Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury

inspired, inerrant and infallible. The church is firm
in its commitment to orthodox Christian belief.
The Church affirms that there is one God, eternally
existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. It believes in the deity of Christ, His virgin
birth, His sinless life, the physical miracles He
performed, His atoning death on the cross, His
bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right
hand of the Father and his Second coming. The
church professes that salvation results from grace
alone through faith in Christ, that regeneration by
the Holy Spirit is essential for the salvation of sinful
men, and that sanctification by the blood of
Christ makes possible personal holiness. It affirms
the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by Whose
indwelling believers are able to live godly lives
and have power for service. The church believes
in, and promotes, the ultimate unity of believers as
prayed for by Christ in John 17. The church stresses
the sanctity of human life and is committed to
the sanctity of the marriage bond and the importance
of strong, loving Christian families. Other
official teachings include Holy Spirit baptism with
tongues as initial evidence; manifestation of the
spiritual gifts; divine healing; premillenial secondcoming
of Christ; total abstinence from the use of
tobacco, alcohol and narcotics; water baptism by
immersion; the Lord’s supper and washing of the
saints’ feet; and a concern for moderation and
holiness in all dimensions of lifestyle.
The Church is racially integrated on all levels,
including top leadership. Women play a prominent
role in church affairs, serving in pastoral roles and
other leadership positions. The church presbytery
has recently adopted plurality of leadership in the
selection of a General Oversight Group. This
group consists of eight bishops located around the
world who, along with the General Overseer, are
responsible for inspirational leadership and vision
casting for the church body.
The Church has local congregations in all 50
states and more than 100 nations worldwide.
Organizationally there is a strong emphasis on
international missions, evangelism, youth and
children’s ministries, women’s and men’s ministries,
stewardship, communications, publishing,
leadership development and discipleship.
CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY
INTERNATIONAL OFFICES
P.O. Box 2910, Cleveland, TN 37320-2910
Media Contact, National Overseer, Levi Clarke,
5145 Tomken Rd, Mississauga, ON L4 W1P1;
Tel. (905) 625-1278; Fax (905)-625-1316.
Website: www.cogop.ca
Officers
Gen. Overseer, Bishop Randy E. Howard, Sr.;
General Presbyters, Sherman Allen, Sam
Clements, Daniel Corbett, Clayton Endecott,
Miguel Mojica, José Reyes, Sr., Felix
Santiago, Brice Thompson
International Offices Ministries Dirs., Finance,
Communications, and Publishing, Perry
Gillum; Global Outreach and Administrative
Asst. to the General Presbyters, Randy Howard;
Leadership Development and Discipleship
Ministries, Larry Duncan.
Periodicals
White Wing Messenger (ENG), Victory (Youth
Magazine/ Sunday School Curriculum); The
Happy Harvester, White Wing Messenger
(Spanish).
The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints in Canada
The Church has had a presence in Canada
since the early 1830’s. Joseph Smith and
Brigham Young both came to Eastern Canada as
missionaries. There are now 157,000 members in
Canada in more than 400 congregations.
Leading the Church in Canada are the presidents
of over 40 stakes (equivalent to a diocese).
World headquarters is in Salt Lake City, UT (See
U.S. Religious Bodies chapter of the Directories
section of this Yearbook).
Headquarters
50 East North Temple St., Salt Lake City, UT
84150
Media Contact, Public Affairs Dir., Bruce
Smith, 1185 Eglinton Ave., Box 116, North
York, ON M3C 3C6 Tel. (416)431-7891 Fax
(416)438-2723
Church of the Lutheran Brethren
The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of
America was organized in December 1900. Five
independent Lutheran congregations met together
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and adopted a constitution
patterned very closely to that of the Lutheran
Free Church of Norway.
The spiritual awakening in the Midwest during
the 1890s crystallized into convictions that led to
the formation of a new church body. Chief among
the concerns were church membership practices,
observance of Holy Communion, confirmation
practices and local church government.
The Church of the Lutheran Brethren practices
a simple order of worship with the sermon
as the primary part of the worship service. It
believes that personal profession of faith is the
primary criterion for membership in the congregation.
The Communion service is reserved for
those who profess faith in Christ as savior. Each
congregation is autonomous and the synod
serves the congregations in advisory and cooperative
capacities.
The synod supports a world mission program
in Cameroon, Chad, Japan and Taiwan.
Approximately 40 percent of the synodical budget
is earmarked for world missions. A growing
home mission ministry is planting new congregations
in the United States and Canada. Affiliate
organizations operate several retirement-nursing
homes, conference and retreat centers.
CANADIAN
RELIGIOUS BODIES
187