[4] Harris was influenced by the British-Israel views of Thomas Foster, whose identification of Anglo-Saxon nations with the ten lost tribes of Israel prompted him to adopt a historicist eschatology.

[5] With the subsequent cancellation of his ministry credential and the increasing post-war popularity of his pro-British views throughout parts of Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Revival Crusade was launched organisationally in Adelaide and Melbourne in 1945.

[7][8][9] With a strong focus on classical Pentecostal distinctives such as baptism in the Holy Spirit, faith healing and deliverance ministry,[10] the CRC grew and sought to establish a new constitution in 1958, which triggered the departure of churches, forming the Revival Centres International (which viewed spirit baptism with the evidence of speaking in tongues as essential for salvation).

[12] Later departures of churches, some of which saw new movements emerge, were all unrelated to the declining popularity of the British-Israel teaching, which has not appeared in official publications since the early 1970s.

[citation needed] International growth (principally in Papua New Guinea and in South-East Asia under Barry Silverback, recognised with an Order of Australia medal for his services[13]) saw some 600 churches globally and 120 in Australia under the leadership of Bill Vasilakis by around 2009, with the stated goal of having a presence in every nation by the CRC's centenary in 2045.