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Assemblies of God

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Origin 1914

The Assemblies of God was organized in April 1914 at a founding General Council in Hot Springs, Arkansas, called to bring cooperative order, a Bible school and organized missions to the independent Pentecostal congregations that had multiplied after the Azusa Street Revival of 1906. It is explicitly Trinitarian, a position it fixed in its 1916 Statement of Fundamental Truths after Oneness Pentecostals who denied the Trinity withdrew to form their own fellowships, and it holds that baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, is a distinct experience available to every believer.

Facts
Belief
Defining Doctrinal Position
Trinitarian: one God in three persons 2
Doctrinal Position Detail
The 1916 Statement of Fundamental Truths affirms the Trinity against the Oneness Pentecostal reading of the Godhead, and adds to mainstream Pentecostal doctrine that baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, is a believer's birthright distinct from conversion. 2
Position on Marriage
Marriage is held to be monogamous, with remarriage after divorce sanctioned under specified conditions 3
Sourced to the subject's own accountThe Fellowship's Statement of Fundamental Truths describes marriage as "a covenant between a man and a woman... to live united in God's purpose until Christ comes or death separates them," and its own position paper on divorce and remarriage states "marriage between one man and one woman for a lifetime is the historic Christian standard," while permitting remarriage after a biblically recognized divorce, following the general evangelical Protestant reading of Scripture's exception clauses rather than Roman Catholicism's indissolubility. Left undated as continuous doctrine.
Marriage Position DetailSourced to the subject's own account
The Assemblies of God's position paper "Homosexuality, Marriage, and Sexual Identity," adopted by the General Presbytery in session 4 to 5 August 2014, defines marriage as "the permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, and conjugal 'one flesh' union of one man and one woman, intrinsically ordered to procreation and biological family, and in furtherance of the moral, spiritual, and public good of binding father, mother, and child." 3
Position on Sexuality
Same-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation 3
Sourced to the subject's own accountThe General Presbytery's first dedicated statement on this question, adopted 14 August 1979, held that homosexual practice is proscribed by Scripture and barred ordination and affirmed membership standing to those in a same-sex relationship. This fact is dated to that first formal, dedicated statement rather than to an undocumented earlier floor; the Fellowship itself was founded in 1914, and the underlying belief that same-sex sexual conduct is proscribed is asserted as continuous with its founding doctrine, but no dated document attesting that specific position exists before 1979.
Sexuality Position DetailSourced to the subject's own account
The General Presbytery's original position paper on homosexuality, adopted 14 August 1979, was revised and replaced by "Homosexuality, Marriage, and Sexual Identity," adopted by the General Presbytery in session 4 to 5 August 2014, extending the paper's scope to name marriage and sexual identity explicitly amid the wider debate over the legal redefinition of marriage. The 2014 paper states that "the growing cultural acceptance of homosexual identity and behavior... same-sex marriage, and efforts to change one's biological sexual identity are all symptomatic of a broader spiritual disorder." 3
Origins
Origin Period
1914 2
Place of Origin
Hot Springs, Arkansas. 2
Founder
No single founder. The founding General Council was convened by early Pentecostal ministers, among them Eudorus N. Bell and Howard A. Goss. 2
Position Profile
Key Text
The Statement of Fundamental Truths (1916). 2
Status
Status Today
Living tradition, practised today 1
Finances
Financial Disclosure Regime
The General Council of the Assemblies of God, as a convention or association of churches, is automatically exempt under United States federal law from filing the Form 990 annual information return that most other tax-exempt organizations must file, and no Form 990 filing for the national organization appears in the public nonprofit-transparency databases that reproduce them. The denomination's finances at the national level are not made public the way many other American religious bodies' now are. 5
Trajectory
Membership Over Time
As reported in August 2025 by Influence magazine, the official publication of the Assemblies of God (USA), the World Assemblies of God Fellowship counted 88,866,189 believers across 174 affiliated councils in 147 countries, a worldwide figure for the global fellowship of affiliated national churches, distinct in scope from the US denomination's own membership recorded above. 8
Membership Over Time
Assemblies of God membership reached 3,059,461 in 2024, per researcher Ryan Burge's analysis of the denomination's own statistics, still below a pre-pandemic peak of about 3.3 million in 2019 after a single-year loss of roughly 330,000 members in 2020. 9
Membership Over Time
In 1999, under general superintendent Thomas Trask, the Assemblies of God reported a constituency of 2,574,531, per the Dictionary of American History's account of the denomination. 10
Membership Figure As Of
1999-01-01 10
Membership Figure As Of
2024-01-01 9
Membership Figure As Of
2025-08-04 8
Basis of the Membership Figure
Church-Reported Rolls 8
Attributions
Church Family
Pentecostal 1
History
Separation or Divergence
In 1916, Pentecostal ministers who denied the traditional doctrine of the Trinity in favor of a single divine person differently manifest as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the "New Issue," withdrew after the General Council adopted the Statement of Fundamental Truths affirming the Trinity, going on to form Oneness Pentecostal bodies. 2
Organisation
Governance
Autonomous local bodies under a national umbrella association 1
Ordination
Open to women and men 2 4
Ordination Practice Detail
Women were formally granted ordination as elders and pastors by the General Council in 1935, after an intervening 1933 restriction had limited women to the credential of evangelist; the 1935 action also authorized ordained women to administer baptism and the Lord's Supper when necessary. 2
Practice
Liturgical Language
The vernacular 1
Giving
Standing Giving Expectation
The Assemblies of God's own governing Bylaws (Article IX, Section 7, paragraph a, "Tithing") state that tithes should support the active ministry and the propagation of the gospel, and that "we recognize the duty of tithing and urge all our people to pay tithes to God," explicitly disapproving the teaching that a tithe necessarily belongs to the pastor personally. No member standing is tied to compliance. The Bylaws' own text leaves the word "tithe" undefined by a numeral; an AG News article in the denomination's own voice, "The Blessing of Giving," states plainly that "while a tithe is understood as 10 percent, I see this as a minimum amount." A separate and much stronger obligation exists elsewhere in the same Bylaws (Article VII, Section 10, paragraph f) for credentialed ministers only, not lay members: ordained, licensed and certified ministers are each set a fixed monthly due from their tithes to support the national office, and "compliance with the above requirements shall be a prerequisite for renewal of credentials of all active ministers," a codified consequence this fact does not itself carry, since it binds clergy rather than the general lay membership. 6
Standard Rate Expected
Ten percent. 7
How the Expectation Is Enforced
Preached Expectation, Not Enforced 6
Learn More
Order for a Revival: The 1914 Hot Springs Council

