| Wasilla Assembly of God | |
|---|---|
| Location | 125 West Riley Ave Wasilla, Alaska 99654 |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) |
| Website | http://www.wasillaag.org/ |
| History | |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder(s) | Paul Riley |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Ed Kalnins |
| Pastor(s) |
|
The Wasilla Assembly of God is a church in the town of Wasilla, Alaska. Founded in 1951, it is a member of the Assemblies of God, a Protestant, Pentecostal association of churches with roots in the Pentecostal revivalism of the early twentieth century which teach a strict and literal interpretation of the bible.[1]
Pastors and Speakers
The church's founding pastor was Paul Riley. As Governor, Sarah Palin, a former member (having left the church in 2002), renamed the street on which the church is located Riley Avenue in honor of Riley.[2] In 1999, Ed Kalnins took over as pastor. Kalnins was a graduate of the original Master’s Commission in Phoenix Arizona. [3] Kalnins's views have attracted international media attention due to Governor Palin's selection as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.[4] Church speakers and guest pastors include national and international political and religious figures, including Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, in 2005 and 2008, and African pastor Thomas Muthee, founder of approximately 400 churches in various African countries, in 2005 and 2008.[5][6] [7] Speakers also include Steve Thompson, one of the internationally best known organizations in the Third Wave movement, who has been a speaker more than once, and his associate, Frances Frangipane.[3]
Church beliefs, values, and practices
The Assemblies of God is not a denomination, but rather a fellowship of cooperating churches sharing core beliefs common to many Christian churches, as well as some core beliefs and practices that are not. [8] The cooperating churches are financially independent, self govern, and self propagate. Assemblies of God Beliefs and many practices may vary among member churches, as compared with a more hierarchical church assembly structures that are more uniform the total set of beliefs, such as in Catholicism, so Wasilla Assembly of God has some practices and beliefs that are universal to most Assemblies of God members, some that are common but not universal, and some that are not common or are specific to a church in Alaska, as below. Wasilla Assembly of God has its beliefs, ethical value system, and practices taught by not only by pastors, but by a long running series of many guest pastors, speakers, and associated school programs; it also promotes congregants to attain positions of government authority where they can implement and spread the beliefs and ethical values, as below. The church practices a more extroverted religion compared with other Wasilla evangelical churches, such as Wasilla Bible Church; for example, members of the Wasilla Assembly of God stand up, shout, clap, sing, and cry during the service.[7][9][8][10]
Physical evidence, creationism, scientific beliefs
In Assemblies of God churches, not common to some other Christian denominations, is the interpretations of some physical evidence, such as speaking in tongues as "physical evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit". At Wasilla Asssembly of God, speaking of tongues is considered a "gift", but not a necessity of evidence of Baptism, and Kalnins estimates that only about half of the people in his church have the gift of tongues, which Kalnins says he has.[8] [9][11][12][13][8] Wasilla Assembly of God beliefs regarding some kinds of specific physical evidence are not universal to all Assemblies of God, and some practices and beliefs differ greatly from some other Christian churches. [10][8]<name =BDPP/> Not universal in all Assemblies of God are particular interpretations of physical evidence to justify creationism, to be taught in schools, and young earth creationism, favored over conventional scientific interpretations of physical evidence; in geology for a billions of years old earth; in biology for biological evolution evidenced by paleontology, genetics, and molecular biology; and in physics and astronomy with evidence based theories that logically imply that astronomical objects are billions of years old. Instead, the earth is taught to be about 6,000 years old, and that there is physical evidence that humans and dinosaurs cohabitated the earth; for example, Philip Munger, a professor at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, said congregant Sarah Palin learned that humans walked the Earth at the same time six thousand years ago, and claimed that she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks of dinosaurs in fossils (dating back at least 65 million years, according to dating based on quantum physics). [9][14][15][16] Kalnins says, that when "you present the facts of creation versus evolution and the truth will come out." [14][11] Church teachings regarding evidence in physics and astronomy are not universal among Assemblies of God, and contrast sharply with some other Christian denominations, such as Catholicism, which promotes a combination of evolution and intelligent design over creationism, and has working research divisions in the Vatican, with scientists doing conventional research in physics and astronomy , assuming theories such as relativity and quantum physics which imply the universe must necessarily be billions of years old for consistency under standard theories in physics, chemistry, and geology, and that fossils of dinosaurs are millions of years old.[14] [17][18][19][20][21][22]
End of time (end of the world)
The Assemblies of God have a core belief that we are living in the end times, when the world will end. Wasilla Assembly of God extends this belief to an end in which Alaska plays a special role as a last refuge. Ed Kalnins states, “I believe that Alaska is one of the refuge states… in the Last Days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to this state to seek refuge.”[23] Although petroleum based oil was not in use in Biblical times, Kalnins says that the Bible “specifically mentions oil instability as a sign” of the end of times, and that “oil wars indicate” the end of time is near.[7][10]
Values
