The Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) is a global holiness movement founded in 1881 by evangelist Daniel Sidney Warner. Rejecting human creeds and formal denominational labels, the fellowship emphasizes the spiritual unity of all true believers, entire sanctification as a second work of grace, and biblical ordinances including believer's immersion and feet washing.
Daniel Warner and the "Evening Light" reformation (1881)
The Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) originated in the fertile revivalist soil of the late nineteenth-century American holiness revival, as recounted in our historical narrative on the Holiness Movement explained. Its founder was Daniel Sidney Warner (184–895), a gifted evangelist and writer who was originally ordained in the Churches of God in North America (General Eldership).
In 1877, Warner testified to an experience of entire sanctification. When his regional eldership reprimanded him for preaching radical holiness, Warner separated from the body. Believing that sectarian division was the greatest obstacle to the gospel, Warner experienced a spiritual vision in 1881 based on Zechariah 14:7: "At evening time it shall be light." Warner concluded that the Christian church had suffered a long historical night of apostasy and denominational fragmentation, but that God was now pouring out the "evening light" to restore the pure, undivided church described in the New Testament.
In 1881, Warner and a small band of dedicated co-workers launched a national paper titled The Gospel Trumpet. Traveling across Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan in gospel trumpeter evangelistic teams, they traveled in specialized gospel wagons, held open-air tent revivals, published tracts, and wrote hundreds of new hymns celebrating sanctification. They called all true Christians to "come out of Babylon—heir term for human denominational divisions and sectarian party spiri—nd unite under the simple biblical name "the Church of God," guided solely by the Holy Spirit and the New Testament.
The radical quest for Christian unity: A movement, not a denomination
What made Warner's message unique among American revivalists was its radical anti-sectarian ecclesiology. Warner insisted that the Church of God was not establishing a new denomination; rather, it was calling believers to abandon denominations altogether.
To this day, the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) maintains that the true church consists of every person regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Consequently, congregations historically refused to keep formal earthly membership rolls. Believers reasoned that when a person is saved, God writes their name in the Lamb's Book of Life, making formal church membership cards redundant and divisive. While local congregations today maintain directory rosters for administrative clarity, anyone who confesses faith in Christ is welcomed as a full brother or sister.
Furthermore, congregations reject binding human creeds, confessions, and catechisms, declaring the Bible alone as their sufficient rule of faith. While sister communions such as the Church of the Nazarene and the Wesleyan Church organized structured connectional governments, the Church of God preserved a congregational polity, maintaining cooperative unity through voluntary associations and national ministry boards.
Core holiness beliefs: Entire sanctification without tongues
Doctrinally, Church of God Anderson beliefs align with historic Wesleyan-Arminian theology. The fellowship affirms the Holy Trinity, the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and salvation through repentance and personal faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Like other holiness bodies, the movement proclaims entire sanctification as a second work of grace. Following regeneration, believers are called to total consecration, whereupon the Holy Spirit purifies the heart from inbred sin and fills the soul with perfect love. Crucially, the Church of God is strictly non-Pentecostal. It rejects the teaching that glossolalia (speaking in tongues) is the essential physical evidence of the Spirit's baptism, insisting instead that the true evidence of sanctification is a life of Christlike humility, moral integrity, and sacrificial love.
Three biblical ordinances: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and feet washing
Unlike the Salvation Army, which abandoned outward physical rites, the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) observes three distinct biblical ordinances commanded by Jesus Christ:
- Believer's Baptism: Administered exclusively by full bodily immersion to accountable individuals who have personally confessed faith in Christ. Baptism is viewed as an outward public testimony of inward regeneration.
- The Lord's Supper: Celebrated regularly as a memorial feast of bread and unfermented grape juice, symbolizing Christ's broken body and shed blood. Following their anti-sectarian convictions, communion is strictly "open" to all Christians regardless of church affiliation.
- Feet Washing: Practiced in obedience to Jesus' command and example in John 13:1–5. Following the communion service, men and women gather separately to wash one another's feet, symbolizing mutual humility, brotherly equality, and joyful servanthood.
Anderson University and cooperative ministries
In 1906, the movement's publishing house, the Gospel Trumpet Company, relocated from Moundsville, West Virginia, to Anderson, Indiana, establishing the central Indiana manufacturing town as the movement's permanent intellectual and administrative capital. In 1917, church leaders founded the Anderson Bible Training School, which developed into modern Anderson University, a comprehensive Christian liberal arts institution and home to the Anderson University School of Theology and Christian Ministry, the official seminary of the movement.
Anderson remains the administrative center for Church of God Ministries, Warner Press publishing house, and global mission sending boards. Today, the movement encompasses approximately 220,000 adherents in North America across 2,000 congregations, and more than one million believers worldwide across nearly ninety countries.
Distinguishing Church of God (Anderson) from Pentecostal bodies
Because numerous Christian bodies share the name "Church of God," visitors often confuse the Anderson fellowship with other traditions. The most important distinction is with the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee). While Cleveland, Tennessee, is a classic Pentecostal denomination that practices speaking in tongues, divine healing through signs and wonders, and episcopal governance, the Anderson body is a non-Pentecostal holiness fellowship rooted in voluntary congregational cooperation, as explored in our regional analysis of where Holiness and Nazarene churches are located.
Visiting a Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) congregation
Visitors attending a local Church of God assembly will encounter an evangelical, family-oriented service featuring energetic congregational worship, warm hospitality, and clear biblical preaching centered on personal holiness and Christian unity. To find a welcoming congregation near you, search our national directory of Holiness and Nazarene churches, and read our comprehensive visitor guide to holiness worship.