Our History

The Church's Identity and Presence

The Church of God of Prophecy has its roots in the Holiness/Pentecostal tradition and has felt a special burden to call attention to the principle of unity in the body of Christ, while faithfully proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ before a watching world.

The whole Church, as pictured in the New Testament, is the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23) with members in particular (1 Cor. 12:27). It is both local (1 Cor. 1:2) and universal (Matt. 16:18), at one and the same time completely the body of Christ in its locale, and the whole body of Christ in its world-wide existence. The body of Christ as expressed in and through the Church of God of Prophecy has its purpose and mission to continue the saving work of Jesus Christ in the world and to make ready a people prepared for His name (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 15:14).

Its method of achieving this goal is through the effective proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed and the growth and edification of its members into Christ and into common life through their God-given ministry to one another (1Cor. 14:12, 19, 26).

Our Covenant Relationship“We have joined ourselves together in Christ as a fellowship of believers by covenanting to accept the Bible as the Word of God, promising to believe and practice its teachings rightly divided with the New Testament as our rule of faith and practice, government, and discipline , and agreeing to walk in the light to the best of our knowledge and ability.”

"An Introduction to the Church of God of Prophecy"
– White Wing Press – 1996 ©

The Church of God of Prophecy is a vibrant, worldwide body of believers, united in worship, working hand-in-hand to share God’s love and a message of hope to the broken-hearted. Every 24 hours around the globe:

• Over 500 people receive salvation
• Over 200 people are baptized in water
• Over 10,000 preaching venues are actively declaring the gospel.
• At least one new church opens its doors every day to touch a local community through the efforts of this movement.

The Church of God of Prophecy has over one million members, worshipping in over 10,000 churches or missions in 125 nations of the world. Nearly 90% of our global membership is outside of North America

From its beginning, the Church of God of Prophecy has based its beliefs on the "whole Bible rightly divided." We accept the Bible as God's Holy Word, inspired, inerrant, and infallible. We believe the Bible to be God's written revelation of Himself to mankind and our guide in all matters of faith; therefore, we look to the Bible as our highest authority for doctrine, practice, organization, and discipline.

It was a strong desire to rely solely on the Bible that led the early pioneers of the church to declare their willingness to be free from all man-made creeds and traditions, to take the New Testament as their only rule of faith and practice, and to give each other equal rights and privileges to read and interpret the Bible as their consciences might dictate. These basic tenets remain intact today; however, as the church grew and spread throughout the world, it was seen that there was safety in a "multitude of counselors" when making doctrinal decisions. Thus, today, all doctrinal matters are agreed upon in one accord by the General Assembly.