page_title: Assemblies of God USA
section_title: General Council of 1914
hierarchical_section_title: Assemblies of God USA / History / Early history (1914–1929) / General Council of 1914
caption_attribution_description: Español: Visitantes y delegados en el Primer Concilio General, Hot Springs, Arkansas, 2-12 Abril, 1914. Foto tomada el último día de la convención. El presbiterio ejecutivo está de rodillas (de izquierda a derecha): J. W. Welch, M. M. Pinson, T. K. Leonard, J. Roswell Flower, Cyrus Fockler, Howard A. Goss, E. N. Bell, y Daniel C. O. Opperman. English: Visitors and delegates to the First General Council, Hot Springs, Arkansas, April 2-12, 1914. Photo taken on last day of the convention. 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.
context_page_description: The Assemblies of God USA, officially the General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. With a constituency of over 3 million, the Assemblies of God was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States in 2011.
  The Assemblies of God holds to a conservative, evangelical and Arminian theology as expressed in the Statement of Fundamental Truths and position papers, which emphasize such core Pentecostal doctrines as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It defines for itself a fourfold mission to evangelize others, worship God, disciple believers, and show compassion.
  The fellowship's polity is a hybrid of presbyterian and congregational models.
context_section_description: By 1914, many white ministers nominally affiliated with the Church of God in Christ had become dissatisfied with the arrangement. 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 in 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas. The 1st General Council was attended by predominantly white representatives from 20 states and missions in Egypt and South Africa. The fellowship that emerged was incorporated as the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Bell was elected the first general superintendent. Five major reasons were given for calling the meeting:
  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 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.
  After 1914, the Church of God in Christ became predominantly black 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 denomination after 1916.
caption: 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.
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