About Us

The First Church of God is affiliated with the Church of God and has it’s General Offices in Anderson, Indiana. We are also affiliated with the General Assembly of the Church of God in West Virginia. We have sister churches all over southern West Virginia. The two closest are in Midway and Lester. 
The congregation began meeting in the Raleigh County Courthouse in 1928 following a tent revival. Later the church purchased property on Powerline Drive, which quickly became to small. The church moved to the present site soon after. A major addition was made in 1962 with the adding of the three floors to the back of the church. In 1999 the church underwent a major renovation after snow damage the previous winter. In this renovation the sanctuary level was completely remodeled in order for more people to attend worship, and the Fellowship area was renovated to also accommodate more people. 

What We Believe

1. The historic position of the Church of God has been a strong belief in two primary doctrines: Unity and Holiness.

2. The Church of God has no process of church membership. Our belief has always been that a relationship with Jesus Christ puts you in or out of the church and that all the other things we do are non-biblical in nature or are man-made ways of giving false security. We believe that "experience makes you a member" and that experience is salvation in Jesus Christ. 

3. Because of this, we believe that all those who have a salvation experience in Jesus Christ are part of the church of God (the phrase most often used in the New Testament to describe the church). To that end we seek to fellowship with and participate with all believers and churches that claim the name of Christ. 

4. We believe in an experience with the Holy Spirit that sanctifies one's spiritual life and enables believer's to live in the power of the Spirit and with the infilling of the Holy Spirit that allows us to live holy lives. 

5. We practice the ordinances of baptism by emersion, communion, and foot-washing. We believe these are commanded by the Bible to do and do them as a remembrance of what the Lord has done and taught us to do as a witness of our faith in Him. 

6. We believe that the Bible is our rule of faith. As such, we have no creedal statements that we publish as definitive statements of all that we believe (even this statement is not a creedal statement but merely a sharing of some of the major doctrines that we hold dear). Therefore, we pay very close attention to the teaching of the Word of God in worship, preaching, small groups, and leadership principles. 

7. We believe that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ; that He was born of a virgin; that He rose on Easter; that He is coming again and every eye shall see him when He comes in his glory.

Learn more about the Church of God by visiting www.chog.org.