Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Friday, December 13, 2019

United Church of God: Why Does It Even Exist?


United Church of God continues to struggle to be relevant in 2020. As they meet year after year to define why they exist, they just plod along expecting members to pick up the slack and give more and more money so the boys in Cincinnati can have their pet projects struggle along.

UCG is now looking to find a major donor to dish out tens of thousands of dollars to provide new housing for the students at their most superfantabulous "university."  Open your wallets, suckers!

Education Committee—Aaron Dean
The Education Committee (EC) has not been assigned any special work at this time. Mr. Dean took the time to give an update on continuing education items. ABC already has 18 applications received for the 2020-21 school year. There may be a housing problem next year. Mr. Dean is looking at the feasibility of putting together a group to buy some housing. He is looking to find out who would be interested in loaning funds for this purpose.
Their statistics are not much brighter either.  Most of their statistics are in decline.

Media and Communications Services—Peter Eddington
Peter Eddington went through some of the following statistics as of November 30 this year:
United News circulation is currently at 17,743, just below its all-time high of 17,795 and 5.7% more than this time last year.
Our coworker count is now at 6,525, our highest ever (and 3% higher than the same time last year).
Our donor list now includes 7,350 people—1% higher than this time last year. (Our all-time high was 9,564 in June of 2016.)
Total Beyond Today magazine circulation worldwide is at 294,703—which is 5% less than the same time last year and 9% less than two years ago.
U.S. magazine subscribers are at 241,014. This is 7% less than the same time last year.
The December subscriber development letter from Victor Kubik was sent to 179,166 subscribers. It offers the booklet, What Does the Bible Teach About Grace?
Responses are expected to begin coming in during the third week of December. This December letter is also designed to encourage end-of-year tax-deductible donations.
Those people on our U.S. file associated with the Church (teens, members, associated) is at 12,261.
The number of telephone and website responses from Beyond Today TV since 2006 stands at 341,773.
The number of Google, Yahoo and Bing advertising impressions since 2004 stands at 12.26 billion.
UCG.org is currently ranked the 16th highest Christian denomination website in the world by Alexa (in the past we have been as high as #9), and #46 among all Christian-related websites.
Beyond Today Results on YouTube:
13,052,761 = Total number of Beyond Today video views on YouTube since inception. (This includes BT programs, Dailies, Bible Studies and BT related videos.)
2,300,957 = Total number of Beyond Today video views on YouTube in past 12 months (December 4, 2018 – December 3, 2019).
Roku App Advertising Results:
221,290 channel installs (26% increase over last November).
536,969 unique viewers (45% increase over last November).
735,016 videos watched (40% increase over last November).
We have an average of 25,914 ads running per day and 665 videos being watched per day.
AmazonSmile Donations: The United Church of God continues to receive checks from the AmazonSmile Foundation. The amount donated to the Church as of November 30 is $10,496.

19 comments:

  1. Looking at the figures, they are not encouraging. A great deal of resources are being expended for less and less to show for it.
    "2,300,957 = Total number of Beyond Today video views on YouTube in past 12 months (December 4, 2018 – December 3, 2019)."

    Magazine subscribers 7% less than last year, yet videos get more hits shows who and what their audience is. Short attention span, means partial views of videos. More co-workers means that less people are committed to the UCG as they think about what the cult teaches, they haven't decided yet whether to join or move on. Interest will fade when economics dictates it.

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  2. Looking at the figures, they are not encouraging. A great deal of resources are being expended for less and less to show for it.
    "2,300,957 = Total number of Beyond Today video views on YouTube in past 12 months (December 4, 2018 – December 3, 2019)."

    Magazine subscribers 7% less than last year, yet videos get more hits shows who and what their audience is. Short attention span, means partial views of videos. More co-workers means that less people are committed to the UCG as they think about what the cult teaches, they haven't decided yet whether to join or move on. Interest will fade when economics dictates it.

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  3. These UCG people should think before they speak. They wrote:

    UCG.org is currently ranked the 16th highest Christian denomination website in the world by Alexa (in the past we have been as high as #9), and #46 among all Christian-related websites.

    I'm sure somebody thinks that those figures are worth bragging about, as they show UCG's importance and significance. Unfortunately, somebody didn't think hard enough. If the #9 Christian website in the whole world can produce such dismal real-world performance as UCG is experiencing, then what good is it? Is the disconnect between UCG's online image and real-world reality driving potential members away? Is UCG spending money on websites that it should be spending to make its congregations healthy? Or is the #9 placement the result of money wasted on expensive advertising that isn't delivering real-world results?

    There are literally hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Christian denominations with more members, bigger budgets, and better reputations than UCG. That a dysfunctional mess such as UCG can purchase the #9 ranking is an embarrassment, not a credit, too UCG.

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  4. The UCG still is a godless mess in decline no matter how many numbers it or anyone else makes up.

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  5. Whatever else you may say about UCG, its magazine currently has the widest reach. November circulation figures:

    Beyond Today: 294,000
    Tomorrow's World: 292,000
    Philadelphia Trumpet: 246,123

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  6. Anonb December 13, 2019 at 6:54 AM

    The UCG is in fail mode. With the numbers you presented their income should be much, much higher. Perhaps people are getting all these free magazines in order to heat their homes seeing how the income of "the work" is so piss-poor?

