Anabaptism and the Assemblies of God

In the 1990s when I was helping to direct outreach in Alabama prisons, I sometimes thought I was surrounded by crazies! And I had my reasons. But even more often, I was reminded of God’s amazing love and grace as it was expressed through the faithful compassion of volunteers from across the spectrum of Christian traditions. Some of those reliable ministry volunteers were from the Assemblies of God.

The Assemblies of God (AG) was formed in 1914 by 300 people gathered in Hot Springs, Arkansas. They came from a variety of independent networks and churches, deciding to form a new association “to promote unity and doctrinal stability, establish legal standing, coordinate mission enterprise, and establish a ministerial training school.” As part of the Pentecostal movement arising from the Azusa Street revival and the teachings on Holy Spirit baptism by Charles Parham, the new association sought to exhibit the kind of “vibrant, faith-filled” life it perceived in the New Testament. It looked for inspiration and instruction not only in the Bible but also in the revival tradition exemplified by the First and Second Great Awakenings in the previous two centuries.

On their website, the Assemblies characterize their position in the Christian world as Protestant, Trinitarian, Evangelical, and, most definitively, Pentecostal. As a coalition of Pentecostal churches, the AG famously requires its licensed or ordained ministers to speak in tongues as “the initial physical evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Baptism in the Holy Spirit is understood to be “distinguishable from and subsequent to” new birth and not an end in itself, but an experience that introduces a lifetime of sanctification through the Spirit’s power.

There is no similar requirement of Holy Spirit baptism or tongues-speaking for membership in an AG church. In fact, while the 2009 General Council passed a resolution reaffirming the doctrine of speaking in tongues as the initial physical evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit, a 2003 report from the AG Office of Statistics indicated that less than half of AG adherents testified to having received Holy Spirit baptism as it is defined by church agencies. This report, combined with a growing minority of pastors who question the necessity of tongues as evidence of Holy Spirit baptism, has raised the lament that this distinctive doctrine—a belief that once was unifying—has become a point of contention in some portions of the church. 

My association with AG ministers and prison volunteers was most intense during a period of relatively strong growth. In the late 1980s, the coalition sometimes ranked as the fastest-growing American denomination. In our small Alabama town, the congregation at First Assembly expanded in 1989 into its third location, building along the main thoroughfare one of the largest and most modern sanctuaries in town. The pastor was faithful in prison visitation, and his church for a time seemed like the most active and broadly attractive congregation in town. Their growth was part of the national growth that has swelled their U.S. numbers to nearly three million.  Worldwide, 86 million adherents make the Assemblies the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.

Despite the slowing of growth since the 1980s, from 2-3% per year to less than 1% per year in the last decade, the AG seems poised for growth at a time when most Protestant denominations are in marked decline. Perhaps one reason is its relative youth and its rapidly growing ethnic diversity. In 2023, some 45% of its adherents were ethnic minorities, and more than half were younger than 35.

As these numbers demonstrate, there is much to like about the Assemblies. They are Restorationists who want to be just as much God’s people in the 21st century as the New Testament church was in the first century. Their worship style is often energetic as well as devout. They are strongly missional. Historically, they have demonstrated many of the same ethical sensitivities as Anabaptist groups—including non-participation in war—and for many of the same reasons. Their early publications made many appeals for separation from the surrounding culture because God’s people are “strangers and pilgrims” whose “citizenship is in heaven.”

I also like that the AG is not bashful about its doctrinal distinctives, though it is some of those very distinctives that make me wary. Even though I affirm that the Holy Spirit still gives the gifts described in the New Testament, the teaching of a baptism in the Spirit that is separate from salvation lacks biblical warrant in my view, and I’ve noticed that the claim of such a baptism offers no special protection against moral failure or even apostasy.

For these reasons and others, this article is too short to detail; I find that I am more inclined to enjoy working with AG believers than to leave Anabaptism to join them.