Aglow International

Last updated

Aglow International is an interdenominational organization of Christian people. It is based in Seattle and Washington, US and has more than 200,000 members.

Contents

Overview

Formerly known as The Women's Aglow Fellowship, the organisation has more than 200,000 members. Local Aglow groups hold monthly meetings in 171 nations. [1] There are more than 21,000 Aglow leaders worldwide. An estimated 17 million people participate each year through 4600 groups around the world. [2]

The organization was born in 1967 out of the charismatic movement that swept the US in the 1960s.

Although Aglow has an overarching mission and identity, each local group is allowed to develop ministries that its leaders deem appropriate for their particular group. Aglow operates many programs [3] including small group studies, care (support) groups, retreats, and annual conferences. Aglow groups may also choose to expand into clothing, food, house cleaning, babysitting, and the mentorship of young people. Other activities may involve people in prison, in senior homes, inner city neighborhoods, mental institutions, or single parents.

Aglow International is a non-profit organization and a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). [4] It is headquartered in Edmonds, Washington.

History

Aglow International traces its roots back to 1967 when four women, who were wives of members of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, desired to meet together as Christians without denominational boundaries. [5] The four women were wives of members of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International. The women wanted a similar women's devotional association, "one where 'those coming into the charismatic renewal could meet to pray, fellowship, and listen to the testimonies of other Christian women.' The women formed the Full Gospel Women's Fellowship in a few months, which spread rapidly." [6] The first general meeting in Seattle drew more than 100 women to the Meany Hotel close to the University of Washington campus. It did not take long for women who attended that first meeting to invite their neighbours and friends to regular meetings in other communities surrounding Seattle. Word spread, and new groups began springing up around Washington.

By 1972, more than 60 local groups held monthly meetings around the US, [5] [7] and the Full Gospel Women's Fellowship was incorporated as the Women's Aglow Fellowship International. [8] Within the next year, groups began in Canada, New Zealand, and The Netherlands, making Aglow an international "network of caring women."

In 1981, Aglow's President, Jane Hansen, began to speak and write about the restoration of women according to the significance of their created role as outlined in the Bible. This grew into Aglow's teaching on the importance of male/female reconciliation in the Church. [9] In 1991 and 1995, Aglow began focusing on ministering to Muslims. [10] Aglow tries to bring awareness about Islam to Christians and also sponsors an Arabic Language television show that is geared specifically for Muslim women. [3]

Women's Aglow Fellowship changed its name to Aglow International in 1995. This change was instituted to encompass the growing global nature of the organization.

In 2001, Aglow decided to stand with and support the nation of Israel and the Jewish people in the following areas: [11]  

Aglow marked its 40th year in 2007. More than 200,000 Aglow members celebrated worldwide, and many attended commemorative events, including an international conference September 20-23 in the organization's founding city, Seattle, and a tour of Israel - the group's seventh such journey to the Holy Land since 2000. [10]

Structure

Aglow International has a hierarchical leadership structure. Within the United States, local Aglow groups are called Lighthouses. [13] The local groups are composed of women who come together for Bible Study, teachings, and also to perform community outreach tasks and events. Meetings can take place in any location from homes to community halls to prisons. [5] Lighthouses and Candlelight groups are under the leadership of local women who have undergone the requisite leadership training. These leaders are in turn under the authority of Area Teams. Area Teams give oversight to multiple groups in a particular region or area. National Directors or Presidents oversee all the Area Teams in a nation. All the leaders in these offices are indigenous women who have also undergone leadership training. In keeping with its charismatic roots, Aglow requires all its leaders to show evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit by being able to speak in tongues. [3]

Each region in the world has a Prayer Coordinator who oversees and coordinates the prayer ministry under the oversight of the Prayer Director. The entire structure of Aglow is under the leadership of the International Board of Directors, of which Jane Hansen is the President. This International Board is composed of 11 women of different nationalities who are Aglow national leaders within their own countries as well. Each Aglow group also has at least one male advisor - usually a person of some prominence within an evangelical church. "This structure, together with leadership seminars for specific regions as well as national and worldwide conferences, comprises an international support network and helps to ensure that each local group reflects Aglow's essential identity." [3]

All of the persons in these positions of leadership give their time voluntarily. The only exception is the paid staff of thirty-two at the Aglow Worldwide Headquarters in Edmonds, Washington. This staff is responsible for the financial well-being of the organization, the implementation of its goals and purposes, the organization of national conferences and events, and all promotional and advertising materials.

