Church Authority

The COGC is organized around a General Conference that meets annually and provides denominational coordination, fellowship, and theological direction. Local churches maintain a degree of autonomy in their own governance, but cooperate with the General Conference in mission, education, and doctrinal matters. The Atlanta Bible College serves as the denomination's educational institution, training ministers and laypeople in the COGC's theological tradition.

Scripture alone is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice. No creed, tradition, or ecclesiastical structure has authority over Scripture. The COGC's rejection of the Nicene Creed's Trinitarian formula is itself an expression of this sola scriptura commitment: the councils are rejected because, in the COGC's judgment, they imposed extra-biblical categories on the plain teaching of Scripture.

The COGC is a small denomination in which relational and collegial patterns of leadership are more prominent than formal hierarchical authority. Pastors and elders serve their local congregations, and the General Conference exercises influence through shared commitments and voluntary cooperation rather than through binding doctrinal mandates imposed from above.