From a reader here with links to the Living Church of God:
In a recent article put out by LCG Rod Meredith appoints Dick Ames to be the successor to his throne. Even if Ames is the "face" they push as the new church leader, on paper and in truth it will be Jim Meredith. The Meredith's look at LCG as a 10 Million dollar a year "family business". They have said as much openly in the presence of many over they years. Of course I realize that Ames is Meredith's brother in-law (the nepotism in that organization is profound) but the money and power will be left to the son, Jim.
Unfortunately Jim has a proficiency for bankrupting business. That's how he ended up suckling off of his daddy's tit in the 1st place. His poor management and extravagant expenditures caused his California business to go belly-up so he was forced to come to Charlotte because he was broke. His daddy tried to make the move as comfortable as possible for him by putting him in charge of the Feast of Tabernacles so that he could travel the world, stay in fancy hotels and eat gourmet meals with the company credit card (I wonder how the tithing member who makes $300 a week feels about Jim spending $300 a night to stay at 4 and 5 star hotels with their tithe money). Jim dislikes Charlotte so much (cool people live in California after all) that he uses any excuse possible to leave town. His daddy also gave him a cushy executive office right next to his. Exactly where one would assume the 2nd in command would sit.
At least LCG is wise enough to know that (most) of the members would be outraged if they thought Jim was taking over so they peddle the rouse that Ames will be in control (although, so many of the members now blindly follow anything Rod Meredith he says regardless of its insanity).
When Rod Meredith dies and LCG implodes Jim will take the money and run (probably to Hawaii) where he will retire comfortably with his wife). I would venture to guess that legal paperwork is already in place to turn the bank accounts over to Jim as soon as the old man dies. Ironically, Jim is spending so much money on travel expenses and Feast sites that there may not be that much left in the end!
8 comments:
Not long ago, I was shown a letter written by an LCG member to a minister in another ACOG. Here is the letter, with some personal information removed:
Dear [minister’s name]:
[Family member and] I are at our wit’s end and don’t know what to do. [Family member] was baptized in [YEAR], and for a while we were both very excited to hear Dr. Meredith and the other ministers preaching from the Bible, teaching so many wonderful things.
When [my family member] moved to Charlotte, I was so happy for [my family member]. Unfortunately, what we have learned since then has torn us up inside.
The shocking truth is that Dr. Meredith is a constant liar who runs LCG for the benefit of his children and their friends. His children have broken civil laws and moral laws that would get any other member kicked out, but family members keep collecting their paychecks. The sheer amount of sin among Dr. Meredith’s own family members is hard to believe unless you see it for yourself. What is even harder to believe is that not only does he tolerate it, he rewards it with office jobs and big salaries. I know this is so hard for loyal LCG members to believe, but [family member] has seen it and could testify in court if required to. It isn’t false rumor.
Even aside from his own family members, Dr. Meredith puts other liars and abusive ministers in positions of authority, and when innocent people ask him about this he attacks or even disfellowships them. Because of this, LCG’s income is down, and Dr. Meredith may soon bankrupt LCG, just as he bankrupted GCG, though the liars around Dr. Meredith are taking big steps to hide this from members.
Behind their backs, Dr. Meredith says awful things about some of his top ministers. Ambitious younger ministers trash-talk Dr. Meredith and are eagerly waiting for him (and other older ministers) to die, so they can move up in the organization. There is no love or loyalty among the ministers in Charlotte, only competition.
Other LCG members have told us these kinds of problems are found in every Church of God headquarters office, and that it was even worse under Mr. Herbert Armstrong, so we should be glad it isn’t even worse than it is at LCG.
My question to you is simple. If [family member] moves to [Home Office city], will [family member] find more of the same, and become even more discouraged? I am concerned that if [family member] moves and only finds more of the same, the discouragement will be too much for either of us to bare.
