Assemblies of God, Centennial worship, 2014. CC BY-SA 4.0.
1914 to today · The churches · Featured Study
The Assemblies of God
A Pentecostal fellowship of ministers and churches with adherents in many countries.
On 7 September 1918 the General Council resolved that no minister who attacked “our distinctive testimony” could hold its credentials.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
- Began
- 2 to 12 April 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Bodies
- The General Council of the Assemblies of God (United States), The Assemblies of God worldwide
On 7 September 1918 the General Council resolved that no minister who attacked “our distinctive testimony” could hold its credentials.
Summary
The Assemblies of God is a Pentecostal fellowship bound by a short Statement of Fundamental Truths. It set its teaching in a run of councils in its first five years.
- Its founders came from many independent missions and churches.
- Its councils divided over the Godhead and over the sign of tongues.
- Its own archivist records its failures beside its founding.
- Its own office counts its adherents worldwide.
The Texts the Council Cited
The texts come from Acts 2, Acts 10, Matthew 28 and 1 Corinthians 1.
The Statement of Fundamental Truths of 1916 cites its texts article by article.
The preface
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.
The preface cites it for the unity of the ministry the Statement serves.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The preface cites it with 1 Corinthians 1:10 for a ministry united in one teaching.
Acts 2:42BSB
The sixth article
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God. Then Peter said,
The sixth article cites it for the sign that marks the baptism.
The formula debated in 1915
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
The council of 1915 debated the words of this verse used at baptism.
Acts 10:44 to 46, Matthew 28:19
The Fellowship's Branch of the Pentecostal Family
From Azusa Street in 1906 to Memphis in 1994.
The Assemblies of God runs from the council at Hot Springs through its Statement of 1916 to the repentance at Memphis.
1906
- The Azusa Street missionLos Angeles
- The Pentecostal churchesthe movement
1914 to 1915
- The General Council at Hot SpringsApril 1914
- The council on the baptismal formulaSt. Louis, October 1915
1916
- The Statement of Fundamental TruthsSt. Louis, October
- The Oneness ministers who leftafter the Statement
1918 to 1962
- The council at Springfield7 September 1918
- The policy of 1939to 1962, by Rodgers's account
1994
- Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North AmericaMemphis, October
Every date comes from the General Council's minutes or from its archivist, Darrin Rodgers.
The Christian Traditions dates the Pentecostals to 1906, the youngest of the families of the church it sets out.
How the Council Began at Hot Springs
The council's own minutes and the account of its archivist.
About 300 men and women met at Hot Springs, Arkansas, from 2 to 12 April 1914, by the count of Darrin Rodgers, the fellowship's own archivist. E. N. Bell chaired the meeting and J. Roswell Flower served as its secretary.
The minutes of 1916 reprint the resolution of 1914 that formed the body. The resolution named the body a General Council of “Pentecostal (Spirit Baptized) saints” from local Churches of God in Christ, Assemblies of God and Apostolic Faith missions, among others.
Rodgers writes that most of the founders held the Finished Work view of sanctification.
Bishop Mason at the first council1 paragraph
Rodgers, citing Ithiel Clemmons's study of 1996, writes that Bishop Charles H. Mason of the Church of God in Christ “was one of the speakers at the first General Council and blessed the formation of the Assemblies of God”. He adds that a formal relationship between the two bodies “has not been demonstrated due to a lack of historical documentation”. He writes that the largely white body of a like name “appears to have been structurally separate” from Mason's church.
The Truth They Keep: the Initial Sign
The sign the council made a test for its ministers.
The sixth article of the Statement makes speaking in tongues the first sign of the baptism in the Holy Ghost, which comes after the new birth.
The council debated the sign at Springfield in September 1918, and F. F. Bosworth took part in the debate. A. W. Tozer, in The Counselor (1955), later taught the filling of the Spirit without making tongues its evidence.
The Statement of Fundamental Truths, 1916
Its preface and three of its articles, from the minutes.
The Statement sets the sign of tongues and the Trinity among its essentials.
| Where | The words |
|---|---|
| The preface | This Statement of Fundamental Truths is not intended as a creed for the Church, nor as a basis of fellowship among Christians, but only as a basis of unity for the ministry alone |
| Article 6 | The full consummation of the baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost and fire, is indicated by the initial sign of speaking in tongues, as the Spirit of God gives utterance. |
| Article 7 | Entire sanctification is “the goal for all believers” and “should be earnestly pursued.” |
| Article 13 (a) | We, therefore, may speak with propriety of the Lord our God, who is One Lord, as a Trinity or as one Being of three Persons, and still be absolutely Scriptural. |
In 1935 the council amended its by-laws so that matured women who had proved their ministry could be ordained to serve as evangelists or as pastors. The same by-laws still kept the eldership from women. John Piper and Wayne Grudem, editors of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (1991), hold the pastoral office for men.
The Assemblies of God by Their Counts
A count for 2015 worldwide and three for the United States, from 2013 to 2024.
