The Church of God and its four endorsed universities: Anderson University, Warner Pacific University, Warner University and Mid-America Christian University.
I want to begin with what I believe about everyone involved. The leaders of the Church of God, the trustees and administrators of Anderson University and the Church of God’s other colleges, the pastors and the families in the pews all want the same thing: a strong fellowship of Church of God local churches and a strong system of Church of God higher education that honors Jesus Christ and extends the doctrinal and theological distinctives of the Church of God into the lay and pastoral leadership of the next generation. I do not doubt anyone’s love for either one.
The four endorsed universities pictured above are the subject of this article, not one of them alone. Anderson University is the example I use, because its numbers are public, but the question is the same for all four.
I am no longer credentialed as a minister in the Church of God, but I was spiritually formed and called to ministry in its tradition, and I still love it. Its theology still makes me a stakeholder. That is why I am writing. When a good movement is approaching a historic decision, I would rather speak the truth in love than stay quiet.
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” — Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)
The window
The Church of God is between permanent leaders. The Ministries Council appointed an interim general director effective June 1, 2025, in a role Church of God Ministries describes as a 12- to 24-month assignment. Its timeline calls for a candidate to go to the Ministries Council in March 2027, ratification by the General Assembly in June 2027, and a start date of July 1, 2027. [1] At the same time a new Board of Directors is being formed, and as I read the draft bylaws, only that Board can bring resolutions to the General Assembly. [2]
That is a rare combination: an organizational structure in transition, a General Director search under way, a Council that has just approved a framework on biblical sexual ethics, and cultural and financial uncertainties among the Church of God’s universities that make the question of theological alignment urgent. Windows like this do not stay open long.
I want to be clear about the people. An interim role is built to keep things steady. It is not built to make decisions that bind the next leader, and the people serving in it are doing what it was designed for. The issue is the structure, not the individuals. But if the movement waits for the permanent leader to begin, and the permanent leader waits for the structure to settle, another year or two of uncertainty and continued trust erosion will pass.
Root cause 1: Standards are adopted but never enforced
Root cause 1: Standards are adopted but never enforced
In 1993 the General Assembly resolved that a Church of God college should not endorse or promote homosexual behavior. [3] In 2014 it defined marriage as between one man and one woman and called homosexuality a sin. In September, the Ministries Council approved a framework on biblical sexual ethics. [4] Each was a sincere act and each deserves credit. Jeff Matas, the Indiana state minister, showed what obedience looks like when he exposed the CHOGAffirm group and the credentials of those credentialed in Indiana were removed. Baptist News reports that at least 17 ministers have lost their credentials for coming out as affirming. [5]
But the framework was written for credentialed ministers, and it does not name leaders of influence in the Church of God’s colleges or agencies. A pastor can lose his credentials for teaching what a professor may teach freely on a Church of God campus. And, in my opinion, the 1993 resolution was never effectively enforced. A standard with no mechanism to ensure alignment and compliance is a hope or aspiration, not a policy.
Root cause 2: No one is clearly answerable
The Church of God’s colleges and endorsed agencies have their own boards, budgets and bylaws. As I understand it, the Church of God ratifies the trustees and presidents of each endorsed university, yet the institutions are run day to day by governing boards of their own. When a standard is adopted at one level, and an institution or agency is governed at another, each can say the other is responsible for ensuring policy alignment. Good people end up inside a system of competing structures which are not mutually functional. None of them can fix these challenges alone.
Root cause 3: The fear of losing what has been built
Preserving an institution can quietly become more important than the purpose the institution was built for. Leaders avoid hard conversations because they fear what they might cost: donors, students, relationships, reputation. I understand that fear. But it has the order backwards.
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” — Matthew 16:25 (NIV)
The instinct to protect the Church of God’s colleges and universities by avoiding hard questions is what puts them at the greatest risk. An institution that is clear about what it believes can be loved and supported. One that is unclear loses the trust of the people who keep it alive.
My book The One Tree tells the longer story of how the Church of God drifted. It is on Amazon at amazon.com/dp/B0GS5V8D87.
Root cause 4: Silence about mission and money
When the people who give, send their students and pray for a movement cannot see where it is going, they quietly stop.
I have a great concern for the erosion of trust among all the Church of God’s universities. I believe their Church-related heritage and identity are at stake, as well as their fiscal solvency for the future. My prayer is that, with God’s help and the courage of their leaders, the colleges can halt any hint of theological drift and thereby restore the confidence of their primary stakeholders, the pastors and constituents of the Church of God and similar fellowships. While I cannot prove exactly why this has happened, I believe it is part of the story, and what is happening at Anderson is an example. The numbers seem to be symptoms of trust erosion resulting from cultural drift away from the doctrinal heritage and distinctive identity of the Church of God.
The figures below describe Anderson only. I am not suggesting that the other three universities share them.
