Apostolic Faith Mission

The Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland, Oregon, United States was founded in 1906 by Florence L. Crawford, after she received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost at the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California. The organization continues its charter today and is better known now as the "Apostolic Faith Church."
==Apostolic Faith Church==
The Apostolic Faith Church (AFC) is a worldwide Pentecostal Church with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The AFC has about fifty local churches in the USA, ten in Canada, several hundred in Africa (six-hundred in Nigeria alone), twenty throughout the Philippines and Korea, nine in Europe (centrally Romania), and over sixty in West Indies. Church-affiliated groups also regularly assemble in other parts of the world, and recently include India. In some locations, member churches carry instead the name "Trinity Apostolic Faith Church," in order to differentiate themselves from non-affiliated churches in the same area.http://www.apostolicfaith.org/aboutus/branch.asp, Retrieved August 10, 2008.
===History===
The Apostolic Faith officially traces its roots to the 1906 Pentecostal movement that culminated at Azusa Street in Los Angeles. Florence L. Crawford, a participant in the Pentecostal revival under the leadership of William Seymour, made her way up the West Coast in the years to follow, and shortly after the initial Azusa Street outpouring, she settled in Portland, Oregon, where she continued preaching and publishing materials under the name "The Apostolic Faith Mission."http://www.apostolicfaith.org/aboutus/history.asp, Retrieved August 10, 2008. This organization was separate from the almost-identical group headed by William Seymour, which also went by the same name; When this differentiation between the two "Apostolic Faith Missions" became official is sometimes disputed, but the Apostolic Faith Church marks Crawford's participation in the original revival as its organizational foundation.
Since July 2000 the President and Superintendent General of the Apostolic Faith Church has been Reverend Darrel D. Lee, who also pastors the headquarters church, still located in Portland, Oregon.
Today that ministry has resulted in a worldwide organization spanning many cultures.
===Campmeeting Conventions===
Annual two-week-long camp-meetings are held in Portland, Oregon, providing an opportunity for believers in Christ from around the globe to meet and to share their experiences.http://www.apostolicfaith.org/aboutus/camp.asp, Retrieved August 10, 2008. Members are able to stay in the cabins on the camp grounds and meals are provided from the on location volunteer staffed restaurant. Many similar conventions are held elsewhere, throughout the year, under the same organizational umbrella.
===Publishing===
The magazine The Apostolic Faith was first published in September 1906. The magazine contains quotes both by William Seymour and Charles Parham. In the second issue, dated October 1906, Florence Crawford is referenced as being part of a missionary expedition to Oakland, California. By late 1908, the magazine's home location is listed as Portland, Oregon, different from the previous issues being based in Los Angeles.
When the church acquired a location at Front and Burnside in Portland in 1908, the printing was done at a commercial plant, with church volunteers then folding the material. In 1917, a small press purchased by the church allowed them to print some of the material, and in 1919, a large Miehle press installed at the church offices allowed the Apostolic Faith to independently publish their own materials. The Apostolic Faith, a magazine printed by the church since 1907, would become the Higher Way at a later date.http://www.apostolicfaith.org/aboutus/publishinghistory.asp, Retrieved August 10, 2008. Today, the Apostolic Faith Church still publishes The Higher Way quarterly, along with devotionals, tracts, and educational materials.
==Doctrine==
Through the years, the Apostolic Faith Church's leaders have maintained the doctrines outlined in Seymour's editions of the Apostolic Faith papers printed in 1906 through 1908. As a Trinitarian and fundamental church, their doctrinal position centers on a born-again experience, supports the Wesleyan teaching of holiness (Christian perfection), and stresses the need of sanctified believers to receive the Pentecostal experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Their teachings are in direct conflict with Calvinistic beliefs regarding sin, predestination, and eternal security.
The doctrinal statement of the Apostolic Faith Church can be found on the headquarters' website.http://www.apostolicfaith.org/aboutus/doctrinal.asp, Retrieved August 10, 2008. The text of the page is reprinted below:
* The Divine Trinity consists of three Persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost, perfectly united as one. Matthew 3:16-17; 1 John 5:7.
* Repentance is a godly sorrow for sin with a renunciation of sin. Isaiah 55:7; Matthew 4:17.
* Salvation is the act of God's grace whereby we receive forgiveness for sins and stand before God as though we had never sinned. Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17.
* Sanctification or Holiness, the act of God's grace whereby we are made holy, is the second definite work and is subsequent to justification. John 17:15-21; Hebrews 13:12.
* The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is the enduement of power from on high upon the clean, sanctified life, and is evidenced by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5-8; 2:1-4.
* Divine Healing of sickness is provided through the atonement. James 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:24.
* The Second Coming of Jesus will be just as literal and visible as His going away. Acts 1:9-11. There will be two appearances under one coming: First, to catch away His waiting Bride. Matthew 24:40-44; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; second, to execute judgment upon the ungodly. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Jude 14-15.
* The Great Tribulation will occur between Christ's coming for His Bride and His return in judgment. Isaiah 26:20-21; Revelation 9 and 16.
* Christ's Millennial Reign is the literal 1000 years of peaceful reign by Jesus on earth. Isaiah 11 and 35.
* The Great White Throne Judgment is the final judgment when all the wicked dead will stand before God. Revelation 20:11-15.
* The New Heaven and The New Earth will replace the present heaven and earth, which will be destroyed after the Great White Throne Judgment. 2 Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 21:1-3.
* Eternal Heaven and Eternal Hell are literal places of final destiny, each as eternal as the other. Matthew 25:41-46; Luke 16:22-28.
* Marriage is for Life, a holy institution that is binding before God, giving neither partner liberty to marry again as long as the first companion lives. Mark 10:6-12; Romans 7:1-3.
* Restitution is subsequent to salvation, wherein wrongs against our fellowmen are made right in order to have a clear conscience before God and man. Ezekiel 33:15; Matthew 5:23-24.
* Water Baptism is by one immersion "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," as Jesus commanded. Matthew 3:16; 28:19.
* The Lord's Supper is an institution ordained by Jesus so that we might remember His death until He returns. Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23,26.
* Washing the Disciples' Feet is practiced according to the example and commandment Jesus gave. John 13:14-15.
==Locations==
The Apostolic Faith Church, that is, branch churches under the organization's umbrella, has expanded to many other locations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as Africa, Asia, and Europe.
==See also==
* Apostolic Assemblies of Christ
* Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus
* Apostolic Brethren 
* Apostolic Church of Christ (Pentecostal) 
* Apostolic Church (denomination) 
* Apostolic Church (Pentecostal)
* Apostolic Gospel Church of Jesus Christ
* Apostolic Pentecostalism
* Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost
* International Apostolic Fellowship 
* List of Christian denominations#Apostolic Churches - Irvingites
* List of Christian denominations#Oneness Pentecostalism
* Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God
==References==
==External links==
* Apostolic Faith's Headquarters Website
* Apostolic Faith's Africa Headquarters Website
Category:Christianity in Oregon
Category:Christian missions
Category:Organizations based in Portland, Oregon
Category:Religious organizations established in 1906
Category:Pentecostal denominations and unions established in the 20th century
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