Assemblies of God USA

===Early history (1914–1929)===

====General Council of 1914====
[[File:First General Council of Assemblies of God.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The First General Council. Executive presbytery are kneeling in the front row (l–r): J. W. Welch, M. M. Pinson, T. K. Leonard, J. Roswell Flower, Cyrus Fockler, Howard A. Goss, E. N. Bell, and Daniel C. O. Opperman.]]
In 1914, Apostolic Faith Movement leaders Bell, Goss, Opperman, M. M. Pinson, and A. P. Collins issued the call for a general council to "Churches of God in Christ, and to all Pentecostal or Apostolic Faith Assemblies". What resulted was a merger of the Apostolic Faith Movement, Chicago Pentecostals, and CMA Pentecostals at Hot Springs, Arkansas.{{Sfn|Creech|1996|pp=415–417}} The 1st General Council was attended by predominantly white representatives from 20 states and missions in Egypt and South Africa.{{Sfn|Blumhofer|1993|p=116}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Race and the Assemblies of God Church: The Journey from Azusa Street to the "Miracle of Memphis" By Joe Newman |url=https://www.cambriapress.com/pub.cfm?bid=96 |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=[[Cambria Press]] |quote=Dr. Newman utilizes the extensive archival holdings of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, housed in the international headquarters of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri, to support his contention that Assemblies of God leaders deliberately engaged in racist efforts to prevent African American participation in Assemblies of God activities because the denominational leaders feared the reaction of its ministers and congregations in the American South. In addition, a concerted effort to refer African Americans interested in the Assemblies of God to African American groups, such as the Church of God in Christ, was approved at the highest levels of Assemblies of God leadership. Ultimately, efforts to exclude African Americans from the denomination led to official decisions to refuse them ordination and approved resolutions to support the establishment of a separate, unrelated Pentecostal denomination specifically for African Americans. Assemblies of God attitudes regarding racial issues changed only as a result of the civil rights movement and its effect upon American society during the 1960s and 1970s. The treatment of race in church groups with European origins was compared to that of the Assemblies of God and the influence of African and slave religions upon the rise of the Pentecostal movement. Finally, the author provides an analysis of the 1994 event known as the “Miracle of Memphis” in which white Pentecostal denominations dissolved the racially segregated Pentecostal Fellowship of North America in favor of a new organization, the Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America. The book concludes that although current Assemblies of God leaders have embraced the concept of an integrated church fellowship that no longer excludes African Americans, there is virtually no evidence of wide acceptance of this concept at the local church level in the denomination.}}</ref> The fellowship that emerged was incorporated as the ''General Council of the Assemblies of God''. Bell was elected the first general superintendent. The Assemblies of God gave five reasons for calling the meeting:<ref name=1stGenCoun>{{citation |title="The Call" to Hot Springs, Arkansas: 5 Men Risked Their Ministries by Calling 1st Council |journal=Assemblies of God Heritage |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=1 |year=1982}}</ref>
#Create unity in doctrine and in identifying Pentecostal congregations.
#Develop ways to conserve the work at home and abroad.
#Develop a workable system for the support of missionaries.
#Charter local churches under "one Bible name".
#Discuss the possibility of a Bible training school.

Other actions taken at the 1st General Council addressed women in ministry. The Pentecostals who founded the Assemblies of God had no objections to women being engaged in ministry. The Pentecostal belief in personal experience, Spirit baptism as empowerment for service, and the need for [[evangelism|evangelists]] and [[missionaries]] encouraged women to be active in all types of ministry. What concerned some Pentecostal leaders, such as Bell, were women exercising independent authority over men. The council therefore approved of the granting of credentials to female evangelists and missionaries while restricting the office of [[pastor]] to men, and it was not until 1920 that female evangelists could vote at denominational meetings. By the fall of 1914, out of 512 credential holders, 142 were female missionaries and evangelists.{{Sfn|Blumhofer|1993|pp=120–121, 123, 174}}

After 1914, the Church of God in Christ became predominantly [[Black or African-American|Black or African American]] and the Assemblies of God would remain predominantly white. However, there were African Americans involved in the early years of the Assemblies of God. The African American pastor [[Garfield Thomas Haywood]], for example, pastored one of the largest churches and was an influential voice within the fellowship until he withdrew from the newly-founded denomination after 1916.<ref name=Synan172-173>Synan, ''The Holiness–Pentecostal Tradition'', 172–173.</ref>

