Sunday, January 17, 2016

LCG FailsTo Be Good Stewards of God's Money

(From an LCG source)


2015 has come and gone and the pencil pushers in Charlotte are trying to figure out how they can spin their collapsing infrastructure in the impending financial audit which will be revealed to LCG membership several months from now. Each year LCG reminds us that, “it should be noted that, while the law requires us to follow GAAP and GAAS regulations, the law does not require us to submit to an outside independent audit each year. We voluntarily undergo an annual audit as a means to ensure ourselves, and to demonstrate to Church members and potential donors, that we are striving to remain good stewards of our financial information and controls” (source Living Church News). The 2014 audit showed significant losses for LCG and the 2015 audit promises to be just as bloody as this ACOG slowly bleeds to death in its own failures.

LCG insiders have revealed that the church is presently in major financial trouble.  Rod Meredith recently wrote an editorial in which he shamed church members who dare to “sit on hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars worth of money, property and other resources they very rarely touch [that could be used] to help do the Work of the living God at the very end of this age” (See more at: Rod Meredith is not happy LCG members are sitting on money).  

Unfortunately for Rod, his editorial did more to upset than to inspire as many in his church are in disagreement with the fact that Rod Meredith, Richard Ames and the newly anointed Gerald Weston sit on hundreds of thousands of dollars of equity in their own homes and bank accounts while suggesting that the hard working tithe payers GIVE EVEN MORE.

Many members are also disillusioned by the excessive expenditures Lil’ Jimmy indulges himself with at the tithe payers expense; like his 5 week all-expense paid vacation to Hawaii to “set up” the same feast site they have already had for a number of years or his trip to Israel or a dozen other places that the poor church members paid for him to enjoy 5 star hotel rooms and extravagant meals.

Many LCG members are also grumbling about the ridiculous amount of tithe payer money that is being directed to Living University. A majority of LCG brethren feel that their tithes and offerings should be used to “preach the gospel of the soon coming Kingdom of God as a witness”. The accompanying LCG finance chart shows just how much money they put into LU in 2014. The 2015 graph will show an even greater excess as Meredith sanctioned funds toward the purchase of additional LU commercial real estate to house class rooms and townhouses to serve as dormitories for their on-campus students. LCG has also decided to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2015 seeking accreditation which members feel is unnecessary and an improper use of tithe money.

In 2014 Wyatt Ceceilka convinced LCG to spend $133,405 for television studio editing upgrades to replace aging AVID editing equipment with updated software and media storage which they required to meet new standards for HD television which he then decided he didn’t like in 2015 as he  petitioned RCM for even more money to change systems once again. Over-spending Wyatt also sanctioned purchases including an upgrade of the Tomorrow’s World Web site for $45,400 (did anyone even notice?).

Lil’ Jimmy is neck and neck with Doug Winnail and his Living University (which is killing the church) in the category of wasted tithe payer money. Jim authorized $51,929 to finish a remodeling project in the Charlotte LCG Headquarters building which was in good shape to begin with.

Add to this the increasing number of people leaving LCG all together and the increasing number of members who have decided to stay in LCG but withhold their tithes after beginning to question if LCG is God’s true church after witnessing the ministerial abuse many of their friends have suffered at the hands of men, like Rod McNair, who truly believe they can act however they like no matter how ungodly their behavior is since they are “servants of Christ” (at least in their own minds). Still others are withholding their tithes while they wait and see what direction the church takes after old Spanky steps down next August and Gerald Weston takes over.

The late Dibar Apartian told many people over the last year or two of his life that LCG was “no longer God’s church”. He was in the nucleus and ahead of the curve in his knowledge of how utterly corrupt and ungodly Meredith and his men were. The knowledge of LCG’s rotten core has slowly begun to spread throughout its membership. Sure some die-hards will go down with the ship in blind obedience but many will get out before it is too late.


It seems inevitable that irresponsible overspending,  ministerial abuse of the brethren and the vanity and pride that it wrapped up in their attempts to make LU like Ambassador College will bring LCG to its knees in the coming year.




17 comments:

Unknown said...

A couple of interesting items from the "audited report". A drop in spending on "assistance to the needy" from $1.9 million to just $1.2 million a drop of 37 percent in just one year!

Also, it is interesting to note that the 2013 budget greatly benefitted from a $4 million bequest or "estate gift", whereas 2014 did not. Any wonder why RCM is promoting wills and estates be changed? They greatly add to the cash flow , that is for sure.

