PAW History
(Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc)
Road to the Merger
by
J.L. Hall
Part II
Road to the Merger
When The Assemblies of God adopted the doctrine of the trinity at its Fourth General Council in October 1916, the Oneness Pentecostals were forced to withdraw from the organization. Two months later, in late December and early January, Oneness ministers met in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and on January 2, 1917, they formed a Oneness Pentecostal organization, called The General Assembly of the Apostolic Assemblies.
In late 1917 or early 1918 The General Assemblies of the Apostolic Assemblies merged with The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and then held its first meeting in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, later in the same year. This interracial organization, which adopted the name of The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, was the only Oneness Pentecostal organization until late 1924, when a separation occurred mainly along racial lines. During 1925 three new organizations were formed: The Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ, The Pentecostal Ministerial
This organizational division among Oneness people was not desired, however, and in 1927 the first step was taken toward bringing them back together. Meeting in a joint convention in
In 1931, a unity conference with representatives from four Oneness organizations met in
In 1932, The Pentecostal Ministerial
The desire to be united remained alive and growing, and eight years later, in 1944, the first step was taken that led to the successful merger in 1945 of these two Oneness Pentecostal organizations to form the
The merger of these two Oneness Pentecostal bodies brought together 1,838 ministers and about 900 churches. These numbers have risen year by year until today in 2000, there are more than 8,347 ministers and more than 3,940 churches in
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