(RNS) The Worldwide Church of God, which re-examined and later rebuked the teachings of founder Herbert W. Armstrong after his death in 1986, has changed its name to Grace Communion International.
It’s the second name change for the denomination that Armstrong founded as the Radio Church of God in 1934, and church leaders say it’s a better reflection of its mainstream evangelical theology.
“We are a church that God radically transformed,” said church president Joseph W. Tkach, who is a board member of the National Association of Evangelicals. “Our new name is consistent with the transformation and aptly describes what God has made of our fellowship.”
Armstrong denied the Christian belief in the Trinity and took Old Testament law to heart. He urged followers to abide by ancient dietary restrictions, to observe traditional Hebrew festivals, to mark the Sabbath on Saturday and to reject Christmas, Easter and birthdays as pagan holidays.
The Glendora, Calif.-based denomination says it lost half its members, 95 percent of its 1,000-person staff, millions of magazine readers and its college in Pasadena, Calif., when it officially repudiated Armstrong’s teachings and “prophetic speculation” in the mid 1990s.
It’s not the first name change for a U.S. denomination. In 2001, the Independence, Mo.-based Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of Mormonism, became the Community of Christ.
Grace Communion International claims 42,000 members in 900 congregations worldwide. The 6,000-member Philadelphia Church of God remains committed to Armstrong’s teachings and the distribution of his writings.