Our History

The Founding Vision

From its inception, the driving force behind The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada has been church planting. Our forefathers believed that this would be the last generation before the return of Christ. Their vision came from the Scriptures. They trusted in Jesus' words that He would provide the gift of the Holy Spirit as the power for effective witness to go and make disciples. Congregations came into being as Pentecostal power penetrated the population centres of that time. And so it continues.

 

Our charter of 1919 states three very significant purposes for which we exist:

• To conduct a place or places of worship
• To organize and conduct schools of religious instruction
• To carry on home and foreign missionary work for the spread of the gospel

We began with the vision to reach the world with the life-saving power of the gospel. This vision was continually cast in every means of communication. The first issue of the Canadian Pentecostal Testimony in December 1920 contained a letter by the secretary-treasurer, R.E. McAlister, who spoke of the "opening up of new assemblies." The listing of churches within the Fellowship at that time stood at 27. By May 1, 1939, the Pentecostal Testimony was able to report over 300 assemblies affiliated. 

In 2008, with over 1,100 churches now being affiliated, this vision is still at the heart of our Fellowship:

"To make disciples everywhere by the proclamation and practice of the gospel of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, to establish local congregations, and to train spirtual leaders."