Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America

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Also known as: PCCNA, Pentecostal Fellowship of North America
Formerly:
Pentecostal Fellowship of North America
Date:
1948 - present
Areas Of Involvement:
Christianity
Pentecostalism

Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), fellowship of Pentecostal and charismatic Christian churches and denominations in North America. It seeks to provide “a framework for fellowship, dialogue, and cooperation” between such churches, denominations, and ministries, which share a common history and belief in renewal by the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) is a successor to the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (PFNA), which was dissolved and replaced by the PCCNA in 1994.

The original PFNA was established in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1948 with eight Pentecostal denominations as charter members. It eventually grew to include several Canadian and U.S. Pentecostal bodies but was limited to the larger, predominantly white Pentecostal churches. In the 1990s an effort was made to build relationships with the major African American Pentecostal and charismatic churches, which culminated in the “Memphis Miracle” of racial reconciliation and the creation of the more inclusive PCCNA, in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1994.

The PCCNA hosted the 19th Pentecostal World Conference, in Los Angeles in May 2001. In 2021 the PCCNA and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops held a historic ecumenical dialogue to explore the theology of sacraments and rituals, marking the first time the two groups had met at a national level. As of 2024 the PCCNA had 48 member churches.

Melissa Petruzzello The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica