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Denomination Explorer

Christianity is not one tradition. It is a family shaped by centuries of faith, geography, and the many ways people have met God. Explore the full family here. All branches. No judgment.

Tradition:AllCatholicProtestantOrthodoxAnglicanEvangelicalPentecostalOther
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.

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Pentecostal1974 (Kenn Gulliksen); expanded 1982 (John Wimber)

Vineyard Churches

📍 Southern California, USA

Third Wave charismatic: healing, words of knowledge, and the Kingdom breaking in.

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Pentecostal1923

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel

📍 Los Angeles, California, USA

Aimee Semple McPherson's Foursquare Gospel: Saviour, Baptiser, Healer, Coming King.

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Pentecostal1886

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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Pentecostal (Assemblies of God)

Pentecostal

1901–1906 (Azusa Street Revival); Assemblies of God 1914

📍 Topeka, Kansas; Los Angeles, USA

🌍 ~650 million (Pentecostal and Charismatic broadly)

Origin

Modern Pentecostalism traces to Charles Parham's Bible school in Topeka (1901) and the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles (1906) led by William Seymour. Believers experienced 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The Assemblies of God formed in 1914. Pentecostalism is now the fastest-growing segment of global Christianity.

Core beliefs

  • Baptism in the Holy Spirit as a second blessing, evidenced by speaking in tongues
  • Divine healing through prayer as part of Christ's atonement
  • Premillennial eschatology (rapture, tribulation, millennium)
  • Full Gospel: Saved, Spirit-filled, Healed, and Coming King
  • Spiritual gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing) operative today

Worship style

Exuberant, expressive worship with contemporary music, raised hands, dancing, and prayer for healing. Altar calls, tongues-speaking, and prophecy common. Strong revival culture.

Key scriptures

  • Acts 2:4
  • Acts 2:38–39
  • Mark 16:17–18
  • 1 Corinthians 12:7–11

Relationship to other denominations

Emerged from the Holiness Movement and Methodism. The Charismatic movement brought similar gifts into mainline Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches from the 1960s onward.