Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury
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US RELIGIOUS BODIES<br />
Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God has become one <strong>of</strong> the largest<br />
church groups in the modern Pentecostal movement<br />
with over 61 million adherents worldwide.<br />
Throughout its existence it has emphasized the<br />
power <strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit to change lives <strong>and</strong> the participation<br />
<strong>of</strong> all members in the work <strong>of</strong> the church.<br />
The revival that led to the formation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God <strong>and</strong> numerous other church<br />
groups early in the 20th century began during times<br />
<strong>of</strong> intense prayer <strong>and</strong> Bible study. Believers in the<br />
United States <strong>and</strong> around the world received spiritual<br />
experiences like those described in the Book <strong>of</strong><br />
Acts. Accompanied by baptism in the Holy Spirit<br />
<strong>and</strong> its initial physical evidence <strong>of</strong> “speaking in<br />
tongues,” or a language unknown to the person,<br />
their experiences were associated with the coming<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2), so participants<br />
were called Pentecostals.<br />
The church also believes that the Bible is God’s<br />
inspired infallible Word to man, that salvation is<br />
available only through Jesus Christ, that divine<br />
healing is made possible through Christ’s suffering<br />
<strong>and</strong> that Christ will return again for those who<br />
love Him. In recent years, this Pentecostal revival<br />
has spilled over into almost every denomination in<br />
a wave <strong>of</strong> revival sometimes called the charismatic<br />
renewal.<br />
Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God leaders credit their church’s<br />
rapid <strong>and</strong> continuing growth to its acceptance <strong>of</strong> the<br />
New Testament as a model for the present-day<br />
church. Aggressive evangelism <strong>and</strong> missionary zeal<br />
at home <strong>and</strong> abroad characterize the denomination.<br />
Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God believers observe two ordinances-water<br />
baptism by immersion <strong>and</strong> the Lord’s<br />
Supper, or Holy Communion. The church is<br />
Trinitarian, holding that God exists in three persons-<br />
Father, Son <strong>and</strong> Holy Spirit.<br />
Headquarters<br />
Media Contact: Juleen Turnage, Dir. <strong>of</strong> Public<br />
Relations, Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God 1445 N.<br />
Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802-1894,<br />
Tel. (417)862-2781 Fax (417)862-5554 Email:<br />
info@ag.org<br />
Email: Statistics@ag.org<br />
Website: www.ag.org/top<br />
Officers<br />
Gen. Supt., George O. Wood<br />
Asst. Supt., L. Alton Garrison<br />
Gen. Sec., James T. Bradford<br />
Gen. Treas., Doug Clay<br />
World Missions, Exec. Dir., L. John Bueno<br />
AG U.S. Missions, Exec. Dir., Zollie L. Smith, Jr.<br />
Great Lakes: Larry H. Griswold, P.O. Box 620,<br />
Carlinville IL, Tel. (217)854-4600 Fax<br />
(614)396-0701<br />
Gulf: Douglas Fulenwider, P.O. Box 7388,<br />
Alex<strong>and</strong>ria, LA 71306, Tel. (318)445-6238,<br />
Fax (318)473-9344<br />
North Central: Clarence W. St John, 1315<br />
Portl<strong>and</strong> Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404,<br />
Tel. (612)332-2409, Fax (612)332-2510<br />
Northeast: H. Robert Rhoden, 3525 Corrotoman<br />
Rd., Glen Allen, VA 23060, Tel. (804)755-6181<br />
72<br />
Northwest: Warren Bullock, 3535 Auburn Way<br />
S, Auburn, WA 98092, Tel. (253)833-8252,<br />
Fax (253)351-2943<br />
South Central: J. Don George, 4401 N. Highway<br />
161, Irving, TX 75038, Tel. (972)261-1919<br />
Fax (972)261-1895<br />
Southeast: Dan Betzer, 6901 Harbor Ln., Ft.<br />
Myers, FL 33919, Tel. (239)936-6277, Fax<br />
(239)936-9365<br />
Southwest, Richard Dresselhaus, 6126<br />
Bernadette Ln., San Diego, CA 92120 Tel.<br />
(619)286-9361<br />
Language Area—West Spanish, Jesse Mir<strong>and</strong>a<br />
Jr., 55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, Tel.<br />
(714)556-3610, Fax (714)966-5471<br />
Language Area Other, Nam Soo Kim, 13030 31st<br />
Ave Flushing NY 11354, Tel. (718)321-7800,<br />
Fax (718)321-9394<br />
Ethnic Fellowship, John E. Maracle, P.O. Box<br />
83387, Phoenix, AZ 85071, Tel. (602)216-<br />
6001, Fax (602)216-6004<br />
Language Area – East Spanish, Saturnino<br />
Gonzalez, 830 California Woods Cir, Orl<strong>and</strong>o<br />
FL 32824, Tel. (407)850-9861, Fax (407)<br />
852-9887<br />
Ordained Female – A. Elizabeth Grant, P.O. Box<br />
990, Springfield MO 65801, Tel. (417)833-<br />
5562, Fax (417)833-5568<br />
Ordained Pastor under 40 – R Bryan Jarrett, P.O.<br />
Box 99, Wylie, TX 75098, Tel. (417)495-1116,<br />
Fax (972)495-4913<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> the Treasury, Gen. Treas., Doug Clay<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> Church Ministries <strong>and</strong> Discipleship,<br />
Executive Director, L. Alton Garrison<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> World Missions, Exec Dir., L. John<br />
Bueno<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> U.S. Missions, Exec. Dir., Zollie L.<br />
Smith, Jr.<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> Publication, Gospel Publishing<br />
House, Natl. Dir., J. T. Wray<br />
Division <strong>of</strong> Communications, Natl. Dir., Juleen<br />
Turnage<br />
Periodicals<br />
Enrichment - A Journal for Pentecostal Ministry<br />
High Adventure, Today’s Pentecostal Evangel,<br />
Heritage, On Course<br />
Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God International Fellowship<br />
(Independent/Not affiliated)<br />
April 9, 1906 is the date commonly accepted by<br />
Pentecostals as the 20th-century outpouring <strong>of</strong><br />
God’s spirit in America, which began in a humble<br />
gospel mission at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles.<br />
This spirit movement spread across the United<br />
States <strong>and</strong> gave birth to the Independent<br />
Assemblies <strong>of</strong> God (Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian). Early pioneers<br />
instrumental in guiding <strong>and</strong> shaping the fellowship<br />
<strong>of</strong> ministers <strong>and</strong> churches into a nucleus <strong>of</strong> independent<br />
churches included Pastor B. M. Johnson,<br />
founder <strong>of</strong> Lakeview Gospel Church in 1911; Rev.<br />
A. A. Holmgren, a Baptist minister who received<br />
his baptism <strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit in the early Chicago<br />
outpourings, was publisher <strong>of</strong> Sanningens Vittne, a<br />
voice <strong>of</strong> the Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian Independent Assemblies