Revival Centres International
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The Revival Centres International are a pentecostal Christian denomination with headquarters in Melbourne Australia and around 300 centres in 14 countries.
The Revival Centres were formed as a separate identity in 1958, and became a registered denomination in Australia a short time later.
The church gives a strong emphasis to the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit - with the same experience of speaking in other tongues as occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 in the Bible.
It's teachings are shown on their official website.
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[edit] Early Beginnings Of Revival Centres International
The ancestor of the Revival Centres was the Christian Revival Crusade, which began in 1945 and was itself a conjunction of Assembly of God (Leo Harris) and British-Israel-World Federation (Tom Foster) elements.
The Revival Centres of Australia (as they were then known) was formed in 1958. Originating as a schism from the Christian Revival Crusade, the group was initially led by Noel Hollins and Lloyd Longfield. In 1972 the founders split into two separate organisations - with Lloyd Longfield's group remaining officially the 'Revival Centres of Australia' and Noel Hollins leaving to form the 'Revival Centres (Noel Hollins)' based in Geelong, Victoria. In 1991, a number of relating assemblies in Europe parted ways with the Revival Centres International and formed the Christian Assemblies International under Scott Williams. A further schism occurred in 1995, when a large group (comprising approximately half of all Australian assemblies) aligned with the Adelaide church to form The Revival Fellowship.
At one stage, the group was headquartered in Melbourne's Forum Theatre, until structural problems with the building forced its sale.
In 1998, Lloyd Longfield handed leadership to his son Simon Longfield who continues to lead the group from Melbourne, Victoria.
[edit] Carn Brae
One of the earliest Revival Centre purchases was in March, 1966, when the Revival Centres paid almost $100,000 for a property in Harcourt Street, Auburn in Melbourne to develop as a church meeting place. The land included a large seventeen-roomed mansion which had formerly been the residence of the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, known as Carn Brae.
Nearby residents feared that the building of a hall on the property would spoil the previously quiet character of the area, and their protests made newspaper headlines both in Victoria and interstate.[1][2] Permission to build a hall on the property was ultimately denied. Lloyd Longfield then moved into the property himself and made it his home.[3]
[edit] Second Coming Prophecies
The revival centres adhere to an interpretation of Jesus' prophecies about His return that believes that return is soon[4]
During the 1980s, The Revival Centres taught that Armageddon and Jesus Christ's return were imminent - holding events such as the "Survival '82" outreach. This emphasis remains to this day.
In the June/July 1984 Voice of Revival magazine, Lloyd Longfield wrote (citing 'poetic licence') that Jesus would return before 17th September 2001 when he would be 'ruling from Zion'.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Herald newspaper, 3/3/66
- ^ The Sun newspaper, 5/3/66
- ^ Truth article 'Sect that makes a Fortune', 5/9/70.
- ^ http://www.revivalcentres.org/believe/return.htm