Pentecostal1901–1906 (Azusa Street Revival); Assemblies of God 1914
Pentecostal (Assemblies of God)
📍 Topeka, Kansas; Los Angeles, USA
Spirit baptism, speaking in tongues, healing, and revival fire.
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Pentecostal1897
Church of God in Christ (COGIC)
📍 Memphis, Tennessee, USA
The largest Black Pentecostal church: holiness, healing, and the Holy Ghost.
Learn morePentecostal1974 (Kenn Gulliksen); expanded 1982 (John Wimber)
Vineyard Churches
📍 Southern California, USA
Third Wave charismatic: healing, words of knowledge, and the Kingdom breaking in.
Learn morePentecostal1923
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
📍 Los Angeles, California, USA
Aimee Semple McPherson's Foursquare Gospel: Saviour, Baptiser, Healer, Coming King.
Learn morePentecostal1886
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
📍 Cherokee County, North Carolina; Cleveland, Tennessee, USA
America's oldest Pentecostal denomination: holiness, tongues, and divine healing.
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COGIC was founded by Charles Harrison Mason, a Black Baptist minister, following a split over Holiness doctrine in 1897. After Mason visited the Azusa Street Revival in 1907 and received Spirit baptism with tongues, COGIC became fully Pentecostal. Because Mason was the only Pentecostal bishop legally chartered to ordain ministers at that time, many early white Assemblies of God ministers received ordination through COGIC - a remarkable moment of interracial cooperation in the Jim Crow era.
Core beliefs
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit evidenced initially by speaking in tongues
- Entire sanctification as a prerequisite to Spirit baptism (Holiness Pentecostal)
- Divine healing through anointing and prayer as part of Christ's atonement
- Tithes and generous giving as acts of covenant faithfulness
- Strong episcopal governance under the Presiding Bishop
Worship style
Exuberant and deeply musical: gospel choirs, Hammond organ, tambourines, holy dancing, tongues-speaking, and powerful healing prayer. The annual Holy Convocation in Memphis draws hundreds of thousands. Rich Black church preaching and musical traditions are central to worship identity.
Key scriptures
- Acts 1:8
- Acts 2:4
- 1 Corinthians 12:1–11
- Mark 16:17–18
Relationship to other denominations
The largest Black Pentecostal denomination globally. Profoundly influenced American gospel music. Sister tradition to the Assemblies of God - both trace to the Azusa Street Revival - but distinct in its Holiness-Pentecostal theology and Black church cultural heritage.