Australian Christian Churches

Australian Christian Churches (ACC) is a national fellowship of Finished Work Pentecostal congregations in Australia. It was formed in 1937 through the union of the Assemblies of God Queensland and the Pentecostal Church in Australia, two movements that had developed from the early twentieth-century Pentecostal revivals. The fellowship is affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship and operates as a cooperative network rather than as a centrally owned chain of congregations. ACC churches share a doctrinal basis and participate in national and state structures, while registered local churches retain substantial autonomy. Churches that have not yet met the requirements for registration may operate provisionally under closer state supervision. The national conference, composed of ordained ministers and representatives of registered churches, is the denomination’s principal representative body. It elects a national executive responsible for policy between conferences, ministerial credentials and broader coordination. State conferences and executives work more directly with local congregations, ministers and church plants. The fellowship’s theology is Trinitarian and evangelical, emphasizing the authority of the Bible, salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, believer’s baptism, the Lord’s Supper, sanctification, divine healing and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostal distinctives include baptism in the Holy Spirit, traditionally associated with speaking in tongues as its initial evidence, and the continuing operation of spiritual gifts. ACC worship commonly combines contemporary Christian music, expressive congregational participation, preaching, prayer and ministry. The movement has adapted its musical and service formats over time, moving from hymns in its early decades through Jesus Movement styles and then contemporary praise and worship. The network’s public work extends beyond weekly congregational services. ACCI Missions and Relief supports missionary activity and humanitarian and development work; other associated ministries include Australian Christian Services, Chaplaincy Australia and Youth Alive Australia. The denomination also supports or cooperates with organizations such as Teen Challenge and Compassion Australia. Leadership training has historically been provided through Commonwealth Bible College, later Southern Cross Bible College and now Alphacrucis, as well as Bible colleges and ministry schools connected with individual churches. The movement has been influenced by the Australian megachurch and church-growth movements. Hillsong Church and its music ministries were particularly influential in shaping contemporary Pentecostal worship in Australia, although Hillsong ceased to be an ACC member in 2018. Planetshakers, Planetboom and other Australian worship movements have also influenced the wider Pentecostal environment. By 2025, the national president was Joel Chelliah. ACC materials describe the fellowship as comprising more than 1,100 churches, more than 3,300 pastors and more than 400,000 constituents, while other published figures use narrower definitions of adherents; these figures should therefore be treated as organizational claims rather than a single independently verified census.

Pentecostalism emerged in Australia as a loose collection of churches, evangelists and revival networks during the early twentieth century. One important precursor was the Australasian Apostolic Faith Mission, established in the late 1920s through cooperation between Sarah Jane Lancaster’s Good News Hall network in Melbourne and the South African evangelist Frederick Van Eyk. The organization was short-lived, with doctrinal disputes, disagreements over leadership and other controversies contributing to fragmentation. Its Queensland congregations formed the Assemblies of God Queensland in 1928, while many other former affiliates joined the Pentecostal Church in Australia in 1929. The remaining Apostolic Faith Mission organization declined after Lancaster’s death in 1934. The Assemblies of God Queensland adopted its name partly to identify with the wider international Pentecostal movement. Its development was shaped by the Brisbane revival associated with American evangelist William Booth-Clibborn, whose large evangelistic meetings attracted substantial audiences in the early 1930s. The revival movement later became Covenant Christian Church and competed with the Queensland Assemblies of God before ultimately joining it in 1940 as Glad Tidings Tabernacle, now associated with Brisbane City Church. The Pentecostal Church in Australia grew out of the Sunshine Revival in Melbourne. American evangelist A. C. Valdez preached at Charles Greenwood’s church in Sunshine in 1925, and the expanding congregation later occupied Richmond Temple, a large former cinema. Richmond Temple and the Pentecostal Church in Sydney became important centers of the movement. Kelso Glover, who had connections to the Azusa Street revival, promoted ministerial training and publishing before handing leadership of Richmond Temple to Greenwood. Visiting ministers including Smith Wigglesworth and Donald Gee further connected Australian Pentecostalism with international revival and Assemblies of God networks. The two principal Australian movements differed in organization but were close in doctrine, evangelistic purpose and revival heritage. The Queensland body was comparatively decentralized, whereas the Pentecostal Church in Australia was more strongly shaped by prominent pastors and large congregations. During the 1930s, leaders including George Enticknap, Charles Greenwood and Philip Duncan pursued closer cooperation. Their efforts resulted in a United Conference in Sydney in 1937, where the two bodies agreed to form the Assemblies of God in Australia. The new denomination continued to develop its national, state and local structures. Registered churches remained autonomous within a framework of shared constitutional rules, state by-laws and national policy. State conferences assumed responsibility for local oversight, ministerial recommendations and support, while the national conference became the representative and policy-making body. Commonwealth Bible College was established in 1948 to train ministers and leaders. It later became Southern Cross Bible College and ultimately Alphacrucis, which expanded its role in Pentecostal higher education and leadership development. During the second half of the twentieth century, ACC congregations changed their worship and ministry practices. Hymn-based services were supplemented by music associated with the Jesus Movement and later by contemporary praise and worship. Church-growth ideas, large congregations and media-oriented ministry became increasingly significant. By the end of the century, some traditional Pentecostal emphases, including the prominence of tongues as initial evidence of Spirit baptism and older formulations of end-times teaching, received less emphasis in parts of the movement, while church growth and prosperity-oriented teaching gained influence. In the twenty-first century, the fellowship has continued to combine local church autonomy with national coordination of credentials, missions, education and public ministry. Hillsong Church and its worship music were major influences on Australian Pentecostal culture, although Hillsong left ACC membership in 2018. ACC-associated ministries now include missions, relief, chaplaincy, youth work and Christian services. The organization remains active nationally and identifies itself as one of Australia’s largest Pentecostal church networks.

