Assemblies of God in New Zealand
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The Assemblies of God in New Zealand is a Pentecostal denomination in New Zealand.
The Pentecostal Movement in New Zealand started by the crusades of evangelist Smith Wigglesworth in 1922 and 1923, which lead to the establishment of the Pentecostal Church of New Zealand.
Some internal dispute made thirteen congregations and some pastors to withdraw from the PCNZ and in March 1927 sent a cablegram to the General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States, asking for affiliation.
The 1930s were hard years for the Assemblies of God in New Zealand because of internal doctrine disputes, proselitism of the Apostolic Church in New Zealand, fragile relations with the PCNZ and economic distress generated by the 1929 Depression. However, the frequent visits of preachers such as Aimee McPherson and Valdez helped to keep the Pentecost lit.
During the 1960s the Assemblies of God in New Zealand experienced a regrowth and came to be the largest Pentecostal denomination in Aotearoa. And in 1975 the Assemblies of God in New Zealand was one of the founders of the Associated Pentecostal Churches of New Zealand, which counts more than 700 congregations.
Today (2007) the Assemblies of God in New Zealand has nearly 200 congregations and preaching points and 30,000 members and adherents, mostly in the North Island, and send missionaries to South Asia and Oceania. The biggest congregation is the Takapuna Assembly of God, founded in the 1950s, now with a weekly attendance of 1,500 people.
[edit] References
- Assemblies of God in New Zealand website
- Associated Pentecostal Churches of New Zealand: Directory. 2005
- Roberts, H,V, New Zealand's Greatest Revival under Smith Wigglesworth. 1951
- Worsfold, James E. A History of the Charismatic Movements in New Zealand. 1974
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