Wasilla Assembly of God

Infobox church
name = Wasilla Assembly of God


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denomination = Assemblies of God (Pentecostal)
founded_date = 1951
founder = Paul Riley
architect =
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dedicated_date =
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seniorpastor = Ed Kalnins
pastor = Scott Phillips (Assistant)
Todd Stafford (Assistant)
Nathan Lopez (Youth)
address = 125 West Riley Ave
Wasilla, Alaska 99654
country = United States
website = http://www.wasillaag.org/

The Wasilla Assembly of God is a church in the town of Wasilla, Alaska. Founded in 1951, it is a member of the Assemblies of God, a Protestant, Pentecostal association of churches with roots in the Pentecostal revivalism of the early twentieth century. [cite web|url=http://www.wasillaag.org/index.php?nid=3720&s=au|title=About us|publisher=Wasilla Assembly of God|accessdate=2008-09-11]

Pastors

The church's founding pastor was Paul Riley. As Governor, Sarah Palin, a former member (having left the church in 2002), renamed the street on which the church is located "Riley Avenue" in honor of Riley.cite news|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCeGgS4vbVt6qpxTpahCgGn_R-dQD92VOKVG0|title=Pentecostalism obscured in Palin biography|first=Eric|last=Gorshi| coathors=Zoll, Rachel|publisher=Associated Press|date=2008-09-04|accessdate=2008-09-11] In 1999, Ed Kalnins took over as pastor. Kalnins's views have attracted international media attention due to Governor Palin's selection as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-03-palin-pastor_N.htm|title=Palin's Former Minister Comes Under Scrutiny|publisher="USA Today"|last=Stern|first=Robert|date=2008-09-03|accessdate=2008-09-11]

Media scrutiny

In September 2008, the Wasilla Assembly of God found itself under intense media scrutiny as a result of former congregation member Sarah Palin being selected as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. International curiosity about church sermons was so intense that it caused the church website, where videos of its sermons and speakers were posted, to be shut down. [Web Site With Speeches and Sermons From Palin's Former Church Shuts Down as Religious Views of Candidate Face Scrutiny, Jake Tapper, 09-03-2008, ABC News [http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/website-with-sp.html] ] The site was restarted a week later.Fact|date=September 2008 In unidentified sermons, the Huffington Post reported, Wasilla Assembly of God senior pastor Ed Kalnins, "preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Senator John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode." Brian Fitzpatrick, Senior Editor with the Culture and Media Institute, says the Huffington Post article "says more about [the authors] than about Palin. Though they cover the religion beat for AP, Gorski and Zoll have a great deal to learn about evangelical culture and theology." citeweb | title=AP wrongly charges Palin with deception over faith | first=Brian| last=Fitzpatrickdate=2008-09-05 | publisher= Onenewsnow.com | url=http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=239808|accessdate=2008-09-15]

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that such scrutiny was to be expected whenever a surprise vice presidential candidate is selected because the “The surprise guarantees that the other side hasn’t done the research". “When a presidential candidate surprises the country with a relatively unknown choice, then all hell breaks loose,” Sabato said. “It did with Ferraro, it did with Quayle, it’s happening with Palin."cite news |first= Berger |last= Judson |coauthors= Carl Cameron and Dan Springe|title= Political Teams Battle to Define Palin in Alaska|url= http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/10/political-teams-battle-to-define-palin-in-alaska |publisher= Fox News.com |date= 2008-09-10|accessdate=2008-09-15 ] Sabato postulates that the goal of the Democrats is to find controversial statements to counteract the criticism Barack Obama faced due to his affiliation with Pastor Jeremiah Wright. The conservative media watchdog, Culture and Media Institute, went so far as to declare the effort as an "obvious attempt to create a Jeremiah Wright-style scandal".cite news |first= Fitzpatrick |last= Brian|title= Pro-gay Journalist: Palin’s Religious Worldview “Controversial” | url= http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/articles/2008/20080904124523.aspx | publisher= Culture and Media Institute |date= 2008-09-04|accessdate=2008-09-15 ] Others believe that the religious beliefs of Sarah Palin "raise important questions: mainly, what is Palin's faith and how exactly has it influenced her policies?"cite news |first= Nico |last= Pitney|coauthors= Sam Stein|title= Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html |publisher= Culture and Media Institute |date= 2008-09-02|accessdate=2008-09-15 ] They argue that despite her leaving the Wasilla Assembly of God in 2002, long before the controversial sermons, she has maintained a close relationship there by speaking at the church in June 2008 and, on the same visit, receiving a blessing by Kalnins. [ [http://gov.state.ak.us/large_photo.php?id=153 Photo of Kalnins blessing Palin at "One Lord Sunday" in June 2008.] Accessed 2008-09-15]

Ministries

Wasilla Assembly of God sponsors a youth group for girls in Kindergarten to 8th grade called the "Missionettes". The youth group conducts several community service projects each year. [cite news|first=Joshua|last=Borough|title=Fundraising Offers a Chance to Cool Off|date=2007-07-25|work=Anchorage Daily News|page=G9|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AS&p_theme=as&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11AA6D5691248CC0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=2008-09-04] The church hosts an annual Christian music concert called "Winter Rock Fest". "Winter Rock Fest", which began in 2005, attracts over 1,000 children each year. [cite news|title=Rock festival mixes secular, Christian acts|first=Andrew|last=Wellner|date=2007-11-07|work=Anchorage Daily News|page=G1|url=http://www.adn.com/life/religion/story/212054.html|accessdate=2008-09-08]

ervices

Community service

In cooperation with Alaska Family Services, the Salvation Army, and other area churches, the Wasilla Assembly of God distributed baskets to 39 families in Wasilla during Thanksgiving of 2005. The church also supplies food to the annual free Thanksgiving meal hosted by Shema Christian Ministries.cite news|title=Harvest of help|first=Melodie|last=Wright|work=Anchorage Daily News|date=2005-11-23|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AS&p_theme=as&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10E145E3EE235720&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|page=G1|accessdate=2008-09-04]

The church established a teen youth learning center called Rally Point in 2006. Rally Point is located in the church's former sanctuary at Knik-Goose Bay Road which the Wasilla Assembly of God occupied from the 1960s to 1980s.cite news|title=Learning hangout|first=Melodie|last=Wright|work=Anchorage Daily News|date=2006-02-22|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AS&p_theme=as&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10FF445C1E6C6038&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|page=G8|accessdate=2008-09-04]

Master's Commission program

The Master's Commission program is a live in religious educational program for young adults that lasts one year. According to a promotional video, it is designed for students from around the country; to take them and "lead them for the rest of their lives in passionate journey for Jesus." The students also are expected to "take the message to people around the state." The Master's Commission program stresses ties with the state of Alaska.cite web|title=Palin Used State Funds for Trip to Speak at Her Former Church|first=Rich|last=Mauer|publisher="Anchorage Daily News"|date=2008-09-06|url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/51956.html|accessdate=2008-09-15] The program is similar or identical to other such Master's Commission programs at various Assemblies of God congregations throughout the United States.

References

External links

* [http://www.wasillaag.org/ Official website]
* [http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_about_whatwebelieve.php History of Wasilla Assembly]
* [http://www.wasillaag.net/all.html Video and Audio of Wasilla Assembly of God sermons]