The Church of God for All Nations is a

theocratic Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fro ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

body of

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Samuel Doffee (February 2, 1931 – April 23, 2010), formed ''The Church of God for All Nations'' in 1981. Doffee had been previously associated with the

Church of God of Prophecy The Church of God of Prophecy is a Holiness Pentecostal Christian church. It is one of five ''Church of God'' bodies headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee, that arose from a small meeting of believers who gathered at the Holiness Church at Camp Cr ...

and The Church of God (Jerusalem Acres), and served in various ministerial capacities in the latter body. Bishop Grady R. Kent founded The Church of God of All Nations (now "Jerusalem Acres") in 1957. After settling on the name "The Church of God of All Nations", Bishop Kent was persuaded by other in the Church Pattern to change the name to The Church of God at Jerusalem Acres. After the death of Kent in 1964, the church governance gradually moved away from "theocratic" rule through the "Chief Bishop", toward a more democratic rule through the General Assembly. Bishop Doffee continued to preach what he believed was the prophetic message of Bishop Kent, as well as "theocratic" church government, and was

disfellowshipped Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

by the ''Church of God (Jerusalem Acres)''. In 1980, Doffee believed he was instructed by prophecy to reorganize the Church of God, and chartered the new church in 1981. The doctrines of ''The Church of God for All Nations'' are similar to its parent body, with greater emphasis on theocracy and prophecy. Individuals must experience salvation, justification, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is marked by the evidence of

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

. Divine healing, miracles, and deliverance from evil spirits are considered present-day ministries. Officers in the church are apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. This group believes very explicitly that the "

Great Apostasy The Great Apostasy is a concept within Christianity to describe a perception that mainstream Christian Churches have fallen away from the original faith founded by Jesus and promulgated through his twelve Apostles. A belief in a Great Apostasy ...

" began in AD 325 with the Council of Nicaea and continued until June 13, 1903, when Bishop

Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson Ambrose Jessup (A.J.) Tomlinson (September 22, 1865 – October 2, 1943), a former Quaker, united with the Holiness Church at Camp Creek in 1903. With his drive, vision, and organizational skills, he was elected the first general overseer of the ...

restored the Church, and that in the interim there was no actual theocratic governmental formed (as Jesus formed it) Church of God upon the earth, but that born-again people were abundant and continued to be "saved" or "born again" according to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. ''The Midnight Cry Messenger'' is the official church publication. Headquarters of the church are in

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

. Samuel Doffee served as Chief Bishop until his death on April 23, 2010. This body has one church in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and about five churches in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The Bishop of Africa is Justus Masika Khisa, and the African offices are being built in

Bungoma Bungoma is the county town of Bungoma County in Kenya. It was established as a trading centre in the early 20th century. Naming Bungoma, was named from eng'oma—the Bukusu word for drums. The town was originally a meeting place for Bukusu ...

, Kenya.

External links

Official web siteSamuel Doffee Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of God for All Nations, The Pentecostalism in Tennessee Pentecostal denominations Christian organizations established in 1981 Holiness denominations 1981 establishments in Tennessee