The church teaches conservative social values, both specific in the Bible and not; prohibiting social dance, teaching the subordination of women to men, opposition to any kind of sex education including teaching abstinence, and opposition to abortion in all cases, including rape and incest, except when necessary to save the life of the mother. [1][9][3][16][11] The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. [24]
AIDS and homosexuality
The church views homosexuality as a sin, and that it is a personal choice, not genetically based. [16][9][11] The church promotes and uses the books and theology of Morningstar Ministries head, Rick Joyner, who became famous in the United States for calling AIDS as an "obvious example" of God's penalty for homosexuality, a statement still on the Monringstar Ministries website; church speakers include coauthors of books with with Joyner from Morningstar Ministries, and church students have been sent to Morningstar Ministries.[25][1][26][3] Ed Kalnins says of homosexuals that he “would like to set them free”, and that in his heart he “loves them” as people, like “alcoholics”, and as people “they are awesome”, and he “does not do this hate thing”, but prays for them. [11]
Criticism of pastors and authorities
The church teaches strictly following an authority without question. Kalnins has stated that critics of a pastor, such as Kalnins, will go to hell, “You criticize the authority, you're literally bringing in hell with the criticism." [8][27] Kalnins also said, "I hate criticisms towards the President [Bush], because it's like criticisms towards the pastor, it's almost like, it's not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you."[28][29][30][31][32][32][24][8][3]
Pacifism, violence, spiritual warfare, witchcraft
The Assemblies of God were originally strict pacifists, but now there are some member churches with different views. According to pastor Ed Kalnins, spiritual warfare may include physical warfare on earth as a “manifestation”, for example, that the physical Iraq War is a “holy war” contending for the Christian faith, “I really think it is a holy war”, and that “what you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world”.[8][33][7][8][24][31][34] Accompanied on stage by Kalnins in one 2008, church speaker Palin told congregants to pray that the Iraq War is part of “God’s Plan”, with the US military being on “a task that is from God”.[8][23][34][30][31][32][7] Kalnins said that, "what you see in Iraq, basically… we need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say ‘war mode’. Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war".[33][34][31][32][24][34][7] The church promotes the books and teaching of Rick Joyner, who claimed in a 2006 sermon that a last-day Christian army is now gathering, “In time, the church will actually be organized more as a military force with an army, navy, air force, etc.” [35][36] In a recorded video sermon, guest pastor Muthee said, “the more violent you become, the more committed you become, the quicker you will see things happen in this region”.[37][38][39] Guest pastor Muthee was well known from a videotape about a case of his conducting spiritual warfare, in which he claims to have successfully located a woman, publicly accused her of being a witch, publicly accused her of being the cause of traffic accident fatalities in his town because she was a witch; then called her to either convert her to his brand of Christianity or leave town, after which her house was rushed requiring police interention.[6][40][41] After reviewing the video of Muthee, Sarah Palin wrote to the church, "what a blessing that the Lord has already put into place the Christian leaders, even though I know it's all through the grace of God", thanked Kalnins for the loan of the video, and returned to the church, where Muthee and Kalnins laid hands on Palin, and Muthee prayed that she be protected "from every form of witchcraft", as well as for assistance from God in her run to become governor of Alaskan.[40][34][41][42][42] In a June 2008 return visit as church speaker, Palin said of Muthee’s prayer, "He was praying over me," she said in June. "He's praying, 'Lord make a way, Lord make a way...' And I'm thinking, this guy's really bold… He said, Lord, make a way, and let her do this next step [in her gubernatorial race], and that's exactly what happened. So, again, very, very powerful, coming from this church."[40][41][34][23][31][32][10] In a video recorded sermon during a return visit to the church in September 2008, as reported by journalist Max Blumenthal, Muthee urged the congregants to crush “the python spirit” of the unbeliever enemies by “stomping on their necks”. As church members were speaking in tongues and raising their hands, Muthee exclaimed, "We come against the spirit of witchcraft! We come against the python spirits!" Then a Wasilla pastor took the microphone from Muthee and added, "We stomp on the heads of the enemy!" [43][34][44]
Healing abilities of certain pastors
In addition to belief in divine healing by God, which is common to Assemblies of God members, Wasilla Assembly of God promotes the teachings of Rick Joyner and Thomas Muthee, who claim they have abilities to heal by the laying on of hands or by spiritual warfare.[45][46][47] The laying on of hands is a practice of the church, such as when Thomas Muthee laid hands on congregant Sarah Palin described in the section above, and the church teaches that questioning a pastor’s claims to have this ability will cause a congregant to go to hell, as described in a section above. Guest pastor Thomas Muthee is well known for his claims to have healed his own daughter, claiming she was born without joints in her legs, which he claims to have healed through spiritual warfare.[48][49]
God’s intervention in partisan politics, sides in a war, and in commercial matters
