The (; English: "Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, The Light of the World")or simply (LLDM)is a Christian denomination in the nontrinitarian tradition, with its international headquarters in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. practices a form of Restorationist theology centered on three leaders: Aarónborn EusebioJoaquín González, Samuel Joaquín Flores, and Naasón Joaquín García, who are regarded by the church as modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ.
was founded in 1926 during the Mexican Cristero War, a struggle between the secular, anti-clerical government and Catholic rebels. The conflict centered in the west-central states like Jalisco, where Aarón Joaquín focused his missionary efforts. Given the environment of the time, the Church remained a small missionary endeavor until 1934, when it built its first temple. Thereafter, it continued to grow and expand, interrupted by an internal schism in 1942. Aarón Joaquín was succeeded by his son Samuel upon his death, who was in turn succeeded by his own son Naasón upon his death. The Church is present in more than 50 countries and has claimed to have between 1 and 5 million adherents worldwide.
describes itself as the restoration of primitive Christianity. It does not use crosses or religious images in its worship services. Female members follow a dress code that includes long skirts and use head coverings during services. Although the Church does not allow women to hold leadership positions in its religious hierarchy, women hold leadership positions in church public relations and church-operated civil organizations.
The three church leaders have faced accusations of sexual abuse. In June 2019, church leader Naasón Joaquín García was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and charged with sex crimes by the California Department of Justice. On June 8, 2022, he pled guilty to three charges concerning the sexual abuse of children and was sentenced to a maximum 16 years and 8 months in prison."Mexican megachurch leader gets more than 16 years for abuse", ABC News, 8 June 2022
Name The full name of the Church in Spanish is , which translates to Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of The Truth, The Light of the World. The name of the Church is derived from two passages in the Bible: 1 Timothy 3:15 and Matthew 5:14.
History
Historical background Eusebio Joaquín González was born on August 14, 1896, in Colotlán, Jalisco, Mexico. At a young age, he joined the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revolution. While he was on leave with his father in Guadalajara in 1920, he met Elisa Flores, also from Colotlán, whom he later married. While stationed in the state of Coahuila in 1926, he came into contact with preachers under the pseudo names Saulo and Silas (after Saul and Silas, from the New Testament), two ascetic preachers from the Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual. Their teachings forbade their followers to keep good hygiene and wear regular clothes. Their real names were Antonio Muñez and Francisco Flores, and had become preachers just two years earlier.
Sources about their lives are secondary and often contradict each other. According to Gaxiola, these two preachers caused scandals among the early Apostolic Pentecostals. They preached of prophesies, visions and dreams, which they claimed gave them spiritual authority, rather than the Bible, as it was generally unread in early 20th-century Mexico. However, the obituary of Eusebio Juaquin González in the Crónica Jalisco newspaper states that "Eucebio started to attend the reunions of preachers by the name Saul and Silas. He convinced his wife to go with him. The attitude and customs of these people surprised Eusebio. They didn't drink, they treated each other with the utmost respect, they studied the Bible, and they put in practice the words of the holy scriptures." After being baptized by the two itinerant preachers, Aarón Joaquín resigned from the army, and along with his wife became domestic workers to the two preachers.
History from multiple religious sources (i.e. La Luz del Mundo, Iglesia Cristiana Evangélica Espiritual and El Buen Pastor) all agree that around his conversion, or soon after, Aaron Juaquin had met oneness Pentecostal pastor Francisco Borrego, the man he called his "father in the faith", for having instructed him in doctrine, notably baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. According to La Luz del Mundo's Vida y obra del Apostol Aaron Juaquin (1997), He had been converted in the "Iglesia Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesus".
On the name of Borrego's movement, witnesses from an LLDM book recalled "Francisco Borrego, who because of a deliberate question by Mr. Joaquín over the origin and social meaning behind this organization, his response was that this community was known as Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual" (Spiritual Christian Church). This explanation was the one given by Juaquin when asked about his affiliation by church members in Guadalajara. It was retold by José María Gonzalez in his 1956 introduction of the 'Constitucion de La Iglesia del Buen Pastor' after splitting from what would become La Luz del Mundo.
In the 1920s, Mexico underwent a period of instability under the administration of Plutarco Elías Calles, who was seeking to limit the influence of the Catholic Church to modernize and centralize the state within the religious sphere of Mexican society. To protest Calles's policies, the Catholic Church suspended all religious services, bringing about an uprising in Mexico. This uprising, or Cristero War, lasted from 1926 to 1929 and reemerged in the 1930s.
