Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly African American membership based within the United States. The international headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee. The current Presiding Bishop is Bishop John Drew Sheard Sr., who is the Senior Pastor of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ of Detroit, Michigan. He was elected as the denomination's leader on March 27, 2021.
The World Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is an international Pentecostal denomination.
The Church of God, Mountain Assembly (CGMA) is a Holiness Pentecostal Christian body formed in 1907, with roots in the late 19th-century American holiness movement and early 20th-century Pentecostal revival. The denomination maintains headquarters in Jellico, Tennessee and is a member of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America.
The International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies (IFCA), formerly known as the Christian Church of North America (CCNA), is a North American Pentecostal denomination with roots in the Italian-American community, but is now a multicultural denomination. Central offices are located in Transfer, Pennsylvania. Ministries of the church include Benevolence, Home Missions, FOCUS, Foreign Missions, Education, Lay Ministries, and Public Relations. A convention is held annually, and their official publication is Vista, a quarterly magazine.
In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doctrines of salvation and ecclesiology. It is frequently associated with incorporation into the Christian Church, the bestowal of spiritual gifts, and empowerment for Christian ministry. Spirit baptism has been variously defined as part of the sacraments of initiation into the church, as being synonymous with regeneration, or as being synonymous with Christian perfection. The term baptism with the Holy Spirit originates in the New Testament, and all Christian traditions accept it as a theological concept.
The Memphis Miracle was a 1994 meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, where representatives of Pentecostal and charismatic denominations and churches came together to form the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), an interdenominational and racially inclusive partnership. The PCCNA was created to replace the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (PFNA) which was formed in 1948 by white Pentecostal churches, but excluded black Pentecostal groups. The PCCNA was created to remedy the situation, and it was at the Memphis meeting that the PFNA and its members apologized to the black Pentecostal bodies.
The Alliance World Fellowship is an evangelical Christian denomination within the Higher Life movement of Christianity, teaching a modified form of Keswickian theology. It includes 6.2 million members throughout 88 different countries within 22,000 churches.
Harold Vinson Synan was an American historian, author, and alliance leader within the Pentecostal movement. Synan published a total of 25 books, a majority related to Holiness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic movements. He served as General Secretary of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church and later as Chair of the North American Renewal Service Committee from 1985 to 2001. From 1994 - 2006 he served as Dean of the School of Divinity at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 2016, Synan moved back to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to re-join the faculty of Oral Roberts University as Interim Dean of the College of Theology and Ministry, where he served for two years. Following that he served as Scholar in Residence at Oral Roberts University where he worked closely with William M. Wilson, the president of ORU, the World Pentecostal Fellowship, and Empowered21.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches.
The Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) is an American scholarly association of biblical scholars, theologians, and others who are members of Pentecostal churches or are involved in the Charismatic Renewal. It was founded in 1970. The members of the Society consider themselves responsible for recording the history and developing the theology of these grassroots movements that have influenced Christianity worldwide.
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.
The Wesleyan Holiness Connection, also known as the Wesleyan Holiness Consortium, is an interdenominational organization of denominations and congregations, with membership primarily including those aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement or Holiness Pentecostalism. It seeks to promote Biblical holiness in churches that historically rooted in the evangelical movement initiated by John Wesley. The Wesleyan Holiness Consortium aims to guide efforts and projects focused on holiness in the 21st century for pastors, unity within and among the participating churches, a holiness voice to the broader church, and the importance of holiness in the future mission of the church.
James Oglethorpe Patterson Jr. was a Holiness Pentecostal minister in the Church of God in Christ and a former Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, the first African-American to hold the office.
Pentecostalism began spreading in South Africa after William J. Seymour, of the Azusa Street mission, sent missionaries to convert and organize missions. By the 1990s, approximately 10% of the population of South Africa was Pentecostal. The largest denominations were the Apostolic Faith Mission, Assemblies of God, and the Full Gospel Church of God. Another 30% of the population was made up of mostly black Zionist and Apostolic churches, which comprise a majority of South Africa's African Instituted Churches(AICs). In a 2006 survey, 1 in 10 urban South Africans said they were Pentecostal, and 2 in 10 said they were charismatic. In total, renewalists comprised one-fourth of the South African urban population. A third of all protestants surveyed said that they were Pentecostal or charismatic, and one-third of all South African AIC members said they were charismatic.
Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts as an everyday part of a believer's life. It has a global presence in the Christian community. Practitioners are often called Charismatic Christians or Renewalists. Although there is considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three separate groups: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement, and the Neo-charismatic movement.
John Drew Sheard is an American pastor and minister from Detroit, Michigan, who is the current Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, a 6 million-member predominantly African-American Holiness Pentecostal denomination that has now grown to become one of the largest African American Pentecostal denominations in the United States. He was elected as the leader of the denomination in the denomination's first ever all-virtual online election, that was held virtually online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on March 20, 2021. He is the first Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ from the state of Michigan and is the pastor of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ, one of the denomination's largest churches in Michigan. He also previously served as a member of the General Board, the twelve bishops who make up the national Board of Directors of the COGIC denomination, and as the president of the COGIC International Youth Department, the auxiliary ministry department of the COGIC denomination focused on youth and young adults, from 1997 to 2001, and the International President and Chairman of the COGIC Auxiliaries In Ministry (AIM) convention from 2004 to 2012.
Holiness Pentecostalism is the original branch of Pentecostalism, which is characterized by its teaching of three works of grace: [1] the New Birth, [2] entire sanctification, and [3] Spirit baptism evidenced by speaking in tongues. The word Holiness refers specifically to the belief in entire sanctification as a definite, second work of grace, in which original sin is cleansed, the heart is made perfect in love, and the believer is empowered to serve God.
