Members of the Assemblies of God will celebrate their centennial Thursday and Friday as they gather in Hot Springs, the birthplace of the Pentecostal denomination. The meeting will be at First Assembly of God, 3540 Central Ave.
The gathering, a meeting of AGTrust, a fundraising arm of the denomination, is a precursor to the much larger celebration planned for the 100th anniversary in August in Springfield, Mo.
Alton Garrison, assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, said the meeting is a fundraiser for AGTrust, as well as time to celebrate the 1914 founding of the denomination.
“Every organization that reaches 100 years has to ask themselves two questions - has there been a doctrinal drift … and what does the future look like,” Garrison said.
He said attendees will reaffirm the mission of the founders “to achieve the greatest evangelism the world has ever seen.”
“Our goal is to reach the world,” he said. “This is a birthday party to celebrate where we’ve been, where we are and where we are going. The goal would be to not only have a vision but to help finance that vision.”
That’s where AGTrust comes in. Since its founding in 2008, AGTrust has raised more than $13 million. The trust has four initiatives - to plant churches, to help revitalize existing churches, to provide scholarships for ministry students and to offer resources to churches. Money raised at the Hot Springs gathering will help achieve those goals.
“At this meeting will be people who are concerned about the future and have decided to invest money to assure there are adequate resources,” Garrison said, adding that attendees are asked to donate $1,000 per person or take an offering as a church.
George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, will be in attendance, as will other leaders.In a news release Wood said, “We’re going back to Hot Springs, not simply to celebrate our fellowship’s first century, but to launch the start of our second century and pray for God’s continued blessing on the Assemblies of God.”
Since its founding, the church has grown dramatically and now has 66 million members worldwide, including 3.1 million in the United States.
Garrison said he hopes at least 300 people attend next week’s meeting so they can re-create a photo taken of the initial group of about 300 members at the denomination’s founding. Those first members came from across the country, drawn by Pentecostal leaders in Arkansas, including E.N. Bell, who was serving as pastor in Malvern, and became the first general chairman of the Assemblies of God.
“I’m not sure how they chose Hot Springs [for the meeting] but the guys from Malvern helped call it,” Garrison said. “Malvern has one of the oldest churches in the movement. Arkansas has played a great role in the history of the Assemblies of God.”
While in Hot Springs, the group will replace a 60th anniversary plaque located across from Bathhouse Row to mark the centennial.
“We’ll have people coming from all over the United States who are very interested in history and in our future,” Garrison said. “We’re excited about it.”
Religion, Pages 13 on 04/05/2014