CHURCH OF GOD AFFILIATION
The Church of God movement now involves nearly 700,000 active adherents in 6,600 congregations in 89 countries of the world. In the U.S. and Canada we have about 2,400 congregations and over 230,000 persons who attend worship services at these congregations. Congregations associate voluntarily within those various countries and those indigenous churches maintain fraternal ties. There is no hierarchy or head office, per se. There are, however, some organizations established for co-operative work such as publishing, education and missions.
Church of God Ministries Inc. (Anderson, IN) coordinates the work of the Church of God in the U.S. and collaborates with appropriate ministry bodies within Canada. Other countries such as Kenya, Argentina, and Japan have formed similar organizational structures to facilitate their joint ministry efforts. Again, these offices are organized to serve the congregations and facilitate the national and world involvement of local groups. We know that many tasks can be done only as we unite in prayer, planning and sacrificial giving.
Church of God (Anderson, IN) is sometimes used to distinguish our body from others with a similar title, but no connection.
CANADIAN CHURCH OF GOD MINISTRIES
Twenty-four congregations in the four western provinces have formed an assembly for cooperative ministry. A coordinating staff functions in the office in Camrose, AB, but all officers serve as volunteers.
Deer Valley Meadows, a retreat center near Alix, AB is owned and operated for the benefit of many groups in the Christian community.
Canadian Church of God Ministries (chog.ca) is an independent, federally chartered entity, but maintains a fraternal working relationship with Eastern Canada and U.S. assemblies. Congregations are locally controlled and associate with the assembly on a voluntary basis.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD MOVEMENT
In the decades following the American Civil War, the religious scene in the United States was dominated by a neglect and even denial of much of what had been previously held as "basic" within the Christian community. The resulting turmoil stimulated a multiplying of denominations within Protestantism. In the midst of this troubled setting, a grassroots movement arose around 1880 in Midwestern North America. They were concerned about the many divisions among believers and the general drift from basic Biblical teachings.
This new movement was a reformation movement and they took for themselves the simple New Testament designation "Church of God" not to become another denomination, but to identify themselves as part of the universal church of God to which all true Christians belong.
The emphases of this fledgling, loosely organized movement were:
- Affirming the spiritual nature of God’s church rather than human organization or institutions
- Condemning of those things that caused divisions among Christians
- Calling of Christians to live holy lives with God’s enabling
- Gleaning the great truths of Scripture that had been reclaimed by the previous reformations
At first, because there was a shunning of denominational trappings, more effort was given to spreading this message among Christians than in starting up congregations. Their message spread quickly and within the first three decades the message was rooted on every continent.
NATURE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD MOVEMENT
Terms can define but sometimes mislead. Without pigeonholing, the Movement considers itself conservative, rooted in Wesleyan-Arminian evangelicalism, a part of the Anabaptist free-church tradition. We have been very eclectic as a participant in the Protestant tradition.
There is variety from congregation to congregation and culture to culture, as most bodies have. The objective has been to simply be an up-to-date version of the church found in the New Testament.
In methodology, style of worship and church programs, Church of God congregations function similarly to other mainline, evangelical groups. Effort is made to concentrate on what Christians have in common, building bridges instead of walls.
With roots in the "holiness movement" there has always been a strong emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers and in the body of the church. Through the Spirit we experience God’s active presence in our lives:
- Making us aware of our sin and need of God
- Giving us assurance of sins forgiven
- Giving us a new birth
- Helping us understand the truth and meaning of scripture
- Enabling us to become Christ-like in character
- Bestowing gifts to serve
- Endowing with the power to share our faith story with others
SUMMARY
The Church of God movement gladly acknowledges that it is only a part of the "church of God" in the Biblical sense and does not use the name in a denominational way. We are a movement within the greater body of God’s family. Christians have much to learn and appreciate in each other, and our movement wants to foster that kind of openness and fraternity.