Assemblies of God 2013 Statistics Released

[oneinkhorn]

Assemblies of God 2013 Statistics Released

http://ifphc.wordpress.com/2014/06/1...tics-released/

The Assemblies of God (AG) is one of the few major denominations in the United States to show continuing growth. The AG has now experienced 24 consecutive years of growth in the number of U.S. adherents, according to a press release from the AG National Leadership and Resource Center in Springfield, Missouri. The article compares the AG’s growth to the “declining attendance for many other North American evangelical denominations.”

http://ag.org/top/News/index_article...59&RSS_Source=

"The Assemblies of God is growing in America. But the real story is the ethnic transformation of the Assemblies of God. It is becoming less white and more reflective of the ethnic, linguistic and social diversity that exists in the global church."

[Dante]

Too bad Apostolic fellowships can't follow suit. The UPCI, PAW, and AAIFOCJ will continue to be predominantly the ethnicity they were founded by, because the Apostolic movement in America is founded on racism and division.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Dante

Too bad Apostolic fellowships can't follow suit. The UPCI, PAW, and AAIFOCJ will continue to be predominantly the ethnicity they were founded by, because the Apostolic movement in America is founded on racism and division.

Yeah...I disagree.

I live in SoCal. Most of my local fellowship is Mexican American with some blacks, whites, filipino and at least one Okinawan

It pretty much represents the racial makeup of this city.

Also most of the blacks go to nearly and traditionally all black churches. That's not our fault. That's where they want to go. We reach out to every race.

In fact, while pointing fingers at the Apostolics, I can take you to several Hispanic congregations, Japanese congregations, Black congregations etc etc and they are NOT Apostolic

[Michael The Disciple]

To bad the AOG forced all the "Oneness" out of their organization 2 years after it was formed.

[commonsense]

I'm not AOG and have never been AOG but they're doing something right.....

(have had many friends and relatives that were part of the AOG)

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by commonsense

I'm not AOG and have never been AOG but they're doing something right.....

(have had many friends and relatives that were part of the AOG)

Maybe. But then again, many (not all) AoG churches are watering themselves down so much they differ little from a typical non-denominational evangelical church (Consider how once upon a time nearly 100% of AoG constituents had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then it was decided that just the ministry needed to have received the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues in order to be licensed, and now? Who knows. When you make the baptism of the Holy Spirit any optional experience subsequent to salvation, no wonder people stop caring enough to seek it.).

With this being the case, since people from all backgrounds and associations like to church shop and hop, numerical growth may only be an indicator of already professing and believing transplants from a non-AoG church.

While it may mean the ranks are swelling, it doesn't necessarily mean the AoG is actually growing in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission (i.e. winning the lost).

[navygoat1998]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

Maybe. But then again, many (not all) AoG churches are watering themselves down so much they differ little from a typical non-denominational evangelical church (Consider how once upon a time nearly 100% of AoG constituents had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then it was decided that just the ministry needed to have received the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues in order to be licensed, and now? Who knows. When you make the baptism of the Holy Spirit any optional experience subsequent to salvation, no wonder people stop caring enough to seek it.).

With this being the case, since people from all backgrounds and associations like to church shop and hop, numerical growth may only be an indicator of already professing and believing transplants from a non-AoG church.

While it may mean the ranks are swelling, it doesn't necessarily mean the AoG is actually growing in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission (i.e. winning the lost).

We have been in the Assemblies almost from the moment we left UPC, and every church we have been part of has been very Pentecostal. Our church is very Pentecostal and it is a large church, nothing like hearing the throngs of people when the Holy Ghost falls.

I don't disagree with you, but I will say this that the future of the AG will be Spirit filled, about 80 percent of all kids that go to youth camp or any of the camps for that matter come back Baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by navygoat1998

We have been in the Assemblies almost from the moment we left UPC, and every church we have been part of has been very Pentecostal. Our church is very Pentecostal and it is a large church, nothing like hearing the throngs of people when the Holy Ghost falls.

I don't disagree with you, but I will say this that the future of the AG will be Spirit filled, about 80 percent of all kids that go to youth camp or any of the camps for that matter come back Baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.

Oh brother.... those poor kids receiving the HG, and not being baptized in Jesus name. What shall become of them?