Anonymous said...

history has proven that the cog university effort has not had practical benefits for they whom have enrolled; i know of at least one ambassador college grad, and former minister, who at one time was homeless, living in a camper, although i think he is faring slightly better today...

the point being: the cogs are investing in these "universities" which have proven to be excersizes in vanity, with little practical value in the real world; and they brow beat members that would balk at financing such institutions? this is opression...

Anonymous said...

Looking it up, a 5 star hotel room in Hawaii for 5 weeks is roughly 10 to 15 thousand dollars, depending on the hotel. It can even be a lot more.

Minimalist said...

If we can find the addresses of the Leaders' Mansions, then we can look them up on Zillow and find out the Big Valuations!

Minimalist said...


balance sheet:
Wow, most of the money ($8 million) goes to "Feeding the Flock" (BIG Salaries)!
Wake up sheeple!

Byker Bob said...

Karma and Gamaliel are working against Armstrongism. The more rabid or toxic groups appear to be indulging in a cutting contest, attempting to see which one can inflict the worst stench, yet still use the basest elements of their self-proclaimed authority to coerce members to remain. The ACOGs are little more than the proverbial Polish gas chamber these days, and the poor members' eyes are badly watering, as they gasp for just one precious short breath of fresh air.

BB

Anonymous said...

"I am fully aware that many of our brethren—often fine brethren who mean well and who are already giving a little bit of their substance—are nevertheless sitting on hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars worth of money, property and other resources they very rarely touch to help do the Work of the living God at the very end of this age."

You first, Rod, you first.

Anonymous said...

You first, Rod, you first.

The thing to remember about Meredith and Leona McNair is that, although Meredith was a named defendant, WCG paid all of his costs, including the final settlement, which was paid in December of 1992. When did Meredith have his first GCG service? The last Sabbath of December, 1992. Meredith had spent 3 years and 3 months doing nothing while Tkach changed everything. No teaching, no writing, no preaching, no pastoring. Rod just sat there watching the church get destroyed. He had been trained for 40 years just for such a time, and when the people needed him the most, he was nowhere to be found. Just sitting and collecting a big fat paycheck and getting his legal costs covered, watching Tkach consolidate his power and change everything. By December 1992, it was too late to do anything. When it comes to money or faith in God, Meredith made his choice.

Anonymous said...

$8 million for "Feeding the Flock." This food is no better than tele evangelists religious slop. There's nothing of practical values in these 'messages.' You can listen to tens of thousands of these sermons, and still be a fool in terms of understanding. Compare, for instance this sermon 'food' to many excellent books on assertiveness. And what's 'assertiveness', what's 'rights,' both are taboo in the church. Not surprising, since only ministers have rights. A typical church members is child like in the practical application of Gods laws, and child like socially. Yet these ministers pay themselves $8 million.

Anonymous said...

What are "resources they very rarely touch"? Does Rod think that the typical member has a beach house in Hawaii that they occasionally use, or does he think church members are like Bill Gates with billions of dollars to spare? I would like to hear his clarification.

Minimalist said...

Why do Wealthy Armstrongist Cult Leaders like the Millionaire Meredith Family hide their addresses & phone numbers so that we can't look at their Opulent Mansions on Zillow.com?

charles said...

They won't get a red cent from me, till they change their ways. The good book say's ministers are to FEED the flock and NOT FLEECE the flock.
Wake up people, you shall know them by there fruits.
When the fruit is bad or drawing flies you chuck them out! You know something is wrong, clean house or you get more bad fruit.

Anonymous said...

So much money wasted on these blowhards that could have been used by real charities to help real people in need.

Was anyone else taught (or at least given the impression) that doing charitable works was something only "pagan" churches did?

Anonymous said...

This is Rod to church members. I recently discovered that tele-evangelists are staying at 1200 dollars a night, five star hotels. And here's me and my fellow ministers staying at measly five hundred dollar a night five star hotels. So please send in more monies to the church, so that I can be one of the boys, with $1200 a night rooms.
Regards Rod.

Anonymous said...

LCG plays a clam shell game with their budgets/ expenses so none of their numbers can really be trusted to be accurate anyway. They will bury universe expenses in different places so it doesn't look as bad as it really is because they are aware that members would balk if they knew the full truth. If the audit is based on creative accounting, what's the point?

Anonymous said...

Auto correct fail: university not universe

Anonymous said...

Maybe ole Roddy boy is asking for money so he can afford a fancy, demon filled nursing home to retire in.