The Pentecostal movement that produced the Assemblies of God began without any single denomination behind it. Following the Azusa Street Revival that broke out in Los Angeles in 1906, independent Pentecostal congregations, missionaries and traveling evangelists multiplied across the United States with almost no shared organization at all, each answering to its own local leadership and holding property, when it held any, in the name of whichever individual happened to be in charge.

That independence carried real costs. Missionaries overseas struggled to raise support without a recognized sending body behind them; congregations had no orderly way to credential ministers or discipline the unqualified; and no Pentecostal Bible school existed to train the movement's next generation of leaders. In April 1914, roughly three hundred ministers and lay leaders, among them Eudorus N. Bell and Howard A. Goss, answered a published call to gather at Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a General Council meant to address exactly these problems, not to found a rigid new denomination but to bring enough shared order to sustain missions, education and ministerial standards.

The result, the General Council of the Assemblies of God, deliberately avoided a detailed doctrinal statement at first, wary of the very creedalism many attendees had left other denominations to escape. That reluctance did not last. Doctrinal controversy within the young fellowship forced the issue within two years, and the 1916 General Council adopted the Statement of Fundamental Truths the movement still uses to define itself today.

Trinity, Tongues and the Fourfold Gospel: Assemblies of God Doctrine

The Statement of Fundamental Truths that the Assemblies of God adopted in 1916 exists because the fellowship nearly split apart over the nature of God before it was two years old. A faction known as Oneness Pentecostals, or adherents of the New Issue, argued that Father, Son and Holy Spirit name one divine person differently manifest rather than three distinct persons in one Godhead, and baptized converts in the name of Jesus alone rather than using the traditional Trinitarian formula. When the 1916 General Council affirmed the historic doctrine of the Trinity in its new statement, Oneness ministers withdrew rather than sign it, going on to found their own Pentecostal bodies. The Assemblies of God has been explicitly, confessionally Trinitarian ever since.

