Church of the Great God
| Church of the Great God | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Armstrongism |
| Origin | 1992 Fort Mill, South Carolina |
The Church of the Great God (CGG) is one of the Armstrongist Churches of God. It broke away in 1992 from the Worldwide Church of God in the wake of the major shifts in its doctrine during the 1980s and 1990s.[1] The CGG, headquartered in Fort Mill, South Carolina, continues to follow the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong.
Formation
[edit]CGG was organized as a religious non-profit church in January 1992 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the primary leadership core consisting of Pastor John Ritenbaugh; elders John Reid, Edwin Pope, and James Russell; and Martin Collins and Richard Ritenbaugh. It held its first service via telephone conference call between Charlotte and a small group in Laguna Niguel, California, on January 11, 1992. About 20 members attended. It grew to several hundred members scattered across the United States, with groups in Charlotte; Southern California; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; Big Sandy, Texas; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and several other locations.
Membership
[edit]CGG is small in membership, with about 400 persons attending services each week in about 50 small groups in the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, the Philippines, South Africa, Trinidad, and Zambia. The church indicates it has "over 2,000 people" on their active postal mailing list, about 60,500 receiving its magazine, Forerunner, and over 106,500 subscribers to its daily email newsletter, The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment. An indeterminable number attend virtual Sabbath services at home each week by listening to the Fort Mill, South Carolina, congregation's services via live audio stream.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Nichols, Larry A.; Mather, George; Schmidt, Alvin J. (2010). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions: Revised and Updated Edition. Zondervan Academic. ISBN 9780310866060. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
The various splinter groups continued to promote Armstrong's theology. Some of the more prominent breakaway groups include Triumph Prophetic Ministries (founded in 1987), the Philadelphia Church of God (1989), the Twentieth Century Church of God (1990), the Global Church of God (1990), the Church of the Great God (1992), the United Biblical Church of God (1992), and the United Church of God (1995).
- ^ "History of the Church of the Great God". Church of the Great God. Retrieved 6 February 2014.