The Church of the Blessed Hope (or Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith) is a small first-day Adventist Christian body.

Background

The Church of the Blessed of Hope or Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (CGAF)¹ has common roots with the Christadelphians and the Church of God General Conference (Abrahamic Faith). Benjamin Wilson, founder of the Abrahamic Faith, and John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, were Illinois neighbors who studied the Bible together. Thomas baptized Benjamin and his brother Joseph. Disagreement between Thomas and Wilson concerning the judgment seat and the resurrection sent their movements in different directions in the early 1860s.

Benjamin Wilson spent his early life in Halifax, England. Benjamin, with his brothers, Joseph, John, and James, questioned the teachings of their local Baptist Church and "became convinced that the promises to Abraham were central to salvation". Benjamin and James moved their families to Geneva, Illinois in 1844. Brothers John and Joseph came to Geneva around 1849. Together they started a church in Geneva. Because of adopting a stance against military service, there was a need to adopt an "official" name during the Civil War. The name "Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith", suggested by Benjamin Wilson, was chosen. The work of the Wilson's led to a number of congregations from Ohio to California (where Benjamin later moved), but no central organization.

The Church of the Blessed Hope began as a local Church of God congregation in Cleveland, Ohio. It was organized on October 4, 1863. Mark Allen, a missionary of the Church of God Abrahamic Faith movement from Woburn, Massuchusetts, led fourteen Ohioians in founding this body. Congregations were soon afterward established in Salem and Unionville, and these congregations incorporated themselves as the Church of the Blessed Hope in 1888. All these congregations still exist, though the Cleveland body has moved to Chesterland. The leader of the Cleveland congregation from 1922_1927 was a Christadelphian.

The Church of the Blessed Hope and the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith were different in name, but part of the same movement. By the early 20th century, the movement had grown to over 200 congregations in about a dozen states. They were only a loose fellowship of churches. Some ties were maintained by state conferences and a periodical, The Restitution. A controversy surrounding the editor of The Restitution, A. R. Underwood, led to a severing of fellowship of the churches. Though a majority followed those opposed to Underwood, led by L. E. Connor, they added two doctrines to their statement of faith - universal resurrection and open communion. Later, they also added the belief in a personal devil. Five congregations (3 in Ohio and 1 each in Kentucky and Indiana) rejected these doctrinal additions and stood for the old statement of faith. The majority regrouped in 1921 and organized the Church of God (General Conference). The minority congregations maintained ties, and in 1966 four of the then six churches adopted a uniform doctrinal statement. In 1976 these six churches began to gather for an annual gathering, which is now held each year in August at various colleges in Ohio.

Faith and Practice

The Church of the Blessed Hope rejects the doctrine of the Trinity; recognizes the Bible as God's revealed word; teaches that salvation is obtained through hearing, believing, confessing and obeying the gospel; and expects the premillennial return and reign of Jesus, in which the righteous and the unjust will be raised, but that those who have not heard the gospel will not be raised from the dead. Valid baptism is performed through the immersion of believers in water. Christ's command to partake the bread and the cup (communion) is observed weekly. They repudiate the "General Conference" doctrines of a literal devil, universal resurrection, and open communion. Members are not allowed to serve in war as combatants, though some congregations permit members to serve in humanitarian positions.

Status

In 2003, the Church of the Blessed Hope had eight congregations² with about 400 members. The three Ohio congregations use the name Church of the Blessed Hope and the others do not.

These churches are theologically closer to the Christadelphians than they are to the Church of God General Conference, and have made moves in recent years to strengthen their ties. Most of the churches use the Christadelphian hymnal and Sunday School literature.

External links

• Adherents.com (http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_184.html#1038)
• Perryville Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (http://www.cgaf.org/)
• The Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith: A Brief History (http://columbia.homestead.com/history3.html)
• The Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (http://www.widomaker.com/~cpatax/xadelfia/cgaf.htm) - on a Christadelphian site

References

• History of the Church of the Blessed Hope 1863-1963, by B. H. Lang, et al., (11 page pamphlet)
• Profiles in Belief: the Religious Bodies of the United States and Canada, by Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Footnotes

• 1. A number of local congregations in the Church of God (General Conference) use the name the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith, often leading to confusion of the two bodies. For this reason the Church of the Blessed Hope has been retained as the denominational title for this article.
• 2. Three in Ohio, Three in Florida, one each in Kentucky and Indiana (See Places to Worship (http://www.cgaf.org/Places_To_Worship.htm))