HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL PENTECOSTAL ASSEMBLIES
As a result of the visit to the Asuza Street revival of G. B. Cashwell in 1906 a small group of baptized believers with a sincere desire to promote missionary work began a Pentecostal periodical in 1907 which they named, The Bridegroomͥssenger. The Bridegroomͥssenger became known as the 謹e of Pentecost to the Southᮤ for a short time served as the official magazine of the Church of God, Cleveland and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. About the same time the paper was founded, this small prayer group planted a local Pentecostal assembly in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. In the year 1919, Beulah Heights Bible Institute was founded by Paul and Hattie Barth, pastors of the local church. Minutes show that Hattie Barth gave ownership of the college to the IPA in 1956. The Atlanta church along with a few other small churches in the southeast founded and chartered the Association of Pentecostal Assemblies (APA) in the State of Georgia in 1921.
In 1919, the National and International Pentecostal Missionary Union was chartered as an Ohio corporation for the purposes of visiting missionaries and encouraging fellowship with Paul Wittich as the president. The name was changed to the International Pentecostal Church (IPC) before its merger with the Association of Pentecostal Assemblies (APA).
On August 25th, 1936 the APA and the IPC met in joint council meeting at the Radio Church in Baltimore, MD. The action of the joint council resulted in the formation of the International Pentecostal Assemblies (IPA). The Rev. John W. Pitcher was elected as the first Chairman. The IPA maintained offices, continued to publish The Bridegroomͥssenger (still reported to be the oldest Pentecostal periodical in the world), and own and operate BHBC in Atlanta and a campground in Lake Odessa, MI. The IPA maintained extensive missions activities in Kenya, India, and Mexico, which included Bible schools, orphanages, and churches.