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

Christadelphians The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...

and the Church of God General Conference (Abrahamic Faith).

Background

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 Wilsons led to a number of congregations from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(where Benjamin later moved), but no central organization. John Thomas, founder of the

, was also a British emigrant who had been associated with the

Campbellite Campbellite is a mildly pejorative term referring to adherents of certain religious groups that have historic roots in the Restoration Movement, among whose most prominent 19th-century leaders were Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Members of these g ...

movement in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Thomas and Wilson first corresponded by letter from 1846-1856 then met and were in active fellowship from 1856-1862. However, in 1863 a disagreement between the two men concerning the judgment seat and the resurrection caused the groups associated with them to separate, and the rift was confirmed when the two groups registered (for the purposes of

conscientious objection A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objecti ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

) with different names in 1865. The Church of the Blessed Hope began as a local 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, Massachusetts, led fourteen Ohioans 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, although the Cleveland body has moved to Chesterland. The leader of the Cleveland congregation from 1922–1927 was a

Christadelphian The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...

. 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''. When Benjamin Wilson retired in 1869 he left his ''The Gospel Banner'' to be merged with his nephew Thomas Wilson's ''Herald of the Coming Kingdom and Bible Instructor'', which was renamed in ''The Restitution'' in 1871 and published by Thomas Wilson and W.D. St. Clair in Chicago. In 1911 the five man Ministerial Association objected to the next editor of ''The Restitution'', A. R. Underwood of Plymouth Indiana, leading to a severing of fellowship of the churches. The majority followed those opposed to Underwood, led by L. E. Connor, and they added two doctrines to their

statement of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

- universal resurrection and open communion. Later, they also added the belief in a personal devil. The majority regrouped in 1921 and organized the Church of God (General Conference) (CoGGC) publishing a new magazine ''The Restitution Herald'', published in Oregon, Illinois. Five congregations (three in

and one each in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and Indiana) rejected these doctrinal additions and stood for the old Geneva Statement of Faith, now publishing ''The Restitution'' from Cleveland, Ohio. The minority congregations maintained ties, and in 1966 four of the then six churches adopted a uniform doctrinal statement. In 1976 these six churches (informally known as CGAF) began to gather for an annual gathering, which is now held each year in August at various colleges in

Faith and practice

The Church of the Blessed Hope (CGAF) rejects the doctrine of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

; recognizes 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 ...

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 Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, 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 Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

is performed through the immersion of believers in water. Christ's command to partake the bread and the cup ( communion) is observed weekly. They reject the doctrines which the larger CoGGC grouping accepted in 1921, namely a literal devil, universal resurrection, and open communion. Additionally CGAF members do not serve in war as combatants, although some congregations permit members to serve in humanitarian positions.

Status

In 2003, the Church of the Blessed Hope (CGAF) had eight congregations with about 400 members. The three Ohio congregations use the name Church of the Blessed Hope and the others do not. These CGAF churches are theologically much closer to the Christadelphians than they are to the Church of God General Conference (CoGGC), and have made moves in recent years to strengthen their ties. Most of the churches use the Christadelphian hymnal and Sunday School literature. Several of the CGAF churches, while having their own local statement of faith have also recognised the most common Christadelphian statement of the faith (BASF), in much the same way as many Christadelphian assemblies in Britain have their own local statements but employ the most common statement for wider purposes. It is a common practice for members of the Church of the Blessed Hope to seek out Christadelphian ecclesias when they move to areas where there is not a Church of the Blessed Hope. They are generally accepted into the Christadelphian ecclesia, and become active members of the Christadelphian community. Likewise, the Church of the Blessed Hope will accept a Christadelphian into fellowship. The CGAF annual Gathering, currently held at Denison, Ohio, has played an important role in reintroducing CGAF to Christadelphians and Christadelphians to CGAF. The Gathering receives a large contingent of both Unamended Christadelphians and Amended Christadelphians each year, and likewise many CGAF members attend Christadelphian events such as the annual Great Lakes Christadelphian Bible School. CGAF members have been invited to submit both articles, letters and event announcements in the ''Christadelphian Tidings'', and likewise Christadelphians in the ''Abrahamic Faith Beacon''. CGAF members cooperate with Christadelphian mission and charity organisations overseas. At the same time, common participation by CGAF and Christadelphian members on discussion forums has helped to make many Christadelphians, even outside North America, aware of the common beliefs shared with CGAF, and the differences with Church of God General Conference.

Footnotes

References

External links