WHAT ARE TRANS-BLOC GROUPS? HOW DO THEY RELATE TO DENOMINATIONS AND EACH OTHER?

Trans-bloc groups are those groups which have particular theological expressions, but who can be found in almost any denomination. Their existence is not defined by denominational (or megabloc) conditions. Understanding the definitions of these thee groups will definitely help one understand how they relate to the larger Christian context.
The inter-relatedness of these three trans-bloc groupings is complex, but has to be faced, because it represents the real world in which we live today. Evangelicals and Charismatics are found in at least five of the six megablocs, but in varying proportions. Not all Evangelicals are Charismatic nor are Charismatics necessarily Evangelical. See the chart for a pictorial explanation of the nature of these three trans-blocs groups.

DEFINITIONS OF THE THREE TRANS-BLOCS

Evangelicals
All who generally emphasize the following:

1 The Lord Jesus Christ as the sole source of salvation through faith in Him.
2 Personal faith and conversion with regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
3 A recognition of the inspired Word of God as the only basis for faith and Christian living.
4 Commitment to biblical witness, evangelism and mission that brings others to faith in Christ.

Evangelicals are largely Protestant, Independent or Anglican, but some are Catholic or Orthodox. It is one of the trans-megabloc groupings in this book.
Note: The definition of Evangelicals and the statistics relating to them are so fundamental to the contents of this book that it is important for the reader to understand the implications. It enables a measurement of the size and spectacular numerical growth of Evangelical Christians over the last few decades.
The noun "Evangelical" is capitalized since it represents a body of Christians with a fairly clearly defined theology (as also Orthodox and Catholic bodies, etc.). Evangelicals are here defined as:
1 All affiliated Christians (church members, their children, etc.) of denominations that are evangelical in theology as defined above.
2 The proportion of the affiliated Christians in other denominations (that are not wholly evangelical in theology) who would hold evangelical views.
3 The proportion of affiliated Christians in denominations in non-Western nations (where doctrinal positions are less well defined) that would be regarded as Evangelicals by those in the above categories.
This is a theological and not an experiential definition. It does not mean that all Evangelicals as defined above are actually born-again. In many nations only 10-40% of Evangelicals so defined may have had a valid conversion and also regularly attend church services. However, it does show how many people align themselves with churches where the gospel is being proclaimed.

Charismatics
Those who testify to a renewing experience of the Holy Spirit and present exercise of the gifts of the Spirit such as glossalalia, healing, prophecy and miracles. The Charismatic renewal or "Second Wave" Pentecostalism has generally remained within mainline denominations. There is a further "Third Wave" renewal movement with many characteristics of the Second Wave but with less open identification with Pentecostalism or the Charismatic Movement. Second and Third Wave Charismatics are counted as a single entity in this book. In our global survey of denominations we have assessed percentages of affiliated Charismatic Christians for each of the 33,000 denominations in the world for 1990 and 2000 only. The assessment largely excludes those no longer actively associated with Charismatic renewal.

Pentecostals
Those affiliated to specifically Pentecostal denominations committed to a Pentecostal theology usually including a post-conversion experience of a baptism in the Spirit, present exercise of the gifts of the Spirit and speaking in tongues. Pentecostals are defined by denominational type and are exclusively within the Protestant and Independent megablocs. All Pentecostals are, by definition both Charismatic and Evangelical, and therefore a sub-set of both. This is indicated by the indentation in the table.

So, as you can see, a person claiming to be Christian might fall into none, one, two or all of the three trans-bloc categories!
It is possible to be Charismatic but not Evangelical (Charismatic Catholics, marginal/syncretistic Christian groups in Africa).
It is possible to be Evangelical but not Charismatic (conservative Baptists, Brethren, many others).
It is possible to be neither (mainline or liberal Christian groups)
It is possible to be both (all Pentecostals are by definition both, Vinyard, Assemblies of God, Full Gospel Churches, many African and Latin American denominations).

Here are some analogies which are not perfect but serve to illustrate what I’m trying to say.

A Christian can be Evangelical or non-Evangelical and can be Charismatic or non-Charismatic
A car can be petrol-run or diesel-run and can be manual transmission or automatic transmission
A food can be bland or spicy and can be high in calories or low in calories
A piece of music can be in 3/4 or 4/4 and can be fast or slow