COGWA Statistics: Increased Attendance and Congregations

COGWA (Church of God, a Worldwide Association) was formed out of a split from the United Church of God (UCG) in 2010 (the overwhelming majority of the Latin American ministers and slightly more than 1/2 of the paid US ministry in UCG went with COGWA). I just got an update from one of its members that I have long had communications with (for over a decade while he was in UCG). Anyway, apparently I had not listed COGWA’s Asia/Pacific congregations when I looked at them recently.

Thus, at this time, COGWA has listed 237 congregations with 111 in the USA, 3 in Canada, 50 in Latin America, 4 in Europe, 13 in the Caribbean, 28 in Africa, and 28 in Asia/Pacific. On March 6, 2011, COGWA’s website listed 232 congregations, with 109 in the USA and 123 outside the USA.

The email I was just sent included a 5/27/11 document from COGWA that stated that COGWA had 9,037 attendees at the first Day of Unleavened Bread (this is up from 8,000 that an earlier email from him had). If this holds, this suggests that COGWA is probably the second largest COG in terms of attendees. I wish to thank the COGWA member for his assistance on its statistics.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Attending the Church of Choice This article discusses whose choice is important to worship God; should you attend the church of your choice or the church of God’s choice?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
Should a Christian Vote? This article gives some of the Biblical rationale on this subject. Would Jesus vote for president/prime minister? Is voting in the Bible? This is a subject Christians need to understand.
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God This article provides quotes information from the two largest groups which had their origins in WCG as well as commentary.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG/GCI members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
Concerns about Church of God, a Worldwide Association This seems to be the largest group that came out of the United Church of God. Here is some history and concerns about it.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from evangelists?
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. These are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.