Declaration of Faith Sunday Set for January 6, 2019
The first Sunday of 2019, January 6, has been declared “Declaration of Faith Sunday” in the Church of God by General Overseer Timothy M. Hill.
The Church of God first adopted the Declaration of Faith, which contains 14 brief statements, in 1948 as its “official expression of Church of God belief.”
According to Like A Mighty Army author Charles W. Conn, the Declaration of Faith was discussed at the 1948 General Assembly and a committee appointed that Conn proclaimed was, “one of the most important committees to function at any General Assembly.” So unified was the Church of God that the committee was able to ultimately present the 281-word document during the same meeting. Although the committee remained intact for several years and attempted to expand the doctrinal instrument, it has remained unchanged to this day.
“The Declaration of Faith helps us seize and easily remember the basic essentials of our trustworthy message,” Hill stated. “It affirms the foremost beliefs of our church and is a basic key for understanding the bedrock doctrinal convictions of the Bible.”
Pastors across the Church of God are encouraged to place an emphasis on the Declaration of Faith on and leading up to January 6, 2019. Resources are being provided by Pathway Press, including posters suitable for framed presentation in the lobby of a church and ways to promote the Declaration of Faith all year. Framed copies of the DOF adorn the lobbies of each of the three buildings on the International Offices campus.
Chares Conn went on to say, “The Declaration of Faith, written 42 years after the first General Assembly, manifested that in those years of change and expansion there had been no change in the faith of the Church of God. Truths that possessed the hearts of 21 Pentecostal believers in 1906 still possessed the hearts of the 8,000 (in attendance at the 1948 General Assembly).”
To read more about the Declaration of Faith and the 14 statements contained within it, visit www.churchofgod.org and click on the “Beliefs” tab. To peruse available resources, visit www.cogpublications.org/faith19
