The Church of God (Seventh Day) in the United States and Canada is linked with the CoG7 in other parts of the world through our International Ministerial Congress (IMC). As our church spread throughout the world, those in leadership at the time wisely responded in two ways. First, they began organizing the churches in various countries, or regions, into their own national/regional conferences. Second, to maintain doctrinal unity among them, the leadership established the IMC, a ministerial council made up of delegates from each of the affiliated conferences.
Individual conferences of our church may create their own formal statements of doctrinal beliefs, such as ours published in This We Believe. However, to maintain affiliation with the global CoG7 through IMC membership, individual conferences’ statements of belief must compliment, not contradict, the official statements of belief formally adopted by the IMC. More recently, our church’s various conferences around the world were organized into seven IMC zones, served by zone representatives. This allows IMC to serve, not only as a global ministerial council for our global church but also as a global facilitator and coordinator for preaching the gospel and expanding the CoG7 throughout the world.
The 2023 IMC meeting is scheduled for November 13-18 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. I will be the GC’s delegate. Elder Daniel Flores, Jr., president of the North American Ministerial Council (NAMC), will be our alternate delegate. Other members of the GC will attend as observers or, in a few cases, as officers of IMC. (Elder Ramon Ruiz is the current IMC president; Elder Whaid Rose is vice president; and Elder Bryan Cleeton is the outgoing executive director.) Among other things during this meeting, the IMC delegates will consider a proposal by the IMC Global Church Administration Committee to improve the administrative infrastructure of the global Church of God (Seventh Day).
It is a wonderful blessing to share in the gospel ministry with brothers and sisters of the CoG7 around the world. Watch for additional information regarding the 2023 IMC meeting as it becomes available.
— Loren Stacy
GC President
