The Church of God of Prophecy traces its history ultimately
to the establishment of the Church of God by Jesus Christ in
the 1st Century A. D. as recorded in the New Testament
Scriptures (Mark 3:13, 14 and Matthew 16). The prophetic
fore-shadowing of that history can also be seen in the life of the Children of Israel recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures as
they were described as 'the church in the wilderness' (Acts 7 ).

The Church of God of Prophecy sees its history and heritage as being intimately intertwined with the continuing struggle of a Spirit-impelled few throughout the Dark and Middle Ages to restore to the body of believers the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the deep spiritual experiences and the moral discipline that characterized the Church of the Bible.

The modern history of the Church of God of Prophecy developed out of a series of events around the turn of the 20th Century in the United States where fervent seekers of God not only sought to reform their respective churches (denominations) but sought to denounce all man-made creeds in preference for the Holy Scriptures and were rewarded by miracles and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in "fire-baptism." These series of events climaxed on June 13, 1903 with the grasping of the revelation to be the Church of God of the Bible which should always be the passion of the covenanted people of God.

In Jamaica, the Church of God of Prophecy grew out of a similar fervency in the 1920's and 30's with the two most significant dates being 1929 and 1935. In the 1920's a number of Jamaican ministers and lay preachers felt moved of God to minister in ways which did not always accord with the message and style of the established churches in the island at the time. These preachers included RC Smith, JA Riley.

They banded together as 'the Bible Church of God' with the first one having been established at Main Ridge in Clarendon in 1929. In the 1930's, however, the ministers and members of the Bible Church of God found conformity with the international movement of the Church of God of Prophecy headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee and joined with them in 1935. In 1935 the first local congregation was established under the banner of the Church of God of Prophecy at Danvers Pen in St. Thomas.