The Philadelphia Church of God tries to portray itself as the most successful COG splinter group that has ever existed.
It has wasted millions of dollars in fighting WCG over publishing rights in a court case they lost and ended up paying WCG millions of dollars. It has built multimillion dollar buildings on its compound in order to imitate the Pasadena campus. It built a mini-me concert hall patterned after the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. It has built luxurious homes for Flurry and his relatives. Its now building a dance studio for the use of Flurry's grandkids so they can do Irish dance. It dropped multiple millions in Edstone England for an estate that allows easy access to Ireland and Scotland where Jesus will return to earth establishing his kingdom upon David's throne that will kept safe by Flurry, apparently because Flurry will have immediate access to the Stone of Scone and probably have it in his possession. Money seems to flow freely for pet projects of the Flurry family no matter how ultimately absurd they may be.
Now word is out from PCG members that the church admits it had no idea on how expensive it would be to run its new monument to Herbert Armstrong. Money is now so tight that PCG can't afford to turn on its Swarovski chandeliers for its own members to light the way to bible study or church services. However, if you are the pagan, Sunday worshipping, pork eating public, you get the full lighting extravaganza! Woo Hoo!
The PCG can't even afford to light the balcony or chandeliers on Friday nights for BS! Mr. Turgeon made the announcement that they didn't realize how expensive it would be to run the Auditorium. Duh! Talk about "counting the cost". The only time you'll ever see the chandeliers lit up is for a concert or performance, us lowly tithe payers aren't worthy enough! If you don't believe me, then just drive by HQs on any given Friday night during BS, and you'll just see darkness.
Its about time for the Flurry clan to start demanding that church members sell more property, cash in retirement funds and give everything they have for the final push. How many will be stupid enough to do it?
As usual the church members get shit upon by the big birds. They paid for it all but cant use it. That is the reason for the new dance hall being built for Flurry's family and selected people. It's too expensive to let them use the audiitorium.
ReplyDeleteDo they really refer to Bible study as BS?
ReplyDeleteThey did in Pasadena so Flurry has to imitate that too.
ReplyDeleteWhat do we make of this?
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing admission for which the Turge-Burglar will be reprimanded? A subtle call for additional offerings?
Is this a natural cause and effect function of Armstrongian economics no matter where or by whom they are practiced?
And, it's actually less expensive to build a whole other building than to pay for some extra days of electricity?
This is yet another example of the cloudy financials which always seem to follow Armstrongism around. "It is not your prerogative to evaluate God's ministers, brethren! Your responsibility ends once the money is given!" (Restored truth #?)
BB
In Chapter 2 of Stephen Flurry's 2006 book, Raising the Ruins, he wrote the following about Ambassador Auditorium. 'Yet another legacy that was neither heavy nor burdensome.'
ReplyDeleteNo wonder PCG's leaders decided to build Armstrong Auditorium. They thought it would not be burdensome.
And now it seems that PCG's leaders learned the hard way that it is rather expensive and burdensome to maintain a building like that. They should have thought about it first before building it.
But it is the members who are expected to once again endure the folly of PCG's leaders. It was the members who paid for it but it is PCG members who are expected by the PCG leadership who have to endure the lights being off.
Actions speak louder than words. How much of a priority are the PCG members for PCG's leaders?
But why did Gerald Flurry decide to build Armstrong Auditorium? To honor (PCG's) God? Or was it because of "conspicuous consumption"?
ReplyDeleteBack in the 19th Century the economist Thorstein Veblen coined the term conspicuous consumption. Here's the introduction from the article in Wikipedia.
"Conspicuous consumption is the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power—of the income or of the accumulated wealth of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, such a public display of discretionary economic power is a means either of attaining or of maintaining a given social status."
Is that why PCG's 1% chose to build Armstrong Auditorium?
The buildings the church has built since the days of HWA seem to serve the vanity of the leadership for the most part. They certainly do not serve the brethren.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who paid for the super dooper auditorium in Pasadena mostly never got to see it let alone go to services there.
The fancy school was only for the children of the elite.
We of the great unwashed only paid for everything. At Feasts they took the chief seats while herding us cattle into the cheap seats and rooms at hotels.
We were kept strictly segregated from the holier than thou ministry, weren't we!
Flurry and Pack continue the tradition with fancy encampments to impress the world.
The outer beauty belies the inner rot though.
Putting up these buildings is following the Roman Catholics with their lavish cathedrals. It's the same psychology. Keeping the lights low for members is the high status big people, letting the low status little people, know that they are the little people.
ReplyDeleteFlurry is trying to be like HWA in every. His org. will also splinter and fade away just like the WCG has done. The sad thing is all the peoples lives he is destroying in the process.
ReplyDeleteA few summers back Paula Malone told a group of us that her electric bill was almost $700.!!!! She blamed the college kids that constantly walked in and out of her house, she made the excuse that each student liked a certain temperature! Wow! We all stood there with our mouths open!
ReplyDeleteYes, it gets pretty hot and humid here in Edmond, but I've never had a bill even remotely close to that!
