[ag-news] AG NEWS #1794: March 24, 2010

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AG-NEWS: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 
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**Gas explosion rocks New Jersey church

Rockaway (New Jersey) First Assembly of God leaders smell gas
inside of church. After extinguishing a small fire, church
evacuated as gas smell still evident. Fire marshal arrives,
discovers strong gas leak and soon afterwards, basement
explodes. Pastor Rick Rounsaville says no one injured, but a
lot of damage caused ? local community has reached out in
support of the church. Building project already underway hoped
to be completed in 18 months. For now, church meets at school
on Sundays and a Methodist church on Wednesdays.


**History reveals accomplishments ? and surprises

Recently released annual edition of "Heritage" magazine
uncovers long-forgotten facts ? including one likely to raise
eyebrows. Along with historical look at Royal Rangers founder
Johnnie Barnes, magazine reveals that John McConnell Jr., a
Pentecostal and son of AG founding member, is founder of
original Earth Day. However, original intent hijacked by
politician for his own agenda in the U.S. United Nations,
however, still recognizes McConnell's original date. Edition
includes articles on Gary McGee, Robert Spence and others.
Article includes links for ordering magazine, to a video
interview of McConnell and the Flower Pentecostal Heritage
Center Web site.


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**GAS EXPLOSION ROCKS NEW JERSEY CHURCH

On Saturday evening, March 13, Pastor Rick Rounsaville and his staff
gathered for a time a prayer and worship prior to their Saturday
evening service at the Rockaway (New Jersey) First Assembly of God.
At the conclusion of the time, the group began to exit the office
when several smelled the odor of gas.

"A member and I went to the kitchen to see if the pilot light went
out, as we had a power outage earlier," Rounsaville says. "Another
member went to check the boiler and reported seeing a flicker of
flame."

Rounsaville says Executive Pastor Jim Stuart grabbed a fire
extinguisher and hurried to the boiler room, saw that the wiring at
one of the zone valves had ignited, and proceeded to extinguish the
flame before going on to check the rest of the basement for leaks or
flames.

As there was a fire, the church's automatic fire alarm system had
gone off. A church member who was also a member of the local
volunteer fire department then arrived, and he advised the staff to
evacuate the building immediately as they could still smell gas.

"The next official to show up was the fire marshal, Tom Trapasso,
who was accompanied by a police officer," Rounsaville recalls. "They
smelled gas and made their way to the boiler room. Later, Trapasso
told me that when he opened the door it was like getting hit in the
face with stream of gas from a torch ? it was the most gas he ever
smelled in his career."

Trapasso carefully closed the door and then he and the police
officer made a straight line for the doorway. "They weren't five
feet outside of the door when the church blew," Rounsaville says.
"The basement just exploded."

As the fire crews from several departments arrived, they had a
difficult time controlling the blaze as the wind was howling, at
times with gusts up to 60 miles per hour. In addition to the wind
was rain. About seven inches fell within a 24-hour period,
Rounsaville says, which actually kept the fire from spreading to a
nearby wooded area. The church basement exploded at about 4:55 p.m.,
but the ensuing fire wasn't considered under control until nearly 10
p.m.

The damage from the explosion, fire, rain and water from the fire
hoses left the basement, education area and church offices in ruins,
with a portion of the roof collapsing directly above the location of
the explosion. Although an exact cause of the explosion has not yet
been determined, insurance adjusters are currently looking over the
building to see whether or not the structure can be salvaged.

In addition, the church was in midst of an expansion ? adding on a
22,000-square-foot, two-story building that was to be done a section
at a time as finances permitted. That structure was mostly spared,
but now the church is hoping to have the entire addition completed
in 18 months so they'll have a home of their own once again.

"God really watched over us," Rounsaville says, who's been pastoring
the church of about 250 since 1992. "An hour later, and the church
would have been full and the area above the boiler room would have
been filled with people. He also provided the right people at the
right time for us ? having the fire marshal here has saved us a lot
of difficulties when it comes to handling questions from the
prosecuting attorney's office and the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms), both of which automatically get involved in
the case of a church fire."

Although the church is currently unusable, Rounsaville says the
community has been incredible in reaching out to them. "I think
nearly every church in the area has contacted us offering us space,"
he says, "and we have received so many calls and e-mails and even
donations. If fact, a Girl Scout troop is even doing a fundraiser
for us."

For now, Rounsaville says the church will be meeting at the Thomas
Jefferson Middle School, which is next door to the church, while the
United Methodist Church has opened its facility for their Wednesday
evening activities.

And in a moment of levity ? and perhaps increased awareness ?
Rounsaville says that as the building was burning, David and Julie
Goldschmidt, missionaries to Scotland from their church, called
Julie's mom (who also attends Rockaway First Assembly of God) to
express their concern about the church burning.

"Her [Julie's] mom didn't even know the church was on fire,"
Rounsaville says, with a small laugh, "but here her daughter in
Scotland did because of the social networking of Facebook. It's just
pretty amazing how fast news can now travel."

?Dan Van Veen


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**HISTORY REVEALS ACCOMPLISHMENTS -- AND SURPRISES

As the Assemblies of God closes in on its 100th anniversary (2014),
the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC) continues to uncover
long-forgotten and somewhat surprising historical facts ? facts that
will likely raise eyebrows and intrigue generations, from boomers to
millenials.

