At the 95th
International Assembly of the Church of God of Prophecy, held August 12—17 at
the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee, it was announced that the global
membership of the church has surpassed 1.3 million members. This major milestone for the movement
represents an increase of 386,148 members since statistics were last reported
in August 2006.
When
asked to what he attributes this significant increase, David Bryan, Global
Outreach Ministries Director for the Church of God of Prophecy, said, “There are a number of areas in the world
where the Holy Spirit seems to have specially prepared people’s hearts for the
entrance of the Gospel such as China, India, Africa and the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS). Providentially, we have strong gospel-proclaiming and
church-planting leaders in a number of these regions who have mobilized their
resources to reach desperate people with the message of Christ. The greatest
growth is not due to some special strategy or even a well-coordinated
approach.”
The areas of
greatest growth for the church were the continent of Africa (81% percent of the
growth) and the Ukraine (16 percent of the growth). “These areas are quite different in many ways,
but in both regions God seems to have raised the spiritual temperature and
created an environment of great openness to the Gospel,” said Bryan. “Across
Africa, the ingredients for the successful harvesting going on include extreme
poverty, disease, war, and social unrest. In the Ukraine, recent freedoms from
religious oppression and persecution form a very different backdrop. In both
areas, churches have been experiencing dynamic revival, worship in the heart
languages, passionate commitment to God’s Word, an emphasis on prayer, planting
churches, the Holy Spirit, and the miraculous. Christians are making tremendous
sacrifices to share their faith in both areas.”
When asked about future areas of growth,
Bryan states, “I believe as we develop workable models for training leaders in
expanding areas, some will move to become explosive; in explosive areas as more
leaders are prepared and foundations developed in exploding areas, they will
grow even more; in more stagnant areas, if there is sufficient cross-pollination
of leadership dynamic from Gospel-explosive regions, slower areas will begin to
expand. I think that some parts of Asia may be poised for great growth along
with parts of South America.”
A number of transitions were announced during
the Assembly as well including the following: Bishop Hector Ortiz, Overseer of
Texas, being named Director of the Center for Biblical Leadership; Trevor and
Aileen Reed, pastors of the Montreal West Church, being named International
Youth Ministries Director; Bishop Paul Holt, Assistant to Finance and
Publications Director being named Director of Heritage Ministries and Fields of
the Wood.
The biennial Assembly for the Church of God
of Prophecy brings together members from all parts of the world for a time of
dynamic preaching ministry and moving worship experiences. The next Assembly for the Church will
be July 27—August 1, 2010 at the Greensboro Coliseum and Koury Convention
Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.