The public record shows an institution under strain:
- The School of Theology had 161 students in fall 2008 and 52 in fall 2025, according to the Association of Theological Schools. [6]
- AU’s fall enrollment fell from 2,565 in 2010 to 1,290 in 2022. To its credit, its incoming class in fall 2024 was 415 students, the largest since 2019. [7][8]
- In the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2025, AU’s tax filing shows revenue of $61.0 million and expenses of $68.2 million, a gap of about $7.2 million. Net assets were $73.6 million, down from $81.4 million the year before. [9]
- Contributions fell from $14.8 million in fiscal 2023 to $5.4 million in fiscal 2025, a drop of 63.5 percent. [9]
- Higher Ed Dive reported that AU carried more than $40 million in debt and missed a bond covenant requiring operating income of 1.1 times its debt obligations in fiscal 2024, which required it to hire a consultant under the bond terms. [7]
- Fitch Ratings affirmed AU at B- with a negative outlook in November 2025, below investment grade. In plain terms, the bond market rates the university’s debt as junk. [10]
I have reported on AU’s finances in more detail in Anderson University Sold Off $26 Million in Property, Lost Nearly Two-Thirds of Its Donations, and Is Living on Bondholder Waivers — The Countdown Has Begun. [11]
My prayer is that all the colleges are protected from this kind of unfortunate reality.
None of this is a reason for despair. But this example represents a reasonable call for identity clarification and, as a result, the restoration of trust.
What the new Board can do
The new Board does not need to force anyone. It can invite, and I am simply trying to raise an important issue for the sake of the Church’s future. This invitation comes in the spirit of partnership and mutual goodwill. Here is what I would ask of the new Board, before the permanent general director begins on July 1, 2027, so that the new leader inherits a settled direction and not an open question:
- Extend the biblical sexual ethics framework to the leaders of influence among the Church of God’s endorsed colleges and agencies, so that one standard applies from the pulpit, to the boardroom, and ultimately to the classroom.
- Adopt a written process for how the standard is applied and alignment is assured: who reviews what, how reviews are initiated, on what timeline, and what follows as a result. A standard without an alignment assurance process is only an empty statement of aspiration.
- Invite each endorsed Church of God university and agency board into a shared covenant of theological alignment.
- Publish how permanent endorsed agency leaders and teaching faculty are chosen and what the criteria are, and report openly on grant funding and finances, so the pastors and congregations who support the movement can see where it is going.
- At a later time, once fiscal 2026 audited statements are public, ask Anderson University’s trustees and the Ministries Council to publish a joint plan for the university’s mission and finances.
I believe the bridge to a brighter future for the Church of God, its agencies and its educational institutions could be a public announcement. When the Ministries Council or the new Board adopts a plan like this one, and announces it, people will finally learn what happened and where things stand, and trust can begin to be rebuilt. The hope is that it comes before the new General Director takes over next year, so that Anderson and every endorsed Church of God entity can begin a new era, with all leaders and staff held accountable to the biblical values the Church of God requires.
A way for everyone to win
All of the Church of God’s colleges win when mission statements are Christ-centered, theologically distinctive, and operationally compelling. Donors win because they can invest with confidence in a true Kingdom ministry. Pastors win when they can send their young people to a Church of God school with confidence. Students win when faith development and academic learning are held together within a distinctive heritage. The new Board wins by leading the Church of God into a decision that others have only talked about for decades. And the interim and incoming leaders win by not resisting a return to true spiritual unity as opposed to maintaining a dysfunctional status quo.
I believe the Church of God’s protection has never been the strength of its institutions. It has been its obedience.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” — 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
Where this road can end
The United Methodists show where unanswered cultural drift and trust erosion can lead. Between 2019 and 2023, 7,659 U.S. United Methodist congregations left, nearly one in four. Christianity Today attributed the split to disagreements over sexuality and authority, and to a denomination that did not enforce its own traditional marriage policy. [12] Churches kept leaving after the special exit rule expired. [13] U.S. membership has fallen from about 5.4 million in 2022 to about 3.8 million in 2025. [14][15]
I am not predicting the same for the Church of God. The Methodists waited until pastors and congregations had given up on their leaders. The General Assembly and Ministries Council acted decisively to avoid a similar situation. The Church of God still has time, and the opportunity in front of it is a gift.
Your Turn
- Pray for the Ministries Council, the new Board of Directors, the search team, and the trustees and administrators of all the Church of God’s colleges, but particularly for Anderson University.
- Ask a Church of God Ministries Council member to put these requests to the new Board. As I read the draft bylaws, only the new Board can bring resolutions to the General Assembly, and its members will be appointed from the existing Ministries Council.
- To reach the Council, write to Church of God Ministries at PO Box 2420, Anderson, IN 46018, or call 800-848-2464. Emails for David Colp, Vice-Chair of the Ministries Council, go to his assistant at [email protected]. The Council’s roster is at jesusisthesubject.org/church-of-god-ministries-council. [16]
- Forward this article to everyone on all your social media accounts.
- If you attend a Church of God congregation, send this article to your pastor.
About the book
The One Tree includes a chapter on how the Church of God drifted from the movement its founders envisioned, that the 1993 resolution on homosexual behavior was never enforced, and what it will take to turn things back. It is available now on Amazon: amazon.com/dp/B0GS5V8D87
Soli Deo gloria. To God alone be the glory.
Books by Mo Hodge
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