The Missionary Church of the Disciples of Jesus Christ is an evangelical non-profit religious organization based in West Covina, CA.
Members, referred to as missionaries, who come from a variety of different socio-economic backgrounds, dedicate their time to spreading the word of God.
Training before becoming missionaries include reading and studying the Bible daily, praying and communal events.
Using the Bible as their source of doctrine, adepts carry out various activities such as spiritual counseling, disaster relief teams, seasonal programs that consist in the distribution of food and toys for the community, missionary training programs, and charity works through the collection of donations.
They also observe the Sabbath, the biblical Laws of Health, Divine Healing and adhere to the Discipleship as a way of life.
The doctrine embraces Trinitarianism, immortality of the soul, and immersion baptism as the first step towards salvation as cited in Matthew 28:19 on their official website.
Members can be seen spreading their literature in the form of pamphlets and offering bible studies.
Ernest William Sellers (better known as Daddy John) was born on August 30, 1869, in Portage County, Wisconsin.
Sellers would later turn this same business establishment into a worship center called "Misión Gedeon" (Gideons’s Mission).
His first church activities included a large scale preaching campaign and divine healing which yielded successful results.
From June 13, 1928, up until his death in 1953, together with his wife Muriel C. Sellers oversaw the work in Cuba from his central headquarters in Playa Baracoa.
In 1939, Sellers created a monthly newspaper called, El Mensajero de Los Postreros Días (The Last Days Messenger).
Sellers declared that the Bishop of Great Echelon, Ángel María Hernández, would succeed him in the office of Apostle.
As an Apostle, Hernández oversaw the expansion of the church into international lands such as Jamaica, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Chile and Haiti.
Due to the escalating tensions between the Castro regime and the churches, these bishops left the country on February 27, 1968.
In these years both factions, the California and the Florida main headquarters, found themselves embroiled in federal courts over matters of legitimacy and sovereignty.
Reasons given for the separation were that the Miami church had deviated from the original doctrine preached by Daddy John (Ernest William Sellers) and therefore was no longer guided by the same Holy Spirit.
They also went out in front of stores and supermarkets to ask for voluntary donations with plastic bags, which then evolved into the recognizable white cans that they carry today.
Its duties include overseeing the entire welfare of the church and head what they refer to as The Apostolic Board of Council Officers.
This event sets the tone for the year and includes prayers, biblical reenacting, and the proclamation and welcoming of new members.
It is reported that there were members from Russia, Czech Republic, Armenia, Brazil and Mexico at the Barcelona mission.
For example, an external group called the “Center for Religious Research” has classified such practices in the Missionary Church as “legalists”, arguing that such disciplines are too rigid and too unsubstantiated by the Bible.