The International Association of Ministries (I.A.M.) is an association of ministers, churches, and ministries which was formed to help provide relationship, fellowship, accountability, and covering for independent, or nondenominational ministers who see the importance of being connected with the larger body of Christ. The I.A.M. is Charismatic/Pentecostal in its beliefs and experience. At present there are over 150 licensed or ordained members. These include local pastors, apostles, prophets, traveling evangelists, and missionaries in various nations. For those who desire to have their ministry or church come under the legal covering (501c3), this type of covering is also provided. About 20 have done so at this point. The I.A.M. holds two fellowship meetings annually for all members, along with other regional meetings. The general fellowship meetings are usually held somewhere in Minnesota and Iowa, although other locations are sometimes chosen. These meetings consist of worship, ministry of the word, personal ministry, updates from individuals, and, of course, eating together. Although the I.A.M. is centered in the Midwest of the U.S.A., there are members on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. It is the goal of the I.A.M. to be more than a credentialing organization; our goal is to be a means for real relationship in the body of Christ. Therefore the I.A.M. does not actively recruit new members, but seeks to serve those who desire this type of connection.
In the mid to late seventies, the Charismatic Renewal was bringing awakening and spiritual refreshing to lives and church groups among various denominations all across America, including Minnesota and other parts of the mid-western States. A small group of pastors including Denver Jones, of Princeton, Minnesota, Wallace Johnson from Brainerd, Minnesota, Stanford Raleigh from Des Moines, Iowa, Ray Anderson from Hamilton, Missouri, Gerald Cummings from Port Wing, Wisconsin and myself, Paul Tucker from Duluth, Minnesota, whose hearts the Holy Spirit had dynamically touched, met for fellowship and prayer in Princeton, Minnesota. Out of this meeting was birthed a hunger for more of God’s presence and supernatural power, and a desire to covenant together in relational accountability and mutual edification. At that point none of us knew exactly what the Holy Spirit would challenge us to do or what would develop out of this gathering.
In the fall of 1982, a slightly larger group of ministers met in Winona, Minnesota for fellowship and prayer with the idea of discussing the possibility of starting a new ministerial association. The purpose of this group would be spiritual and relational fellowship, relational accountability, and relational covering. For several years the group had loosely related and worked together in various ministry functions and in several states, without having any official ties to each other. We were from various denominational and traditional, mostly Pentecostal backgrounds, with common beliefs, but desiring to recognize all those with valid ministries who had recently been influenced by the charismatic renewal. Most needed spiritual and legal covering which would be recognized by the Federal government. At our first meeting, we prayed about and discussed vision, goals, and purposes and laid the fundamental groundwork of who we would become and what we believed. We also discussed why we believed we had a legitimate need for such a fellowship. Based on our scriptural beliefs, practices, and understanding at the time, the whole group present agreed we would uphold firmly the Biblical standards for ministerial ethics and accountability to each other, and recognize all the fivefold ascension gift ministries as existing and valid in our present church government structure. We, as a fellowship of ministers and churches, would covenant to work together in assisting any legitimate ministry, men or women, to fulfill the great commission of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations and people groups.
The name, International Association of Ministries, was chosen and steps were taken to incorporate in the state of Minnesota and begin the process of applying for recognition from the federal government. Paul Tucker was chosen and appointed as the president of the association, Denver Jones as vice president, Gary Nelson as secretary and Stanford Raleigh and Gerald Cummings as our first advisors. Other present and future ministers were very helpful in the first stages of formulating our fellowship. A powerful infusion of genuine brotherly love, respect for one another, and unity of the Spirit kept us on track to face and pursue the challenge of maintaining the goals that were formulated at the beginning. As I ponder those early days of simple beginnings, I am reminded of the scriptural principles recorded and found in the Bible which are relevant to what has happened up to the present:
For who has despised the day of small things;
Zechariah 4:10
Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter
end would increase abundantly
Job. 8:7