| International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies | |
| Classification | Protestant |
|---|---|
| Theology | Pentecostal |
| Governance | Cooperative body congregations, organized into geographic districts with district overseers, and a collective annual convention and business meeting |
| Geographical areas | United States, affiliates worldwide |
| Origin | 1948 Sharon, Pennsylvania |
| Congregations | 96 |
| Members | 7200 |
| Official website | www.ifcaministry.com |
The International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies (IFCA), formerly known as the Christian Church of North America (CCNA), is a North American Pentecostal denomination of Christians. Central offices are located in Transfer, Pennsylvania.[1] Ministries of the church include Benevolence, Home Missions, FOCUS, Foreign Missions, Education, Lay Ministries, and Public Relations. A convention is held annually,[2] and their official publication is Vista, a quarterly magazine.[3]
Membership in 2000 was about 7200 in 96 churches in the United States. They also have other affiliated congregations the United States and internationally in Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, India, and South America. Rev. Mike Player is the General Overseer of the denomination.[4]
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The International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies is part of the larger Pentecostal movement that began in the United States during the first part of the 20th century and is rooted in a movement among the ethnic Italians in Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Louis Francescon organized the first Italian-American Pentecostal church there in 1907. The Rev. Frank Emma (1873–1948) started the first church in New York City for Italian immigrants. The New York Times reported that when he died, his funeral lasted five days as seven thousand people visited from various parts of the world. Later, Rev. Joseph Demola (1912–1987) continued with an Italian and English ministry in Staten Island during the 1950s and 1960s. The first convention of the Italian Pentecostal Movement was called in Niagara Falls, New York in 1927, where the group adopted articles of faith, which helped build the movement into a cohesive whole. In 1948, the movement was incorporated in Pennsylvania as The Missionary Society of the Christian Church of North America. In 1963, the body was restructured as the General Council of the Christian Church of North America.[5]
Most of the affiliated churches in the United States are found within the organized geographic districts.
The beliefs of the IFCA are set forth in their 12-article "Statement of Faith". They are Trinitarian in theology, fundamental in Bibliology, premillennial in eschatology, and Pentecostal in emphasis. Like most Pentecostal denominations, the organization holds that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and that divine healing is an expected result of prayer. The church holds two ordinances - water baptism by immersion and the Lord's supper. Somewhat unique is their 8th statement, belief "in the Apostolic regulations regarding foods and practices that injure the body and offend the holiness of God," citing the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15.[6]