The 50^th District Annual Conference for the Assemblies of God (A.O.G.) church in Samoa is currently in progress at the Harvest Center, Lotopa.

The annual conference, which began on Monday and concludes tomorrow, is designed for leaders to come together to discuss issues pertaining to the development of the church.

“The church itself has been established for more than 60 years in Samoa and in this conference we are honouring ministers who have served for more than 30 years within the ministry from both Upolu and Savaii," said A.O.G Samoa  Superintendent, Rev. Dr. Tavita Pagaialii.  

“There are seven who will be honoured this year, but the month of May in every year we host the church’s annual conference with the purpose of discussing various reports on the work the church has done.

“It is because there will be representatives from 78 A.O.G. churches in Samoa who will bring with them any matters to discuss and if it agreed will be passed by the church."

Rev. Pagaialii said it is also a good chance for the church to host services both in the morning and in the evening with its theme “the church is the body of Christ".

“During the meeting we will also discuss the developments in education because at the moment we only have the Bible study school and so we will look at maybe setting up a primary school or secondary school and so the meeting will cover various areas whether the church has the capacity to do so.

"If you were to look at the history of the church since establishment we see the church growing as more years pass. There are approximately 54 A.O.G. churches in Upolu and 24 in Savaii which makes up 78 altogether.

"Over the years we have seen so many of people convert from other denominations to our church which has led to an increase of numbers. There is approximately 18,000 members of the A.O.G. church in Samoa alone but there are also so many churches that carry the name A.O.G. but under a different umbrella or independent."