United Church of God

The United Church of God, is a nichttrinitarische Christian Church that has split off in 1995 by the Worldwide Church of God and largely follows the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong.

Other names

The official English name is The United Church of God, an International Association. The German name is abbreviated with VCG, the English with UCGIA. The United Church of God, an International Association is not to be confused with the International Church of God, the Intercontinental Church of God or the Global Church of God, all of which are also spin-offs of the Worldwide Church of God.

Dissemination

The United Church of God indicates on its website that it is active in 40 countries. Membership figures are not known.

Adherents.com is the 1998 world at 240 churches with 20,000 members. The Worldwide Church of God indicates that in 1995, hundreds of clergy and 12,000 members have formed the United Church of God.

Organization

The headquarters of the organization is in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States.

The United Church of God is led by a twelve-member Council of Elders, the President is assumed. The task of the President is mainly the responsibility for the management of the United Church of God, he also acts as the official representative of the Church. The President leads a team of three department heads, who are responsible for Finance, Pastoral Ministry and media and communications.

The Council of Elders will meet four times a year and is responsible for the overall policies and doctrines of the Church. He is elected by the General Conference of Elders, which meets annually and approved budget and strategic objectives.

Teaching

The United Church of God follows the teachings Herbert A. Armstrong, which differs in important respects from the Christian consensus. Important doctrinal statements are:

  • God is not seen as a Trinitarian, in particular is the Holy Spirit according to the teachings of the United Church of God, the power of God and not a separate person of the Godhead.
  • Christians are part of God's family and " are born of spirit beings that are part of Elohim, the ruling family of God " in their resurrection.
  • The moral law and the parties as they are handed down in the books of Moses, are also binding on Christians today.
  • The United States, Britain and several other nations are composed largely of the physical descendants of the 10 lost tribes of ancient Israel.
  • The origin of many traditional Christian festivals and rituals (eg Christmas, Easter) is pagan and these festivals are therefore reprehensible in the eyes of God.

Practice

The United Church of God keeps the Sabbath as the weekly day of rest.

Members pay a tithe of their earnings.

The United Church of God celebrates the biblical feasts listed in the Old Testament Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles.

History

The United Church of God comes from the Worldwide Church of God ( WCG ), founded by Herbert W. Armstrong. Herbert Armstrong died in 1986 and Joseph W. Tkach succeeded him as prime minister. At the end of the 1980s and led to the early 1990s, Joseph Tkach a series of doctrinal changes in the basic teachings of the Church such as the keeping of the Sabbath and the Holy Days and the importance of the commandments about clean and unclean food. The new doctrines were proclaimed as a theology of the New Covenant and caused thousands of members and hundreds of preachers to leave the church.

The United Church of God was founded in the spring of 1995 at a conference in Indianapolis ( Indiana). The founders were former pastors of the WCG. The first president of the newly formed United Church of God was David Hulme. Hulme left the VCG 1998 after the Elders had dropped him as president. He is currently the President of the Church of God, an International Community. Hulme followed suit in 1998 Les McCullough, 2001 Roy Holladay, 2005 Clyde Kilough and 2010 Dennis Luker to the post of President.

The current president, Dennis Luker, was formerly Regional Pastor of the Church in the state of Washington, served as a member of the Council of Elders and also has international experience as a former Regional Director of the Worldwide Church of God in Australia.

Institutions

The Ambassador Bible Center offers an eight-month training course for understanding the Bible according to the teachings of the United Church of God.

Media

The United Church of God publishes various media.

  • The bimonthly magazine The Good News ( German Good News - Answers for Today and Tomorrow ) is the main publication of the United Church of God, which appears in five languages. In March 2005, the global edition of the Good News amounted to 412 000 copies, the subscription is free. The magazine includes articles on biblical teachings, prophecy, current world events, social issues, science and Christian way of life from the perspective of the United Church of God.
  • World News and Prophecy is published monthly and contains articles that deal with current world events and its relation to biblical prophecy from the perspective of the United Church of God. It is the rise of the European Union, assumed the decline of the supremacy of the United States and Great Britain and the decline of morality in Western culture.
  • The United News focuses mainly on news and events within the United Church of God, and reports on the preaching work, church activities, Christian teachings and lifestyle, news from the administration, as well as birth and death information within the Church.
  • Internally, in addition to the Good News only regularly published German -language publication.
  • Vertical Thought is a quarterly publication for teenagers.
  • Virtual Christian Magazine is an online magazine
  • Beyond Today produces a weekly TV show and is broadcast in the United States over one hundred free channels.
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