The Pentecostals of ........(Arrogance)?

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by triumphant1

The first church I remember using this was "the Pentecostals of Alexandria"...pastored by Anthony Mangun.

It seemed that it became popular in the Apostolic movement after that...

The church in Alexandria was well established when they started calling themselves by this name...interesting enough is that the "real" name of the curch is First UPC....so "The Pentecostals..." is like thier nickname.

My understanding from the time that this was first used in Alexandria, LA, AM was going through a period where he really wanted to emphasize the "Pentecostal" aspects of worship for his church. I remember he once said something like, "When things are on fire there's no place more on fire than our church in Alexandria... but when things are dead, there's no place that's more dead than our church in Alexandria..."

Of course, just about any pastor could probably say the same thing of his church, wherever it might be. But AM just wanted to stir his church up. Apparently it worked and folks in other places have followed the same approach with varying degrees of success.

I don't know that it's motivated by "arrogance," though acharris has a point about the way it sounds. It's just sloganeering. When done right, it's good. When copied ad nauseum it does start to wear on you.

[Mrs. LPW]

Originally Posted by pelathais

My understanding from the time that this was first used in Alexandria, LA, AM was going through a period where he really wanted to emphasize the "Pentecostal" aspects of worship for his church. I remember he once said something like, "When things are on fire there's no place more on fire than our church in Alexandria... but when things are dead, there's no place that's more dead than our church in Alexandria..."

Of course, just about any pastor could probably say the same thing of his church, wherever it might be. But AM just wanted to stir his church up. Apparently it worked and folks in other places have followed the same approach with varying degrees of success.

I don't know that it's motivated by "arrogance," though acharris has a point about the way it sounds. It's just sloganeering. When done right, it good. When copied ad nauseum it does start to wear on you.

Yes, I tend to agree with this... it's not arrogance. acharris, would you honestly feel it was arrogant if one of you churches had done it? Assemblies of God could sound arrogant too (as though no one else was an assembly of God, but we know it isn't meant to be arrogant at all.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Mrs. LPW

Yes, I tend to agree with this... it's not arrogance. acharris, would you honestly feel it was arrogant if one of you churches had done it? Assemblies of God could sound arrogant too (as though no one else was an assembly of God, but we know it isn't meant to be arrogant at all.

The Assemblies of God (or Assembly of God) was coined following the pattern of the "Restorationist" movement of the 19th Century. The Cambellites had their "Church of Christ," the Mormons their "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," there was also the various Church of God and Church of God in Christ.

By the time the Pentecostals got around to organizing most of the "Church of ..." names had been taken, so "Assembly" was used; which is synonymous with "Church" in many usages anyway.

Of course, after 1916, there were a few who would refer to the AoG as the "Assembly of the Gods." But I suppose that's a discussion for a different thread.

When you are looking for a name for something that harbors your dreams, it is only fitting that you want to use care in selecting that name. The "Assemblies" came up in a particular milieu. To understand the naming and such you really have to look at the contemporary organizations as well.