Origin from 1964
A Christian restorationist movement founded in Busan, South Korea in 1964 by Ahnsahnghong, a former Jehovah's Witness who taught that he was Christ returned in the flesh, come to restore practices he held the mainstream church had abandoned, including keeping the Sabbath on Saturday and observing Passover with unleavened bread and wine as a New Covenant rite. After his death in 1985, the church came to teach that his widow, later known within the movement as Zang Gil-jah, is God the Mother, a heavenly counterpart to God the Father whose recognition the church holds is necessary for eternal life. It has grown into a global organization with congregations across Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa, running large-scale blood donation and disaster relief campaigns under its own name as a form of public outreach, while also drawing sustained scrutiny from journalists and former members over recruitment methods and its effect on family relationships.
Facts
Practice
Liturgical Language Status
Status TodayIn active religious use 1 Trajectory
Membership Over TimeSourced to the subject's own accountBy 2024, South Korean media reported the church's own claim of 3.7 million members worldwide in 175 countries, a figure covering its full international reach rather than South Korea alone. 2 Membership Over TimeSourced to the subject's own accountIn 2017, opposing South Korean Christian denominations, tracking the group as the largest Christian new religious movement in Korea, estimated its membership within South Korea alone at 200,000 to 300,000, well below the church's own figures. 2 Membership Over TimeSourced to the subject's own accountThe church reported about 400,000 total members in 2001, with about 120,000 worship service participants. 2 Membership Figure As OfSourced to the subject's own account Membership Figure As OfSourced to the subject's own account Membership Figure As OfSourced to the subject's own account Basis of the Membership FigureSourced to the subject's own account Basis of the Membership FigureSourced to the subject's own account Origins
Origin Period Place of Origin FounderAhnsahnghong (born Ahn Sang-hong) 1 History
Separation or DivergenceFounded in Busan, South Korea in 1964 by Ahnsahnghong, a former Jehovah's Witness who taught that he was Christ returned in the flesh, breaking from mainstream Christian teaching to restore practices including Saturday Sabbath and Passover observance. 1 Disputed
Contested or Appropriated Modern UseJournalists, religious-studies scholars and organized groups of former members in several countries have documented recruitment practices they describe as deceptive and reported that some converts became estranged from their families, allegations the church disputes; the "God the Mother" doctrine itself is also a live point of theological dispute between the movement and mainstream Christian bodies. 1 A genuinely contested pattern: outside reporting and former-member accounts describe one thing, the church's own account describes another, and no independent adjudication has settled which reading is correct for the movement as a whole. Organisation
GovernanceA single central governing body over the whole movement 1 Giving
Standing Giving ExpectationSourced to the subject's own accountWorld Mission Society Church of God teaches a ten percent tithe as one of the strict expectations placed on members, grouped in outside reporting alongside rules governing social media use, dress and attendance at recruitment sessions. Independent reporting on the movement, including comments from cult researcher Rick Alan Ross, describes members driven into financial hardship, including bankruptcy and lost employment, by the pressure to give. 2 Standard Rate ExpectedSourced to the subject's own account How the Expectation Is EnforcedSourced to the subject's own accountCodified Obligation With Consequences 2 Humanitarian Aid Operated
Welfare and Humanitarian Aid OperationsWorld Mission Society Church of God own blood donation program, running since 2005, has held blood drives in more than 60 countries with about 300,000 participants and more than 128,000 successful donations as of the end of May 2025, according to the church own account. 3 Humanitarian Aid Figure As Of Basis of the Humanitarian Aid FigureThe Body's Own Published Statistics 3 In Other Languages (12 names)
- Tanrının Kilsəsi
- Església de Déu Societat Missionera Mundial
- Gemeinde Gottes des Weltmissionsvereins
- Iglesia de Dios Sociedad Misionera Mundial
- 神様の教会世界福音宣教協会
- 하나님의교회 세계복음선교협회
- Vispasaules Misijas Sabiedrība Dieva Baznīca
- Światowe Towarzystwo Misyjne – Kościół Boży
- Igreja de Deus Sociedade Missionária Mundial
- Världsmissionssamfundet Guds församling
- Hội Thánh của Đức Chúa Trời Hiệp hội Truyền giáo Tin Lành Thế giới
- 上帝的教會世界福音宣教協會
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names World Mission Society Church of God directly: "A World Mission Society Church of God article marking 20 years, since a 2005 Seoul start, of the Worldwide Blood Drive to Give Life Through the Love of the Passover, citing about 1,700 blood drives..."
This source names World Mission Society Church of God directly: "The English Wikipedia article on the World Mission Society Church of God, community edited, reporting the church's own claimed membership at different dates (about 400,000 total in 2001, 3.7 million..."
Sources
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