Alongside the Trinity, the Statement affirms Pentecostalism's own distinguishing doctrine: that baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in other tongues, is a definite experience available to every believer, distinct from and following conversion. This experiential emphasis shaped the movement's approach to ministry from the outset, including its approach to women. The General Council briefly restricted women to the credential of evangelist in 1933, but reversed course in 1935, formally granting women ordination as elders and pastors and authorizing ordained women to administer baptism and the Lord's Supper when necessary, a decision that made the Assemblies of God notably early among conservative American denominations in ordaining women at all.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Assemblies of God, Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "Jeremy Bonner's "Assemblies of God" entry in the Dictionary of American History, hosted on Encyclopedia.com, stating that in 1999, under general superintendent Thomas Trask, the Assemblies of God..."

Source Assemblies of GodJeremy Bonner
Better Together, Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "Clay, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA), published August 4, 2025, stating that the World Assemblies of God Fellowship "encompasses 88,866,189 believers and 174 councils in 147..."

Source Better TogetherDoug Clay
Blumhofer, Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture (University of Illinois Press, 1993), Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "Blumhofer's academic history of the Assemblies of God, published by the University of Illinois Press, traces the denomination's transition from a separatist millenarian sect toward the American..."

Source Blumhofer, Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture (University of Illinois Press, 1993)Edith L. Blumhofer
David Yonggi Cho and Choi Ja-shil Found Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "one years before the World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship formed in Indianapolis in 1989, also recorded here, the twenty three year old Assemblies of God minister David Yonggi Cho and his..."

Source The Ministry of Yoido Full Gospel Church (Yoido Full Gospel Church)
Dennis Bennett Sparks the Charismatic Movement at St. Mark's, Van Nuys, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "years before the World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship formed in Indianapolis in 1989, also recorded here, Pentecostal spiritual experience reached decisively beyond the classical..."

Source Rev. Dennis J. Bennett Papers (Regent University)
History of WAGF (World AG Fellowship), Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "1989 founding as the World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship, publishes this account of its own history, naming the 14 to 15 August 1989 Decade of Harvest Conference in Indianapolis, the..."

Source History of WAGF (World AG Fellowship)
Jerry Lee Lewis (Wikipedia), Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "biography that Lewis was raised in the Assemblies of God, that his mother enrolled him at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, from which he was expelled after playing a boogie woogie..."

Source Jerry Lee Lewis (Wikipedia)
Jerry Lee Lewis Records Great Balls Of Fire In Memphis, Tennessee (History.com), Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "Balls of Fire, describing Lewis's Assemblies of God upbringing as the source of his doubts about rock and roll and quoting his exchange with Sam Phillips, "How can the devil save souls?...I got the..."

Source Jerry Lee Lewis Records Great Balls Of Fire In Memphis, Tennessee (History.com)
Jimmy Swaggart (Wikipedia), Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: ""In 1961, Swaggart was ordained by the Assemblies of God; a year later he began his radio ministry," that his weekly telecast started on local Baton Rouge stations in 1971 and expanded to over 250..."

Source Jimmy Swaggart (Wikipedia)
The Assemblies of God in 2024, Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "on Graphs About Religion of official Assemblies of God membership data: from roughly 1.3 million in 1975, to about 3.3 million at a 2019 pre-pandemic peak, a single-year loss of roughly 330,000 in..."

Source The Assemblies of God in 2024Ryan Burge
The Assemblies of God Joins the National Association of Evangelicals, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "Representatives of the Assemblies of God attended the exploratory meeting that formed the National Association of Evangelicals for United Action at St Louis in April 1942, and the Assemblies of..."

Source 80 Years Ago: The Assemblies of God Was a Founding Member of the National Association of Evangelicals (Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center)
The Blessing of Giving, Sources

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "An Assemblies of God News article by Rollie Dimos stating that Scripture calls Christians to tithe as an act of obedience, naming ten percent as the minimum understood figure while stressing that a..."

Source The Blessing of GivingRollie Dimos
The Duquesne Weekend Launches the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "two years before the World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship formed in Indianapolis in 1989, both already recorded here, Pentecostal experience crossed into the Roman Catholic Church itself."

