Assemblies of God USA

====Changing views on behavior, war and pacifism====
[[File:Rockford First Sunday Easter 1971.png|right|200px|thumb|Pastor Ernest Moen preaching at [[Rockford First Church|Rockford First Assembly of God]] on Easter Sunday 1971]]
[[File:Zimmerman_NAE.jpg|thumb|General Superintendent Thomas F. Zimmerman addresses the [[National Association of Evangelicals|NAE]]/NRB Convention in 1976.]]
Since their movement's emergence early in the 20th century, Pentecostals saw themselves as "peculiar people", and one of the components of this identity were particular prohibitions on behavior. Prohibitions on drug use, gambling, social dancing, consuming alcohol, smoking, attending theaters, bowling, swimming in public pools and beaches, owning television sets, and restrictions on feminine attire and fashion helped distinguish Pentecostals from the larger society.{{Sfn|Blumhofer|1993|p=236}}{{Sfn|Poloma|1989|p=15}} Starting in the 1950s, attitudes in the Assemblies of God on many of these activities underwent dramatic change. The most change probably occurred over views on women's attire, with the former stance against wearing make-up and jewelry giving way to the acceptance of popular fashion. Most of these "holiness standards" are no longer adhered to; however, some are still held to, such as proscriptions on smoking, alcohol and drug use.{{Sfn|Poloma|1989|p=15}}

For much of its history, the Assemblies of God officially opposed Christian participation in war and was listed by ''The Pacifist Handbook'' as America's third largest [[peace church]] in 1940.{{Sfn|Beaman|2009|p={{page needed|date=September 2020}}}} The official position of the church until 1967 encouraged Christian nonviolence: "We . . . are nevertheless constrained to declare we cannot conscientiously participate in war and armed resistance which involves the actual destruction of human life, since this is contrary to our view of the clear teachings of the inspired Word of God".<ref name="Paul Alexander">Paul Alexander, An Analysis of the Emergence and Decline of Pacifism in the History of the Assemblies of God, PhD dissertation, Baylor University, 2000.  See also [http://www.apu.edu/theology/faculty/palexander/ Paul Alexander] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229033706/http://www.apu.edu/theology/faculty/palexander/ |date=2008-12-29 }}, (2008), [http://www.cascadiapublishinghouse.com/ptw/ptw.htm ''Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God''].  Telford, PA: Cascadia Publishing/Herald Press.</ref> Most of the founders and first generation members of the denomination held to this view, and it was presented as official teaching throughout World War I and World War II. The official [[pacifist]] position remained unchanged until 1967 when the denomination affirmed "the right of each member to choose whether to declare their position as a combatant, a noncombatant, or a conscientious objector".<ref name=GC09BylawsXVIIp146>General Council Minutes 2009, Bylaws, Article XVII, p. 146.</ref> This was the culmination of a process begun during World War I, when it was unpopular to hold antiwar views, in which AG adherents questioned their denomination's pacifist stance.{{Sfn|Blumhofer|1993|pp=142–149}}