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Eternal Gospel Church

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Billboard

The Eternal Gospel Church is an independent religious group. Originally a breakaway[1] from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1992, it was previously known as the Eternal Gospel Seventh-day Adventist Church. The group may be best known for its controversial advertising on billboards and newspapers, such as a two-page spread in USA TODAY entitled "Earth's Final Warning" in 1999.[2] A subsequent federal trademark lawsuit between the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and Pastor Rafael Perez on behalf of the Eternal Gospel group resulted in a settlement[3] not to use the term "Seventh-day Adventist" in the group's title, resulting in their current name.[4][5][6] As of 2020 the group’s website claims three associated churches, and continues to feature the religiously provocative billboard and newspaper messages it has sponsored.[1]

Controversy and Lawsuit

The Eternal Gospel Church received worldwide attention as a result of an aggressive advertising campaign in 1999 consisting of billboards, radio announcements, and full-page newspaper advertisements.[1] Entitled "Earth's Final Warning," the newspaper ads named the Roman Catholic Church as the Whore of Revelation, and criticized the Papacy for its role in instigating the observance of Sunday as a holy day in place of the seventh-day Sabbath.[7][8] The ad campaign sparked public and Catholic criticism towards the newspapers that ran the ads, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was mistakenly implicated as the source of the advertisements.[9][10] The complaints prompted apologies from various newspaper publishers and an official statement by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which soon after initiated legal proceedings against Pastor Rafael Perez for federal trademark infringement.[5][6][11][12]

The lawsuit was criticized by some conservative Seventh-day Adventists, who felt that the advertisement was an accurate representation of their church’s position regarding Rome and that involving the courts in the dispute violated Adventist understanding of Biblical counsel on the matter.[13][14] Similar criticism was levied against the Eternal Gospel Church in regards to its concession to relinquish the name "Seventh-day Adventist" as part of the settlement agreement.[15] The terms of the agreement stipulated a very specific set of rules for how the church could display its new name and use the term "Founded in (1990 or later) by Seventh-day Adventist believers" as a tagline to "Eternal Gospel Church."[16] According to the General Conference, who said they would be monitoring Pastor Perez closely to insure compliance, the settlement reached their goal of keeping the Eternal Gospel Church from using the name "Seventh-day Adventist" in the name of their church.[17]

Mission

The Eternal Gospel Church considers themselves a revival ministry, calling for a return to certain Historic Adventist doctrines and the foundational principles of the Great Second Advent Movement. They are best known for their evangelistic work in preaching and publishing end-time theological messages regarding the Three Angels' Messages of Revelation 14:6–12 as understood by early Adventists to apply chiefly to Sunday worship and the Roman Catholic Church. The Eternal Gospel Church is not under the auspices of, or in any way affiliated with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b The Daily Courier, April 14, 2000
  2. ^ USA Today, August 10, 1999
  3. ^ Settlement Court Document Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Final Chapter in Adventist Trademark Suit. Adventist News Network
  5. ^ a b Official Adventist church statement regarding the USA Today advertisement
  6. ^ a b Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream, p.381
  7. ^ Catholic League media report mentioning a NJ paper running the "notoriously anti-Catholic "Earth's Final Warning" advertisement from the Eternal Gospel Church." Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Catholic League media report regarding the ad being run in a Louiseville, KY paper Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Letter of Complaint from Kermit L. Netteburg, Asst. to the President for Communication of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to Rafael Perez, Sept. 15, 1997[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ National Catholic Reporter, Sept. 3, 1999
  11. ^ Apology from Miami Herald publisher to Archbishop over running the ad
  12. ^ Seventh-day Adventist Religious Liberty Reclaimed Archived 2009-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Half a Century of Apostasy, p.171-172, by Russell R. and Colin D. Standish
  14. ^ Issues at the End, Ron Spear, Preface
  15. ^ "The Parable of the Birds" - A message for the Eternal Gospel Church[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Scan of the settlement report in Landmarks Magazine, June 2001, p. 25[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ ANN Report: "Final Chapter in Trademark Lawsuit", May 29, 2001

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