What does Full Gospel mean?
The term “full gospel”, as used by churches identifying themselves as such, is a synonym for “Spirit filled”. The term “Spirit filled” is not intended as a slur against churches who are not of the same persuasion. It simply means a church believes that an individual is filled, or baptized with, the Holy Spirit in a manner consistent with the experiences found in the book of Acts, i.e., evidenced by speaking in tongues.
Full gospel churches are often identical in doctrine and worship to Charismatic, Pentecostal, and other Spirit-filled churches so the terms are almost synonymous. One of the major differences is that larger churches in particular tend to avoid labels at all in their official church names, opting for terms like “New Life Church” or “Calvary Restoration Center”, while smaller churches are more likely to include terms like “Full Gospel” in the official church name.
Rural churches are more likely to identify themselves as Full Gospel as opposed to urban churches. This could be due more to the fact that urban churches, by their very proximity to population centers, tend to be larger.
Partial List of Greenville Full Gospel Churches (Greenville, South Carolina):
- NewStart Church, 421 Dallas Road, Greenville, SC 29607 864-248-6500
- Lord of Glory Full Gospel Baptist Church, 401 Pennsylvania Avenue, Greenville, SC
- Bibleway Full Gospel Missionary Baptist Church, 825 Woodside Avenue, Greenville, SC
- Bethel Full Gospel Baptist Church, 13 Piedmont Avenue, Greenville, SC
- New Foundation Full Gospel Church, New Easley Highway, Greenville, SC
- Poplar Springs Full Gospel Church, 3841 Moore Duncan Highway, Greenville, SC