World Mission Society Church of God


The World Mission Society Church of God is a new religious movement that began in South Korea in 1964. After founder Ahn Sahng-hong died in 1985, the Church expanded its activities to other parts of the world and began to use the name World Mission Society Church of God. Its headquarters are located in Bundang, Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province.
The church believes in Christ Ahn Sahng-hong and God the Mother, Jang Gil-ja, as God and that it is restoring the truth of the early church.

Name

World Mission Society Church of God, or the Church of God, is the name used identically in affiliated churches distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America and South America.

History

The church was founded in South Korea on April 28, 1964 by Ahn Sahng-hong. Ahn Sahng-hong died in February 1985, and afterward the church, later renamed World Mission Society Church of God, was led by Kim Joo-cheol and Jang Gil-ja.

South Korea

In 1970, the church grew to four churches. In 1980, the church grew to 13 locations and increased to 30 in 1990. There was sharp increase of the growth in 2000 where it recorded 300 established churches and 400,000 registered members in South Korea. The church currently claims "more than 400 branches were established in Korea alone, within a half century after its establishment."

Abroad

The Church of God started to spread abroad in 1997 starting in Los Angeles, Lahore, and Essen. In 2007 it recorded over 100 churches abroad and in 2008 it recorded over one million registered members By 2013 the church claims to have expanded to 2,500 churches in "about 175 countries."

Current status

A media outlet owned by the Church of God reports to have more than 7,000 churches in 175 countries.
An external account mentions that the number of church members is estimated to have only been around 100,000 in 2013, contrary to Kim Joo-cheol's claims.

Beliefs and practices

The church believes in God the Father and God the Mother, claiming to be restoring the truth and practices of the early Church. The church also believes that co-founder Jang Gil-ja is God the Mother, as taught by the founder Ahn Sahng-hong.
The World Mission Society Church of God believes that all of its teachings are based on the Bible, as explained in the numerous books written by Ahn Sahng-hong.

Second coming of Christ

The Church believes that Ahn Sahng-hong is the Second Coming of Jesus, who came with a new name, the name of the Holy Spirit and it states that he fulfilled biblical prophecies that only Jesus could have fulfilled.

Feast days

The church celebrates the seven feasts described in Leviticus 23: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. The church believes that they observe these feasts according to the New Covenant established by Jesus, by distinguishing from the feasts kept in the Old Testament.

Sabbath

It believes in the Saturday Sabbath according to Genesis 2:1-3 but celebrates it not from sunset to sunset but from sunrise to sunset. It considers the Sabbath to be a sign between God and God's people according to and, and it must be kept as a service according to.
Members are encouraged to keep the three services on the Sabbath day. Between services, members participate in various church-related activities such as Bible studies, watching church produced videos, or preaching in the local community.

Idolatry

According to the church's interpretation of, items such as crosses and statues are considered a form of idolatry and are not erected on or in their churches. The Church has likewise removed stained glass windows from existing churches, as images made of light are seen as being connected to sun worship.

Human origin and redemption

The Church believes that all human beings were originally created as angels in Heaven. They sinned against God and were sent to the earth as a second chance to return to God. The only way for humans to return to heaven is by keeping the Passover with bread and wine and following the teachings of the Bible, as taught by Ahn Sahng-hong. They include believing in God the Mother, who is the Bride to give them life in the last days.

Baptism

The World Mission Society Church of God holds that baptism is the first step towards salvation and must be done in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit, Ahn Sahng-hong.

Prayer

The Church believes that prayer must be done in the name of the Holy Spirit Ahn Sahng-hong in the last days and that women must wear veils, according to while they pray.

Evangelism

Members travel from house to house and in shopping malls, hospitals and college campuses to share their beliefs in the bible.
Critics note that the group's recruiting efforts can be very aggressive, and target vulnerable people, especially those going through a major life transition or with a void in their lives. Some have alleged that the group targets those with greater access to money. College students and returning veterans have been particularly targeted.
Some aggressive WMSCOG recruiters have created concern on college campuses, where young women seem to be their primary target, proselytized emphatically with the church's "Mother God" doctrine. Some of these recruiters have been banned from some college campuses in the U.S. for "trespassing" or proselytizing without permission.

Comparisons to traditional Christianity

The World Mission Society Church of God holds many views differing from mainstream Christianity. The church says it observes holy days according to the dates of the sacred calendar in the Old Testament as the early church did in the time of Jesus. They also believe that God the Father and God the Mother have come in the flesh in South Korea, according to Bible prophesies. These beliefs have attracted some criticism of the church. The church teaches that this is the same persecution that the early Christians received for believing in Jesus in the flesh at his first coming.
Responding to an inquiry, the WMSCOG issued a statement that "the biggest difference between our Church and other churches" is that "we believe in God the Mother as well as God the Father. According to the prophecies of the Bible, God the Mother is to appear in the last age of redemption."
The Christian Council of Korea, which represents Protestant churches in South Korea, has denounced the WMSCOG as "heretical."

