A major concern of this new fellowship was local-church autonomy. A strong emphasis on self-governing local churches had marked the early stages of the Pentecostal renewal and the Independent Assemblies of God were determined to retain that stance.
By 1935 the fellowship listed 54 pastors and evangelists and 21 foreign missionaries. Five years later their ranks had grown to 160.
Levi Pethrus, pastor of the noted Filadelfia Church in Stockholm, Sweden, influenced the fellowship through his visits and writings on “assembly life.” E. C. Erickson launched Herald of Faith magazine in 1936. The group’s first national convention was held that year at Brooklyn, New York. For several years annual national conferences alternated between Duluth and Chicago. Regional and area conferences proliferated, providing a glue for the fellowship.
On the Canadian side, Ole Forseth was instrumental in bringing A. W. Rasmussen to conduct meetings at Bethel Pentecostal Church in the Peace River area of Alberta in the early 1940s. Pastor Rasmussen saw the need for a central gathering point to rally the many small groups, and so he moved his family to Edmonton in 1945. Edmonton Gospel Temple was established the next year.
He was soon joined by T. E. Crane, and together they founded Temple Bible College. The Edmonton church hosted conventions twice a year, in the spring and the fall. Eventually as other churches were planted, the conventions moved around the country and settled on a once-a-year schedule.
During the period up to 1950 the fellowship was fairly informal in its pursuit of Pentecostal experience combined with local-church autonomy and evangelism. Turmoil during the so-called “Latter Rain” movement of the late 1940s stimulated a quest for clearer identity and more cohesive practical cooperation. The ministerial listing process was strengthened. A new magazine, Conviction (later renamed Fellowship Today) was launched in 1963. The working process of the fellowship was defined in a brochure in 1959, and a new name, Fellowship of Christian Assemblies, was adopted in 1973.
Ministerial development was enhanced by Bible colleges in or alongside local churches, not only in Edmonton but also Seattle Bible College, founded by Philadelphia Church, Seattle (led by Roy Johnson) and Chicago Bible College (later Christian Life College), launched by Philadelphia Church, Chicago. Leadership in home and foreign missions continued strong across the fellowship.
With the eventual passing of its father figures, the fellowship turned increasingly toward task forces and other collegial means for leadership in projects. National convention planning committees prepared for events at conference centers or local churches. In addition to the general convention, a smaller mid-year Fellowship Concerns Conference, open to all, was conceived, to probe matters of theological and practical concern and to enable discussions at the grass-roots level.