===="New Issue" and doctrinal clarity====
The founders of the fellowship did not intend to create a denomination and originally had no [[creed]] or doctrinal statement. However, in response to several doctrinal issues, the most important being the Oneness teaching, the AG felt the need for agreement on central doctrines and to reassure evangelical Christians of its adherence to [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]] belief.{{Sfn|Roozen|Nieman|2005|pp=35–36}} [[Oneness Pentecostalism]] rejected [[Trinitarianism|Trinitarian]] theology, instead identifying the [[Jehovah]] of the [[Old Testament]] with the [[Christ]] of the [[New Testament|New]]. Furthermore, Oneness adherents believed that Christians, regardless of a previous baptism, should be [[Jesus' Name doctrine|baptized in the name of Jesus]], rather than in the name of the Trinity. By 1915, it was adhered to by many in the fellowship, including founders such as Goss, Opperman, Hall, and Henry G. Rodgers.{{Sfn|Blumhofer|1993|pp=127–135}} Other influential leaders, such as G. T. Haywood, adopted the Oneness doctrine as well.

In 1916, the 4th General Council met in St. Louis to resolve the "new issue". In a move that caused not a little anxiety, a committee introduced the Statement of Fundamental Truths. Oneness proponents and others saw this as an attack on the authority of the Bible, yet it was adopted along with a recommendation that AG ministers use the Trinitarian baptismal formula. Old preaching credentials were recalled and new ones issued with the Fundamental Truths included. Oneness believers, including a third of the fellowship's ministers,{{Sfn|Robeck|2003|p=172}} were forced to withdraw, a loss especially felt in the South where the Oneness doctrine had the most influence. A side effect of this was a transition in leadership from former Apostolic Faith leaders, many of whom accepted the Oneness teaching, to men with Christian and Missionary Alliance backgrounds.{{Sfn|Blumhofer|1993|pp=127–135}} The Oneness dissenters formed the General Assembly of the Apostolic Churches, which later merged with another group to form the [[Pentecostal Assemblies of the World]].<ref name=Synan173-174>Synan, ''The Holiness–Pentecostal Tradition'', 173–174.</ref>

Among the Fundamental Truths was a statement regarding speaking in tongues as the initial physical evidence of Spirit baptism. Its inclusion was challenged by [[F.F. Bosworth]], an executive presbyter, who argued that while for many speaking in tongues was an evidence of the baptism it was not the only evidence. The issue was decided at the General Council of September 1918 where Bosworth, who two months earlier had resigned so as not to damage the fellowship, was present and invited to address the council. Following debate two resolutions were passed which assured that initial evidence would remain an official teaching of the fellowship.{{Sfn|Robeck|2003|pp=181–186}}

While doctrinal controversy led to the withdrawal of ministers, the fellowship experienced growth in subsequent years. District councils were organized in various regions of the country and, where these did not exist, home missionary fields were designated to maximize evangelistic efforts. In 1917, W. Jethro Walthall led his [[Holiness Baptist Association]] of southwestern Arkansas into the Assemblies of God.<ref name=Hoover3>Mario G. Hoover, "Origin and Structural Development of the Assemblies of God," third edition (MA thesis, Southwest Missouri State College, 1968/1988), p. 3.</ref> District councils and missionary stations were established outside the U.S. also. By 1921, there were districts in Canada (see [[Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada]]), China, Japan (see [[Japan Assemblies of God]]), India (see [[Assemblies of God in India]]), and Egypt.<ref name=1921minutes>Assemblies of God USA (1921). [http://ifphc.org/DigitalPublications/USA/Assemblies%20of%20God%20USA/Minutes%20General%20Council/Unregistered/1921/FPHC/1914-1921.pdf ''Combined Minutes of the General Council of the Assemblies of God''], pg. 68. Accessed October 12, 2010.</ref> [[Central Bible College]] was started in the basement of the Central Assembly of God church in Springfield, Missouri, in 1922.<ref>[http://netcom.cbcag.edu/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=233 History of Central Bible College] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807153318/http://netcom.cbcag.edu/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=233 |date=2011-08-07 }}. Accessed October 12, 2010.</ref> In 1929, the fellowship claimed 91,981 members in 1,612 churches.<ref name=seizethemoment>{{Citation |last=Rodgers |first=Darrin J. |title=Seize the Moment |journal=Assemblies of God Heritage |year=2009 |url=http://rss.ag.org/articles/detail.cfm?RSS_RSSContentID=11038&RSS_OriginatingChannelID=1184&RSS_OriginatingRSSFeedID=3359&RSS_Source=search|access-date=October 12, 2010}}</ref>