The Churches of God (Seventh Day) is composed of a number of sabbath-keeping churches, among which the General Conference of the Church of God, or simply CoG7, is the best-known organization. The Churches of God (Seventh Day) observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
History
The Church of God (Seventh Day) represents a line of Sabbatarian Adventists that rejected the visions and teachings of Ellen G. White before the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863. Robert Coulter, ex-president and official historian of the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day), in his book The Journey: A History of the Church of God (Seventh Day) (2014) credits (1814–1903) of Michigan as being the founder of the church. Cranmer was a Christian Connection minister and a biblical Unitarian. He was introduced to Sabbath keeping in 1852 by Joseph Bates, known as the founder and developer of Sabbatarian Adventism. In 1858, five years before the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a group led by Cranmer separated from the Adventists who supported James Springer White and Ellen G. White. Another independent Sabbatarian Adventist body formed in Iowa in 1860, and joined with the Church of God (Seventh Day) in 1863.
A publication called The Hope of Israel (now The Bible Advocate) was started in 1863, and this publication extended the influence of the body into other areas. Through this publication, the doctrines of the second advent and the seventh-day Sabbath were promoted, and other Christians were invited to gather for meetings. This extended the movement into Missouri, Nebraska and other places, and in 1884 the General Conference of the Church of God was organized. They incorporated in 1899, and "(Seventh Day)" was added to the name in 1923. Offices were established in Stanberry, Missouri.
A. N. Dugger and C. O. Dodd (1935) wrote a book attempting to trace the Church's history back to the Apostles through various medieval groups that they believed were Sabbath-keeping. In the case of some of these groups, such as the Waldensians and Paulicians, that claim is disputed.
A well-publicized member of the church was evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong (1893–1986). In 1927 Armstrong was challenged by his wife, Loma, to find a biblical justification for keeping Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. Loma had come under the influence of Emma Runcorn, a member of the Seventh Day church in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Runcorn and her husband Ora were lay leaders in the Oregon conference. Armstrong soon became a minister for that church and a writer for the Bible Advocate journal. Within a few years, Armstrong began teaching the British-Israel Theory – the alternative history that regarded the nations of Western Europe and North America as the literal descendants of the "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel – and the mandatory keeping of the Feast Days in Leviticus 23. Armstrong disassociated himself from the Church of God (7th Day) - Salem Conference over these two issues, which were not original doctrines of the Churches of God (7th Day); years later, Church of God (7th Day) revoked his ministerial credentials with their Church, but by this time he was well-established in his own church, the Radio Church of God.
The division of 1933
The following information concerning the division of 1933 is taken from an online history book, History of the Seventh Day Church of God, by Richard C. Nickels.
The Church of God (Seventh Day) was unified up until 1933. According to A. N. Dugger a Church of God historian, and leader of one of the factions at the time, many in the Church of God felt the need for a "Bible Organization" for the Church of God. They also wanted to move the church's world headquarters to Jerusalem. They held a conference in Salem, West Virginia, on November 4, 1933.
Pressure was mounting for more unity from roughly half of the membership. While others felt that they were being denied freedom of expression. Dugger and his followers wanted a reorganization of church doctrine. Including clean meats, no tobacco, and observing the Passover on Nisan 14. While Burt F. Marrs led a group of "independents" who were believed pork and tobacco were fine, and that the Passover should be observed on Nisan 15. At this point, Dugger and his followers decided to establish the Salem Conference headquarters in Salem West Virginia, at which point they started printing the Bible Advocate. As a result, from 1933 to 1949 there were two separate Church of God organizations, one at Stanberry, Missouri, and the other at Salem, West Virginia.