The Assemblies of God came into being at the first General Council, April 6-12, 1914, in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  The December 20, 1913, issue of The Word and Witness, a periodical edited by E.N. Bell in Malvern, Arkansas, issued a formal call for a "General convention of Pentecostal saints and churches of God in Christ."  In spite of heated controversy among Pentecostal believers over the issue of forming an organization, the Hot Springs convention brought representatives from many parts of the United States, as well as several foreign countries.  More than 300 people attended these historic meetings, of whom 128 officially registered.  The roster lists many of the great leaders of the earliest days of the 20th-century Pentecostal movement.  It was here that a unanimous resolution was adopted to form a voluntary, cooperative fellowship of Pentecostal churches to be called the General Council of the Assemblies of God.

    The 1914 Hot Springs meeting was not the first attempt to gather Pentecostal believers together.  Between 1905 and 1913, a variety of camp meetings and conferences were held, chiefly in the south-central United States, with as many as 15 of these gatherings being publicized by the summer of 1913.  Some regional associations developed.  Short-term Bible institutes were conducted by respected leaders like D.C.O. Opperman to train young preachers.  A flurry of periodicals appeared between 1901 and the gathering in 1914 in Hot Springs.  These publications helped to give a sense of unity of purpose to the fledgling revival movement and pointed in the direction of a more formal organization.

    What caused these early independent Pentecostals to agree to unite to form a new organization?  There were at least four reasons.

    1.  Fellowship.  Although there were isolated episodes of Pentecostal revival prior to this time, it was in Topeka, Kansas, in 1901, that the Pentecostal experience was given its first theological identity: a belief in a baptism in the Spirit accompanied by the biblical sign of speaking in other tongues, subsequent to new birth.  The teaching of a baptism in the Spirit as an enduement of power for witnessing was commonly taught among evangelicals by the 1890s.   Pentecostals possessed an expectation that tongues -- and other manifestations of the Spirit listed in the New Testament -- could be experienced today.  This understanding was a cause of great controversy among Christians.  Pentecostals were virtually cut off from fellowship with other believers.  They felt the need for a new fellowship sharing common faith.

    2.  Discipline.  A widespread tendency for clusters of Pentecostal believers to gravitate to strong leaders produced  a divisive, and even contentious spirit among some Pentecostals.  More mature leaders were uneasy about the splintering effect this personality-centered loyalty was producing.  Some of these local leaders were guilty of various abuses, some more serious than others.  It became apparent that a means for disciplining leadership was going to be required if the good name of responsible churches was to be preserved.   Standards of conduct and practice were needed.

    3.  Doctrine.  A third reason for organizing a Pentecostal fellowship was the felt need for doctrinal harmony.   Many of the early Pentecostal preachers were untrained, lacking an adequate biblical foundation for feeding the flock of God.  Enthusiasm was not always matched by wisdom.  Some allowed personal experience to govern their teaching.  This often created a bewildering assortment of conflicting teachings that led to division and confusion.  A precise doctrinal statement was not shaped at this initial General Council, but by 1916 doctrinal controversy precipitated the need for a "Statement of Fundamental Truths," incorporating the salient points of Assemblies of God teaching.

    4.  Missions.  From the earliest days of the Pentecostal revival, a common thread in the various assemblies was a widespread response to reach the lost for Christ, not only at home, but abroad.   Foreign missions and pioneer domestic ministry were high priorities among these early believers.  It became apparent very quickly that local churches were not very good foreign missions agencies.  The need for correlating foreign work, arranging for forwarding funds to the foreign field, legal representation with foreign governments, and the need for endorsement for holding of mission properties in foreign lands, all pointed toward the need for a more centralized missions enterprise.  Stories of missionaries abandoned in isolation on lonely mission fields fueled the sense of urgency.  The desire to formulate a more cohesive strategy for sending and supporting missionaries was clearly one of the principal reasons Pentecostals shed their independent ways to form a cooperative fellowship.  From the beginnings, the Assemblies of God has been strongly committed to the challenge of world evangelization.

The above is a reprint of an article entitled "The birth of the Assemblies of God" written by William W. Menzies that appeared in the May 31, 1998 issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Timeline of Significant Events

1914 - First organizational meeting of the Assemblies of God, Hot Springs, Arkansas, April 2-12.  E.N. Bell elected chairman.  First headquarters at Findlay, Ohio.  Second General Council held in Chicago, November 15-29.  A.P. Collins elected chairman.

