<P> The first attempt for a merger between the Stanberry and Salem Conferences occurred in 1942 . A copyright lawsuit concerning the Bible Advocate magazine and the publication of the Bible Home Instructor hindered the merger . In 1947, the Salem Council of Ministers asked Stanberry to appoint a committee to meet with their committee to discuss a new attempt for a merger . The two churches met at Fairview, Oklahoma, on February 12--17, 1948 . Because of the laws under which the Stanberry group was incorporated, the earliest possible time the union of the two groups could take place was August 1949 . The merger was voted on August 12--20, 1949, and the first issue of the combined Bible Advocate came out on October 3, 1949 . Charles Monroe, who wrote A Synoptic History of the Churches of God in the Latter Days, (Facts of Our Faith, January, 1969, pages 12--25) related, "the merger did not unite all of the Church of God ." </P> <P> The following information concerning the "Back to Salem" Movement of 1950 are taken from History of the Seventh Day Church of God by Richard C. Nickels . </P> <P> As early as 1949, ministers F.L. Summers and his son - in - law Chris Royer went back to Salem and established a headquarters there . The "Back to Salem" movement broke into at least three factions: 1 . The original Salem people who stayed at Salem with it as headquarters; 2 . Dugger and Severson, who went to Jerusalem; and 3 . Olson and Groshans, who formed the Seventh Day Church of God in Caldwell, Idaho . The Salem Conference started to publishe a magazine, The Advocate of Truth, in February 1950 . Salem is purported to believe that the saints will be raptured to the sea of glass while the seven last plagues will be poured out . It differs with the Denver Group in the date for the annual Lord's Supper, which they calculate according to the spring equinox . </P> <P> In September, 1952, Dugger, after returning from an extended trip to Nigeria to visit Church of God groups, decided to move to Jerusalem to start The Mount Zion Reporter in 1953 . Possibly doctrinal issues led to Dugger's exit to Israel . </P>

General council of the churches of god 7th day