The fellowship counted almost sixty-eight million adherents worldwide for 2015 and about three million in the United States in each year reported.
| Where | Year | Adherents | Counted or reported by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 2015 | 67,992,330 | The General Secretary's Office, in a table dated 1 June 2016 |
| United States | 2013 | over 3.1 million | Darrin Rodgers, Assemblies of God Heritage (2014) |
| United States | 2016 | 3.24 million | Influence magazine (11 August 2017) |
| United States | 2024 | 3.05 million | Church Leaders, reporting the fellowship's annual report |
Women grew as a share of the fellowship's ministers, and Black members remained a small share in 2023.
| Measure | Year | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Women among ministers | 1990 | 14.9 percent |
| Women among ministers | 2013 | 22.3 percent |
| Black adherents | 2023 | 10.9 percent |
| Black ministers | 2023 | 3.3 percent |
Where the Fellowship Reaches
The worldwide count of 2015 by country.
The General Secretary's Office counts adherents both in the countries its world missions treat as mission fields and in countries they do not.
The New Issue, the Bar on Black Ministers and Memphis
The councils of 1915 and 1916, the policy of 1939 to 1962 and the repentance of 1994.
In October 1915 the council refused “to draw any line of Christian fellowship” over the formula used at baptism. On 7 October it resolved that putting the name of Jesus Christ in place of the word Son in Matthew 28:19 would better harmonize that verse with the book of Acts.
A year later the Statement confessed the Trinity. Rodgers writes that it “resulted in the departure of Oneness advocates, as well as those who opposed what was perceived as ‘creedalism.’”
Rodgers calls “the most blatant example of racism” a policy of 1939 that denied Black ministers ordination at the national level. He writes that it was “neither widely publicized nor consistently applied,” and that Bob Harrison, an associate of Billy Graham, was the catalyst for its end in 1962.
Searched on 28 October 2026 for the words colored and negro, the General Council minutes of 1939 hold no such resolution, so the policy rests on Rodgers's account.
At Memphis on 18 October 1994, Rodgers writes, Donald Evans, an Assemblies of God pastor, washed the feet of Bishop Ithiel Clemmons of the Church of God in Christ. That day the predominantly white Pentecostal Fellowship of North America dissolved itself, and the next day leaders of many churches formed the Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America.
A release of the new fellowship, written by Leilani Haywood in 2019, says the white fellowship was disbanded “After the conference,” and that the leaders approved the Racial Reconciliation Manifesto.
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.It stands beside Memphis in 1994, where Black and white Pentecostal churches formed one fellowship.
Books to Read Next
Minutes of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1915
The General Council of the Assemblies of God · 1915
It records the debate on the baptismal formula and the resolutions of October 1915.
Free at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage CenterMinutes of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1916
The General Council of the Assemblies of God · 1916
It holds the resolution of 1914 and the Statement of Fundamental Truths.
Free at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage CenterMinutes of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1918
The General Council of the Assemblies of God · 1918
It holds the minutes of the council at Springfield.
Free at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage CenterWhat the Fellowship Handed On
The Assemblies of God handed on a fellowship of ministers bound by a short Statement, with tongues as the sign of the Spirit's baptism. Its own archivist tells its failures beside its founding.
The line through this page
The verse whose work this page shows continuing, then 1 link to other pages, in order of date.
The verse whose work this page shows continuing.
1914
The Pentecostal Churches to The Assemblies of God
About 300 men and women met at Hot Springs, Arkansas, from 2 to 12 April 1914, by Rodgers's count, and formed the Assemblies of God.
This page
The Assemblies of God
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible (read 2026)
- The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Minutes 1915, pages 5 to 6.
- The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Minutes 1916, with the resolution of 1914 (page 1) and the Statement of Fundamental Truths (pages 10 to 13)
- The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Minutes 1918, page 7.
- The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Constitution, By-Laws and Minutes 1935, Article V, sections 1 and 4 (b)
- The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Minutes 1939, searched for the words colored and negro.
- Darrin J. Rodgers, Fully Committed: 100 Years of the Assemblies of God, Assemblies of God Heritage 34 (2014), citing Ithiel C. Clemmons, Bishop C. H. Mason and the Roots of the Church of God in Christ (1996), page 71.
- Darrin J. Rodgers, The Memphis Miracle at 30, Influence (18 September 2024)
- The Assemblies of God, General Secretary's Office, AG Worldwide Churches and Adherents 1987 to 2015 (AdhWW 2015, 1 June 2016)
- Influence, Five AG Stats You Need to Know (11 August 2017)
- Church Leaders, the Assemblies of God's report for 2024 (read 2026)
- Leilani Haywood, PCCNA to Celebrate Memphis Miracle (11 February 2019), a release of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America posted by the International Pentecostal Holiness Church.
- A. W. Tozer, The Counselor (1955)
- John Piper and Wayne Grudem, editors, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (1991)
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