Michele Hilliker is telling us that we should all roast our own coffee beans from now on, that it's the only way to enjoy a real cup of coffee, it also doesn't hurt that little Joel got her a $1,500. Coffee maker for their anniversary.
The Starbucks on 2nd Street in Edmond is always full of the upper echelon of PCG ministers and employees while the rest of us might be lucky to have a crappy cup of gas station coffee once in awhile.
There's really no reason for anyone to venture out of HQs! There's and onsite mechanic and car shop for any repairs, gas tanks to always fill up your many luxury cars, full kitchen and staff at the John Amos Field House to cook and deliver whatever you like, at any time. Schools and college on site, garden, large swimming pool, etc.
Of course, we can't forget the announcement we hear every year before Passover! Don't ask any students or teens to watch your children for Passover services, they are reserved for the ministry and faculty!
Did I mention they have babysitters any time they need them? And they never get paid for it because it's part of service?
One of my most vivid, and telling, memories, coming right AFTER full freedom from Armstrong slavery, was when a fellow in my current church (been there 20 years now) pointed out how much I was COMPARING myself to others around me. For what it's worth, he directed me to Ephesians 4:13, where it talks about Christians becoming "mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." My friend told me, "Only compare yourself to Jesus."
ReplyDeleteThere is also: "We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." 2 Cor. 10:12
COMPARING is what all these splinter COGs have been about, about "proving" they are the most blessed one, and you should come here (or, at least, send your money). Flurry believed that somehow re-creating what was in Pasadena, including the Auditorium, was his proof that Herbert's mantle had passed to him. God would surely back that up by ALWAYS seeing there was enough money, right?
To the Dave Pack followers who come here (I won't tell!): feeling smug that you're not in such a situation, with your man's personal Fantasyland? He'll tell you it's a vision from God for the work God's given him, but it's just him trying to keep up with Flurry's extravagance to prove he is God's chosen instead.
Pack posted, just a few days ago, a new video about his enclave, currently WITHOUT an Auditorium, but he manages to ooze the attitude of "Aren't we just the greatest group on Earth?" nonetheless. The planned Auditorium isn't mentioned, but is briefly seen in a shot of a computer screen (oops! bad edit!). What is emphasized is what's already up. But I betcha haven't paid for it all!
It's all about pimping the bling!
ReplyDeleteI think that it just continues to represent how spiritually devoid the PCG is.
Even though the members sacrificed and paid for the damn building, they are not even entitled to use it! Sheeple, that auditorium was apparently built for the world, NOT God's servants. Wake up and take it back! Imagine several families, supposedly of the very elect, willing to pay for the electricity, so that they can go there to sing their praises and love to God or even to inspire each other by enjoying what they so dearly sacrificed for. I'll even bet that if they rented it out, church members would probably end up paying way more than the secular world would be asked to pay.
Why is that so?
Ostentation not financial responsibility is now the order of the day for PCG.
ReplyDeleteFor example you would think in this day and age an organization which claims to want to take its message “to the largest audience possible” would be using the latest and most effective methods technology makes available to reach as many people as possible. Not so with PCG. At Edmond HQ TV, radio and hard copy print are essentially doctrines the departure from which is viewed as some kind of sin.
The conventional wisdom is that because HWA did it so must we. No one seems even remotely capable of original or creative thinking in getting the message out. It all comes down to slavish imitation of 1980’s WCG.
Say what you want about the WCG, one thing was true, back in the day they were experts at effective media use and advertising. In short the WCG knew how to reach people. However times and methods of communication have changed and competent organizations understand old methods as employed by the WCG no longer work. Sadly the PCG cannot wrap its collective mind around this simple concept. To them prestige not communication is everything, we must have an auditorium, we must have chandeliers, we must have two colleges, we must impress with a huge TV listing just like Worldwide.
Having closely observed how the PCG operates it is now apparent that results never really mattered, what was important all along was simply prestige and status in mimicking HWA more than the other ex-WCG groups.
The following story illustrates my point: In the UK the PCG airs it programme the Key of David three times each week on national TV on CBS Drama, CBS Reality and CBS Action. These episodes air every Saturday and Sunday. PCG's TV station listing can be found here:
https://www.thetrumpet.com/key_of_david/station_listing
A bit of research will show you that 2016 TV prices in the UK for a station like CBS conservatively would be around $7,500 per episode. Even assuming they get multiple-purchase discounts for three episodes airing on CBS's Saturday-Sunday AM graveyard shift, PCG would still be spending a minimum of around $17,500-$20,400 per week on TV. This equates to a total spend of around $910,000-$1.06M annually!
In a recent story on the pcog website there is an item stating that on April 3 the UK regional office received a record total of 279 responses over that weekend. That’s right only 279 responses, and this was a record for them! That’s around $63-$73 per response folks! An average SEO manager with a modest adwords budget of one or two thousand dollars could better that. Even a few volunteers handing out flyers in a shopping mall or parking lot could beat that!
This same story makes for some interesting reading:
- Previous record was set by the March 13 program was only 266!