Church pastors and guest pastors endorse specific political leaders and parties, and claim that God chooses the candidates and party that is favored by the Wasilla Assembly of God, in sharp contrast with Wasilla Bible Church.[10] Kalnins has publicly inveighed against Democrats.[23] Pastor Ed Kalnins questioned whether voters for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry would make it into heaven, "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry."[28][23][10][7][24][34][31] Pastor Ed Kalnins says that God put President George W. Bush in office, and that critics of President Bush, will go to hell.[8][24][34][31][28][41] Guest Pastor Thomas Muthee, accompanied by pastor Ed Kalnins, prayed over Sarah Palin when she was running for governor, asking God to provide funds and personnel for her gubernatorial bid and make a way for her to take the next step, and as a church speaker, Palin cited Muthee’s prayer over her regarding her victory happening, "Muthee was praying over me… Lord make a way, Lord make a way... to do this next step, and that's exactly what happened. So, again, very very powerful coming from this church."[1][31][32][41][3][42] Congregants are told that the Iraq War is a “holy war” over Christianity as God’s Will.[8][23][24][34][30][31][32][34] Palin said of the $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's Will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built…", and pastor Kalnins spoke about tapping into Alaska's natural resource wealth in order to fulfill the state's destiny of serving as a shelter for Christians at the coming end of the world.[34][31][32][23][16][40][10][5]
Media scrutiny
In September 2008, the Wasilla Assembly of God found itself under intense media scrutiny as a result of former congregation member Sarah Palin being selected as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.[4] International curiosity about church sermons was so intense that it caused the church website, where videos of its sermons and speakers were posted, to be shut down.[50] The site was restarted a week later.[citation needed] In unidentified sermons, the Huffington Post reported, Wasilla Assembly of God senior pastor Ed Kalnins, "preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Senator John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."[51] Media attention also focused on Muthee’s prior background, Muthee’s sermons at Wasilla Assembly of God, and reference to Muthee’s previous Wasilla sermons by Palin as church speaker. Muthee was internationally known for having begun his career by publicly accusing a woman fortuneteller of causing traffic fatalities through witchcraft, for which she was subsequently persecuted by town authorities and members of Muthee’s church. During one appearance at the church, Muthee publicly prayed for Palin, asking God to protect her from witchcraft, and supply people and financial resources for her campaign for governor.[5] [6] [7]
Brian Fitzpatrick, Senior Editor with the Culture and Media Institute, says the Huffington Post article "says more about [the authors] than about Palin. Though they cover the religion beat for AP, Gorski and Zoll have a great deal to learn about evangelical culture and theology." [52] Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that such scrutiny was to be expected whenever a surprise vice presidential candidate is selected because the “The surprise guarantees that the other side hasn’t done the research".[53] “When a presidential candidate surprises the country with a relatively unknown choice, then all hell breaks loose,” Sabato said. “It did with Ferraro, it did with Quayle, it’s happening with Palin."[53] Sabato postulates that the goal of the Democrats is to find controversial statements to counteract the criticism Barack Obama faced due to his affiliation with Pastor Jeremiah Wright.[53] The conservative media watchdog, Culture and Media Institute, went so far as to declare the effort as an "obvious attempt to create a Jeremiah Wright-style scandal".[54] Others believe that the religious beliefs of Sarah Palin "raise important questions: mainly, what is Palin's faith and how exactly has it influenced her policies?"[51] They argue that despite her leaving the Wasilla Assembly of God in 2002, long before the controversial sermons,[53] she has maintained a close relationship there by speaking at the church in June 2008[51] and, on the same visit, receiving a blessing by Kalnins.[55]
Ministries
Wasilla Assembly of God sponsors a youth group for girls in Kindergarten to 8th grade called the Missionettes. The youth group conducts several community service projects each year.[56] The church hosts an annual Christian music concert called "Winter Rock Fest". "Winter Rock Fest", which began in 2005, attracts over 1,000 children each year.[57]
Services
Community service
In cooperation with Alaska Family Services, the Salvation Army, and other area churches, the Wasilla Assembly of God distributed baskets to 39 families in Wasilla during Thanksgiving of 2005. The church also supplies food to the annual free Thanksgiving meal hosted by Shema Christian Ministries.[58]
The church established a teen youth learning center called Rally Point in 2006. Rally Point is located in the church's former sanctuary at Knik-Goose Bay Road which the Wasilla Assembly of God occupied from the 1960s to 1980s.[59]
Master's Commission program
The Master's Commission program is a live in religious educational program for young adults. The Master’s Commission mission is to prepare graduates for the end of times (end of the world)[60]. The Master's Commission program is replaces college with religious training grounded in Third Wave ideas, lasts for three years, and costs $7,900 each year. Students are trained in prophetic gifts, prayers, authority, and intercession, with books by Francis Frangipane and Steve Thompson of Morningstar Ministries, and John Bevere (who trained under Benny Hinn at Orlando Christian Center. Students of the Master's Commission program have visited Morningstar Ministries and feature pictures of the visit on their web site.[3] According to a promotional video, it is designed for students from around the country; to take them and "lead them for the rest of their lives in passionate journey for Jesus." The students also are expected to "take the message to people around the state." The Master's Commission program stresses ties with the state of Alaska.[61] The program is similar or identical to other such Master's Commission programs at various Assemblies of God congregations throughout the United States.
References
External links
61°34′18″N 149°27′10″W / 61.57156°N 149.45282°W
Category:Churches in AlaskaCategory:Assemblies of GodCategory:Pentecostal churches