History:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC ASSEMBLY
The
Apostolic Assembly had its humble beginnings in the
year 1912. In 1916 the pastorate and ministry elected
Francisco Llorente as its first president. With the
establishment of official church leadership providing
vision and direction, membership in the organization
grew steadily. As a result, on the 15th of March
1930, the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ
Jesus became incorporated under the laws of the State
of California.
Today,
the Apostolic Assembly consists of approximately
700 churches with a membership of
approximately 106,000
throughout the United States. Our churches are supervised
by 26 bishops who represent districts located throughout
45 of the 50 states of the Union. There is a heavy
membership concentration in California, Arizona and
Texas. Currently, the Apostolic Assembly holds General
Conferences every four years to elect its board of
directors as well as supervision bishops.
The
Apostolic Assembly also has an extensive Foreign
Missions influence
in approximately 18 countries worldwide.
In North America we have a number of churches in
Mexico as well as in the Caribbean countries of Puerto
Rico
and the Dominican Republic. In Central America we
have sent missionaries to the countries of Panama,
Costa
Rica, and Honduras. Recently in South America we
have experienced explosive growth in the countries
of Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. We have not
limited our missionary influence to North and South
America, but have made great efforts to establish
churches in Spain and Italy as well.
Throughout
the humble beginnings of the Apostolic Assembly,
our tenacious yet caring
leaders ministered primarily
to the spiritual needs of a growing number of Spanish
speaking peoples who flooded into this country looking
for a better life for their families. Since then,
we have made great strides in not only providing
ministry
to this Missionary generation and its subsequent
generations, but we have broken the cultural barrier
and have provided
bilingual ministry to subsequent Boomer and Buster
generations as well. We are confident that the Apostolic
Assembly will continue to grow, in both financial
strength and in membership in the years to come.
Because the
moral fabric of our society continues to weaken,
the church stands willing to face the challenges
of meeting
the spiritual needs of hurting people around the
world. |