“All hail the power of Jesus’ Name!
Edward Perronet
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe
And crown Him Lord of all.”
This beautiful hymn was sung at the very beginning—exuberant praise and worship filled the Old Knox church in Winnipeg, as the founding leaders gathered to set vision and direction for the newly formed Apostolic Church of Pentecost!
The charter they received, “to establish and carry on a Church for the worship of God to be known as, Apostolic Church of Pentecost, and for this purpose to develop the work of such Church in all its branches in Canada. To carry on home and foreign missionary work for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; to engage in philanthropic work of every kind.”
Bible ministry and prayer were the focus of ACOP’s first conference, where Frank Small, W. E. Booth-Clibborn, H. C. Sweet, Wm. Philips, R. G. Hammond, Jacob Plester, U. S. Strome, and Mrs. Corabelle Small, were in attendance—and all were ordained under the newly formed charter.
O. J. Lovick recalled, “The Lord had said He would bless me to the north, south, and east. God’s plan was for me to found or establish Churches as He led me throughout Saskatchewan.
I do not mean by this that I was the founder of the Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada. Brother Frank Small, of Old Knox Church in Winnipeg, had already founded this organization.
So, when I found out that such an organization existed, I wrote Brother Small to see if we could join him under this charter, which later I did.”
On the business side of the Conference, Rev. Frank Small was elected ACOP’s first moderator. An office clerk and treasurer along with Presbyters were also elected during this conference—all to begin the work of administering and promoting the Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada Incorporated!
Three main things became ACOP’s focus: missions work, a small publication called Living Waters (produced by Rev. Small), and the need for Bible training.
As a result, ACOP saw tremendous growth, including new churches planted, missionaries thrust out into the work of God, Bible Schools established, denominational material published, and Camp ministries started.
Over the past 100 years, ACOP has grown from a single church in Winnipeg, Manitoba—to a global movement of 1500 churches with partner organizations in 26 countries—including over 400 credentialed ministers in Canada.
And our work is not done—our Moderator Rev. Wes Mills encourages us today to become an Ephesians 4:11 & 12 movement…
“Ephesians 4:11 tells us that Jesus has given five gifts to the church – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers.
We benefit when Apostles exercise their apostolic gifts, when prophets are prophetic, when evangelists are evangelistic, when pastors are pastoral and when teachers teach.
Ephesians 4:12 says that the primary role of the 5-fold ministry gifts is to ‘equip God’s people for works of service.’
But to be more fruitful in our second century we need the fivefold ministries to more fully embrace their role of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.”
From that first conference to today—celebrating 100 years, we can be proud of our Christ-centered Heritage as ACOP Family, continually…
Extending Grace & Igniting Hope!
