Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church

The Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church (PFWBC) is a church group in the southern United States, best thought of as Pentecostal rather than Baptist. The PFWBC is historically and theologically a combination of both, having begun as a small group of churches in North Carolina that broke away from the Free Will Baptist Church to join the Holiness movement and eventually accepting certain Pentecostal doctrines.

History

Paul Palmer ministered in the Carolinas in the first half of the 18th century. He established a church in 1727 in Chowan, North Carolina. The southern branch of Free Will Baptists are largely the fruit of his labor. Many of these "Palmer" churches cooperated to form the National Association of Free Will Baptists in 1935.

Reverend G. B. Cashwell (1862-1916),^[1] a former minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, returned to North Carolina after experiencing what he felt to be the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1906 at the Azusa Street Revival. He began preaching "pentecost" to the Holiness denominations there, one of which was this small group of former Free Will Baptists. Through a series of meetings he held, beginning in 1906, this group accepted points of Pentecostal faith and practice. Cashwell's own group was the Pentecostal Holiness Church (now known as the International Pentecostal Holiness Church). The Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church was formed from these groups in 1959.

Doctrine

The doctrine is a mixture of Baptist (specifically, Free Will Baptist) and Pentecostal beliefs. Sanctification as a second work of grace, Baptism of the Holy Ghost as evidenced by speaking in tongues, and the supernatural move of the Holy Spirit are important aspects of the Pentecostal Free Will Baptist denomination. A General Meeting is held biannually. Headquarters are in Dunn, North Carolina, where Heritage Bible College was started in 1971

Membership

In 1998, the PFWBC had an estimated 28,000 members in 150 churches. In addition to the majority of churches in eastern North Carolina, there are also churches in Virginia, South Carolina and Florida, as well as overseas missions.

Though the Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church recognizes its Baptist heritage, its advance and choice of fellowship has been Pentecostal, shown, for example, by its membership in the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (formerly the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America).

External links

Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church Web Site - official web site

Sources

Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, Samuel S. Hill, editor
Handbook of Denominations (11th Edition), by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood

References

↑ Approximately 9,100 words

Baptist denominations in the United States

Alliance of Baptists American Baptist Association American Baptist Churches USA Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America Baptist Bible Fellowship International Baptist General Association of Virginia Baptist General Conference Baptist General Convention of Texas Baptist Missionary Association of America Central Baptist Association Christian Baptist Church of God Church of Christ, Instrumental Conservative Baptist Association of America Conservative Baptist Association of the Southeast Continental Baptist Churches Cooperative Baptist Fellowship District of Columbia Baptist Convention Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals Free Will Baptist Church Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International General Association of Baptists General Association of General Baptists General Association of Regular Baptist Churches General Six-Principle Baptists Independent Baptist Independent Baptist Church of America Independent Baptist Fellowship International Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of America Liberty Baptist Fellowship Missionary Baptists National Association of Free Will Baptists National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship North American Baptist Conference Northern Baptist Convention Old Regular Baptists Old Time Missionary Baptist Original Free Will Baptist Convention Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church Primitive Baptists Primitive Baptist Conference of New Brunswick, Maine and Nova Scotia Primitive Baptist Universalist Progressive National Baptist Convention Reformed Baptists Separate Baptists Separate Baptists in Christ Seventh Day Baptists Silver Bluff Baptist Church Southern Baptist Convention Southwide Baptist Fellowship Sovereign Grace Baptists Transformation Ministries Triennial Convention Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists Union Baptists United American Free Will Baptist Church United American Free Will Baptist Conference Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches World Baptist Fellowship

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