FIRST WORLDWIDE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD GATHERING MEETS

IN RCA DOME THIS WEEK

August 7, 2000:News:Office of Public Relations

INDIANAPOLIS, IND.—The world will arrive at the RCA Dome this week as Assemblies of God leaders and members from nearly 150 nations convene for the first worldwide gathering of the church to be held in North America. The 3^rd Triennial World Assemblies of God Congress and the 2000 Celebration opens today. Some 50,000 participants are expected for the event.

The Assemblies of God is the largest among church groups in the Pentecostal movement around the world with over 30 million members and adherents. In the United States there are 2 million members and adherents in over 12,000 churches.

Superintendents of the church from nearly 150 countries have come for the meeting. Many of these lead delegations which include lay members from their countries. A Parade of Nations Tuesday night (Aug. 8 at 6:45 p.m.) will highlight the nations as these leaders march in national costumes carrying the flags of their countries.

"The World Congress/2000 Celebration affords opportunity for the worldwide Assemblies of God family to meet here in America for the first time," states U.S. General Superintendent Thomas E. Trask. Throughout the week reports will be heard from around the world on what God is doing through the ministries of the denomination.

Choirs and musical groups from many countries will participate in the event. Speakers will come from Korea, Malawi, Cuba, Singapore, India as well as the United States.

A major purpose for the gathering is for the church to focus on goals and efforts for the 21^st century. "This unprecedented gathering of foreign representatives, missionaries, ministers, and laity from our churches provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to collectively seek God in prayer and believe Him for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit as we enter the new century," Trask states.

The Assemblies of God grew out of the Pentecostal revival that began in the early 1900s in places such as Topeka, Kans., and the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles and quickly spread around the world. During times of prayer and Bible study, believers received spiritual experiences like those described in the Bible in the Book of Acts. Accompanied by "speaking in tongues," their religious experiences were associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish feast of Pentecost (Acts 2) and participants in the movement were dubbed "Pentecostals." From those early beginnings, there are an estimated 560 million Pentecostals in the world today.

Along with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the church also believes the Bible is God’s inspired Word to man, that salvation is available only through Jesus Christ, that divine healing is made possible through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, and that Jesus Christ will return for those who love Him.

Assemblies of God leaders credit their church’s rapid and continuing growth (20.4 percent in U.S. adherents in the decade between 1989-99) to its acceptance of the New Testament as a model for the present-day church. Aggressive evangelism and mission zeal at home and abroad characterize the church.

Brazil has the largest number of Assemblies of God adherents with over 15 million. The largest church in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, is an Assemblies of God congregation. Its pastor, Dr. David Yonggi Cho, is chairman of the World A/G Fellowship and will speak for the world prayer meeting Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in the Dome.

All sessions of the event are free and open to the public.

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Note to media: The state of Indiana has 249 Assemblies of God churches with 57,038 members and adherents. Rev. Charles Crank is Indiana District Superintendent.