F.O.C.

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ARTICLES OF FAITH OF THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST BORN KNOWN AS THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST - 1918

First – We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.

Second – We believe through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the law and ordinance of the Gospel.

Third – We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: First, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; Third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; Fourth, Laying on of hands, for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Fourth – We believe in that a man must be called of God by Prophesy or Revelation to preach the Gospel and administer the ordinances therof.

Fifth – We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, namely, Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists.

Sixth – We believe in the gift of Tongues, Prophesy, Revelation, Visions, Healing, Interpretation of tongues, and,

Seventh – We believe the Bible to be the word of God and we must live by every word of it as recorded in the New Testament, judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.

Eighth – We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege; let them worship how, when or what they may.

Ninth – We believe in being subject to Kings, Presidents, Rulers and Magistrates in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law as far as it harmonizes with the Divine Law. But do not believe in participating in war from any standpoint, for Jesus says: “Thou shalt not kill,” and he also said: “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”

Tenth – We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and in doing good to all men. Indeed, we may say we follow the admonition of Paul. We believe all things. We hope all things, we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things to the glory of God.

Therefore, we believe according to our Articles of Faith. We should have the right to lead a quiet and peaceful life and worship God according to the dictates of our conscience, none molesting or making afraid, as the Constitution allows.

We therefore petition Honorable Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to grant our brethren exemption from military duties or participation in war, and allow them to work on farms, factories, etc. as our great Government  may deem best.

15 comments:

  1. Thank you for this but it is so hard to read,would it be asking to much to have it retyped and put back on so we can read it,very interesting.

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    1. I agree it is difficult to read online. I will try to type it up in next weekend.

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    2. is nuber six a contiue to number seven or is a word forgotten... jw...
      thanks for typing this up....
      sis stephania

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    3. If you pull up the original (just search article of faith / mormon.org) you will notice that it say's ",and so forth" ending article 6 and 7. I think this must have happend during one of the earlier power struggles in the beginning of the F.O.C church. If in deed this article of faith here that Darren has provided is legitimate. But you will notice that some of the articles have been taken out altogether kinda interesting don't you think. The mormons would have written theirs in about 1830. The F.O.C 1918. I guess in 88 years some of the fragments must have fell from the parchments.

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    4. Walter White's grandmother Carrie on his mother's side was Mormon.

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    5. At least had Mormon parents and was raised Mormon...

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  2. Very interesting where did you get this? Is it somewhere online where i could see it better?

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    1. This is Darren, just using an outside computer.

      If you have an interest in letters, news articles, and photos of the early church, you may find some articles that are downloadable and sharable at
      http://www.globalsunshine.com/COTFBhistory.htm

      Of course these are only tidbits of what we have. Any one interested in the subject, who perhaps would like to add to it, or have related questions may also email me at tulchess@yahoo.com

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  3. You may be able to download a better image off of this site...

    http://www.facebook.com/groups/23247337757/

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  4. The 7th article ends with the phrase "righteousness to the plummet", it is taken from Isaiah 28:17.

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  5. Suzanne,

    I've only just today discovered your blog, so I have a lot of reading to do, still. Was the FoCC was founded by former members of the LDS/Mormon church? Many of these articles are word-for-word identical to the LDS AoF.

    http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,FF.html

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  6. In regard to my first comment, I just started reading the WIP page by Darren, and I think it gives at least a basic answer to my question :)

    I am an ex-Mormon (and an Oregonian) - I've studied much of the Church history, over the last decade, and gained a great understanding of much of Smith's plagiarisms and of his creativity - but I hadn't come across anything detailing history linked to the Followers of Christ / Church of the Firstborn. Very interesting and great information - this gives me a new branch of research to share with my friends and family. Much appreciation to both of you!

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  7. oops Monikers of our Faith not WIP (followed a link while there)

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  8. I'd like to give a little history about the Homestead group, and the elders who signed the document. Homestead church was established when two men of the same faith encountered each other in passing, neither knew of the other and both felt they were being led to preach there. This was Bro.s Jim Hays and Frank Grothe. They both happened from different directions upon two men who were in process of building what would become the first store in Homestead. Grothe was from Lacey and Hays from Stillwater and after introducing themselves to one another and discovering their brotherhood they asked the gentlemen if it would be permitted to have an open air service. The man, a devoted Methodist, agreed and promised even the service of his building for future services. Within a short time there was a multitude of Followers, and a small building was even built in this community, the first known church building to exist of the Followers Church. It actually became a small source of contention as the majority of Followers believed in open air or house to house meetings, only occasionally using public or permitted buildings. The erection of an actual church property was unheard of, even frowned upon.

    Alonzo McCoy was baptized near Enid in 1897 by Bro. Charlie Smith ( the same who went to Idaho in 1907) and moved to California where he died. Bro Tom Smith (and his brothers) were baptized in Cowley County Kansas in the 1880s by Bro. Marion Reece, he died in Homestead in 1921.Much of the Elders and brethren had moved from the area by the 1930s except Bro. John Keltch who remained behind with the small remnant. The congregation does still exist, but is very small.

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