Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ

Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ belongs to the Apostolic / Oneness Pentecostal family of churches.

Governance: presbyterian.

Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ reports 33 congregations in the United States (RCMS 2020 (ARDA national table), 2020).

A Oneness Pentecostal fellowship formed in 1952 when two Jesus-name organizations concluded that the name they baptized in obliged them to merge.

Heritage

The Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ came together in 1952 by the consolidation of two existing Oneness bodies — the Assemblies of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ Ministerial Alliance — both descended from the Jesus-name movement that spread through Pentecostalism after 1913. The merged fellowship set its headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, and has remained a compact body strongest in the mid-South. RCMS 2020 counts 33 congregations.

Theological family

Oneness Pentecostal: one God manifest in Jesus Christ, baptism by immersion in the name of Jesus, Spirit baptism evidenced by speaking in tongues, and traditional holiness expectations. Trinitarian bodies confess the Godhead differently; the ALJC holds its position as the apostolic original.

Who decides what

Elected general and district officials serve the fellowship in conference — oversight by elected brethren rather than by bishop — while congregations call their own pastors and manage their own affairs.

What a first-time visitor would find

Revivalistic Jesus-name Pentecostal worship: fervent singing, concerted audible prayer, tongues with interpretation, and altar services that expect repentance, baptism in Jesus' name and Spirit baptism, sometimes all in the same night.

What it has always cared about

The Acts 2:38 new birth; holiness in dress and conduct; revival meetings and camp meeting culture; youth camps and Bible training for its ministers.

Its gift to the wider church

A small-body witness that mergers can happen for theological reasons rather than budgetary ones — two organizations laying down separate letterheads over the shared name of Jesus.

Commonly confused with

With the United Pentecostal Church International and other Jesus-name bodies of similar wording — the same doctrinal family, but separate organizations; the ALJC is the Memphis-based fellowship dating to 1952.

Range of views inside it

A doctrinally compact body; the variety that exists shows mostly in worship style and in how strictly congregations apply holiness standards.

A note from the mapmakers: With 33 congregations reported (RCMS 2020), national generalizations rest on a small base, and nothing here may be asserted of any single congregation. Sentences drawn from this record hedge as "ALJC congregations typically…" and yield to the congregation's own materials.

Sources: Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ — about (ALJC) · Our God Is One: The Story of the Oneness Pentecostals (Talmadge L. French, Voice and Vision) · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB)

Where Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ churches are on the map

1 Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ congregations appear on The Church Map, across 1 states.

More of the Apostolic / Oneness Pentecostal story · Find these churches on the map