Those fun and elite boys in Cincninatti are still up to their old tricks in making their followers toe-the-line when it comes to Feast registrations for the "elite" sites. These are the sites that only the rich in the UCG attend. God forbid if they had to fellowship with the lower class unwashed masses.
The telling things from the quote below that is from the Church of God News site is the comment from the boys in Cincinnati and how they do not want members who want to attend the Feast at the Edgewater in Panama City to find accommodations OUTSIDE the selected high rate hotel. If the lower income members did that then the UCG would have to pay $20,000.00 a day. Yes, you read that right, they booked a site that could potentially cost them $20,000.00 a day. One large conference room in a resort hotel, not a large convention center like Tucson or St. Pete. I am sure this will make Lil'Jimmy Meredith jealous as can be!
Notice how they try to "guilt trip" church members into going to the less desirable sites by making them feel guilty in not assisting the "vulnerable and disadvantaged." Perhaps the ministry of the church should set the right example for once in their life and do what they expect the members to do. They should be the ones assisting and working with the "vulnerable and disadvantaged" instead of indulging their privileged posteriors in high end resorts as they isolate themselves in "ministerial hospitality" suites.
The Planning Brochure for the Festival of Tabernacles 2017 is now online.Viktor Kubik writes: “Over the years we have greatly deregulated the assigning of entire churches to a specific Feast site because they were so large and we had to control attendance. But that has not been done in some time, and our current laissez faire system has worked well.
However, at some of the less popular sites we do have shortages of able people to care for physical needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. God does care for them, and so should we.
One of the most popular sites will be the Edgewater at Panama City, Florida. Charles Melear writes: “Sometimes a person can find a better deal for Feast housing by searching the Internet. But ...
If every member did that, the rental for the Edgewater Beach Resort would be $162,000 and we wouldn’t be able to have the Feast there.”
Over $20,000 per day for a meeting venue?
The venue is so expensive because of the lavish facilities provided at the Edgewater (and at many venues used by other corporate Churches of God).Those members who can afford to stay there can probably afford to pay more to enable the Church to pay less. Church of God News
10 comments:
I'll bet that after they told their Midwestern titheslaves the church could "no longer afford" the Wisconsin Dells facility, and and then substituted crappy (by comparison) Oconomowoc WI, the sheep voted with their feet and abandoned the new dive!
They need to have a certain number of obedient members paying full price for their rooms at the going price, so that the ministers get free accommodations and a free meeting room. If there are not enough gullible members subsidizing the elite, it could cost them $20,000.00 a day out of pocket for their rooms. We can't have that now, can we?
Thomas Munson
Reminds me of how uncomplicated the High Holy Days were when I lived in a Jewish community. The FOT was at the local synagogue, which would be packed. There were no collections and no tithing, so to guarantee a seat, you had to be a paid-up member of that synagogue - about $500 per year.
On page 6 of their brochure:
Have you served when asked to volunteer?
If you were asked to volunteer, you didn't really volunteer! If you are expected to serve when "asked" to volunteer, you especially didn't volunteer. Can these poor brainwashed souls even see how they are being abused?
The venue doesn't coast $20,000 a day. But they guarantee to the hotel that they will fill 50 percent or 70 percent of all rooms. It's a condition in the contract and if it's not filled up by Church members, then the Church has to pay for all empty rooms!
"God does care for them and so should we"
Really? When does this miracle occur in reality?
Paul Woods, pastor of the Seventh Day Church of God of Caldwell, Idaho, is again having the Feast in Fruitland, Washington. The accommodations are not fancy. He's told me personally, that the average cost for a member to attend is $20 per day.
The difference between the Seventh Day Church of God (with other independent Sabbath keeping churches, such as the New Life Church of God Seventh Day with Rick Odegard pastor) and any ACoG is that their keeping of the Feast is centered on worship, fellowship and Christian activities, such as Bible Studies and some seminars. They don't go there to enjoy the beach, water slides, tour the city, go shopping, eat out in restaurants, go parasailing, take helicopter rides and have a mini vacation that isn't. It's all about Christianity, God and mostly Jesus.
Post ACoG people come from time to time, but find, as one man so aptly put it, "It's not for me". The culture shock is far too great and it just doesn't offer that much that Armstrongists are really interested in -- which is not surprising, since the CoHAM is all about the physical and physical rituals to acquire salvation by works without much in the way of real redemption. There's this huge gulf....
You should ask yourself, "Is this really what God would want me to do?" It's honesty time. If you are one of the elite who can afford it, should you? Is the trip going to really benefit you spiritually, or will it be a spiritual detriment by engaging in and wallowing in self satisfaction? Are you there to rise up and play? If so, you are missing whatever point the idolaters of British Israelism are pretending to have.
You boozing alcoholics have fun carousing, but remember that the hangover can be brutal.
Meanwhile, the UCG has you. You're addicted.
You need to hope you will always have the money to spend because when you run out, it will be like feeding the bears....
"'God does care for them and so should we' Really? When does this miracle occur in reality?"
My thought too! People have to care for them because "god" never does a damn thing.
This has been going on for years and its not only United who do it. All the big church of God groups do this and some of the smaller ones too. Elitism is rampant.
I've actually many years ago, 20 plus years, attended a feast site where it was revealed by a rookie minister to shocked members that the festival elder had actually allocated brethren rooms himself. Giving the best rooms, sea views, huge rooms to his friends and family.It was total corrupt micromanaging. Rival elders or anyone who'd crossed him where put into awful small rooms.
The reality of what goes on is even far worse than people think. I've encountered members who are practically starving at the feast surviving on a cup of soup because they can barely afford the hotel rates whilst the elite have church credit accounts buying round after round of alcoholic drinks. Shame on the elite.
I always enjoyed attending the Feast at Edgewater in PCB...it's nice, but I'd hardly consider it an upscale venue.
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