Beliefs of the Living Church of God

The Living Church of God (LCG) was founded in 1998 by Presiding Evangelist Roderick C. Meredith and is based in North Carolina. Before organizing the LCG, Meredith was a high-ranking evangelist in the WorldWide Church of God (WCG), founded by Herbert Armstrong in 1934, and had also started another church, the Global Church of God (from which he was fired shortly before starting up the LCG). The LCG is one of more than 200 splinter churches that have split from the WCG. The LCG's beliefs come mostly from Armstrong's interpretation of the Bible, which members of the church believe is the "foundation for all true knowledge." The church now claims over 6,000 members worldwide.

The LCG views the central message of the Bible to be the Gospel of Christ, the "Good News" of the coming of the Kingdom of God, as well as the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The church teaches that in order to utilize this sacrifice, people must have faith and perform a list of works. They must repent of their sins, be baptized by immersion and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. The latter must be done by Christ's ordained representatives, part of the church structure outlined in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:11). After baptism and confirmation, members are expected to continue to grow in the "grace and knowledge of God" until the day of salvation, which followers believe will one day happen at the same time as bodily resurrection.

According to LCG beliefs, the Godhead is comprised of just two beings: God the Father, the Supreme Being, and Jesus Christ, the Son, the savior of all mankind and the acting head of the church. While many other Christian denominations believe the Holy Spirit is a third member of the Godhead, the LCG doctrine states that the Holy Spirit is the essence and power of God and not an actual being.

The LCG considers itself engaged in a three-fold mission. First, members are obliged to preach the "Good News" to all nations, bearing witness to the "Gospel of the Kingdom of God." Secondly, through building churches and organizing congregations, LCG members must "feed the flock," a reference to both spiritual and earthly nourishment. The third mission of the church is to preach about the end of times, warning the entire world of the coming Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21), to be followed by the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Millennium, during which Jesus will reign over an era of unprecedented peace.

Unlike most Protestant sects, the LCG observes the annual festivals outlined in the Old Testament, citing the biblical instruction that these special days be celebrated "forever" (Leviticus 23:14). Members observe the biblical Sabbath starting on Fridays at sundown. Among the annual festivals observed are Passover, the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.