Classification Evangelical Protestant Region Philippines,worldwide. | Orientation Pentecostal Branched from Assemblies of God USA | |
Associations Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches,
World Assemblies of God Fellowship, Asia Pacific Assemblies of God Fellowship Origin 1940
San Nicolas, Villasis, Pangasinan | ||
The Philippines General Council of the Assemblies of God is a national missionary movement of Pentecostal churches and credentialed ministers who voluntarily enter into mutual agreement to form a cooperative fellowship based upon the values of unity, equality, cooperation, and Christian love.
The Philippines General Council of the Assemblies of God is composed of different District Councils organized in particular geographical areas, comprising a fellowship of local assemblies and wherein the General Council exercises its prerogatives and implements its programs. They are established under the authority of the General Council and operate according to the PGCAG Constitution and Bylaws.
History
The first missionary of the Assemblies of God in the United States of America to work in the Philippines was Benjamin H. Caudle and his wife who arrived in 1926. However, due to his wife's illness, Caudle was forced to return to the U.S. In the 1930s, Filipinos who had graduated from Assemblies of God Bible schools began requesting that the denomination send an appointed missionary to organize the church there. At the time, the Philippines were a U.S. protectorate, and legally, the AG needed a missionary appointed by the U.S. body to be registered as a religious organization. In December 1939, the Assemblies of God USA responded by sending a missionary, Leland E. Johnson, to organize and superintend the Philippines District Council of the Assemblies of God. The first convention was held in March 1940 at San Nicolas, Villasis, Pangasinan, and the district was incorporated in July. Other missionaries would arrive, especially from China as conflict with Japan escalated. In 1941, Bethel Bible Institute was opened in Baguio City to train pastors and evangelists.
During World War II, Japanese military forces occupied the Philippines. The Bible institute, like all schools, was closed, and the missionaries were interned. During these years, the district was led entirely by Filipinos. After the war, the missionary presence was revived and Bethel Bible Institute was reopened. Immanuel Bible Institute in Cebu City was founded in 1951, and in 1953, Bethesda Children's Home was founded by Elva Vanderbout, a missionary to the Igorots of the Mountain Province in Northern Luzon. After 14 years under the Assemblies of God USA, the work in the Philippines became fully independent with the creation of the Philippines General Council of the Assemblies of God in 1953. Rodrigo C. Esperanza was the first general superintendent.
Unlike most countries with an Assemblies of God presence, the Fellowship began through the evangelism of national believers rather than a pioneer missionary effort. Expatriate Filipinos originally came to the United States searching for gold, but they found God instead. After attending Assemblies of God Bible schools, they returned to the Philippines in 1939 and organized the Philippines Assemblies of God. The Fellowship's first meeting was conducted in the house of Sobrepeña's grandfather, H.P. Abrenica. In the 1930s Abrenica went to California but failed to find his fortune. Depressed, he was en route to the Golden Gate Bridge to commit suicide when he heard the gospel from a street preacher. Abrenica accepted Christ and attended Bethany College of the Assemblies of God. Because the Philippines was still a U.S. protectorate, the new Fellowship initially formed under the auspices of the U.S. Assemblies of God. Missionaries from the United States arrived in 1940 to help with the beginning stages of the work.