The 2010 edition of "Assemblies of God Heritage" (an annual magazine
dedicated to "resurrecting" the histories of Pentecostal pioneers)
has just been released. According to FPHC Director Darrin Rodgers,
this latest edition of "Heritage" aims to encourage Pentecostals to
rediscover the worldview and the sacred stories of early believers.

Early Pentecostals, Rodgers states, were faith-filled visionaries
and entrepreneurs who struggled with many of the same issues that we
encounter today.  Rodgers hopes "that tomorrow's leaders will
resonate with the people and themes in our shared Pentecostal
heritage, and then embrace and build upon it, as each generation has
done in the past."

The feature story shows how Johnnie Barnes' burning vision to turn
boys into godly, responsible men developed into Royal Rangers. This
discipleship ministry has now impacted more than 2.5 million boys
around the world.

Many "Heritage" readers will be surprised to learn that the founder
of the original Earth Day, John McConnell Jr., was a Pentecostal.
His parents were founding members of the Assemblies of God, and his
grandfather identified with the Pentecostal movement at the Azusa
Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906.

Forty years ago, McConnell established the first
governmentally-recognized Earth Day on March 21, 1970. The United
Nations adopted the holiday the following year and has been
celebrating Earth Day on the March equinox since 1971.

This original Earth Day was quickly eclipsed in prominence, however,
by a second Earth Day (celebrated on April 22). The founder of the
April observance, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, took the name Earth
Day for his Environmental Teach-In, scheduled to be held on the
100th anniversary of communist leader Vladimir Lenin's birthday.

According to McConnell, a representative of Nelson approached him at
a United Nations conference and asked McConnell to switch the
original Earth Day to April 22. McConnell refused, because he
believed the celebration should be on nature's event. Furthermore,
McConnell intended Earth Day to be a non-partisan event that would
unite people from various backgrounds and foster peace. In contrast,
Nelson's purpose was a political protest against pollution ­ he
viewed Earth Day as a means to force the environment on the national
agenda by mass demonstration.

McConnell, the Pentecostal founder of the original Earth Day, states
that the April 22 observance is too politicized, which alienates
many people, including Christians and conservatives.  He maintains
that the day should be celebrated on the March equinox.
Significantly, he views Earth Day as an opportunity for Christians
"to show the power of prayer, the validity of their charity and
their practical concern for Earth's life and people." McConnell's
call is not for earth worship, but for responsible stewardship
(which he prefers to call trusteeship) of the earth.

McConnell also spearheaded two nationally-recognized peace
movements: the Star of Hope (1957) and the Minute for Peace
(1963-present). He also served as a leader in Meals for Millions
(1961-1963), an organization that fed starving people.

McConnell credits his Pentecostal background for his concern for
peace, justice and care of earth. He wrote, "If there had been no
Christian experience in my life there would be no Earth Day ­ or at
least I would not have initiated it."

In a 2009 interview, McConnell stated, "I definitely still believe
what my father taught and preached." His father, J. S. McConnell,
was an Assemblies of God pastor and evangelist from 1914 to 1928.
According to McConnell, his father emphasized the teachings of Jesus
above all else.

McConnell's story offers an intriguing example to Pentecostals from
their own history of how one can love Jesus and care for creation;
these two attitudes are not mutually exclusive.

The latest "Heritage" magazine also includes warm appraisals of
Robert Spence and Gary McGee, two educators who devoted their lives
to impact emerging leaders in the Assemblies of God.  Another
article, written by a Pentecostal scholar and Oxford-educated
medievalist, explores the similarities between two renewal and
reform movements: monasticism and Pentecostalism.

Finally, articles on Slavic Pentecostal martyr Ivan Voronaev and on
Italian American Pentecostalism offer evidence of ethnic diversity
within the Movement.

According to Rodgers, it is important to recognize that "Pentecostal
pioneers were not without struggles and weaknesses. "These stories
in 'Heritage,'" he states, demonstrate that "the power of Pentecost
can turn ordinary people into heroes of the faith."

However, Rodgers cautions that the early Pentecostal worldview ­
emphasizing full consecration to Christ and His mission ­ is now a
faint echo in some quarters of the Movement.  His article, "A Call
to Full Consecration," is an encouragement to Pentecostals to
rediscover this lost message.

In addition to publishing "Heritage" magazine ? the only Pentecostal
history magazine of its kind in the world ? the Flower Pentecostal
Heritage Center, located in the Assemblies of God Headquarters in
Springfield, Missouri, is one of the world's leading archives of
Pentecostal historical materials. Those who write books,
dissertations, and articles about Pentecostal history often do their
research at the FPHC. Rodgers encourages people to consider
depositing their historic Pentecostal books, photographs,
periodicals and other materials, including local church histories
and items in non-English languages, at the FPHC. "It's our job to
help those who made history get into the history books," he
explains.

The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, for the past 10 years, has
been digitizing historic Pentecostal publications. It has created
and maintains the largest Pentecostal history research Web site
[http://www.iFPHC.org] in the world, with hundreds of thousands of
pages of digitized publications. The FPHC also operates a museum,
which is a popular pilgrimage site for visitors to the Assemblies of
God Headquarters.

To purchase copies of the richly-illustrated 2010 edition of
"Heritage" or to access the articles for free online, see:
http://www.ifphc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=heritage.currentIssue.

To watch John McConnell Jr., the founder of Earth Day, discuss his
Pentecostal background, click here:
http://agtv.ag.org/McConnell2009.

To learn more about the FPHC and to search its online archives, see:
http://www.ifphc.org.

?AG News





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