Our church was first chartered by a faithful group
of Seventh-day Adventist believers in early 2000 under the name Eternal Gospel
Fellowship. Included with the name was an expression of faith to let everyone
know that we were members of the Seventh-day Adventist faith but not members of
the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist (GCSDA) denomination, as our
name--Eternal Gospel Fellowship--should have made clear.
What made this expression of faith necessary? One
reason, though lengthy to explain, is that this group of faithful souls had
left the Seventh-day Adventist denomination because of the wide spread apostasy
of that organization; an organization that had ceased to live up to their high
calling after years of repeated calls to repent from deviating from right
principles and allowing open sin in the church, to reform and go back to the
foundational pillars.
This action of removing themselves from the GCSDA
organization did not change the fact that this group of people were, and continue
to be, of the Seventh-day Adventist faith, but that they could no longer be
associated with the sin and apostasy of the GCSDA denomination without risking
their own salvation and that of others. How, in good conscience, can you bring
a new convert into a fallen organization that will lead them to hell? This
weighed heavy on the hearts of the members of Eternal Gospel Fellowship. The
truth is that you cannot.
To further show the depths of their fall from truth,
it had become known by that time that the GCSDA had clandestinely trademarked the names Seventh-day
Adventist, Adventist and SDA and forbid the use of such names without their
consent.
At that time, 2000, the GCSDA were in the process of
suing a pastor in south Florida for using the name Seventh-day Adventist as he
shared the present truth message of Revelation 14 to the Hispanic community via
radio. A lawsuit the GCSDA eventually won, though they compromised and allowed
the pastor to use the name but only with their specifications (sign size, font
and size, etc…).
In the fear of being sued by the mighty and wealthy
GCSDA, this faithful group of the Seventh-day Adventist faith chose their
church name very carefully based upon the Bible, the SOP and advice from
prominent attorney recommendations picking Eternal Gospel Fellowship as their
name.
However, in 2009 they received notification from the
General Counsel Office of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to
cease from using the name Seventh-day Adventist, Adventist or SDA for their
church name and the request also pertained to their websites, signs,
literature, audios, videos, etc…
In the fall of 2011 the pastor of Eternal Gospel
Fellowship penned an accomodation letter to the employer of a member to help
explain about the Sabbath and the member's right to keep it as a day of
worship. Within sixty days of penning the letter the church was contacted by
the GCSDA the second time, but this time by postal mail, asking to cease from
using the name Seventh-day Adventist, Adventist and SDA.
The issue was then raised in a church business
meeting as to their response to the GCSDA. The church took to prayer, study and
discussion and decided that rather than risk a lawsuit, they would choose a new
name that better reflects the times in which we live and our end time mission
as Seventh-day Adventists—our present truth—the three angels messages and the
Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
Remaining Seventh-day Adventists by faith, in
January of 2012 they chose to no longer be called Eternal Gospel Fellowship or
Battle Creek Gospel Fellowship but to now be known as the Three Angels
Sabbath-day Church! The response from the community has been remarkable as
people ask about the name, thus giving a chance to share the three angels
messages and the Sabbath truth!
It is interesting to note that the GCSDA has never
been contacted by this faithful group of believers—EVER, and likewise they have
never heard from the GCSDA since November, 2011.