History of the Members Church of God International

This article explains the history of a controversial group of the Members Church of God International.

=History= ccs

Teofilo Ora's split with the Iglesia ni Cristo

In May 1922, frustrated about not being ordained as a Minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, Teofilo Ora, Januario Ponce and Basilio Santiago gather some members of the Iglesia ni Cristo and led a rebellion against its administration. Fact|date=June 2008 They left and established their own church called "Iglesia Verdadero de Cristo" (Spanish title meaning True Church of Christ) and was registered in the Bureau of trade and Commerce. Several months later, they changed their name to "Iglesia ng Diyos kay Kristo Hesus" (English Translation: Church of God in Christ Jesus). That same year, Nicholas Perez became a member and preacher of this group after he was expelled from the Iglesia ni Cristo for allegedly baptizing several people on Mabacao River, located at Maragondon, Cavite. He even sent pictures as a proof of the event but later turned out that the people on the picture were not baptized at all and was just there for a picnic.

In 1928, Nicholas Perez became its General Evangelist and soon sought the leadership of the group but was denied by Teofilo Ora.

Some other members of the Teofilo Ora led church left and established their own churches. Ponciano Bungay established the Iglesia Ni Cristo sa Ibabaw ng Bato in 1932 while Basilio Santiago established the Church of God in Christ Jesus in 1949 and Salvador Payawal established the Kabanal-banalang Iglesia Ng Diyos.

Nicholas Perez's split with Ora

In 1931, Nicholas Perez with Avelino Santiago left and started their own group called "Iglesia ng Diyos kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan"(English Translation: Church of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Support of The Truth). According to Eliseo Soriano, Nicholas Perez was already preaching this Church way back in 1928 at Pulilan, Bulacan but according to INC sources, Nicholas Perez was still with the Iglesia ng Diyos kay Kristo Hesus founded by Ora.

It was not until December 10, 1936 that the Church of Nicholas Perez, Iglesia ng Diyos kay Cristo Hesus Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan was officially registered in the Bureau of Commerce and Industry. In 1954, Avelino Santiago, Nicholas Perez’ co-founder of Iglesia ng Diyos kay Cristo Hesus Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan left the group and established his own church, Iglesia ng Diyos na Buhay kay Kristo Hesus.

Biography of Eliseo Soriano

In 1934, the parents of Eliseo Soriano, Triunfo Soriano and Catalina Fernando were baptized and became a member of the Nicholas Perez led church the "Iglesia ng Diyos kay Cristo Hesus Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan".

Eliseo F. Soriano was born on 1947 and was baptized on April 7, 1964, three days after his 17th Bithday as member of the Nicolas Perez led Church. Coming from a poor family in Pasay City, Soriano claimed to be an “exceptional, consistently receiving the highest honors… and was awarded the highest possible grade in the entire history of his grade school.” [ [http://www.angdatingdaan.org Members of the Church of God International ] ] Unfortunately, he did not finish his secondary schooling due to an alleged “skirmish” with his acting school directress over a topic on religion. Soriano’s followers took this not as a “twist of fate but rather [an alleged] manifestation of God’s work of hand bringing him to his real destiny.” He studied the bible from Nicholas Perez and sometime in 1969, he received the title of Minister, making him the only minister in the "Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan" at that time. Rumor says that he was to become the successor of Nicholas Perez. Nicholas Perez died in 1975.

Eliseo Soriano's split with the group

After the death of Nicholas Perez, a woman named Levita Gugulan was appointed to lead the Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan as the Church Presiding Minister. Eliseo Soriano was a signatory on July 11, 1975 to the appointment of Gugulan. A month after, he again signed a memorandum stating that anyone who opposes their Church administration will be suspended and expelled. Fact|date=July 2008

On January 2, 1976, Eliseo Soriano was then appointed by Levita Gugulan as one of their church’s Board of Directors. There were fifteen members of the Board. On February 21, 1976, he was expelled together with sixteen other members for inciting rebellion inside the church and teaching doctrines contrary to their beliefs. Soriano maintains that he was not expelled but voluntarily left his church as he firmly believes that a woman should not lead the church according to the bible [http://angdatingdaan.org/biblicaltopics/bib_apostle_2.htm Does a Woman have the Right to Preach in the Church of God?] ] .

Establishment of the Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan

On March 30, 1977, Eliseo Soriano and followers registered his own group and called it the "Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan"(English Translation: Church of God in Christ Jesus, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth) claiming that the name reflects the exact translation in Tagalog of the word "hedraioma [http://net.bible.org/strong.php?id=1477] " of 1 Timothy 3:15 [http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=1Ti&chapter=3&verse=15] in the Greek Scriptures instead of the word Suhay used by Gugulan's group. [ [http://www.broeli.com/bio.php Eli Soriano Biography] ] . According to Soriano, the most exact translation of "hedraioma" is "Ground" or Saligan in Tagalog and not "Support" or Suhay in Tagalog [Soriano said The Greek word Hedraioma does not mean "support". "Strong's Concordance" however defines "hedraioma"(from a derivative of edraioV - hedraios 1476) as stay, prop, support. [http://net.bible.org/strong.php?id=1477] [http://htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/STRGRK14.htm] ] . A year later, one of his members Filomeno Hizon left him and established his own church, the Mga Mananampalataya sa Iglesia ng Diyos Kay Kristo Hesus, Incorporated which was registered only on June 20, 1984.

Lawsuit from Gugulan

It seemed to Gugulan that Soriano had simply substituted the word “Suhay” to “Saligan”. Gugulan’s church then filed a lawsuit against Soriano on July 16, 1979 for using a similar church name. While the case was in progress he managed to register another church name, "Ang mga Kaanib sa Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan sa Bansang Pilipinas, Incorporated"(English Translation: The Members of The Church of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Philippines, Incorporated) on January 20, 1980. Soriano's group lost in 1988 and was ordered by Securities and Exchange Commission to change its church name to one that is not similar to Gugulan's group. [http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2001/dec2001/gr_137592_2001.html G.R. No. 137592 ] ]

In 1993, Levita Gugulan’s successor Maximino Nieto found out that the name Soriano registered in 1980 is almost identical to his church. Soriano, aware of the possibility of being sued, registered the church name "Bayan ng Katotohanan Incorporated"(English Translation: City of Truth Incorporated) in December 1993 before Nieto’s group was able to file another complaint against him. Nieto subsequently filed a complaint against Soriano's group in 1994 but while the case was still in progress, Soriano registered another name, the "Iglesia ni YHWH at ni YHWSA HMSYH, Inc." (English Translation: Church of YHWH and of YHWSA HMSYH, Inc.). In 1995, Soriano's group lost and was ordered to change its church name not similar or identical to a name already used by Nieto's Group. The Court of Appeals denied Soriano's appeal in 1997 and Soriano was forced to change his church name to “Bayan ng Katotohanan” and later to “Iglesia ni YHWH at ni YHWSA HMSYH”. The decision was finalized by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2001. Despite the name change, Soriano maintains that they are still the "Iglesia ng Dios ng Kay Kristo Hesus Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan" that Nicholas Perez preached.

Name changed to Members Church of God International

On January 13, 2004 Soriano registered and used the name, Members Church of God International. Soriano also reserved three more church names to ensure that this problem won’t happen again: "Mga Kaanib ng Ama at Panginoong Jesus sa Bansang Pilipinas Inc." (English Translation: Members of the Father and Lord Jesus, Philippines Inc.), "Members Church of the Living God", and "Iglesia ng mga Bunso" (English Translation: Church of the Youngest Children). Fact|date=July 2008

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