• 2025

  Joel Chelliah became national president

  [1]Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org

  Joel Chelliah was identified as the incumbent national president of Australian Christian Churches.

• 2018

  Hillsong ceased to be an ACC member

  [1]Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org

  Hillsong Church, a major influence on contemporary Australian Pentecostal worship, was no longer a member of ACC.

• 1997

  National leadership title changed

  The title of the denomination’s national leader changed from superintendent to national president.

• 1948

  Commonwealth Bible College established

  [1]Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org

  The denomination established its principal ministry-training college, later known as Southern Cross Bible College and Alphacrucis.

• 1937

  National merger

  [1]Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org

  The Assemblies of God Queensland and Pentecostal Church in Australia united to create the Assemblies of God in Australia, the predecessor of ACC.

• 1929

  Pentecostal Church in Australia established

  [1]Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org

  Many former Apostolic Faith Mission congregations joined the newly organized Pentecostal Church in Australia after the Sunshine Revival period.

• 1928

  Assemblies of God Queensland formed

  [1]Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org

  Queensland congregations separated from the Australasian Apostolic Faith Mission and organized as the Assemblies of God Queensland.

A national Pentecostal fellowship combining locally autonomous churches with shared doctrine, ministerial standards, state coordination and national missions and ministry programs.

• Church congregations · 1937

  Local ACC churches

  The core units of the fellowship are local Pentecostal congregations. Registered churches are generally self-supporting and autonomous while agreeing to operate within the denomination’s constitution, state rules and national policies. Provisional churches receive closer oversight while developing toward registration.

• Missions and humanitarian services

  ACCI Missions and Relief

  A denominational missions and relief department that supports missionary sending, partner work, aid and development activity. ACCI Missions and ACCI Relief serve complementary evangelistic and humanitarian functions within the wider ACC network.

• Ministry education · 1948

  Alphacrucis

  The educational institution that developed from Commonwealth Bible College and Southern Cross Bible College. It provides training associated with Pentecostal ministry, leadership and Christian education and has become an important educational resource for ACC churches and related ministries.

• Youth ministry

  Youth Alive Australia

  A youth-focused ministry associated with Australian Christian Churches, designed to support evangelism, worship and youth engagement through events and church-based activity across Australia.

• 1937

  Formation through denominational mergerM&A

  Background

  The Assemblies of God Queensland and the Pentecostal Church in Australia were separate but closely related Pentecostal bodies seeking a more cooperative national structure.

  Action taken

  Representatives meeting at a United Conference in Sydney agreed to unite under the name Assemblies of God in Australia.

  Aftermath

  The merger created the national fellowship that later adopted the name Australian Christian Churches and established the basis for its national, state and local governance system.

  Source

1. 1Australian Christian Churchesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Australian Christian Churches official websiteacc.org.au