Things still are not rosy, money wise, within UCG. After COGWA's stealth apostasy against the UCG, hundreds of thousands of dollars no longer flow into UCG's coffers. Money continues to be tight as many UCGers are withholding tithes and offerings as they wait and see what is going to happen.
A recent UCG financial report states:
I’ve heard, second hand, that the income has grown some in the last year but frankly we now realize that we had not made the necessary reductions to reflect our reduced income from what we were receiving two years ago. My understanding is that the savings we had, that would have been enough to take us through 10 weeks of no income, is now basically gone and we’re having a cash flow crunch. Some expenses that were to be paid before the Feast of Tabernacles were paid after the feast. There is still a cash flow problem despite having a good feast offering.
Church employees in the U. S. no longer receive matching funds for retirement accounts (this is one cut that was made two years ago). Healthcare benefits are going to have to be cut. There will probably be larger deductibles and co-pays.
Church pastors are being asked to cut down on trips and their mileage reimbursements are being lowered. Most meetings are now being done on the phone or online rather than face-to-face. The Council of Elders is having most of its meetings online, though they do need to get together face-to-face for some things. Aaron Dean, our treasurer, wrote us this: “I hope that cutbacks in our travel will be a temporary situation, and that God will bless us with more income from donors. Please fervently pray as I and all in the Home Office are praying for God to increase income, heal our employees and increase our faith in him. The whole country faces a rough road ahead, as you all have preached for many years. In the meantime, please do more phone visits and less driving where possible.”
12 comments:
"UCG Still Struggling Financially"
Aww, that's nothing.
Those dirty, lying UCG PERVERTS are still struggling spiritually too.
This is great news!! UCG was the only one of the splinters that stood any real chance of growing. If they go under, the COG will be extinct within a couple of generations. Fantastic!!
COGWA is definitely run by a bunch of bastards and they will ultimately be the source of their own demise. But UCG needed a helpful 'push' to fail, and it looks like it's finally happened. Yippee!
Temporary problem.
Won't last more than 5 decades.
Will get better when the economy recovers.
"frankly we now realize that we had not made the necessary reductions to reflect our reduced income from what we were receiving two years ago."
Great job Aaron. This is what happens when "minister" becomes the only necessary qualification for every job. Please oh please oh please run it into the ground, and then explain to everyone how it was "god's will".
"The whole country faces a rough road ahead, as you all have preached for many years"
It sounds like the boy who's cried wolf for so long (ie the church) never really expected that when it came to the crunch that this would mean a reduction in his own living standards as well...
I guess this means the $1 million faith mission to bring the gospel to Islam nations like Saudi Arabia is going to be put on hold.
Perhaps local churches can put on community events like Bingo parties in church basements... no wait, they don't own church basements (and rent would eat into the profits).
Well, maybe next year.
An all volunteer ministry would help.
Maybe some of the top ministers could learn tent making.
That same UCG Financial report also went on to say:
"...God will bring us through this cash flow problem. This is not a bad problem. God is giving the Church a good income; we just have to learn to live within it. I support the administration in making these necessary cuts and in working to live within the income that God gives us..."
So, what's the problem? Live within the income!
For so many years WCG and xcogs have put together their annual budgets where they basically tell God to provide some percentage INCREASE in income.....instead of living within what God would provide. That's assuming God had anything to do with them and those budgets.
What was that parable about building some tower and having sufficient bricks to build it?
God's thinking would be "live within it, within what is provided." And if God were really in charge and He really wanted to accomplish more, requiring more income, then He would provide it.
Live within the income! Doesn't that make sense? Less income: do less! More income: do more!
Whoever wrote that report made sense by saying: "...This is not a bad problem. God is giving the Church a good income; we just have to learn to live within it..."
The question is: Will they learn it before they again divide, splinter, disintegrate and scatter further into some spiritual wilderness of mountains, ravines, ditches to jump in between and "rocks" to munch on: more junk food?
Time will tell...
John
The UCG needs to continue to drop in the numbers of people who attend there. As the people leave the income will continue to drop. They remind me so much of the WCG in the late 80's and early 90's. We are glad to have left!
Income for UCG is actually up some 5% on the year, which is excellent considering the global economy.
What is being adjusted is outgo. I would not call this "struggling" but a reevaluation of expenses. UCG will adjust accordingly.
Where's the faith that the Lord will provide for His Work?
It's not a silver bullet, but one finds Christian organizations to be more authentic if the ministry is not living high on the hog.
I've come to believe that it's actually a sin to tithe to the types of people who spend moneys intended for the gospel on gold tableware, expensive works of art, multiple luxury homes and cars, and the like. The spirit of Gehazi is alive and well in most of Armstrongism!
BB
"UCG Still Struggling Financially"
You ain't seen nothing yet!
Some of the very same wicked leaders who helped the Tkach gang to change the WCG's doctrines and drop its attendance and income by about 90% are now firmly in charge of the UCG.
While these wolves do love to collect a paycheck, their desire to turn everyone away from the laws of God is so great that they will risk wiping out the UCG just like they did with the WCG.
Those who don't want a UCG repeat of what happened in the WCG under these very same scoundrels will now have to take their money elsewhere.
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