About

Garden City Church is a Charismatic/Pentecostal Church. This simply means that we are expressive in our faith and we believe what occurred in the Bible, namely the Book of the Acts of the Apostles is still relevant and ongoing today. The book of Acts may conclude, but God's presence and power does not.

The General Council of the Assemblies of God (USA), one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States, was organized in 1914 by a broad coalition of ministers who desired to work together to fulfill common objectives, such as sending missionaries and providing fellowship and accountability. Formed in the midst of the emerging worldwide Pentecostal revival, the Assemblies of God quickly took root in other countries and formed indigenous national organizations. The Assemblies of God (USA) is a constituent member of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship - one of the largest Pentecostal fellowships in the world.

HISTORICAL ROOTS
Throughout the latter half of the 19th century in the United States, Protestants from various backgrounds began to ask themselves why their churches did not seem to exhibit the same vibrant, faith-filled life as those in the New Testament. Many of these believers joined evangelical or Holiness churches, engaged in ardent prayer and personal sacrifice, and earnestly sought God. It was in this context that people began experiencing biblical spiritual gifts.

Pentecostal pioneers were hungry for authentic Christianity, and they looked to previous spiritual outpourings, such as the First Great Awakening (1730s-40s) and Second Great Awakening (1800s-30s), for inspiration and instruction. They identified themselves in the tradition of reformers and revivalists such as Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Dwight L. Moody.

THE PENTECOSTAL REVIVAL
One of the focal points of the emerging Pentecostal movement was known as the Azusa Street revival (1906-09). It was an unlikely location for an event that would change the face of Christianity. In the summer of 1906, revival erupted in the newly-formed congregation meeting at the small, run-down Apostolic Faith Mission at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. Critics attacked the congregation because its mild-mannered African-American Holiness preacher, William J. Seymour, preached racial reconciliation and the restoration of biblical spiritual gifts. The revival soon became a local sensation, then attracted thousands of curiosity seekers and pilgrims from around the world.

Seymour had been a student of Charles Parham, who provided the doctrinal framework for the young Pentecostal movement. Parham's identification in scripture of speaking in tongues as the "Bible evidence" (later called the "initial evidence") of Spirit baptism became a defining mark of the emerging Pentecostal movement. After students at his Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, began speaking in tongues at a prayer meeting on January 1, 1901, Parham, through his Apostolic Faith Movement, had some success in promoting the restoration of the gift of tongues. While the Apostolic Faith Movement was largely confined to the south central United States, the revival at Azusa Street catapulted Pentecostalism before a worldwide audience.

FORMATION OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
As the revival rapidly spread, many Pentecostals recognized the need for greater organization and accountability. The founding fathers and mothers of the Assemblies of God met in Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 2-12, 1914 to promote unity and doctrinal stability, establish legal standing, coordinate the mission enterprise, and establish a ministerial training school. These founders constituted the first General Council and elected two officers: Eudorus N. Bell as chairman (title later changed to general superintendent) and J. Roswell Flower as secretary, as well as the first executive presbytery.

The approximately 300 delegates to the first General Council represented a variety of independent churches and networks of churches, including the "Association of Christian Assemblies" in Indiana and the "Church of God in Christ and in Unity with the Apostolic Faith Movement" from Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas.

Almost immediately, leaders were faced with a doctrinal dispute - whether to abandon traditional Trinitarian theology in favor of a modal monarchian view of the godhead (also called the "New Issue" or Oneness theology). In 1916 the General Council approved a Statement of Fundamental Truths, which affirmed Trinitarian orthodoxy.

From the beginning, evangelism and missions have been central to the identity of the Assemblies of God and have resulted in a continuing growth at home and abroad. At its centennial in 2014, the Assemblies of God claimed a constituency in the United States of 3,146,741 adherents; 12,849 churches; and 36,884 ministers. The General Council supported 2,847 foreign missionaries and associates working with the broader World Assemblies of God Fellowship, whose adherents numbered more than 67 million.

The aggressive missions programs of the church are designed to establish self-supporting and self-propagating national church bodies in every country. Ministers and leaders are trained in 2,378 foreign Bible schools and extension programs. The Assemblies of God has 17 endorsed Bible colleges, universities, and a seminary in the United States.

The National Office of the Assemblies of God is located in Springfield, Missouri. The National Office includes an administration building, the Gospel Publishing House, and the International Distribution Center. The Gospel Publishing House, the printing arm of the church, ships out more than 6 tons of gospel literature each day.

The First Great Awakening
was an evangelical and revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies, in the 1730s - 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American Protestantism. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need for salvation.

The Great Awakening pulled away from ritual, ceremony, sacramentalism, and hierarchy, and made Christianity intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual conviction and redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to a new standard of personal morality.

The movement was an important social event in New England, which challenged established authority and incited rancor and division between traditionalist Protestants, who insisted on the continuing importance of ritual and doctrine, and the revivalists, who encouraged emotional involvement.

It had an impact in reshaping the Congregational church, the Presbyterian church, the Dutch Reformed Church, and the German Reformed denominations, and strengthened the small Baptist and Methodist Anglican denominations. It had little impact on most Anglicans, Lutherans, Quakers, and non-Protestants.

Throughout the colonies, especially in the south, the revivalist movement increased in number among the African slaves and free blacks who were exposed to and subsequently converted to Christianity.

The Second Great Awakening
began in the 1800s and reached out to the unchurched, whereas the First Great Awakening focused on people who were already church members. 18th-century American Christians added an emphasis on "outpourings of the Holy Spirit" to the evangelical imperatives of Reformation Protestantism.

