The Assemblies of God (AOG) is the largest Pentecostal denomination in Australia. In 1916 C.L. Greenwood began home meetings in Sunshine. In 1925 he opened the Sunshine Gospel Hall, and a year later moved to a converted theatre in Richmond. The work flourished, other Pentecostal assemblies sought affiliation and, with Greenwood as pastor, the Richmond Temple became the mother church of a network of Pentecostal churches. At the first conference in Sydney in 1937, the Queensland AOG combined with the Pentecostal churches under Greenwood and became the AOG in Australia. By 1998 there were 873 churches nationally and 186 in Victoria. What began as a movement has become a significant Protestant denomination.