However, in the Church of God we do teach that the bread and cup are symbols of Christ’s body and blood, and we share communion to remember His sacrifice for us on Calvary and to look forward to His coming again to receive us into heaven.

irrespective of gender, ethnicity, or age. We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are active and in place in the body of Christ and that women as well as men may experience the calling and gifting of God for any position or role in the church.

However, we do invite and encourage parents to bring their children to the altar and dedicate themselves to raising their children to know, love and serve God by how they live out Christ in the home and how they teach their children.

Baptism is not required for salvation but is the witness that we have died to sin and have been raised to new life in Christ.

The ordinance of feet washing reenacts the servant example that Christ established during the Passover meal in John 13:1-17. Each ordinance helps us remember that we are part of the family of Christ and helps us deepen our connection with all those who have come before us and those who will follow after us. The Church of God recognizes three ordinances: communion, baptism, and foot washing.

These gifts are not for the advancement of a person, but rather for the church to be effective in her mission and ministry. The Church of God historically has interpreted the gift of tongues as God giving an individual the ability to understand or speak another language for the purpose of furthering the gospel, or as a private prayer language used for personal edification.

Sexual purity includes recognizing that our bodies are the temple of God, and that all people have been created in the image of God, and therefore, our relationships in thought and action ought to reflect those truths. It is God’s will that all people experience wholeness and live lives of holiness. This includes the stewardship and management of our sexuality within the Lord’s boundaries of reserving sexual union for marriage and practicing chastity when not in that covenantal relationship.

Homosexuality and other LBGTQ alternative relationships are not recognized as biblically acceptable. However, the church is still on mission to respond with love, compassion, grace, mercy, and truth to all people. This distinctive is perhaps the most difficult to address. The widespread change in laws and acceptance has now created a challenge for the Church of God and other Wesleyan Holiness faith groups to discern how to reach with love and teach with truth.

believing that Jesus established His Kingdom in the hearts of men and women when He came the first time (John 18:36; Luke 17:20-21), and we are reigning right now! We do not teach that 666 is a physical mark but rather a spiritual witness. We do not teach that Jesus will return to earth and set up a throne on earth for 1000 years, but rather, he has established his rule in the hearts and lives of His people right now and is reigning now with power over sin and death. We do not teach a future battle on horseback called Armageddon; but rather, we are in the battle for good and evil now as we live the word and will of God daily in a broken and lost world.