to follow up and expand these footholds. A controversial teaching, presumably originating with Irvine, was that of the Living Witness Doctrine (first recorded mention in a convention sermon by Joseph Kerr in 1905, which he later recanted after leaving the group). According to this precept, faith and salvation could only come about through hearing the word preached from the lips of, and seeing the gospel lived in the sacrificial lives of, the true ministry (the "Living Witness"). As a consequence of this doctrine, some were expelled over the following years (among whom was Irvine's early companion, John Long). 1906 found Irvine in San Francisco during the great earthquake. The first "workers" in various regions began to coordinate the activities of the ministry within their geographical areas. They eventually were looked to as the "Overseers" or "Head Workers" in charge of those spheres. However, Irvine continued to have the ultimate say over both their conduct and finances. This eventually, and naturally, led to growing friction and they began to regard his activities as "interference." Omega Message In the few years just prior to the First World War, an increased emphasis on eschatology was noticed. This has been later cited as one of the contributing factors towards the first division in the young denomination. He preached that the Age of Grace, during which his "Alpha Gospel" had been proclaimed, was coming to a close. As his message turned towards themes of a new era which held no place for the ministry and hierarchy which had rapidly grown up around the "Alpha Gospel," resentments on the part of several Overseers came to a head. Schism All this led to a division in the church over the period 1914–1918. Various leading workers did not accept new developments in Irvine's revelation, and although most accepted that in the beginning Irvine had received a genuine revelation from God in his "Alpha Gospel", they did not accept his "Omega Message". These overseers rebelled against what they saw as Irvine's increasingly autocratic leadership in 1914, and they refused to give him opportunity to speak at conventions held within their respective geographic regions. Hundreds of Irvine's followers were excommunicated, and his name was seldom mentioned from that time onwards. By 1918, the parting of the ways had become irreversible and, despite an overture to tempt Irvine to rejoin in a lesser capacity subservient to conditions imposed by the overseers,