International Pentecostal Church of Holiness

The history of the church goes back to two groups of believers in the holiness movement - the Church of Holiness Baptized by Fire (founded in 1895 in Iowa) and the Pentecostal Church of Holiness (founded in 1900 in North Carolina). The first church was founded by Benjamin. H. Irwin is a Baptist preacher who joined the holiness movement. Irwin taught the need to achieve a state of complete holiness. He called this condition “ baptism by fire ” or “ baptism by fiery love ” and associated it with the experience of the apostles on the day of Pentecost . The second group of believers, called the Pentecostal Holy Church , was founded by the former Methodist priest Avenir Blackman Krempller (1863-1952). In 1908, from reports by Frank Bartleman, Kremlper learned of the awakening at Azusa Street . Representatives of the Pentecostal Church of Holiness visited Los Angeles, where they experienced the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and, returning to North Carolina, distributed it to local churches. Krempler himself, not accepting this doctrine, left the church he founded ^[3] .

At the end of January 1911, delegates, delegates of both groups met in Falcon ( North Carolina ) and formed the Pentecostal Church of Holiness .

The first foreign missionaries of the church were women - in 1909, Anna Dean opens a mission in Hong Kong , in 1910, Della Gaines in India . In 1913, two more missionaries left the United States - O. Lehman sent to South Africa, and Amos Bradley to Central America ^[4] .

In 1915, the Pentecostal Church of the Tabernacle joined the church , founded in 1898 by N.J. Holmes among parishioners of the Presbyterian churches of South Carolina. After unification, the new denomination totaled 200 churches with 5 thousand members. In 1948, the Pentecostal Church of Holiness became part of the Pentecostal Church of North America (See Pentecostal Movement in the United States ).

Since the 1960s, the church has expanded significantly. by joining related Pentecostal unions of other countries. So, in 1967, a Pentecostal organization from Chile entered the church, and in 1985 - the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Brazil . In 1975, the word “ International ” was added to the name of the Pentecostal Church of Holiness .

In 2011, in Falcon ( North Carolina ), the church celebrated its centenary.

As the heiress of the holiness movement , the International Pentecostal Church of Holiness refers to the Pentecostal three blessings . The creed of the church is expressed in the Apostolic creed and in the Declaration of Faith, finally formulated in 1945. It reflects faith in the inspiration of the Bible , the triunity of God , the divinity of Christ , the literality of hell and paradise , the responsibility of every believer for the fulfillment of the Great Commission . Church sacraments are baptism and communion . Some communities practice foot washing ^[3] .

In the dogma and cult of the church, the influence of Methodism is felt. Thus, the International Pentecostal Church of Holiness admits infant baptism ; at the request of the parents, the children can be “dedicated” to God, postponing baptism until conversion ^[3] .

The supreme body of the church is the General Conference, which takes place every four years. Regional conferences and thematic conferences are held annually - missionary, theological, youth. The type of community management is mixed, congregational — episcopal.

The number of believers at the International Pentecostal Church of Holiness is growing steadily. In 1990, it numbered 1.8 million believers ^[5] worldwide, in 1998 - 2.6 million, in 2012 the number of parishioners exceeded 4 million. The number of parishioners is growing in the United States itself: in 1990 there were 132 thousand, in 1998-177 thousand, in 2008-330 thousand ^[6] .

The church has set itself the task by 2020 to grow up to 5.5 million believers worldwide.

• Official site of the International Pentecostal Church of Holiness