An individual who decides to become a member of Aglow will commit to regular prayer for the organization as well as financial support in free-will donations. However, people are free to attend Aglow meetings without becoming a covenant partners. Aglow International receives most of its funding from covenant partner donations, individual donations, conference fees, and grants from foundations. A current financial report can be found on the ECFA's website. [14]

Beliefs and practices

Aglow believes that Jesus died and rose again. They believe in Jesus’ redemptive work and that those who repent of their sin and personally accept the Jesus as Savior receive the forgiveness of sin and everlasting life. They believe that marriage is a divine institution and that sexual intimacy is designed within the context of marriage between one man and one woman. The group believes in creating an atmosphere of love and restoration. [15]

Ministries

Aglow has several ministries including;

Mission

Aglow's mission is;

  1. To restore and mobilize women and men around the world
  2. To promote gender reconciliation in the Body of Christ as God designed
  3. To amplify awareness of global concerns from a biblical perspective

Restoration and mobilization of women

Aglow believes that in order to be restored, a woman must first be saved and restored to a relationship with God. Part of restoration is discipleship, prayer, encouragement, and emotional healing - all of which come through relationships. Aglow believes that true restoration of a woman can only occur after she has reached a place of desperation and is willing to turn completely to God for help. [1] After this act of surrender, God is able to work through her and heal her emotionally and spiritually. In addition to the spiritual restoration of women, Aglow also believes in their physical restoration and empowerment and works to elevate the status of women worldwide.

To mobilize is "to gather together, to activate, to assemble." Aglow mobilizes women to be servant leaders its international prayer network and leadership development. Any leader within Aglow first has to go through training before she is allowed to take a leadership post. [3]

Gender reconciliation

In 1981, the issue of restoration of women led Hansen to the issue of male and female reconciliation in the Church. According to Hansen, this issue seeks to restore the biblical view of God's purpose for creation which Aglow bases on Genesis 1:26–28. Aglow believes this purpose was to have a family, a people who would share God's life, nature, spirit, vision, and purpose, and through whom God would express his life, power, and glory on earth. [16] Hansen believes that it takes male and female together to fulfil this purpose and that the restoration of this foundational relationship is necessary before the Church as a whole can fulfil its destiny to express God's image. [17]

Hansen believes that women were "uniquely and specifically designed to stand before the man in an intimate, face-to-face relationship." [18] However, although women were meant to look to God to find their life, identity, value and significance, since the fall of Eve in the dawn of creation, they have looked instead to men to fulfill these needs. Hansen states that only when "a woman's heart is turned back to God to meet her needs, she is…free to be the help God intended her to be: to draw the man out of his aloneness by relating on a level that moves past the surface and touches the deep places of his heart. She is then able to stand in a healthy, face-to-face relationship with him." [18]

Aglow offers seminars and workshops to help women in the practical application of male-female reconciliation. The seminars teach women how to find "fulfilment and joy in their daily relationships…to create families full of joy and marriages free from resentment." [19] Participants report that these teachings have helped to restore their marriages and other significant relationships. [20]

Global concerns

Aglow women conduct outreach efforts, specifically in refugee camps and war-torn nations. Aglow Relief, a subsidiary of Aglow International, has been incorporated for humanitarian and compassion purposes.

Aglow has partnered with many organizations worldwide to further its humanitarian interests. In May 2006, more than $30,000 and half a ton of humanitarian supplies were carried to Israel in suitcases by 600 men and women in an Aglow-sponsored solidarity tour. This aid was disseminated to many organizations in Israel such as the Yemin Orde Youth Village near Haifa, the Magen David Adom blood donation center in Jerusalem, the Ethiopian Absorption Center in Mevaseret Zion and the Ma'aynei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak. [21]

More than $20,000 was also donated to Aglow members who were victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Aglow also partners with charitable organizations in the cities where their yearly conferences are held. Conference locations vary from year to year. In 2006, Aglow partnered with the City on a Hill, [5] an organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to meeting the needs of the central city by providing hands-on missions training, [ clarification needed ] faith-based multicultural education, community outreach, economic empowerment, housing developments, and health and social services. [22] Participants at the Aglow conference prayed specifically for this charity and also made sizeable donations to further its outreach. [5]

Aglow has also received many grants and funding from secular organizations. A donation of $40,000 was made in September 2006 to the Ghana branch of Aglow by Western Union Money Transfer. This money was given in aid of the construction of a women's vocational institute. The vocational institute will offer training in Craft and Handiwork, Management and Catering, Dressmaking, Batik Making, Hairdressing, Secretarial Studies, Bookkeeping, Accounting, Communication Skills, Basic Education, as well as Snail farming and Mushroom farming. Western Union made this donation to assist Aglow in their mission to empower women in the community of Ghana. [23]

