You may be wondering where we came from, and you'll be glad to know we've been around a while. The Assemblies of God has its roots in a religious revival that began in the late 1800's andswept into the 20th century with widespread repetition of biblicalspiritual experiences.
During that time, many Christians inthe United States and other parts of the world began to feel a need formore of God's power operating in their lives. Individually and ingroups, they began earnestly to pray and to seek to conform their commitments and experiences to what they believed was the New Testament pattern.
In response, the Holy Spirit came on large numbersof them, prompting a joyous, spontaneous worship and an intense desireto spread the gospel. As in the Bible in the Book of Acts, this experience, called the "baptism in the Holy Spirit," was universally accompanied by speaking in unknown languages. It was associated withthe coming of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost (Acts2), and participants in the movement were called "Pentecostals."
The beginning of the modern Pentecostal revival is generally traced to aprayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, on January 1,1901. While many others had spoken in tongues previously during almostevery period of spiritual revival, most researchers agree it was herethat recipients of the experience, through study of the Scriptures,came to believe speaking in tongues is the biblical evidence for the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The revival spread rapidly toMissouri and Texas, then to California and elsewhere. A three year revival meeting at Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles attracted believers from across the nation and overseas and served as a spring board to send the Pentecostal message around the world.
Reports of what was taking place were carried in scores of periodicals and other publications that sprang up with the movement. Spontaneous revivals also began to break out about that time in other parts of the world and on various mission fields.
The Pentecostal aspects of the revival were not generally welcomed by the established churche sand participants in the movement soon found themselves outside existing religious bodies. They were forced to seek their own places of worship,and soon there were hundreds of distinctly Pentecostal congregations.
By 1914, many ministers and laymen alike had begun to realize the rapidspread of the revival, and the many evangelistic outreaches it spawned had created a number of practical problems. The need arose for formal recognition of ministers as well as approval and support of missionaries, with full accounting of funds. In addition, there was a growing demand for doctrinal unity, gospel literature, and a permanent Bible training school.
The seconcerned leaders realized that to protect and preserve the results ofthe revival the thousands of newly Spirit-baptized believers should beunited in a cooperative fellowship. In 1914 about 300 preachers andlaymen gathered from 20 states and several foreign countries for a"general council" in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to discuss and take actionon the growing need.
The five reasons they listed forcalling the meeting were: doctrinal unity, conservation of the work, foreign missions interests, chartering churches under a common name forlegal purposes, and the need for a Bible training school.
Acooperative fellowship emerged from the meeting and was incorporated under the name "The General Council of the Assemblies of God." Most ofthe delegates had little desire to form a new denomination or sect, andthey structured their organization to unite the assemblies in ministry and legal identity while leaving each congregation self-governing and self-supporting. This structure continues to the present.
In 1916 the General Council approved a Statement of Fundamental Truths. Asimple statement, it remains virtually unchanged and continues toprovide a sound basis for the Fellowship, giving a firm position onvital doctrines.
From the beginning, Assemblies of God ministries have focused on evangelism and missions and have resulted ina continuing growth at home and abroad. Our constituency has climbed from the founding convention attendance of 300 to more than 2.6 millionin the United States and over 48 million overseas.
Today,Assemblies of God people worship in over 12,100 churches in the U.S.and in 236,022 churches and outstations in 191 other nations. The aggressive missions programs of the church are designed to establishself-supporting and self-propagating national church bodies in every country. Ministers and leaders are trained in 1,891 foreign Bibleschools — more than any other U.S. based denomination. The Assemblies of God has 19 endorsed Bible colleges, liberal arts colleges, and aseminary in the U.S.
The national headquarters of the Assemblies of God is located in Springfield, Missouri. The headquarters includes an administration building, the Gospel Publishing House, andthe International Distribution Center. The Gospel Publishing House is the printing arm of the church turning out more than 16 tons of gospel literature each day.
The Assemblies of God grew out of the Pentecostal revival, which began in the early 1900s in places such as Topeka, Kansas, and the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles. During times of prayer and Bible study, believers received spiritual experiences like those described in the book of Acts. Accompanied by “speaking in tongues,” their religious experiences were associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish feast of Pentecost (Acts 2), and participants in the movement were dubbed “Pentecostals.” The Pentecostal movement has grown from a handful of Bible school students in Topeka, Kansas, to an estimated 600 million in the world today.Many participants who were baptized in the Holy Spirit during revivals and camp meetings in the early 1900s were not welcomed back to their former churches. These believers started many small churches throughout the country and communicated through publications that reported on the revivals. In 1913, a Pentecostal publication, the Word and Witness, called for the independent churches to band together for the purpose of fellowship and doctrinal unity. Other concerns for facilitating missionaries, chartering churches and forming a Bible training school were also on the agenda. Some 300 Pentecostals met at an opera house in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1914, and agreed to form a new fellowship of loosely knit independent churches. These churches were left with the needed autonomy to develop and govern their own local ministries, yet they were united in their message and efforts to reach the world for Christ. So began the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Assemblies of God churches form a cooperative fellowship. As a result, the organization operates from the grass roots, allowing the local church to choose and develop ministries and facilities best suited for its local needs.
AG History
