I can't answer for the entire fellowship. We did a survey of our local congregation and the percentage of MEMBERS who have been filled with the Holy Ghost with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues was 85%. We have many new converts who have not yet joined the church who are still seeking the Baptism, so the overall number was 83%.
Until the number is 100% we still have our praying, teaching, and encouraging cut out for us.
Your fellowship/church is the exception then. I can't figure as a movment why they would want to move away from something that defined them from the beginning and the fact the Jesus said believers should receive it.
By the way I all for Biblical scholarship, exposition and sound teaching enhanced by the contributions of other notable scholars. But I think you can have the best of both worlds.
__________________
Please pray for India
My personal mission is to BRING people into a right relationship with God, GROW them up to maturity and SEND them back into the world to minister.
Your fellowship/church is the exception then. I can't figure as a movment why they would want to move away from something that defined them from the beginning and the fact the Jesus said believers should receive it.
By the way I all for Biblical scholarship, exposition and sound teaching enhanced by the contributions of other notable scholars. But I think you can have the best of both worlds.
You are so right. You are probably aware that the A/G is simply a fellowship of autonomous churches. The "power" is held over the minister's credentials. We have all types of churches (worship styles, music, etc)because the umbrella is very wide in the A/G. However, any minister or church that does not agree with our 16 fundamental truths (one of which is that tongues is the initial, physical evidence of the HG Baptism) cannot hold our credential. Any change to our doctrine would take a vote of the entire General Council, and it has never even been discussed to make such a change. I know of one church in our state that was disfellowshipped because they were not teaching our "distinctive doctrine."
There are areas of resistance in any fellowship, UPC, AG, etc. on ANY issue. However, the A/G is still Pentecostal in doctrine and hopefully will remain so in practice in our individual churches. That is up to the pastors and the people.
Thad, you are probably right. There is not the push for absolute conformity on every detail in our Fellowship. We have a wider berth for differences of opinion, without fear of being branded a compromiser.
We are a close knit family, though. Just a much bigger family than the UPC, so the bigger the family, the harder it is to maintain that closeness. It's not like it used to be when I was a boy.
Thad, you are probably right. There is not the push for absolute conformity on every detail in our Fellowship. We have a wider berth for differences of opinion, without fear of being branded a compromiser.
We are a close knit family, though. Just a much bigger family than the UPC, so the bigger the family, the harder it is to maintain that closeness. It's not like it used to be when I was a boy.
now a lot of people are going to take some of those comments as bashing Andy.
I will agree with you there is more variation. There is a AG church near Fresno that is as harline as any Oneness church in America. We are talking No birth control allowed, no hair spray, long sleeves, etc. they look like they just stepped off of the mayflower.
Then you can go to capitol christian center in Sacramento and you feel like you are in an Lutheran church
Linear Mode
