Assemblies of God USA

====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>