PERTH, Australia — At the Victory Life Center, Margaret Court’s church in the Perth suburb of Osborne Park, a crowd was gathering for the second morning service on Sunday.
As Ms. Court, a tennis superstar who holds the record for the most singles titles in the sport, took the pulpit, she set aside her prepared message, saying she had “a word from the Spirit.” She led the audience in speaking in tongues — what she calls a language only God understands — for several minutes.
“It is like picking up the phone to God,” she told the congregants at the Pentecostal church.