Poor United Church of God......just when they want the world to believe they are the best thing since Sizzlean, along comes a story about their Wisconsin Dells feast site. Due to declining membership rolls because of it's inability to retain members and draw in new ones, UCG has had to downsize yet again.
The long time Feast site at Wisconsin Dells is no longer financially viable due to declining attendance and for 2016 and 2017 the Feast of Tabernacles has been booked at the Olympia Resort Hotel, Spa & Conference Center in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The numbers of attendees is so small that all brethren can potentially stay at the same facility.
Vic Kubik writes: One advantage of moving to the Olympia Resort Hotel, Spa & Conference Center is that it will potentially save the Church over $30,000. Another advantage is that for the first time in Wisconsin most brethren will be staying at the same location, at the host hotel.
So Vic has saved $30,000...will he will soon waste it on another failed media campaign or dump into UCG's so called Bible College.
How many years do we have to wait till the wrecking crews tear down their office building?
Loving the God who tries with bad weather , I imagine Bob Thiel uses this gem to get his folks to attend his feast. Perhaps UCG needs to be more threatening with dire consequences if you don't show up. Can you imagine the attitude folks would be in "of all nations of the earth" if thy were forced to come worship the Hebrew cultic mountain God YHVH or no rain and no food. What kind of idea is this????? It just doesn't work well to tell folks of different persuasions, "you MUST show up and you MUST be SINCERE in doing so." Good luck with that one. It's like saying, "You MUST relax." The "Must" puts stress on the tense and kinda negates the "relax" concept.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, any Church member can sit home and imagine each and every sermon to be given because they hear it all every week , over and over, in sermons way too long and for which they have driven way to far to hear.
I'm surprised Dave Pack hasn't told folks to keep the feast locally but send him the money they would have spent had they planned to keep the feast in Tahiti.
Zechariah 14:16
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.…
Will the beds have "magic fingers" and is there free HBO and ESPN in the rooms? If so, my husband and I will sign up!
ReplyDeleteI know this area well. It is not a resort area. Oconomowac is a small city located in a rural, prime farming area. The closest large city is Milwaukee which is a little more then 30 minutes away. It is devoid of many of the family like attractions that are concentrated in the small resort town of Wisconsin Dells.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying there is nothing to do there but you have to drive a lot farther to get to those attractions. I am wondering what reasoning went into selecting this site it is not really suburban but is close enough to the Milwaukee suburbs that some may think that it is part of the metropolitan Milwaukee area.
I attended the Wisconsin Dells feast-site many times before I left Armstrongism. I wonder why the leadership of the UCG couldn't find a less expensive meeting place in the city filled with hotels and conference centers. Could it be that they are tired of the competition of the other splinter groups meeting there? Could this be a subtle way of saying to the UCG membership that they should avoid other splinter groups for fear of losing more of their precious few members. I don't think this is just about saving money directly but indirectly as well by saving members from leaving.
Most church members are old and frail. So what do they do at the feast. Maybe they race each other in their wheelchairs, ha ha, a joke. They must put them in the same building to minimize the strain of travel. No disrespect meant. The angels and God must have pity on us humans when we become old farts.
ReplyDeleteDeclining attendance is due to lack of popular interest. Plus, their recruitment "message" isn't just subliminal, it is all but invisible. Factors beyond their control have obsoleted their outreach. If they want to put New Covenant wine into Old Covenant wineskins, they should just teach that there are blessings for keeping the sabbath, holy days, eating clean meats, and since there is no temple, indulging in love-based charity with a basic guideline of 10% rather than tithing to a corporate structure. Jettison the failed prophetic elements, and Herbolatry.
ReplyDeleteBB
I read that the C of G use Zech 14:16 to prove that we should observe the F of T today. A first year Bible student knows that CONTEXT is important. Verse 21 speak of animal sacrifices. So, if this passage proves we must observe the F of T, because it will be done in the Kingdom, then why don't they offer animal sacrifices also?
ReplyDeleteEvery organization, movement, giant company, etc. had an outstanding founder, often a talented narcissist like HWA. Usually, they've capitalized on something unique, like he did with the dominance of radio and print publishing coupled with clever advertising techniques.
ReplyDeleteThings are vastly different today. We aren't emerging from a great depression followed by a cataclysmic world war. It's a little harder to get people all "gaga' over nonsense books like Daniel and Revelation, especially in an information age. That ship sailed, sprang a leak and sank a long time ago. It will never float again, no matter how much these wannabee apostles, prophets, Zerubabels, etc. want it to.
ReplyDelete“The numbers of attendees is so small that all brethren can potentially stay at the same facility.”
That is assuming that those godless, disunited UCG weirdos can all stand to be around each other that long. More likely, there needs to be some more splitting soon.
That is assuming that those godless, disunited UCG weirdos can all stand to be around each other that long.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising how alcoholics can stay together if only there's enough booze.
Alcohol is the solution.
If there is a shortage of recreational activities in the area, all they need to do is return to the traditional two services per day format!
ReplyDeleteConnie Schmidt said, "Will the beds have "magic fingers" and is there free HBO and ESPN in the rooms? If so, my husband and I will sign up!"
ReplyDeleteSorry, Connie!
At the UCG's "Feast", the closest you'll have to a 'magic-finger' bed is something like this.
Or, one of the UCG's "feast stalker pervs" will try to put his 'magic-fingers' all over you, while an aspiring deacon distracts your husband with his 'position of power' parking lot lightsaber flashlight (or a "hot deal" on feast bumper stickers).
And yes!... There will also be free HBO (Herbie's Boneheaded Oratory) and ESPN (Earth Shaking 'Plain-Truth-style' News) on the TV.
Honk, honk!
A suggestion was made that if there's a shortage of recreational activities in the area, all they need to do is return to the traditional two services per day format.
ReplyDeleteHWA's version of the Feast of Booths is far from a biblical interpretation. His luxury edition Booths was completely against the Bible's mandate.
HWA's version was basically throwing his church members a bone, so they could have some fun once a year, although he submersed himself in luxury year-round.
That odd "HWA version" of the Feast has continued in 99 percent of the splinters, because it was a brilliant selling point- although completely unbiblical.
People in high-demand cults need to be thrown a bone, and those still in armstrongism love to gnaw on this one.
"Mmmm, I luv my bone! Chomp, chomp. I can almost taste the meat. It's a taste of the Kingdom. It's the BEST FEAST EVER!"
About 10 people still attend services at the Dell's. Most are in Milwaukee church. I attended once. At dells...Was a video about heresy....blatantly anti other splits. It was a dead church...I never went back.
ReplyDelete