The Assemblies of God

Pentecostalism was born out of the Methodist Holiness Movement of the 19th Century. At the turn of the 20th Century a Black preacher in Azusa, CA started a prayer meeting that grew and grew and grew. He taught that Christians should seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

Continuing night and day for years, the revival drew Blacks and Whites into common fellowship until eventually the different groups broke away and started several denominations for different purposes. The dominant White group became the Assemblies of God (the AG). The larger part of the Blacks chose to settle into the Church of God in Christ (thus turning the denomination into a Pentecostal one).

The AG grew more and more attracting poor people, so it faced rejection by wealthier and more proper churches. Throughout its history, the AG has had its share of Faith Healers and Foot Stompin' preachers.

Pentecostalism began climbing the econoomic classes naturally and gained acceptance by other Christians in part because Billy Graham reached out a friendly hand to them in the late 1950s.