U.S. Pentecostals Elect New Head
Dr. George O. Wood was elected Friday to lead the largest Pentecostal denomination in the nation.
Wood, elected on the sixth electoral ballot, will succeed Thomas E. Trask as the 12th general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.
"I am deeply humbled by the grace that you've extended," Wood told pastors and delegates Friday morning at the General Council meeting in Indianapolis. "We all came into this Council just wanting the Lord's will, and I approach this moment with fear and trembling because this is such a great church and such great people and there are so many qualified people who can serve in this role."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The son of missionary parents to China and Tibet, Wood has served as general secretary of the Assemblies of God since 1993, the same year Trask was elected to his current office. Trask unexpectedly announced last month that he will step down from office, two years earlier than his term ends. Wood will serve the remaining two years of the term.
"Brother Trask has filled this role with grace and power and no one will ever take his place," Wood said. "He has blazed his imprint on all our lives."
Under the leadership of Trask the Pentecostal group has grown in membership and now claims over 2.8 million members in the United States and 57 million worldwide. Trask attributes the growth of the body to the countless prayers across the denomination.
"If there has been any accomplishment or any advancement of this church, it has to be because of the many, many people who were praying for us," said Trask in his reflection looking back at 19 years of ministry.
In his farewell speech on Wednesday, Trask called the Assemblies of God to be an authentic Pentecostal church amid the nation's moral collapse. And he further urged the Pentecostals to look not at the rising numbers within the denomination, but at the billions of people around the world who have yet to know Jesus Christ.
It's not about feeling good in church, but "it's about taking as many people to heaven with us," said Trask.
Trask will leave the office 60 days after the General Council which ends Saturday.
Other major changes to the Assemblies of God included the election of the first African-American to one of the top six executive officer positions – Zollie L. Smith Jr. as executive director of Assemblies of God U.S. Missions. L. Alton Garrison was elected assistant superintendent, succeeding Charles T. Crabtree, and John M. Palmer was elected general secretary.