Revivals encapsulated those hallmarks and spread the newly created evangelicalism in the early republic. Evangelical preachers "sought to include every person in conversion, regardless of gender, race, and status."

We are a continuance of the Great Awakening and long for a continued outpouring of the Spirit of God every Sunday at Garden City Church.

The Assemblies of God, one of the fastest-growing denominations in the world, got its start 100 years ago in Hot Springs. With more than 67 million members worldwide, including more than 3 million members in the United States, the Assemblies of God is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.

Arkansas is home to about 430 Assemblies of God congregations. It all began with a gathering in the Spa City when a group of like-minded Christians, inspired by the Azusa Street Revival of 1906 in Los Angeles, came together to form the new denomination.

"Azusa is seen by many historians as the catalyst for the Pentecostal movement worldwide,_" said Assemblies of God spokesman Mark Forrester. "_Ministers began having a Pentecostal experience as part of the Azusa Street Revival and many took that experience home and found their churches questioning the experience ... so they found a need to affiliate."

At the time several Pentecostal publications had been started, including the Word and Witness, based in Malvern. E.N. Bell, the publisher and a local minister, issued a call in the publication to his fellow Pentecostals to meet at the Opera House in Hot Springs in April 1914. Three hundred came to the gathering, Forrester said, and the Assemblies of God was established, with Bell elected chairman. Later that same year a second general council was held in Chicago that solidified the group's desire to promote "the greatest evangelism the world has ever known."

A hallmark of the Pentecostal experience is speaking in tongues, known as Spirit baptism or baptism with the Holy Spirit. Assemblies of God doctrine also emphasizes personal salvation, water baptism, divine healing and the premillennial second coming of Jesus Christ. Global missions and evangelism are also a key focus.

"That's been a mark of the Assemblies of God throughout its history -- the focus on global missions and evangelism," Forrester said.

The church differs from other denominations in that it doesn't have a single worldwide hierarchy and instead relies on self-sustaining national churches with their own leadership.

The denomination has had 24 consecutive years of growth, which Forrester attributes to many factors, including a marked increase in adherents from ethnic minorities, as well as increased participation among millennials. This year's statistics indicate that 54 percent of members are under the age of 35.

"I know both of those counter a lot of trends, but the charismatic, Pentecostal movement in general has had phenomenal growth," Forrester said.

He also points to the denomination's commitment to the fidelity of Scripture and a dependence on the Holy Spirit as strengths.

The Rev. Rod Loy, pastor of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, said the denomination's emphasis on missions and caring for the hurting contributes to the church's continued growth. He said the church's emphasis on ministry to children and students attracts parents who want their children to be spiritually grounded. That translates into an increase in younger members. And, he said, many are seeking something bigger than themselves.

"There is an increasing interest in the supernatural. People want to not only hear, but feel God is real, active and involved in their circumstances," Loy said. "Our emphasis on not only knowing, but experiencing God and His supernatural power is a key."

The denomination is committed to starting new churches -- in the United States and around the world -- which also contributes to the growth.

"Every 52 minutes a new church is established internationally," Forrester said. "Domestically it's about a church a day. It's definitely been a concerted effort."

"One hundred years ago, a small group of people met in Hot Springs. They had no idea that what they established would one day number more than 60 million people around the world."

1. We own our facility through a legacy agreement with the Historical Emmanuel Congregational Church, of Ryal Side, Beverly.
2. The lead pastor works closely with a board of deacons and trustees and various ministry staff to ensure our vision is achieved.
3. We PRAYERFULLY determine our own programs and ministries.

Garden City Church is affiliated with a group of churches known as the Assemblies of God (AG). There are over 2.8 million people in the United States and over 52.5 million adherents worldwide who are affiliated with this growing church family called the Assemblies of God. There are 12,277 churches across the U.S. who are a part of the Assemblies. Some will say that the Assemblies of God is one of the fastest growing churches of its kind in the world, but that would be really difficult to measure. A better statement is God continues to show great favor and blessing to the Assemblies of God as this movement of people are striving to fulfill the will and purpose of the Lord.

Our affiliation does not mean Garden City Church is "controlled" by a parent organization. The Assemblies of God believes that the best leadership for a community is found at the local level. We are owned and operated by the local membership here at Garden City. The emphasis for AG churches are at the grass roots local level. Lead (Senior) Pastors are encouraged to seek out their district's resources and executive leadership for further development, greater accountability and spiritual guidance. Local church boards and trustees are established to assist in communicating and furthering the vision and ministry of the lead pastor to and through the local body.

If you would like to learn more about the Assemblies of God, visit: AG.ORG

1) Our affiliation allows Garden City Church to identify with other Christians around the world who are known for their commitment to Christ. We strongly feel there is a great benefit to associating with God's Church and other believers.

2) Our affiliation allows Garden City Church to participate in an exciting missionary organization. The Assemblies of God has over 1,998 full time missionaries working in 204 nations. In addition, there are 586 missionary associates. We are a church that desires to see the Good News of God's love shared around the world. Our affiliation with the Assemblies of God is a great blessing!

3) Another benefit of our affiliation is the safeguard and protection of our credentialed pastors and congregation regarding the accountability that the Assemblies of God hold their credentialed ministers to in respect to lifestyles of integrity, sound doctrine and faithful stewardship.

4) Our affiliation allows Garden City Church to recognize our distinct heritage while standing on Christ Jesus, our rock and foundation. Working together with Christians of other wonderful churches, our mission is to win this world for Jesus.

Garden City Church joins 2000 years of Christian faith by affirming the tenants of the Apostles' Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.