The History of Pentecostalism and Why The International Full Gospel Pentecostal Church was established.

  Dr. S. J. Houston

The History of Pentecostalism

Estimated, to number between 400 and 600 million followers worldwide in 2000, Pentecostalism is running neck and neck with the Roman Catholic Church to be the largest Christian denomination.

Estimated numbers of Pentecostals vary widely. Christianity Today reported in an article titled World Growth at 19 Million a year, according to historian Vinson Synan, dean of the Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia Beach. Very conservatively, about 25 percent of the world's Christians are Pentecostal or charismatic.

Pentecostalism has its roots in the Pentecostal revival of the early twentieth century. This revival is generally traced to a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, on January 1, 1901. The revival spread rapidly to Missouri and Texas, then to California and elsewhere. In 1906, a three year revival meeting began at Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles that attracted believers from around the world.

Reports of what was taking place were carried in scores of periodicals and other publications that sprang up with the movement. Spontaneous revivals also began to break out about that time in other parts of the world and on various mission fields. The Pentecostal aspects of the revival were not generally welcomed by the established churches and participants in the movement soon found themselves outside existing religious bodies. They were forced to seek their own places of worship, and soon there were hundreds of distinctly Pentecostal congregations.

By 1914, many ministers and laymen alike had begun to realize the rapid spread of the revival, and the many evangelistic outreaches it spawned had created a number of practical problems. The need arose for formal recognition of ministers as well as approval and support of missionaries, with full accounting of funds. In addition, there was a growing demand for doctrinal unity, gospel literature, and a permanent Bible training school.

These concerned leaders realized that to protect and preserve the results of the revival the thousands of newly Spirit-baptized believers should be united in a cooperative fellowship. In 1914 about 300 preachers and laymen gathered from 20 states and several foreign countries for a "general council" in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to discuss and take action on the growing need.

The five reasons they listed for calling the meeting were: 1. doctrinal unity, 2. conservation of the work, 3. foreign missions interests, 4. chartering churches under a common name for legal purposes, and 5. the need for a Bible training school.

A cooperative fellowship emerged from the meeting and was incorporated under the name The General Council of the Assemblies of God. In time, self-governing and self-supporting general councils broke off from the original fellowship or were formed in several nations throughout the world. These councils originated from indigenous Pentecostal movements or as a direct result of the indigenous missions strategy of the General Council.

Pentecostalism experienced a major schism very early in their history when they adopted the doctrine of the Trinity at their Fourth General Council in October 1916 in St. Louis. This schism caused the loss of one-fourth of Assemblies of God ministers, including all of them in the state of Louisiana. The Oneness Pentecostals baptizing "in the name of Jesus Christ" (according to Acts 2:38) withdrew from the organization. Oneness ministers met in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and on January 2, 1917, they formed a Oneness Pentecostal organization which later became known as the United Pentecostal Church International.

Why the Establishment of The International Full Gospel Pentecostal Church with its world wide revivalist gospel outreach and pioneer church planting mission was necessary.

Because of the recent developments within the Christian scene, with the arrival of a "cross-less, eazy-believism" being exhibited by the mega "seeker-friendly churches", the "kingdom-now" new apostolic resurrection of "the shepherding style" teaching and the reality that most "Word of Faith Churches" were acting like "rolling Word of Faith Conventions rather than Churches, it was decided that something had to be done. After all the entertainment of "Concert style Praise and Worship" was over, after the great Worship Leaders and their bands had exploded with the final drum roll, it was easily seen by many Pentecostal Clergy that the ordinary congregational members were yearning for something more, even if they didn't know what it was. Many Pentecostal ministerial fraternities discussed this and even though the "flavor of the month" new Worship songs were blaring loudly around the Pentecostal/Charismatic/dabbling Charismatic world, these Clergy knew that "Old Fashioned Ministry" and confrontational "Cross filled", "Word based" preaching, coupled with proper Scriptural Church Government was what the people yearned for. By the summer of 2006 a number of Pentecostal Clergy, together with some from other denominations and some independents decided that a new brand of Episcopal government, within Pentecostalism, had to be established together with a return to a doctrinal emphasis on Arminian and Wesleyan theology which promotes Holiness in the lives of Christians. The moral state of Christianity and Pentecostalism in particular was discussed and it was decided that because of the backslidden state of Christianity at large, a new emphasis on holiness should be given loud and clear.    

No lead seemed to be given to this unease and so in August 2006., The Revd. Dr. S. J. Houston DD., established the International Full Gospel Pentecostal Church with its headquarters in Chippenham, England and North Richland Hills, Texas.

Dr. Houston was originally ordained in 1978, starting his ministry as an Evangelical Methodist Minister, first in the conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland as Pastor of four churches and then the Evangelical Methodist Church of Ulster as Pastor of one of their churches. After a move to England in 1987 Revd. Houston was a Minister on the Chippenham and Brinkworth Circuit of the Methodist Church in England. Dr. Houston resigned his membership of the Methodist Church in 1989 as a direct result of having the experience of being personally "Baptized into the Holy Ghost" and how that subsequently changed his ministry. Dr. Houston then built two independent "Free Churches" in both Chippenham and Bristol in England.

(For a larger biography of Dr. Houston click here for his website's biography page)

Dr. Houston is an Assemblies of God International Fellowship licensed and ordained minister and already had his ministry registered for fourteen years in the United States, under the International Fellowship of Full Gospel Churches and Ministries. Although an Irishman who now resided in the United Kingdom, Houston had preached the length and breadth of the of North America for fourteen years and witnessed first hand the various strands of Pentecostalism and dealt with their differences. Dr. Houston realized that there was a purpose in establishing an Pentecostal denomination that would both believe and magnify Holiness and practice an Episcopal form of Church Government. He had encountered many Pentecostals who yearned for a resurgence of Holiness and what they saw as true early church Episcopal delegated authority within their understanding, faith and practice. Although Dr. S. J. Houston established The International Full Gospel Pentecostal Church, he still remains as a member and as an ordained Assemblies of God (International Fellowship) Minister, his name appearing in the directory of the AG (International Fellowship). Dr. Houston believes, that although he is the founder of The International Full Gospel Pentecostal Church and presently retains the position of being that Church's Presiding Bishop, he himself needs to be accountable to a denominational body.

 

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