World Mission Society Church of God: Difference between revisions

|Scale = 7,800 churches around the world<br>About 3.92 million registered members

The '''World Mission Society Church of God''' (hereinafter referred to as the “'''Church of God'''”) was established in 1964 by [[Ahnsahnghong|Christ Ahnsahnghong]]. The church believes in [[God the Father]] and [[God the Mother]] according to the Bible and follows Their teachings. The church follows the original teachings of the early Church of God that [[Jesus Christ]] and the apostles such as Peter, John, and Paul attended 2,000 years ago. It has flourished into a worldwide church with about 7,800 churches in 175 countries in only 60 years of its establishment.<ref name="370만">{{Cite web |url=https://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=C&nNewsNumb=202402100023 |title=In the Midst of Declining Religion, 7,800 Churches Across 175 Countries... 3.7 Million Registered Believers Worldwide |website=Monthly Chosun|publisher=|date= February 2024}}</ref> The number of registered members was 3.92 million as of January, 2024.<br>The Church of God carries out missionary work and volunteer activities with the goal of preaching the truth of salvation and happiness to all people around the world with the love of God the Father and God the Mother. This is accomplished by restoring the faith of the early Church and the truth of the [[New Covenant]] established by Jesus. As God’s children, church members do their utmost to make positive contributions to their families, neighbors, communities, and nations while striving to cultivate their character to participate in the divine nature of Christ. In recognition of their efforts and contributions, the Church of God has received nearly 4,200 awards from various governments and organizations, including the Presidential Group Citation from Korea,<ref name="대통령상">{{Cite web |url=https://watv.org/award/ |title=Major Awards Received |website=WATV.org |publisher=  |date= |year= |first= |page= |series= |isbn= |quote= }}</ref> the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service from the U.K.,<ref name="영국여왕상">{{Cite web |url=https://ukzion.watv.org/queens-award/ |title=The U.K. Queen's Award for Voluntary Service |website=World Mission Society Church of God in UK |publisher=  |date= |year= |first= |page= |series= |isbn= |quote= }}</ref> and the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the U.S.<ref name="대통령상" />, and the Legislative Merit Medal from Brazil.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://watv.org/brazil-legislative-order-of-merit/ |title=The Church of God Honored With Brazil’s Legislative Merit Medal |website=WATV.org|publisher=|date= December 7, 2022}}</ref>

Since 2001, every year about 1,500 members from all over the world visit Korea through the [[The Church of God Overseas Visiting Group|Overseas Visiting Group]] program. There are currently 3.92 million members around the world who are carrying out missionary work to achieve the happiness of all mankind along with various volunteer services focused on aiding and supporting relief from disasters occurring throughout our global village.

*2024 Registered members: 3.92 million at 7,800 Churches in 175 Countries

In Korea, members have taken the lead in providing recovery and relief efforts and even preparing meals, whenever there have been nationwide disasters, including the Sampoong Department Store collapse, the Daegu subway fire, the Pohang earthquake, and the Sewol ferry disaster.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=E&nNewsNumb=202003100052 |title='A World Where No One Feels Lonely,' Is Made with God’s Love as the Basis |website=Monthly Chosun |date=March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.incheonilbo.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=792291 |title=Church of God Donate 100 Million KRW to Help Pohang Earthquake Victims |website=Incheon Ilbo |date=December 21, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.joongboo.com/news/articleView.html?mod=news&act=articleView&idxno=1211365 |title=Church of God Serve Free Meal at Pohang |website=Joongboo Ilbo |date=December 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kyeongin.com/main/view.php?key=890476 |title=[Sinking of Sewol Ferry] Church of God Serve Freemeal at the Sewol Ferry Disaster Site |website=Kyeongin Ilbo |date=August 21, 2014}}</ref> Members around the world have also made great efforts carrying out numerous recovery and relief projects for victims of various disasters such as the tsunami in Indonesia, the volcanic eruption in Ecuador, the hurricanes in the U.S., the typhoons in the Philippines, [[Earthquake Recovery Efforts by the Church of God in Nepal|the earthquake in Nepal]], torrential rains in Japan, the cold wave in Peru, etc.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://watv.org/emergency-relief/ |title=Emergency Relief |website=WATV.org |publisher=  |date= |year= |first= |page= |series= |isbn= |quote= }}</ref><br>As of April 2024, numerous [[The Church of God’s Community Service Activities|community services]] such as disaster relief, blood donation, help for the underprivileged, medical support, and educational support have been carried out in 102 countries about 44,000 times. More than 1,300 blood drives have been held to help people in danger due to blood shortages,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jmagazine.joins.com/monthly/view/339728 |title=[Special Feature on the 60th Anniversary of the Church of God] Earth's Unified Platform Drawing Attention Even from the UN: The Church of God |website=Monthly Chosun |date=February 2024}}</ref> and nearly 111,000 people have donated blood among 263,000 participants. This is equivalent to saving more than 333,000 people since one person’s blood donation can save three other people. Through such activities, the Church of God participates in the implementation of the internationally accepted Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.watv.org/internal/content.asp?articleid=i20171207648 |title=ASEZ Global Forum for UN SDGs Implementation |website=WATV.org |publisher=  |date= |year= |first= |page= |series= |isbn= |quote= }}</ref> During the COVID-19 pandemic, they helped with preventive measures and relief efforts, providing face masks, hand sanitizers, medical supplies, groceries, and daily necessities to different governmental departments, organizations, and to many vulnerable groups of people.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.watv.org/internal/content.asp?articleid=i20200304628 |title=Church of God Support Emergency Aid to Overcome COVID-19 |website=WATV.org |publisher=  |date= |year= |first= |page= |series= |isbn= |quote= }}</ref>