Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)

Church of God
Church of God (Cleveland, TN)
Classification	Evangelicalism
Orientation	Pentecostal
Polity	Episcopal
Associations	National Association of Evangelicals Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America Wesleyan Holiness Consortium
Region	Worldwide
Headquarters	Cleveland, Tennessee, United States
Founder	Elder Richard Spurling and several others
Origin	August 1886 Monroe County, Tennessee Cherokee County, North Carolina
Separations	Church of God of Prophecy, Church of God with Signs Following, The (Original) Church of God
Congregations	54,995 churches in 181 countries (as of February 2016)
Members	6,942,585
Official website	churchofgod.org

The Church of God, with headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee, United States is a Pentecostal Christian denomination. With over six million members in over 180 countries, it is one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the world. In the United States, it reports over one million members, making it one of the nation's largest denominations. The movement's origins can be traced back to 1886 with a small meeting of Christians at the Barney Creek Meeting House on the Tennessee/North Carolina border, making it the oldest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. The Church of God's publishing house is Pathway Press.

The precise legal name of this body is "Church of God". After a protracted court case involving donations intended for the use of its orphanages being received by other groups using the same name, the Supreme Court of Tennessee determined that it alone was entitled to use the simple name Church of God in 1953. The group however uses Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) in order to distinguish it from other bodies that use "Church of God" in their titles.

The Declaration of Faith is the Church of God's doctrinal standard. It articulates both an evangelical and Pentecostal doctrinal position with Wesleyan influences. The following is a summary of the Declaration of Faith:

The Church of God offers its members guidelines for Christian living called Practical Commitments. A summary is given below.

The Church of God recognizes three ranks of credentialed ministers: exhorter (initial level), ordained minister (intermediate level), and ordained bishop (highest level). Exhorters are authorized to preach, serve as evangelists, and serve as pastor of a church. Ordained ministers are further authorized to baptize converts, receive new church members, administer sacraments or ordinances, solemnize marriages, and establish churches. In addition to the rights and privileges held by exhorters and ordained ministers, ordained bishops are authorized to assist in ordination ceremonies. State/regional overseers are designated "administrative bishops", International Executive Committee members as "executive bishops", and the general overseer as "presiding bishop". Women are eligible to be exhorters and ordained ministers. However, only men can become ordained bishops. There are also categories of licensed minister of Christian education and licensed minister of music.