Awards

UK ZION, a World Mission Society Church of God chapter, was awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2016.

Criticism and controversy

The World Mission Society Church of God is one of many controversial grassroots religious movements that have rapidly emerged in South Korea the latter half of the 20th century. Other groups include Good News Mission and Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony. These groups have been criticized for their recruitment strategies where women, university students, and ethnic minorities are targeted.
The group has been publicly criticized, by some former members and cult researchers, as acting like a cult, exercising unusual control over its members, separating them from family and friends, and exploiting them excessively, while violating laws and avoiding transparency and accountability.

''People'' magazine inquiry

In December 2015, People magazine published an interview with former member Michele Colon, who had attended the WMSCOG church in Ridgewood, New Jersey for two years, and later sued the organization. Colon, who was generally contradicted by the church but generally corroborated in interviews with six other former WMSCOG members, described the WMSCOG as a "doomsday cult" that is "opportunistic." She said they try to recruit people who are going through a life transition period, or have a void in their lives "and they will fill it." She said WMSCOG manipulated members with "fear and guilt," and constant repetitions. She reported that the church "micromanaged" her life, and expected that all her time be spent there, controlling her music-listening and forbidding her from using the internet.
Colon said church leaders do not tell members, until they seem fully committed, that their "God the Mother" is actually a living South Korean woman in her 70s, known by multiple names and various spiritual titles, who is apparently the widow of the deceased founder, Ahn Sahng-hong.
At least one former member has sued them for urging her to have an abortion, and others have accused the church of discouraging pregnancy in anticipation that the world would end in 2012.

Lawsuits

Michele Colon, a nurse from New Jersey, claimed, in a civil suit filed against WMSCOG in New Jersey, in 2013, that the group is a “profit-making” cult, and claimed it "uses a number of psychological control tactics … to prevent its members from exposing its criminal and tortious behavior."
However, Colon's lawsuit was almost entirely rejected by the district and appellate state courts. Colon's claims, the court ruled, depended upon her claim that the WMSCOG is a "cult", not a "church" — a determination that the courts ruled they were not allowed to make, by law. The courts, largely citing the "religious freedom" element of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, particularly the judicial church autonomy doctrine, the appellate court ruled that:

Rick Ross critique

, cult researcher and deprogrammer describes the WMSCOG as "a very intense group... similar to the Unification Church Sun Myung Moon — the "Moonies", comparing WMSCOG indoctrination methods to those of the Unification Church.
Ross claims that the WMSCOG has driven members into "bankruptcies because of excessive donations", and claims that some have lost their jobs to "excessive demands" of the group and associated "sleep deprivation”. He says that members often are sent to group housing and shared apartments, becoming isolated and alienated from family and friends, even spouses and adult children. Ross notes the group, which recruits members on university campuses, at malls and other shopping sites, has no meaningful accountability for leadership — a "dictatorship in Korea" — nor for the millions in revenue it receives.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the Committee for Religious Affairs urged alertness about the group and cautioned that it should not be equated with other Protestant groups using similar names. Claiming the organization as cult-like, the government gratuitously cited the group as engaging in deceptive recruitment, with questionable and manipulative indoctrination, doomsday predictions, and urging the donation of cash and members' abandonment of their own families.
In May 2018, Vietnamese authorities seized the Church's assets in Hà Nội, Sàigòn and in other provinces, and interrogated hundreds of its members. The Church leaders were accused of brainwashing its members and micromanaging their lives by urging students to abandon their studies and their workers to abandon their jobs in order to recruit more followers.

Recruitment and human trafficking rumors

WMSCOG has been investigated for — and subsequently cleared of — human trafficking on multiple American university campuses. Police investigations into possible human sex trafficking connections ensued in January 2018 at the University of Mississippi, in September 2019 at the University of South Carolina, and in March 2020 at the University of Utah. Similar reports also occurred at the University of Louisville, Vanderbilt University, the University of Georgia, Oberlin College, Texas State University, and Arizona State University, among others. All investigations were closed after failing to find a link between the church and illicit activity.
Many students, across multiple campuses, reported unknown persons asking if they knew about "God the Mother." Recruiters have been known to approach female students and ask if they believe in a female god, which often will lead to invitations to study groups. Recruiters will also approach students and ask if they would like to join a Bible study group.
This style of recruitment has come under fire from former church members, who have said that the church tends to target those who appear "psychologically vulnerable" and specifically young white people who appear wealthy.

Affiliated institutions