- Stephen Flurry said, “The television program in the UK gives us the opportunity to distribute hundreds of books and booklets each week”. Notice he says hundreds, not thousands and further he says this weekly TV spend is a “relatively low cost”!
The full story can read here:
https://www.pcog.org/articles/2422/edstone-mail-department-fulfills-record-response-to-i-key-of-david-i
All this on the back of PCG’s recent $6.6M UK purchase of it new college and current 25% drop in income and people wonder they can’t afford to turn the lights on at HQ!
Those aren't the only lights they can't turn on...
ReplyDeleteIt's an insane asylum where those running the place are the craziest.
ReplyDelete[Hint: When your outgo is greater than your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.]
Delusions in the real world will be quite painful when reality sets in during the inevitable crash.
These people act as if entropy doesn't exist.
Why isn't PCG using WIND POWER?
ReplyDeleteBetween Stephen and Gerald Flurry's flatulence, gas, and blow hardness, there should be plenty of wind to harvest!
I was living in Edmond in 1998, when they began trying to start the building project. I remember at the time...is this the work that God wants the PCG to do? Flurry had been emphasizing waking up Laodiceans and warning the world. In the beginning, the building project was talked about as primarily for more office & storage space, & a bigger hall for services.
ReplyDeleteAfter I left Edmond, this "WORK" expanded into schools, homes for the "ministry", ect. It was then that I knew PCG had switched gears completely, and instead of really trying to help the Laodiceans and anyone else on the outside, they were going to take care of themselves and put a show on for anyone else (who cared to watch).
I have long since left PCG and don't miss it one bit!
Since 1975, not a single penny of my hard earned cash has gone to any of these privileged (in their estimation) wannabee Herberts or the original farce either. I really pity those who still think they owe some self-proclaimed "spritiual Levite" a giant chunk of their wealth. It's hard enough just to make it in this world without some leeches constantly badgering one for money. Allen C. Dexter
ReplyDelete"The only time you'll ever see the chandeliers lit up is for a concert or performance, us lowly tithe payers aren't worthy enough!"
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the corporate world, where bullshit is served as the main course. Profits before people. The corporate way!
"You light up my life, you give me hope... to carry on...."
ReplyDeleteOops!
They can't afford electricity for the Auditorium, but you can bet they won't spare any expense for Grant Turgeons wedding! Will it be mandatory attendance like all of their functions are? Wonder where the young couple will register. The upper echelon live to register at Williams Sanoma, because, well, isn't that where we all shop?
ReplyDeleteWayne Turgeon doesn't spare any expense on himself or his family! Have you looked on eBay to see what even a Used Irish dancing costume costs? Plus the travel involved! Wow! No wonder they keep the Auditorium dark!
Good ol' Wayne Turgeon! We were curious why Mr. Turgeon always commented about his wife being a very jealous person. That has been answered for us by a new HQs employee. Seems this person went to college with Mr. T and has quite a history with him. This person likes to drink at different gatherings and oh, the stories they tell! We have found out that Mr. T had quite a history as being a ladies man at Ambassador and was even caught climbing out of a young ladies window one night. Also about certain incidents of his drunken behavior.
ReplyDeleteThis person also had a family member that was neighbors to the Flurry family and likes to tell stories of how Mr. Flurry constantly screamed at his wife and kids.
Hmm....this person has a job at HQs and is such a blabber mouth, why does Turgeon kept them employed? Makes you wonder what they aren't telling!
With friends that are PCG members, who needs enemies?
Anon @3:18 AM - Haha. That "roasting your own coffee" bit has really taken off down there at HQ hasn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because I lived at HQ for nearly 3 years and always got annoyed by every little new fad that would come infest the local congregation. By the time I left there was so much of it to be had I'd wondered to myself how many people actually read into these things. Sure roasting your own coffee beans might be fun and maybe have a few benefits over store bought stuff but I always felt like these fads got so far out of hand to the point where they get made into church doctrine kind of like the Irish dance shit.
Anon @3:20 - Grant Turgeon is getting married? I thought the little boy was still in his teens? Also not defending the practice but I heard a couple of years ago that all of the Irish Dance costumes that the PK's have were all home made by several of their mothers. I could be wrong though.
Anon @8:20am - Source or GTFO
If Grant Turgeon really is getting married, he should consider naming his first son Londry D.
ReplyDeleteWhen I comment about reproduction, I try to keep it clean.
ReplyDelete"PCG Wayne Turgeon Admits Church Can't Afford To Light Up HWA Auditorium For Church Members"
The physical darkness will go well with the spiritual darkness in the PCG. The PCG members can bumble around in both together. They love darkness because their deeds are evil. They should keep their sexual immorality in the darkness, rather than do it in broad daylight.
Why doesn't Flurry just teach the "common" doctrine just like Pack in RCG? Pack claims now to be Elijah and That Prophet. And that all you own belongs to the Church. He even wrote a letter/ booklet to the brethren explaining that if "one did have a million dollars, that they could keep $15,000, and give the rest to HQ."
ReplyDelete