What is “The COGC”?
The COGC. is short for the Church of God Chapels in the Cayman Islands. It was incorporated in 1987 as a not-for-profit company under the Cayman Islands Companies Law and is the umbrella organisation for five Church of God Chapel congregations located in Bodden Town, Cotton Tree Bay (Cayman Brac), Frank Sound, George Town and West Bay.
The COGC’s owns and sponsors Triple C School, a pre-kindergarten through grade 12 Christian school with an American-style curriculum that was started in 1941. Triple C School and its affiliated Triple C School Endowment Trust Fund are both also incorporated as not-for-profit companies under the Cayman Islands Companies Law. The COGC’s appoints most of the members to both of their governing boards.
The COGC’s is affiliated with the Church of God which meets annually in Anderson, Indiana, USA. The COGC’s adheres generally to the principles of “the Church of God reformation movement”, a non-sectarian and non-denominational relationship whereby we stretch our hands in fellowship to every blood-washed one who believes in Jesus Christ as his or her personal Saviour.
Like the body in Anderson, the COGC’s is a voluntary association and does not exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction or authority over the Church of God in general, nor over any individual congregations in particular. However, it does retain the right to define its own membership and to declare on occasion when individual ministers or congregations are or are not recognised by the COG’s as adhering to the general reformation principles to which the COGC’s itself is committed. Any “born again Christian” (i.e., a person who has accepted Jesus the Christ as his or her personal Saviour and who testifies to this experience verbally and visibly) who is 16 years of age or older, and who worships regularly with one of the COGC’s congregations is eligible to be a voting member. Every voting member of the G.A. is also a voting member of the local congregation where he or she attends and worships.
The COGC’s functions as a temporary presbytery in the conduct of the general business of the Church of God in the Cayman Islands and of its conventions and other activities which are sponsored or supported by the COGC’s It determines general policies for conducting the general business of the Church of God Chapels in all the Cayman Islands.
Between annual general meetings, functions and activities of the COGC’s are directed by an Executive Council and an Executive Committee. The Executive Council comprises as voting members the annually elected Officers (Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary) plus ex-officio the Pastors and the representatives (and their alternates) from the constituent congregations. The pastoral staff and ordained Church of God reformation ministers are ex-officio non-voting members. The Officers and the Pastors are members of the Executive Committee.
As the governing body, the COGC’s Executive Council serves as a property board holding in trust the title to all realty for each COGC’s congregation. All such realty is not to be acquired, bought, sold, leased, transferred, mortgaged, charged, pledged, disposed of or encumbered for any reason without first having been approved by at least a 2/3 vote of the COGC’s Executive Council and of the congregation that is directly affected. It is also a long-established practice and requirement for plans of any G.A. congregation for the development and expansion of its physical facilities to be approved by the COGC’s Executive Council before being implemented.
The office of the COGC’s is in Faith Hall at the Church of God Chapel, George Town, Walker and Academy Way. Bro. K. Paul Roberts serves as Executive Secretary(Acting).