The Immanuel Missionary Church (IMC) is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

denomination within the conservative holiness movement. The formation of the Immanuel Missionary Church is a part of the history of Methodism in the United States. The Immanuel Missionary Church was born out of a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

with the Pilgrim Holiness Church under the leadership of Ralph Goodrich Finch and D.W. Reynolds due to differences in the interpretation of the Methodist doctrine of

entire sanctification Within many Christian denomination, denominations of Christianity, Christian perfection is the theological concept of the process or the event of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of this process is Divinization (Chris ...

; the connexion that became the Immanuel Missionary Church laid heavy emphasis on the death route to entire sanctification, in which "The body of sin must be destroyed for the second work of grace to be true" (cf. ). Immanuel Missionary Church was organized at a camp meeting held at All States Cabin Camp in June 1936. Its first

Book of Discipline A Book of Discipline (or in its shortened form Discipline) is a book detailing the beliefs, standards, doctrines, canon law, and polity of a particular Christian denomination. They are often re-written by the governing body of the church concern ...

was written during that time. The Immanuel Missionary Church originally had two districts, an Eastern District and Western District. In 2015, the Western District of Immanuel Missionary Church merged with God's Missionary Church, while the Eastern District of Immanuel Missionary Church unanimously voted not to do so citing the desire to uphold its traditional holiness standards as well as the Holiness Methodist Pacifist doctrine of nonresistance, which it sees as being given by

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. The Immanuel Missionary Church was affiliated with Immanuel Missionary College in Shoals, Indiana until its closure in 1986; it was also affiliated with Peoples Bible College in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

until its closure in May 1994. The choir of God's Bible School and College is noted to tour at Immanuel Missionary Church congregations. The official organ of the Immanuel Missionary Church is ''The Immanuel Missionary''. The connexion's Singing Hills Camp Meeting occurred annually in Shoals, Indiana, and since 2023, now takes place at Wesleyan Holiness Campground in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

. The Immanuel Missionary Church has congregations in Indiana, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, among other parts of the world. With respect to

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

, some members of the Immanuel Missionary Church participate in the Interchurch Holiness Convention.

See also

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Further reading