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    FAQ 84
    The Name of NCAY
    NCW 7, December 1993
    2nd edition, 9 February 2021

    Q. Why are you called the "New Covenant Church of God"*? Shouldn't you be called the "Church of Christ" or the "Church of Jesus Christ" if you are Christians? How can you then be the only true Church? [from a Mormon]

    (*In the early days NCAY was called NCCG - or the New Covenant Church of God - and BCAY - or the Hebraised B'rit Chadashah Assemblies of Yahweh. Congregations were allowed to choose either one of them but this confused investigators. A compromise was eventually reached and the two names combined into 'New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh', our present name).

    A. This is an interesting question. As you know, Christian denominations have, for the most part, called themselves names that have little or nothing to do with the name of the community established by Messiah in the New Testament.

    If you search the New Testament carefully you will find that the fellowship established by Christ was called, collectively, the ASSEMBLY OF ELOHIM or CHURCH OF GOD (Ac.20:28; 1 Cor.1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2 Cor.1:1; Gal.1:13; 1 Tim.3:5) or the individual congregations called the ASSEMBLIES (CHURCHES) OF ELOHIM (GOD) (1 Cor.11:16; 1 Thess.2:14; 2 Thess.1:4). Nowhere in the New Testament is it collectively called the 'Church of Christ' (Assembly of Messiah) and in only one place are the congregations called the "churches or assemblies of Christ" (Rom.16:16).

    Whilst the Messianic Community or Church is certainly Christ's (Matt.16:18), what is Christ's is also Elohim's (God's), and specifically, the Father's. Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself prayed that the Messianic Community (Church) -- the fellowship of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) -- would be kept in the Father's Name. In His High Priestly prayer, just before He was seized to be crucified, He said:

      "I have revealed Your Name (Yahweh) to those whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours...I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your Name -- the Name You gave Me -- so that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I protected them and kept them safe in Your Name..." (John 17:6,11-12, NIV)

    The Name of Elohim (God) is of vital importance. Honouring it is one of the Ten Commandments. Yah'shua (Jesus) honoured the Name of His Father, Yahweh, just as we do. The apostles honoured the Name of Elohim (God) by calling the Community (Church) Yah'shua (Jesus) established 'Assembly of Elohim' or 'Church of God' (i.e. the Church/Assembly/Congregation of Yahweh) twelve times in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament).

    The name of the Community (Church) precisely identifies whose it is -- Elohim's Assembly (God's Church). And it has always kept that name. Christ is the living head of that Community (Church), its Cohen Gadol (High Priest) after the Order of Melchizedek (Heb.5:10). It is the same Covenant Community ('Church') that existed in the wilderness in the days of Israel (Acts 7:38), the (Old Covenant) Assembly of Yahweh (Church of God). With a change of covenant, the former Community ('Church') became the NEW COVENANT ASSEMBLY OF YAHWEH-ELOHIM (CHURCH OF YAHWEH-GOD) (Jer.31:31; Matt.26:28; Mark 14:24; 2 Cor.3:6; Heb.8:8,13; 9:15; 12:24).

    Most Churches name themselves after distinctive features -- the 'Baptist Church' after water baptism, the 'Pentecostal Church' after the Day of Pentecost and the speaking in tongues, the 'Roman Catholic Church' after its headquarters and claim to universal authority, the 'Eastern Orthodox Church' because it regards itself as being truly orthodox, the 'Protestant Church' because it protested against the Catholic Church, the 'Church of England' after a country, the 'Lutheran Church' after its founder, the 'Seventh Day Adventist Church' after the Sabbath Day, the 'Jehovah's Witnesses' after God's (supposed) Name, 'Evangelical Churches' because they are evangelical, and so on.

    Few have called themselves after the true scriptural designation, though many have claimed to. The Mormons began by calling themselves the 'Church of Christ', then changed to the 'Church of the Latter Day Saints', then the 'Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints' before finally arriving at the 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'. Many different Latter-day Saint denominations (over 100) call themselves by similar names, such as the 'Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints', the second biggest LDS denomination, now renamed to the 'Community of Christ'.

    Few Churches are called 'The Church of God' today. One, a Pentecostal Church formed by A.J.Tomlinson for blacks, renamed itself the 'Church of God of Prophecy', again focusing on one aspect of the Gospel, viz. prophecy (although there is little prophecy evident). Another breakoff of Tomlinson's Church is called the 'New Testament Church of God', the nearest one to the actual Biblical name though in structure and doctrine but very different in many respects from the Community (Church) described in the New Testament. Another American Afro-American church is called the 'Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God'.

    Another Church, formed by Herbert J. Armstrong (of Plain Truth fame), is called the 'Worldwide Church of God' ('Worldwide' being yet another name addition), and a break-off Church formed by his son is called the 'Church of God International'.

    Perhaps the best known denomination using the designation 'Church of God' are the 'Assemblies of God', a Pentecostal movement.

    The list is never-ending. Church denominations are have been multiplying prodigiously since the 20th century to such an extent that it is impossible to in the end know them all by name. They come and go, change and evolve, in structure, form, doctrine and name.

    On its own, however, a name is of secondary importance to what a Covenant Community (Church) actually is and does. Nevertheless, a church claiming to be based on the one established by Christ and the apostles ought to have the same name.

