What Makes the Church of God General Conference Different?

Who I am can be described in any number of ways—at least in part. I am the youngest of five children. I was raised a “Yankee,” as I lived in Michigan and Illinois for almost half of my life. For the last two decades, I’ve lived in the South with my wife and family. (Nobody has yet claimed me as a “Rebel.”) I served God Almighty and His Son, my Lord and Savior, as a pastor for 15 years. After leaving pastoral ministry, I earned a mechanical engineering degree. While supporting my family through various design jobs, I have continued serving in the church as a layperson, working with youth and taking on leadership roles.

The common thread through all of that has been my faith in God and the conviction that a simple, straightforward reading of His Word is the surest and shortest path to truth. My analytical way of thinking has always preferred the simplicity of 1 + 1 = 2 over a more complicated equation like 5.7 + 8.3 − (4 × 3) = 2. Both are correct, but an unnecessarily complicated explanation can sometimes hide personal bias or inaccuracy. That is as true in science as it is in Bible study.

Related: The Church of God General Conference: Our History, Beliefs, and Mission

The Attraction of Simplicity

Consider a question as fundamental as “Who is God?” Sometimes, the more complicated we make the answer, the further we move from the simplicity of Scripture.

Consider one of the first Bible verses many of us memorized, which is as simple and straightforward as a person can hope for: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16, KJV). So, who is God? For one thing, He is the Father of Jesus! God did not “father” another coexistent, eternally existing second person of the Godhead.

That is my legacy from fellowship in COGGC churches. I learned to read God’s Word with the understanding that the simplest interpretation is generally the best place to begin, unless another passage of Scripture gives us reason to understand it differently.

When Scripture Seems to Contradict Itself

That approach works well for the vast majority of Bible passages. But what should we do when the plain reading of one passage appears to contradict another?

We must remember that we are reading texts written thousands of years ago and translated into our language. Skilled linguists work to interpret figures of speech, rare words, wordplay, and other features of ancient languages. Even with their expertise, translation presents challenges, and translators must be careful not to introduce their own biases.

This doesn’t always go as it should. While the COGGC affirms that God’s Word was originally given to the biblical authors without error, we recognize that human interpretation and translation can introduce bias. As scholars learn more about ancient languages, manuscripts, and historical contexts, new Bible translations can help readers better understand the original text.

In instances of apparent disagreement between two passages, the COGGC approach is to look first at the context and then find the amount of support each position has throughout the rest of Scripture. 

When one interpretation rests on a single verse while another is consistently supported by numerous passages throughout Scripture, we should give greater weight to the interpretation with broader biblical support. Many apparent disagreements can be resolved by examining the context of each passage and comparing it with the broader teaching of Scripture. 

We do well to let the entire Bible inform all our positions on every other text. Basing any belief on one or two verses is a risky stand.

Related: Is the Trinity Biblical? A Clear Look at Scripture

A Tradition of Letting God Write Our Statement of Faith

I am grateful that our beliefs are supported by passages throughout both the Old and New Testaments, written by different authors as they were “carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21, NIV). 

The COGGC does not accept human creeds as the final authority for our beliefs. While our understanding of Scripture differs from some teachings of larger denominations and evangelical leaders, our commitment is to the truth revealed in God’s Word. Truth resides not in the proclamations of the creature but in those of the Creator.

Faithfulness Over Size

The COGGC has a long tradition of providing excellent national and local summer youth camps, including our national youth camp (now known as FUEL). They were instrumental in forming my faith and introducing me to godly teachers and role models. I met my wife there. I was challenged to grow and eventually served on staff there. I decided to attend Oregon Bible College (later known as Atlanta Bible College) while at a COGGC summer camp.

More to the point of this article, while I was there, I saw my first “Proud to Be COGGC” T-shirt. I’ll confess that I wasn’t particularly interested in buying and wearing one at the time. I was more aware of the smallness of our movement than I was of what made it special.

God does not call us to join the biggest group we can find. We are called to be faithful. We are called to find truth and to take that truth to a needy world. The world needs God, and it needs His invitation to be understood and communicated faithfully.

Come Walk with Us

Have you ever encountered a teaching that seems difficult to reconcile with a straightforward reading of God’s Word? Perhaps you’ve questioned beliefs supported by only a handful of verses that seem inconsistent with the broader teaching of Scripture.

What makes the Church of God General Conference different is not our size or our traditions, but our commitment to seeking truth in Scripture and allowing God’s Word to shape what we believe.

We invite you to walk with us and discover whether the Church of God General Conference might be a place where you can grow in faith, deepen your understanding of Scripture, and draw closer to the one God and His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.