Church of the Kingdom of God

The Friends of Man are a Christian denomination founded in 1919 by Alexander F.L. Freytag, the former Branch manager of the Swiss Watch Tower Society since 1912. He founded a group first named the Angel of the Lord (this name was inspired by a verse of the Apocalypse), Angel of Jehovah Bible and Tract Society, then Church of the Kingdom of God or the Philanthropic Assembly of the Friends of Man.

The group began when Freytag started publishing his own personal views and sent to the Bible Students The Message of Laodicea (Le Message de Laodicée) in which he claimed he was the legitimate successor of Charles Taze Russell. Therefore, he was ousted from the Watch Tower Society by Joseph Rutherford in 1920. He published two journals, the monthly The Monitor of the Reign of Justice (Le Moniteur du Règne de Justice) and the weekly Newspaper for All (Le Journal pour tous).

In Italy, the first community was founded in 1946 in Turin by Sebastiano Chiardola.

The movement theology includes Christian doctrines of restorationism and millennialism. Its beliefs can be found in Freytag's writings: The Divine Revelation (La Divine Révélation, 1920), The Message to Humanity (Le Message à l’Humanité, 1922) and The Eternal Life (La Vie éternelle, 1933). The movement stresses the need to change the character by practicing the Gospel. Members believe that only 144,000 persons, who are the Kingdom of God's members, will go to heaven. They are antitrinitarian and believe in a sole God, Jehovah. They are vegetarian.

In 1951 the movement turned increasingly to philanthropy: help for disadvantaged, relief for disaster-strickens and material donations for farmers.

They celebrate the feast of the Army of the Lord on 18 April and the feast of the little flock on 18 October. The weekly four meetings are largely devoted to study of the founder's writings. Baptism and the Last Supper are celebrated only within the Swiss branch, not in France.

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