Hi! My name is Kent Butler, and I am the Director of Operations for The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I am also the son of an Assemblies of God minister who has pastored in Berryville, Arkansas since 1980. In pursuing my own credentials with the Assemblies, I ran into a roadblock. Because I had not gone to a Bible college, the Assemblies of God would not credential me nor recognize my life experience. I've pastored under my father since August 2, 2009 and dedicated my life to the Gospel since I was five.

I found this a bit odd, and I decided to pursue a Master of Arts in History at Liberty University to see the history of how the Assemblies of God has credentialed its ministers. The results have been astounding. This site and study are a product of that journey. As of June 2022, I completed the necessary requirements for becoming a credentialed minister within the Assemblies of God. I still have some work to do in order to be licensed and ordained.
The Christian Evangel was published by J. Roswell Flower, an early leader of the Assemblies of God.
In 1914, after the Assemblies of God was founded in Hot Springs, Arkansas, E. N. Bell joined J. R. Flower in publishing it.

The Christian Evangel along with the Word and Witness were the official mouthpieces of the Assemblies of God in its formative years. 
In 1916, the Word and Witness was discontinued, and the Christian Evangel became the Assemblies of God's sole weekly piece.
​In 1919, the Christian Evangel was renamed the Pentecostal Evangel.

The purpose of this site is to reclaim some of the lost legacy of the Christian Evangel and tell some of the untold stories of the Assemblies of God. 
A podcast of this history project is coming in
Winter 2024!