1915 - Headquarters moves to St. Louis, Missouri.   Third General Council meets there in October; J.W. Welch elected chairman.

1916 - Statement of Fundamental Truths adopted.

1918 - Headquarters relocates to Springfield, Missouri.

1919 - Name of the official magazine becomes the Pentecostal Evangel.  Foreign Missions Department established.

1920 - E.N. Bell elected chairman.  Midwest Bible School at Auburn, Nebraska, becomes first Assemblies of God Bible school; later, Southern California Bible Institute starts in Pasadena, California.

1921 - Stanley H. Frodsham becomes editor of the Pentecostal Evangel.

1923 - E.N. Bell dies in office; J.W. Welch succeeds him.

1925 - W.T. Gaston elected chairman.

1926 - Latin American Bible Institute in San Antonio, Texas, founded.

1927 - Constitution and Bylaws adopted.

1929 - E.S. Williams elected general superintendent.

1937 - Home Missions Department organized.

1938 - C.A. Herald magazine starts for youth.

1939 - Sunday School Counselor first printed as monthly magazine.

1941 - Chaplaincy Department developed; Reveille published for military personnel.

1943 - Christ's Ambassadors Department established.   Assemblies of God joins National Association of Evangelicals.

1944 - Speed-the-Light begins to raise funds for vehicles for missionaries.  Hillcrest Children's Home established.

1945 - Radio Department starts with Thomas F. Zimmerman as director.

1947 - Publications Department created to supervise printing operations and editorial personnel.

1948 - Benevolences Department created.

1949 - Wesley R. Steelberg succeeds E.S. Williams as general superintendent.  New printing plant built.  Robert C. Cunningham becomes editor of the Pentecostal Evangel.

1950 - Radio program renamed Revivaltime.

1951 - Women's Ministries Department recognized.

1952 - Gayle F. Lewis fills unexpired term of W.R. Steelberg.  Men's Fellowship Department (now HonorBound: Men of Promise) organized.

1953 - Ralph Riggs elected general superintendent.   C.M. Ward becomes first full-time speaker on Revivaltime.

1954 - Evangel College started.

1955 - Missionettes begins.

1956 - Music Department established.

1959 - Thomas F. Zimmerman elected general superintendent.   Teen Challenge program instituted by David Wilkerson.

1961 - Administration building built.   Light-for-the-Lost founded.

1962 - Royal Rangers starts for boys.  Bible Quiz and Teen Talent Search launched.

1964 - 50th Anniversary Convention, Springfield, April 20-23.

1965 - Advance magazine published for ministers.

1967 - International Correspondence Institute launched.

1968 - Council on Evangelism, St. Louis, Missouri.

1972 - Distribution Center added to Headquarters complex.

1973 - Assemblies of God Theological Seminary established.   Maranatha Village opens.

1977 - Archives established.

1979 - Dan Betzer becomes Revivaltime speaker.

1982 - Conference on the Holy Spirit convenes in Springfield, Missouri.

1984 - Richard G. Champion becomes editor of Pentecostal Evangel.

1986 - G. Raymond Carlson succeds Thomas F. Zimmerman as general superintendent.

1989 - 75th Anniversary celebrated at General Council in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1992 - On Course, youth magazine, launched.

1993 - G. Raymond Carlson retires as general superintendent.  Thomas E. Trask elected at General Council in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1994 - World Assemblies of God Congress, Seoul, South Korea.  National Prayer Center and Ministerial Enrichment Office established.

1996 - 90th anniversary of Azusa Street revival.

The above is a reprint of an article entitled "Significant Events" written by Glenn Gohr that appeared in the February 15, 1998 issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

On February 16, 2006, Glenn Gohr sent these updates to the Timeline:

1992 - Full Life Study Bible issued with detailed study notes on the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.

1994 - Over a million believers met in Seoul, South Korea for World Assemblies of God Congress. Black and white Pentecostals unite and A/G participates in forming Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) in what has been termed the "Miracle at Memphis."

1995 - Pensacola Outpouring begins on Father’s Day at Brownsville Assembly of God with John Kilpatrick and Steve Hill, evangelist. Multitudes begin flocking to participate in the steady stream of revival.

1999 - Merger of Berean University and ICI University results in A/G Global University

2001 - 100th anniversary of Topeka Outpouring

2006 - Azusa Street Centennial celebrated in Los Angeles

To learn more about the history and rich hertiage of the Assemblies of God, visit Flower Pentecostal Hertiage Center's website.