Pentecostal World Conference collection

Collection

Identifier: M0009

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection is not fully entered into the ArchivesSpace system yet. Click on the External Documents link below for a draft finding aid.

The materials in the Pentecostal World Conference (PWC) collection consist of correspondence, agendas, budgets, financial reports, speaker lists, promotional material, some photographs (photocopies), and other miscellaneous material as it relates to the conference, its planning, and the people involved with the PWC.

The folders are arranged in their original order with original file names in which they were received by the Research Center. The first ten folders were not generated in the actual year in which the meeting was held, but were created sometime later and include only limited information. More detailed information begins with the eleventh folder, which is from the eleventh PWC.

There are biographical sketches included in some of the folders, which are helpful if one is searching for specific information on a particular conference speaker. This information is available for: Wynne Lewis, Egil Svartahl, B.E. Underwood, David Wang, Dennis White, James MacKnight, Wolfgang Wegert, Reinhard Bonnke, Andrew Evans, Pat Robertson, Reinhold Ulonska, David Yonggi Cho, John Holland, Peter Kuzmic, Bishop Charles Edward Blake, and Prince Guneratnam. (If a folder contains a biographical sketch, it is noted on that folder.) A few of the folders contain manuscripts of sermons and Bible studies presented at the conference. Others contain drafts of articles which were published in the World Pentecost magazine or the PWC program manual.

There is detailed information about the conferences such as minutes of the meetings, budgets, and even site selection. The correspondence files are insightful as they detail both the planning and problem solving of the conferences.

Dates

1947–1998

Conditions Governing Use

This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use any digitized or otherwise copied material from our holdings for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.

Biographical / Historical

The Pentecostal World Conference (PWC) is a fellowship of Pentecostal believers from around the globe, meeting triennially in different parts of the world for the purpose of mutual edification. Ways and means for world evangelization and the promulgation of the Pentecostal message and experiences are shared. Expression is given to the inherent principles of spiritual unity and fellowship of Pentecostal believers, leaving inviolate the existing forms of church government followed by its members. Recognition is given to every freedom and privilege enjoyed by any group of churches as their undisturbed possession.

In 1946, the first step was taken to form a cooperative fellowship of all Pentecostal believers when a call was issued for World Conference of Pentecostal believers to be held in Zurich, Switzerland in May 1947. The conference was an exploratory meeting and served as a forerunner for subsequent meetings. Many denominations were among the Pentecostal attendees from twenty-two different countries. First leaders were Donald Gee of England, Lewi Pethrus of Sweden, and Leonard Steiner of Switzerland. The success of the first conference inspired a second conference in Paris two years later, which appointed an Advisory Committee to provide an international liaison for the various Pentecostal churches and missionary groups.

Meeting every three years in a key city of the world, Pentecostal World Conferences have met in Zurich (1947), Paris (1949), London (1952), Stockholm (1955), Toronto (1958), Jerusalem (1961), Helsinki (1964), Rio de Janeiro (1967), Dallas (1970), Seoul (1973), London (1976), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1979), Nairobi (1982), Zurich (1985), Singapore (1989), Oslo (1992), Jerusalem (1995), and Seoul 1998. The next meeting will be in Los Angeles, California (2001).

Extent

4.3 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Creative Commons license.

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The materials for this collection were received by the Dixon Research Center for photocopying in October 1998 from Ray H. Hughes Sr., while he served as chairman for the PWC. They are kept in the order in which they were received and each folder title is retained. Originals were returned to Dr. Ray H. Hughes.