    The NEW COVENANT ASSEMBLIES OF YAHWEH is more than a name, however. It is an attempted restoration in every respect of the Community described in the New Testament. In truth it could regard itself as 'apostolic' (for it has apostles, gives apostolic ministry and subscribes to the apostolic doctrine of the New Testament), as 'baptist' (for it baptises by immersion), as 'pentecostal' (for it believes in the gifts of the Ruach haQodesh or Holy Spirit as well as observing the Feast of the same name), as 'latter-day saint' (for it is made up of qodeshim or saints gathered in the latter or last days of our dispensation), as 'witnesses of Yahweh' (for it witnesses of Elohim's/God's Name), as 'evangelical' (for it possesses evangelists, is missionary-oriented and subscribes to core evangelical doctrine), as 'seventh-day adventist' (for it observes the seventh-day Creation sabbath), as 'prophetic' (for it possesses nevi'im/prophets and prophetic ministry), as 'orthodox' (for it teaches and contends for Biblical orthodoxy), as 'catholic' (for it is part of the a universal church), and so on. And yet it resembles none of the denominations which use these names for it claims to represent the emerging WHOLENESS of Yahweh's Covenant Community (Church).

    So what is the New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh? Is it just another denomination? Does it have exclusive authority as some denominations claim for their own Churches? Does it see itself as a part of the greater 'Body of Christ'?

    New Covenant Christians or Messianic Evangelicals (members of the New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh) believe that the Messianic Community or Church of God has always been on the earth. It has never been taken away. Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself said so when He declared: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Kehilah (Church), and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt.16:18, NIV).

    Denominations claiming exclusive authority frequently speak of an 'apostasy' removing the true Community (Church) from the earth and its 'authority' being taken back to heaven. But Yah'shua (Jesus) said that the Messianic (Christian) Community (Church) would always be on the earth in one form or an other. (It is interesting that the Mormons, who claim that the 'Church of Jesus Christ' was withdrawn from the earth in its totality -- authority, priesthood, etc., -- until Joseph Smith 'restored' it, still claim that the apostle John and three apostles from New Testament and 'Book of Mormon' times have been on the earth ever since this 'apostasy', and must, by their definition, possess 'authority' and 'priesthood' -- the 'true Church' must still therefore have been here, by their own definition, when Mr.Smith came along and claimed to be restoring it again. And if so, why was a 'restoration' needed? Why not have one of 'the three' turn up on Smith's doorstep and carry on the work in some visible form?

    Other denominations, like the Seventh Day Adventists and Worldwide Church of God appeal to their most correct doctrine as giving them authority, and therefore invite unbelievers and believers from other denominations to embrace their Church. Others, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, claim that their Watchtower leaders alone are the only true 'channel' to heaven and that everyone outside their organisation will be destroyed at Armageddon. The Roman Catholics, by contrast, claim that no apostasy ever took place and that it, and it alone, stands in the line of true apostolic succession, and therefore alone possesses the 'keys of the Kingdom' given to St.Peter. The Eastern Orthodox Church claims the same thing, saying the Catholic Church apostacised...and so the claims go on.

    The New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh maintains none of these positions. We certainly believes that an 'apostasy' or 'falling away' has taken place (2 Thess.2:3) but does not see this as a single event or group of events in one historical period of time. We believe apostasy has always been present, and always will be present in the world and in Christian Churches and Messianic Assemblies, to differing degrees, until Christ returns and fully orders His Covenant Community (Church).

    Neither do we believe that we are the one and only 'true church'. We do not believe that authority is exclusively vested in us as Mormons and Catholics might. We believe that whilst denominationalism is to be greatly regretted, that it is, in truth, an inevitable consequence of the human condition. Denominationalism is a reflection of man's own fragmented soul, his fragmented possession of the fullness of the Gospel, and (most importantly) his lack of Christian love and virtue. Denominationalism is therefore something to be tolerated until "a unity of the faith" (Eph.4:13) takes place at the consummation of this age.

    There are, in Christendom, small nuclei of what we would call 'true Christians' who, whilst perhaps not possessing the fullness, possess sufficient light as to be temporary gathering points of the true and faithful for the gathering of Yahweh's people at the last day. Like grains of light scattered throughout the denominations, THEY are the true Messianic Israel or Church of God. They are that Covenant Community that has been on the earth since time immemorial, scattered by Yahweh as yeast amongst the Churches to be lights therein.

    The New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh (NCAY) is a special gathering of these people as well as a training centre for those returning to their denominations as leaven. NCAY is both a 'denomination' -- an organisation with a highly developed doctrine and practice -- as well as a servant to other churches and assemblies. Its spiritual calling is utterly unique, its mission largely hidden in terms of identity with its name.

    You will therefore find it difficult, if not impossible, to 'label' or 'define' us for NCAY is not hidebound by the norms and rules of men and their traditions. Even the word 'Church' is understood somewhat differently by us from that associated with most, if not all, church denominations. We have outer forms, but we are not bound by them. At our heart, though, is the Christ-inscribed TORAH or LAW OF ELOHIM (GOD) -- immutable, unchangeable, uncontainable -- the B'rit Chadashah or New Covenant which Yahweh is writing into men's and women's hearts (Jer.31:31). That is God's New Covenant Church. That is the New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh.

    For more on who we are and what we are doing, see Our Threefold Mission and Vision, Our Beliefs Summarised for the Layman, and How to Join NCAY.

    This page was created on 18 April 1998
    Last updated on 9 February 2021

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