On April 6, 1926, Aarón Joaquín had a vision in which God changed his name from Eusebio to Aarón and told him to leave Monterrey, where he and his wife served Saulo and Silas. On his journey, he preached near the entrances of Catholic churchesoften facing religious persecutionuntil he arrived at Guadalajara on December 12, 1926. The Cristero Wars impacted both Catholic and non-Catholic congregations and preachers, especially evangelical movements. Small movements were attacked by the government and the Cristeros, resulting in a hostile environment for Aarón Joaquín's work.
Early years While working as a shoe vendor, Aarón Joaquín formed a group of ten worshipers who met at his wife's apartment. He began constructing the Church's hierarchy by instituting the first two deaconesses, Elisa Flores and Francisca Cuevas. Later he charged the first minister to oversee fourteen congregations in Ameca, Jalisco. During these early years in late 1920s, Aarón Joaquín traveled to the states of Michoacán, Nayarit, and Sinaloa to preach.
In 1931, the first Santa Cena (Holy Supper) was held to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. The Church met in rural areas, fearing complaints from Catholic neighbors. Urbanization contributed migrants from the countryside who added a significant number of members to the Church.
In 1934, a temple was built in Sector Libertad of Guadalajara's urban zone and members were encouraged to buy homes in the same neighborhood, thereby establishing a community. The temple was registered as Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual (Spiritual Christian Church), the church Aaron had been baptized in, but Aarón Joaquín claimed to have received God's word in the dedication of the temple, saying that it was "light of the world" and that they were the Iglesia del Dios Vivo, Columna y Apoyo de la Verdad (Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth). The Church used the latter name to identify itself.
In 1939, it moved to a new meeting place at 12 de Octubre street in San Antonio in southeast Guadalajara, forming its second small community which was populated mainly by its members. The community was formed to escape a hostile religious environment. It was not designed as an egalitarian society.
In 1937, La Luz del Mundo officially split from the Iglesia Cristiana Evangélica Espiritual, successor of the Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual, and of the Consejo Mexicano de La Fe Apostolica, a movement born out to the confusion of the Iglesia Apostolica de La Fe En Cristo Jesús.
A man named Francisco Borrego, the Pastor General of the movement at the time, wanted to know the doctrine being preached in Guadalajara. His disagreements with Aaron led to a split due to said doctrine. This is mentioned by José Maria Gonzalez R. in his 1956 writing on the brief history of LLDM before the 1942 schism (in the introduction to the Iglesia del Buen Pastor's church constitution).Constitucion de La Iglesia del Dios Vivo El Buen Pastor The name of the church was changed to Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual La Luz del Mundo (Spiritual Christian Church the Light of the World) to distinguish it from its previous denomination, and it was the legal name of LLDM until the 1990s.
In 1938, Aarón Joaquín returned to Monterrey to preach to his former associates. There he learned that he had been baptized using the Trinitarian formula and not in the name of Jesus Christ as he preached. His re-baptism in the name of Christ by his collaborator Lino Figueroa marked Aarón Joaquín's separation from the rest of the Pentecostal community.
Schism of 1942 In August 1942, during its most significant schism, at least 250 members left La Luz del Mundo. Tensions began to build after Aarón Joaquín's birthday, when the congregation in Guadalajara gave him gifts of flowers and perfume and sang hymns celebrating his birthday. Having received word, this celebration generated a heated debate that culminated with the defection of three LLDM congregations in Mexico City, Cuautla, and San Pedro Totoltepec, and two missions in Cuernavaca and Ciudad Madero, with most of their members, including their pastors. The issue was brought up whether the birthday of the "servant of God" should be celebrated, along with the celebration of birthdays in general, according to New Testament texts on banquets.
LLDM's 2008 book Hechos del Apóstol Aaron (Acts of the Apostle Aaron) states the following in chapter 6, in the section titled la Division: There were some pastors who for some time had wanted to separate from the church, and had begun to plant the foundation for the argument of Aaron's corruption with the following harangue, "Why does brother Aaron accept that people sing him hymns in honor of his birthday? Why does he accept flowers? Where in doctrine does it states that neckties should be worn? Should the church of God accept doctors and medics? Should birthdays be celebrated in the church of God?" At the end they [the pastors] said, "What a perfect work, what marvelous act has God done for us! He brought us from impurity, from sin, from injustices, from evil. For love of him we left properties, families, commodities... we've done good leaving everything for Jesus Christ... brothers... and if Aaron were corrupted... would we consent his sin? -NOOO! Shouted the church, having been deceived by these traitors. And they added; -"we will continue to defend the holy and pure doctrine unto death". In the following Sunday School meeting, these pastors announced from their ministry - "Aaron has been corrupted, Aaron has been corrupted." The questions they threw at the church were without foundation, the dissidents weaved a tangled web of false arguments, to arrive at the false accusation, the dishonor, the confrontation, and attacking the prestige of the servant of God.