The Swiss Pentecostal Mission (german: Schweizerische Pfingstmission, abbreviated SPM) is the largest

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Officially known in English as the Pentecostal Assemblies of Switzerland, it is the Swiss branch of the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.: "The ''Swiss Pentecostal Mission''—or the ''Pentecostal Assemblies of Switzerland'', as they now call themselves in English..."World Assemblies of God Fellowship
Switzerland
Accessed December 14, 2010. In 2013, the denomination had 10,000 adherents in 66 churches, and it operated a conference center in

Emmetten Emmetten is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. History Emmetten is first mentioned about 1160 as ''Empnoten''. Geography Emmetten has an area, , of . Of this area, 37.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 45.8% is f ...

History

Pentecostalism was brought to Switzerland in 1907 by two women missionaries from Norway, A. Telle and D. Gregersen. They came into contact with a small group, the Zion Fellowship of Zurich, which became the first Pentecostal congregation in the country. Its first pastor, former Anglican clergyman C.E.D. de Labilliere, became a pioneer of the movement. In 1909, he started publishing the periodical ''Die Verheissung des Vaters'', which would become the official publication of the SPM. During this time period, prominent Pentecostal leaders visited Switzerland, including

Thomas Ball Barratt Thomas Ball Barratt, also known as T. B. Barratt, (22 July 1862 – 29 January 1940) was a British-born Norwegian pastor and one of the founding figures of the Pentecostal movement in Europe, bringing the movement, or baptism in the Holy Spirit, ...

, Alexander Boddy,

Jonathan Paul Jonathan Anton Alexander Paul (1853–1931) was a German Pentecostal minister, writer, theologian, and Bible scholar and translator. Paul graduated from the Studium der Theologie in the University of Greifswald and pastored in Pomerania. He was m ...

, and Geritt Polman, the Pentecostal pastor from Amsterdam who had been a member of the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

. In 1920, Smith Wigglesworth held meetings in Switzerland in which "remarkable healings" were reported. The Berlin Declaration, issued by German

evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

in 1909, caused hardships for the Swiss Pentecostals as it contributed to a rift between them and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance. Nevertheless, Pentecostalism continued to spread. In 1921, the Swiss Pentecostal Mission Society (''Schweizerische Pfingstmissionsgesellschaft'') was organized to provide training and support for mission work. The first missionary was sent to

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

. In 1935, the churches in partnership with the mission society decided to establish a formal denomination, the Swiss Pentecostal Mission. The leader of the SPM, Leonhard Steiner, in 1947 initiated the

Pentecostal World Conference The Pentecostal World Fellowship is a fellowship of Evangelical Pentecostal churches and denominations from across the world. The headquarters is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its leader is William Wilson (Tulsa, OK). History The Pentecostal World Fel ...

in Zürich. Another Pentecostal denomination, ''Freie Christengemeinden der Schweiz'' (FCGS), went bankrupt in 1993, and many of its congregations joined the SPM.

Notes

References

* . * * *

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Evangelicalism in Switzerland Pentecostalism in Europe Assemblies of God National Fellowships

History

Notes

References

Further reading

External links