Seriously, I rejoice with you to hear of what the Lord is doing in your midst!

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

While it may mean the ranks are swelling, it doesn't necessarily mean the AoG is actually growing in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission (i.e. winning the lost).

Your statement "winning the lost" I would like to address.

"Winning the lost" should be something more than just getting people "filled with the spirit". What happens to someone who has received the HG? What about the discliping? What about the percentage of people who receive the HG, and one year later are still living for the Lord? Where are those percentages?

You see, I really feel that discipling is an area that OP has missed out on. Everyone gets excited, hoops and hollers when X number of people receive the HG. But then... what about the followup? How many of those people are discipled, and taught how to be a disciple of Jesus? In my almost 40 years in the OP, I saw that as a huge problem. People would pray around the altar for hours to get someone "filled", but then drop them like a hotcake later when they began to struggle with how to live for the Lord, while moving on to get the next person "filled". I think it is a tragedy.

It's like taking a baby after being born, and struggling to get the baby to begin to drink milk, and then once he takes a drink of the milk, then it would be like taking the milk from the baby and saying okay, here is the meat. You better start eating this now, and shape up quick, or you're outta here. I know this sounds awful, but this is the attitude I saw many take to people who just received the HS, and then expected them immediately to mature on their own.

How many people who receive the HG in a Sunday morning service, are actually still living for the Lord 6 months to a year later? Some will be (if they have families or support )... but a large percentage won't be.

I think discipling is something that should be given much more attention than it is. I know many churches have followups, classes, and things like that, but it sounds better to talk about the "10 who received the HG this morning", then to say, "Folks, let's praise the Lord for the 1 soul who received the HG last year, who is still here, and living for the Lord."

[Amanah]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

Your statement "winning the lost" I would like to address.

"Winning the lost" should be something more than just getting people "filled with the spirit". What happens to someone who has received the HG? What about the discliping? What about the percentage of people who receive the HG, and one year later are still living for the Lord? Where are those percentages?

You see, I really feel that discipling is an area that OP has missed out on. Everyone gets excited, hoops and hollers when X number of people receive the HG. But then... what about the followup? How many of those people are discipled, and taught how to be a disciple of Jesus? In my almost 40 years in the OP, I saw that as a huge problem. People would pray around the altar for hours to get someone "filled", but then drop them like a hotcake later when they began to struggle with how to live for the Lord, while moving on to get the next person "filled". I think it is a tragedy.

It's like taking a baby after being born, and struggling to get the baby to begin to drink milk, and then once he takes a drink of the milk, then it would be like taking the milk from the baby and saying okay, here is the meat. You better start eating this now, and shape up quick, or you're outta here. I know this sounds awful, but this is the attitude I saw many take to people who just received the HS, and then expected them immediately to mature on their own.

How many people who receive the HG in a Sunday morning service, are actually still living for the Lord 6 months to a year later? Some will be (if they have families or support )... but a large percentage won't be.

I think discipling is something that should be given much more attention than it is. I know many churches have followups, classes, and things like that, but it sounds better to talk about the "10 who received the HG this morning", then to say, "Folks, let's praise the Lord for the 1 soul who received the HG last year, who is still here, and living for the Lord."

I don't know what the actual retention rate is at FPC Palm Bay, but we do have visitation follow up, discipleship classes, and Home Friendship Groups where people can plug in and grow if they want to.

My personal experience was one of God dealing with me over time. I receive the HG at age nine at an AoG chuch that my mother and I were invited to visit. When I was a teenager, a street preacher showed me baptism in Jesus name and I was baptized in Jesus name at his local church, but didn't continue to attend. I told my sister about the HG and JN baptism but wasnt going to church anywhere myself. One day she called me on the phone to tell me about an awesome church she was visiting where people were receiving the HG and being baptized in JN, I happily attended there for about 20 years. I left when the church went through a major transition and I was a semi churchless wanderer for a period of time until God led me to FPC Palm to get plugged back in.

People may come in, get the HG, get baptized, you can try to establish them, but in the long run, you don't know where their journey is going to lead them. This does not mean that God has left them or is not continuing to work on them or that they won't eventually find their way home be it back to their original church or somewhere else. It is their choice.