Please, no more lies. Is [group name] a place where the leadership sincerely tries to live by the bible, and where people do not get ahead through lies and cruel acts? Or must we wait until Christ’s return to find peace and truth and decency in the ministers we rely on?
"My question to you is simple. If [family member] moves to [Home Office city], will [family member] find more of the same, and become even more discouraged? I am concerned that if [family member] moves and only finds more of the same, the discouragement will be too much for either of us to bare. Please, no more lies. Is [group name] a place where the leadership sincerely tries to live by the bible, and where people do not get ahead through lies and cruel acts? ...
As an adult, you have to know when it's pointless to ask a certain question. Every ACOG minister is going to whitewash the org that's paying him. He's being paid to lie for that org. It's a clear conflict of interest for him to tell the truth. You'll get nothing but more lies by asking a minister if his ACOG is corrupt or not.
These gentle folks have already been given the truth: "Other LCG members have told us these kinds of problems are found in every Church of God headquarters office, and that it was even worse under Mr. Herbert Armstrong..." They just don't want to accept that the ACOGs are not better than "the world" but worse than the average.
If LCG members have any regard for Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong's estimation of Rod Meredith, they should read this letter he wrote to the man:
1980 Letter from HWA to Meredith
Some choice quotes from that letter:
Rod, WHY have so many who have worked with you said that you rub the fur the wrong way?
Rod, in frankest candor, JESUS CHRIST will NEVER put anyone at the head of His Work on earth who is competitive, covetous of power and status, and [self-righteous]. In brutal frankness, you lack the charisma to lead God's work. You do not attract--as I said before, you REPEL people.
I began to realize very deeply that God has not prepared ANYONE to take my place. You, Rod, could never take it. I know that is 100% contrary to your own estimate of yourself. You have a WILL to lead, but not the qualifications.
Rod thought he was qualified to take over the Armstrong family business, but Armstrong had other ideas. Having gone through that disappointment, can anybody seriously believe Rod hasn't taken great care to make sure that what happened to him won't happen to Jim Meredith?
Ya know, it's just terrible when a family business has such a detrimental effect on those around it. Is it any wonder why Douglas (Mikey) uses the term "Mafia" to describe Armstrongism?
As I look over the span of history in which I have lived my life, it is a pretty darned magical and mystical era! The two most prominent negative impacts that I've been able to identify were the HWAcaca, and the Viet Nam war. Both involved involuntary conscription. As luck would have it, conscription to one got me out of conscription to the other. There was a third path, and I often wish that I had pursued it. The Navy was for the most part not involved in direct combat. Enlistment would probably have helped in getting an earlier start in recovery/normalization.
BB
Considering how often Meredith appears to act for his own benefit at the expense of his followers why do they think they have any obligations to be loyal to him?
(Incidentally PCG is also a family business.)
So does that make Jim Meredith 4th in all the universe? Oh no, we better all watch out! Shudder.
FYI the League/McNair inquisition has put people out of LCG for speculating about church division after Spanky dies.
All is well. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
There is no possible way that LCG members can be as stupid as they appear to be.
These people practically worship HWA and are willing to fight tooth and nail to defend every word he's ever written or spoken but yet they totally disregard what HWA said about Rod Meredith?
It just goes to show that people will fall for anything.
I would be willing to guess that there are some genuinely good people/ ministers in LCG. They can't all be bad. But if they sit back and watch the lying backbiters prevail they are promoting it. Why doesn't anyone have the courage to stand for what's right anymore?
Cowards!
PCG is like Hitler's concentration camp. All these cogs from wcg, look good on the outside but rotten in the inside and one only finds out once he is inside. They are all about power, control, money - all idolatry (covetousness according to the bible is and wanting people to bow down to them is definitely idolatry). It is amazing that until now, a lot of church people has not woken up to the truth that is right on our faces, that these ministers are a bunch of self-serving, covetous, control freak and law breaking modern day pharisees.
"Please no more lies"
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
That's the sheep saying to the wolf: "please become a vegetarian."
Fat chance.
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