by operating in the gifts God has given is an added blessing to the role of pastor. This uniting of gifts has brought about a collective anointing that has enabled the Coffeyville Outpouring to enter its fourth year in 2022. After fifteen months straight of services, there were fifteen months of shutdown due to Covid-19 restrictions. A re-launch in June of 2021 brought hungry hearts back and there are no signs of slowing down.
It is the belief of the ministry team that God has revealed a template in Coffeyville for city-wide revival, and their prayer is that God will impact cities everywhere with a spirit of unity that enjoins pastors and leaders to break down the barriers of denominationalism. Thy kingdom come! {eoa}
Bishop Darrin Brown is a member of the Coffeyville Outpouring Lead Team and an ordained bishop with the Church of God,(Cleveland, Tennessee). Through the ministry and experience of the outpouring, he felt the call to resign his church in September of 2021 in order to pursue ministry as a full-time evangelist. His passion is revival and his mission is to see the kingdom flourish through the unity of pastors and churches as he shares the template that God has imparted in Coffeyville.
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