Prayer

Aglow believes God has called the organization to be a "Global House of Prayer." Aglow women pray in small groups and in large national and international gatherings. [3] In her book about Aglow International, God's Daughters, R. Marie Griffith states that, "God calls his daughters to perform mighty acts and inaugurate prodigious transformations through their prayers, rendering Christian women vital instruments of regeneration and healing to a broken and dying world." [1]

Tax issues

There exist 920 Aglow International entities that are classified by the IRS as churches. [24] They are not required to file annual reports (form 990) with the IRS which are otherwise available for public view.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations</span>

The Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations (AMEC) is an association of conservative evangelical Mennonite churches. The organization was officially formed in 2002 over concerns relating to the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church.

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an American association of Evangelical Christian denominations, organizations, schools, churches, and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches from about 40 different Christian denominations and serves a constituency of millions. The mission of the NAE is to honor God by connecting and representing Evangelicals in the United States.

The Fellowship, also known as The Family, is a U.S.-based nonprofit religious and political organization founded in April 1935 by Abraham Vereide. The stated purpose of The Fellowship is to provide a fellowship forum where decision makers can attend Bible studies, attend prayer meetings, worship God, experience spiritual affirmation and receive support.

The Latter Rain, also known as the New Order or the New Order of the Latter Rain, was a post–World War II movement within Pentecostal Christianity which remains controversial. The movement saw itself as a continuation of the restorationism of early Pentecostalism. The movement began with major revivals between 1948 and 1952 and became established as a large semi-organized movement by 1952. It continued into the 1960s. The movement had a profound impact on subsequent movements as its participants dispersed throughout the broader charismatic and Pentecostal movements beginning in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Joyner</span> Evangelical minister

Rick Joyner is an American public speaker and author. He founded MorningStar Ministries with his wife in 1985.

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR members promote nonviolence, human rights and reconciliation through public education efforts, training programs and campaigns. The IFOR International Secretariat in Utrecht, Netherlands facilitates communication among IFOR members, links branches to capacity building resources, provides training in gender-sensitive nonviolence through the Women Peacemakers Program, and helps coordinate international campaigns, delegations and urgent actions. IFOR has ECOSOC status at the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada</span> Pentecostal Christian denomination

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the largest evangelical church in Canada. Its headquarters is located in Mississauga, Ontario.

The Way International is a nondenominational Christian ministry based in New Knoxville, Ohio. The followers congregate primarily in home fellowships located throughout the United States, two US territories, and in over 30 countries. It was founded by Victor Paul Wierwille in 1942 as a radio program, subsequently becoming The Chimes Hour Youth Caravan in 1947, and The Way, Inc., in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christians for Biblical Equality</span> Christian egalitarian organization

Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) is an organization that promotes Christian egalitarianism and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. CBE's Mission Statement reads: "CBE exists to promote biblical justice and community by educating Christians that the Bible calls women and men to share authority equally in service and leadership in the home, church, and world." According to its website, CBE "is a nonprofit organization of Christian men and women who believe that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all ethnic groups, all economic classes, and all age groups, based on the teachings of Scriptures such as Galatians 3:28: 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus' ."

Pilgrim Holiness Church (PHC) or International Apostolic Holiness Church (IAHC) is a Christian denomination associated with the holiness movement that split from the Methodist Episcopal Church through the efforts of Martin Wells Knapp in 1897. It was first organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the International Holiness Union and Prayer League (IHU/IAHC). Knapp, founder of the IAHC, ordained and his Worldwide Missions Board sent Charles and Lettie Cowman who had attended God's Bible School to Japan in December 1900. By the International Apostolic Holiness Churches Foreign Missionary Board and the co-board of the Revivalist the Cowmans had been appointed the General Superintendents and the Kilbournes the vice-General Superintendent for Korea, Japan and China December 29, 1905. The organization later became the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1922, the majority of which merged with the Wesleyan Methodists in 1968 to form the Wesleyan Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Bickle (minister)</span> American Evangelical Christian leader

Michael Leroy Bickle is an American evangelical leader who was the founder of the International House of Prayer (IHOPKC). Once the leader of IHOPKC, Bickle oversaw several ministries and a Bible school. Bickle has written a number of books and served as the pastor of multiple churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quakers</span> Family of Christian religious movements

Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after John 15:14 in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers as the founder of the movement, George Fox, told a judge to quake "before the authority of God". The Friends are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to be guided by the inward light to "make the witness of God" known to everyone. Quakers have traditionally professed a priesthood of all believers inspired by the First Epistle of Peter. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity, as well as Nontheist Quakers. To differing extents, the Friends avoid creeds and hierarchical structures. In 2017, there were an estimated 377,557 adult Quakers, 49% of them in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Women United</span>

Church Women United (CWU) is a national ecumenical Christian women's movement representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian women. Founded in 1941, as the United Council of Church Women, this organization has more than 1,200 local and state units in the United States and Puerto Rico. CWU's members represent 26 supporting denominations and organizations. Offices are located in New York City, Washington DC and at the United Nations.

Barney Coombs was a British religious leader, and the first leader of the International Council of Salt and Light Ministries, and Senior Leader at West Coast Christian Fellowship in Vancouver, Canada. Salt and Light is a network of neocharismatic Evangelical Christian churches that is part of the British New Church Movement. Coombs was received apostolically by many Charismatic churches in North America, Africa, India, Europe, the UK and New Zealand, and was seen as the 'father' of the Salt and Light family of churches. He was married to Janette until his death in 2018 and they had three children and eight grandchildren.

The Word of God is an ecumenical, charismatic, missionary Christian community in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The community began in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assemblies of God USA</span> Pentecostal Christian denomination

The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially The General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States and the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. The AG reported 2.9 million adherents in 2022. In 2011, it was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. The Assemblies of God is a Finished Work denomination, and it holds to a conservative, evangelical and classical Arminian theology as expressed in the Statement of Fundamental Truths and position papers, which emphasize such core Pentecostal doctrines as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Douglas Evans Coe was an American evangelist who served as the associate director of the Fellowship Foundation, a religious and political organization known for hosting the annual National Prayer Breakfast. Coe has been referred to as the "stealth Billy Graham". In 2005, Coe was named one of the 25 most-influential evangelicals in the United States by Time. Coe was an ordained ruling elder and lay minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Vereide</span> Norwegian-born American Methodist minister (1886–1969)

Abraham Vereide was a Norwegian-born American Methodist minister and founder of International Christian Leadership (ICL) group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students</span>

The Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES) is an interdenominational Christian campus movement in Nigeria whose aims are to promote and encourage evangelism, discipleship and mission among students. The NIFES is the largest Christian Campus movement in Africa with secretariats in almost all Nigerian tertiary institutions. The movement which started on 31 August 1968 is the Nigerian division of the worldwide umbrella organisation the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), which is the largest Christian campus movement in the world currently covering 160 evangelical Christian students movements in over 160 countries.

References

  1. 1 2 3 God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission.R. Marie Griffith, the University of California Press, 1997
  2. ↑ Aglow UK website
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 MinistryWatch.org's Summary Report on Aglow International
  4. ↑ MinistryWatch.com's Summary Report on Aglow International
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Aglow Spreads Faith, Community of Women Conference set for Milwaukee" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 29, 2006,
  6. ↑ God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. R. Marie Griffith, University of California Press, 1997
  7. ↑ Aglow UK website
  8. ↑ God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission, R. Marie Griffith, University of California Press, 1997
  9. ↑ Fashioned for Intimacy, Jane Hansen with Marie Powers, Regal Books, 1997
  10. 1 2 "Aglow International: Still Shining Bright After 40 Years" Archived February 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine A. Larry Ross Communications, March 15, 2007,
  11. ↑ Why Aglow and Israel (Aglow's Web Site)
  12. ↑ Romans 11:18
  13. ↑ Aglow official website
  14. ↑ Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability Member Profile
  15. ↑ Aglow official website
  16. ↑ "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27, N.K.J.V.
  17. ↑ Fashioned for Intimacy Jane Hansen with Marie Powers, Regal Books, 1997
  18. 1 2 "Jane Hansen on Male Female Reconciliation" Jane Hansen, October 24, 2004,
  19. ↑ God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. R. Marie Griffith, the University of California Press, 1997
  20. ↑ God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. R. Marie Griffith, University of California Press, 1997
  21. ↑ "Through Fire and Water - Aglow International: A Compassionate Touch" Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, October 2006
  22. ↑ City on a Hill Vision Statement Archived October 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ "Western Union donates $40,000 to Aglow International" The Statesman, September 16, 2006
  24. ↑ "Business Master File". Internal Revenue Service.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.