Source Charismatic Renewal, Roman Catholicism in Western Pennsylvania (Duquesne University Library)
The General Council Splits Pentecostalism Over the Trinity, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "In October 1916 the Assemblies of God, founded two years earlier at Hot Springs, held its fourth General Council in St Louis, Missouri."

Source Assemblies Of God USA (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
The Memphis Miracle Founds the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "The vote followed a spontaneous act of contrition by Assemblies of God pastor Don Evans, who knelt to wash the feet of Church of God in Christ Bishop Ithiel Clemmons and asked forgiveness for..."

Source The Memphis Miracle (International Pentecostal Holiness Church)
The World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship Forms in Indianapolis, Spread Events

This source names Assemblies of God directly: "founded the World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship, forty two years after the first Pentecostal World Conference convened at Zurich in 1947, already recorded here, and five years before the..."

Source History of WAGF (World AG Fellowship)

Belongs to Tradition

Christianity, Religions
Source Encyclopedia of American ReligionsJ. Gordon Melton

Branch Of

Christianity, Religions
Source Encyclopedia of American ReligionsJ. Gordon Melton

Contained In

Pentecostalism, Denominations
Source The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901-2001Vinson Synan (ed.)

Holds Element

Elder, Religious Roles & Titles
Source Encyclopedia of American ReligionsJ. Gordon Melton
Pastor, Religious Roles & Titles
Source Encyclopedia of American ReligionsJ. Gordon Melton

Objects and Practices of This Tradition

Great Balls of Fire, Musical Works

The recording documents Lewis's personal conflict WITH his Assemblies of God upbringing's teaching on secular music, not a denominational production or an affirmation of doctrine.

Source Jerry Lee Lewis (Wikipedia)
How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley Album), Musical Works

Presley was not an adult member of the Assemblies of God and this is a secular RCA Victor commercial release, not a denominational production; the edge records the tradition's documented influence on his gospel music, not the tradition's own claim to the work.

Source Elvis Presley (Wikipedia)
The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast, Broadcast Work

The minister's own Assemblies of God ordained broadcast ministry throughout its main run; the later disciplinary rupture is named in the work's own article rather than changing this stance.

Source Jimmy Swaggart (Wikipedia)

Rejected Here

The full inclusion of LGBTQ people in ordination and marriage, Beliefs & Restrictions

The Assemblies of God's official position paper, revised by its General Presbytery in 2014, defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman and holds that a person in a same sex relationship should not be ordained or serve in a role that models the Fellowship's teaching.

Source Homosexuality, Marriage, and Sexual Identity (Assemblies of God, USA)the holders' own account
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of American Religions
J. Gordon Melton, Gale, 2009View the Source
2. The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901-2001
Vinson Synan (ed.), Thomas Nelson, 2001View the Source
3. Homosexuality, Marriage, and Sexual Identity (Assemblies of God, USA)
Assemblies of God (USA), 2014the live stated positions on marriage and sexuality and their detailsthe holders' own accountView the Source
3. Homosexuality, Marriage, and Sexual Identity (Assemblies of God, USA)
Assemblies of God (USA), 2014Objects and Practices of This Tradition: The full inclusion of LGBTQ people in ordination and marriage, The Fellowship's own 2014 position paper on marriage, sexuality and ordinationthe holders' own accountView the Source
4. Assemblies of God (World Religions and Spirituality Project)
World Religions and Spirituality Project, Virginia Commonwealth University
5. Filing Requirements for Churches and Religious Organizations (Internal Revenue Service)
Internal Revenue ServiceView the Source
6. Constitution and Bylaws of The General Council of the Assemblies of God
The General Council of the Assemblies of God, 2021View the Source
7. The Blessing of Giving
Rollie Dimos, AG News, the official news service of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, 2020View the Source
8. Better Together
Doug Clay, Influence Magazine (Assemblies of God, USA), 2025View the Source
9. The Assemblies of God in 2024
Ryan Burge, Graphs About Religion, 2024View the Source
10. Assemblies of God
Jeremy Bonner, Dictionary of American History, via Encyclopedia.comView the Source
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