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  7. "Mr. Dean is looking at the feasibility of putting together a group to buy some housing. He is looking to find out who would be interested in loaning funds for this purpose."

    >>> First rule of thumb when it comes to "lending money". If a bank is not willing to lend someone money, then you should NEVER lend someone money either! What happens when this deal goes bad, and a private lender has to repossess his property, an face down his own church who has defaulted? Remember the fiasco with Meredith and private member lenders to his then "Global Church of God"?

    Apparently , United has only had 120 baptisms in the last year according to these council reports, in a footnote that is deeply buried. With a $19 Million Dollar budget for UCG, that equals a cost of $158, 333 per new baptized member.

    Than number is ridiculous, and shows how unsustainable the current business model is. A new member will likely not ever pay his "replacement cost" over his "tithing lifetime". When one realizes that likely 75% of those new baptized people were members children or relatives, it means that perhaps only THIRTY! people came into the entire organization from all of its media efforts en toto!

    Couldn't members just bang on a trash can with a hammer in the front of their house for marketing, and do so just as ineffectively in results, but doing so a LOT LESS EXPENSIVELY?

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  8. while I'm not a member of UCG, the bigger issue here is that you folks associate high numbers with success.....

    not so at all.

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  9. November circulation figures

    And Bible News Prophecy (CCOG) ? "The fastest-growing COG of the century"
    And Twenty-first Century Watch (ICG)? GTA's legacy

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  10. Anon December 13, 2019 at 9:28 AM said:

    "the bigger issue here is that you folks associate high numbers with success.....
    not so at all."

    For the commission they claim they have, the ucg is a dismal failure.

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  11. More like any numbers, 9:28! The problem is, when you are dealing with the whole idea of good stewardship over people's tithes and offerings, and considering the great commission of "making disciples" a reasonable method of measurement can only be how many new members are added. Don't you think that that would be God's way of measuring as well? Look at the multitudes added at the birth of Christianity! Jesus himself expressed that He must be about His Father's work, and ended up shaking the very foundations of the religious establishment of His day.

    Doesn't it appear that not a single ACOG is being blessed or validated by God? Or has been in recent decades? As nearly as I can determine, the only "work" that was actually vibrant and growing was the ACOG in Jamaica. Just as it appeared positioned to really take off, Pastor Ian Boyne suddenly passed away. That convinced me more than ever that God does not want Armstrongism infecting the lives of sincere people who aspire to follow Jesus Christ. And also that Armstrongism is beyond even being able to be reformed, as Ian surely attempted in the best ways possible to do.

    BB

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  12. All the ACOGs are the antithesis of the parable of the talents, Spiritually dominating members and chaining them to their church is their highest priority. Where is their mantra give way, and genuine outgoing concern in this policy? So Gods blessing is lacking. Herb fanboys ignore this elephant in the room.

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  13. And again Jesus began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

    Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

    But some seed fell among LCG; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

    And some seed fell on UCG; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

    And some fell on COGWA, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.

    And He said to them, He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

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  14. BB, you know so little about Ian Boyne and the Jamaicans.

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  15. Anonymous said...
    Whatever else you may say about UCG, its magazine currently has the widest reach. November circulation figures:

    Beyond Today: 294,000
    Tomorrow's World: 292,000
    Philadelphia Trumpet: 246,123

    Yea but, RCG blows them all away with number of trees planted...

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  16. "For the commission they claim they have, the ucg is a dismal failure."


    only if you equate numbers with success.....the commission is to make disciples from all nations, not to convert everyone you come into contact with.....might be 1 or 2 here, 2 or 3 there...

    God does the calling, and He places people in The Church as it pleases Him....all any organization can do is spread the good news, they can't control who responds.

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  17. 4:09, you can't just make a drive by statement like that without presenting what you feel are the relevant facts to support your opinion. Ian Boyne was a controversial figure, but he spent a considerable amount of time with us here, joining in on our discussions as a regular participant. We got to know him and his methods and agendas in a first-hand way, and were able to question and cross examine him in ways that no other ACOG "leader" would permit. Because he treated us with respect, he enjoyed a great deal of respect from many of us in return.

    Maybe you weren't around them, or didn't join in on that opportunity while it was available? Perhaps you want to trash him and his work now that he's no longer here to defend himself? Or, most likely, perhaps you are Bob Thiel?

    BB

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  18. BB why do you always assume a negative? Why would I trash Ian? CGI was the only thing I really had against him, that and his Armstrong spokesman trophy that he gave out every Feast of Tabernacles. I said you don't know him or the because you don't, hell I don't either and I've met him personally and kept two Feast of Tabernacles with him and the Jamaican brethren. But in all honesty I don't have to explain a damn thing to you!

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  19. But, yet you did explain, 11:54, and with angry and negative language. No wonder you post as "anonymous"! Whoever you are, Banned was a better place when Ian was here and you were not.

    BB

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