Pentecostal Maranatha Gospel Church

Pentecostal Maranatha Gospel Church, abbreviated as PMGC was started on Sunday, April 9, 1972 at Pr K.M. George’s (First President) residence near PMG Junction, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The first baptism was on April 8, 1972, in which 14 members received water baptism. In the beginning there were only a few members attending the worship service on Sundays. From that humble beginning this small group has grown into an International Church.

Name

The Church was initially known as the PMG Group due to its location at the PMG Junction in Trivandrum. In 1973, the Church was renaimed “The Gospel Church, Trivandrum”. In 1974 it was again renamed “The Pentecostal Gospel Church, Kerala”(PGC) to give emphasize Pentecost. Due to the changes in the administration and an amendment of the church constitution in 1996, it was renamed “Pentecostal Maranatha Gospel Church” (PMGC) to be similar to the original 1972 name.

History

Over the years, the Pentecostal Maranatha Gospel Church has spread over seven states in India and also into Persian Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. There is one church in Dallas, Texas. PMGC has more than 118 churches and 17 outstations. The church has 185 ministers, of which 55 are ordained pastors. There are 100 church ministers who pastor the local churches, and 10 co-ministers who assist the pastors in church ministry and pastoral care.

Headquarters

The PMGC is headquartered in Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram. The cornerstone was laid down by Church President Pr. K.K. Joseph on December 25, 1999.

North American PMG Family Conference

The first PMGC North American Family Conference was held at Dallas, Texas on March 2008. The Guest speaker was Pastor Glen Badonsky. The Second PMG Church Family conference was held at Dallas, Texas on August 13–15, 2010. The guest speaker was Rev. Dr. Thomson K. Mathew - Dean, School of Theology and Missions at Oral Roberts University. PMG Church General President Pr. K.K Joseph inaugurated the conference, Kerala State President Pr. M.A John and PMGC District Pastor Pr. G.J Alexander delivered messages.

PMGC Gulf Family Conference

The first PMGC Gulf Family Conference took place at Sharjah in 2009. PMG Churches from Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat, Salalah and Sharjah took part in the conference. Pastor K K Joseph (General President, PMGC) and Pastor M A John (Kerala State President, PMGC)were the Guest Speakers.

The second Gulf Family Conference was held in November 2011 at Sharjah. Pastor K K Joseph, Pastor M A Varghese (General Secretary, PMGC), Bishop Sean Teal (Church of God International, USA) and Dr Koshy Vaidyan (USA) were the Guest Speakers for this conference. The 3-day Annual Convention during the Conference was a great blessing for PMG Churches and other Pentecostal Churches in the region, where Bishop Sean Teal gave the messages, translated by Dr. Koshy Vaidyan.

Sister Concerns

PMGC operates the PMG Sunday School & the PMG Youths programs.^[1] It also runs the Benevolent Fund to financially help church members in need and the Harvest India Bible College to train ministers; the Evangelism Board to coordinate Church’s goal of evangelism and church planning and the Sodari Samajam to train sisters. The church also publishes a monthly magazine called NIRAVU, the official publication of the Church.

Presidents

Pr. K.M.George was President from 1973 to 1994 and Pr. K.K. Joseph is serving as President from 1994 to present.

General President - Pr.K.K Joseph, PMG Kerala State President - Pr.M.A John, PMG Tamil Nadu State President -Pr.P.M Papachan and PMG Maharashtra State President-Pr.S Mathew

References

1. ↑ "Redirecting...". facebook.com. Retrieved 2014-06-06. 

1. PMGC USA