Special News Delivery:
According to cog-assembly.org:
"October 3rd, 2020
There are a little less than 400 people in attendance for the only COGA US Feast site at Lake of the Ozarks."
COGwriter has also received a report detailing the number of individuals who attended the Feast with Monson:
"10/19/20 p.m. Received a report from an attendee at the COGA Feast of Tabernacles site at the Lake of the Ozarks. He stated that nearly 400 were in attendance and hundreds watched online. He said it went well and that there were a lot of families there."
In addition to that I heard Monson himself confirm that he possesses supporters outside the US in countries like Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago. He named a few other countries but I cannot remember their names. So from the information I have gathered, I believe there could be close to or around 500 members. Maybe more or less.
According to cog-assembly.org and another source:
Ministers who were or are with LCG, who are now (more than likely with Monson):
Todd Lawrence
Jason Fritts
Mike Kreyer
Larry Alverio
Mike Elertson (he might not be a minister anymore but I do not know for sure)
Randy Wayne
Other LCG employee's / workers of some sort (who as far as I know are or were not ministers):
Kevin Lee (Tomorrow's World announcer)
Marvin Hill (Deacon)
Darren Lee (accountant at LCG headquarter)
Skip Stephenson (married to a Scarborough daughter, and former LCG employee)
John Wheeler (guest writer for LCG)
Sheldon Munson at the Feast flashed this announcement:
"October 10th, 2020
Monson announces that COGA will run a two-week Teen Camp as well as a Preteen Camp next year."
Guess that's all for now. If I hear anything more I'll report it more than likely.
Best regards,
NDA
Gerald Weston sure made an ass of himself by pulling his stunt with Sheldon. It backfired gloriously!
ReplyDeleteI consider Monson a more legitimate splinter group of LCG than Bob Thiel's pathetic farce. I hope Monson does well.
Okay that's fair enough. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. But Bob I think had more legitimate reasons to exit LCG than Sheldon.
DeleteI attended Ambassador with Sheldon and he was a pretty decent fellow when I knew him at school. Down to earth and a pretty good head on his shoulders. I have only positive memories of him. He was an assistant instructor in the typing class and he was the only one that the position didn't go to his head LOL. Several others in the early twenties demanded that you called them mister.
DeleteThe splintering continues. There's typically a period of peace for the members until the ministers regroup and impose the former top down lording structure.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your honeymoon newbies.
To me the numbers are sufficient enough to wish them well on their endeavors.
ReplyDeleteI see they rented a hall for 900 and had less than 400 in attendance signalling a measure of care.
For sure the smiley in the header of their website did not escape my attention and I really like it.
I do agree with the first 3 comments on this topic, however I am looking forward to "good tidings and fruits" from the new sprout in the greater cog movement. I am also expecting scrutiny if by any standard they fail to adhere to the minimum of social behavior. Looking at the flag counter I'd like to point out that this blog at least reaches 200 of such standards of behavior.
nck
No new members coming onboard, so let's keep shuffling the deck!
ReplyDeleteHow many wacko groups is it now meeting in Branson & Ozarks?
I think "dueling" with pistols , like they did back in the 1700s should be used for all of these COG spats.
ReplyDeleteThe drama is over with more quickly this way, and has a "finality" and certainty to it all.
I consider Monson a more legitimate splinter group of LCG than Bob Thiel's pathetic farce.
ReplyDeleteBut Bob I think had more legitimate reasons to exit LCG than Sheldon.
Like the chicken that crossed the road said, "I had my reasons". I'm sure Bob had more reasons to leave LCG (don't we all?) but who had the bigger following? I never heard of Sheldon, but it's reported that 400 members went with him, compared to a handful who went with Bob.
How many members does Bob Thiel have?
DeleteAnonymous October 21, 2020 at 5:30 PM:
Delete"How many members does Bob Thiel have?"
Around or close to 5,000 if I can remember correctly. Compared to LCG, they are the second largest group.
5,000?!?! How is that even possible? The guy is a late-comer and, honestly, intellectually, nobody. How did he manage to gather these five thousand people? And how many of them are from the Western World, as opposed to the Third World countries?
DeleteIt should also be mentioned that the website listed here is fake. It is not endorsed by COWA and was put up by a likely bitter LCG member. Therefore, updates from there should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteWas it, once a year that the chairs on the Titanic get re-arranged???
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe splinter groups cannot attract any new people. All they can do is split up and divide the people that they already have. That is one reason why they are called splinter groups.
Agreed Anon 10:33AM
DeleteAnd in most cases they will also lose members during a split. The ones that don’t join the new splinter will leave all together, disappointed by all the lies and abuse.
The last few baptism in my splinter were members that came from other COG’s.
Will they have it at the same place? If so, does this mean LCG will have to move their summer camp?
ReplyDeleteGood question! It would be kind of funny if they took over that SDA camp or something!
DeleteAnon. 8:55: the fake COGAss site looks more satiric than bitter to me :D have you seen the masked version of Hamlet tirade "To Be Or Not To Be"?
ReplyDeleteBut their information seem reliable. Looks like they just listen to Monson recordings posted on youtube.
So Monson had 400 people present at the Feast site. That is 350 more Americans present at the Feast site than Bob Thiel had. His number of white Americans and Europeans is almost nil compared to all the other COG's. Hardly anyone from LCG went with Thiel compared to the 400-500 that went with Monson. Thiel has proven himself to be a liar and a false teacher.
ReplyDelete"Thiel has proven himself to be a liar and a false teacher."
DeleteProve it.
Hardly anyone from LCG went with Thiel
ReplyDeleteBob can't be accused of starting a personality cult.
They might have a name problem in UK. There is already a 'Church of God Assembly', and they even use the abbreviation COGA. No other connection, meet on Sunday, charismatic, and have a lady pastor.
ReplyDeleteProbably why Munson has to use cogassembly.org, as the UK one uses churchofgodassembly.org.
Incidentally the real Monson church web site is cogassembly.org. The one quoted here is from
ReplyDeletecog-assembly.org, not sure who runs that!
Probably why Munson has to use cogassembly.org
ReplyDeleteAnother explanation is that brethren are tired of being shaped into identical yellow pencils. His new website acknowledges the uncomfortable truth that his church truly does assemble cogs. It trains people to shed their individuality and become cogs in Sheldon's machine.
For a COG there sure is a lot of young people in that picture.
ReplyDeleteLooks like LCG's total membership with family members under the age of twenty split with Monson.
ReplyDeleteI can confirm Mike Kreyer is part of COWA. Check the YouTube videos of their Feast services; he spoke at least one day.
ReplyDeleteBased on Feastgoer.org, six groups met in Branson for the Feast this year.
Stay tuned for a covid outbreak
ReplyDeleteIs that millionaire Joe Tkach at left of third row from top?
ReplyDeleteI can also confirm Mike Kreyer and most of his family are apart of Church of God assembly.
ReplyDeleteHWA October 21, 2020 at 2:01 PM
ReplyDelete"Thiel has proven himself to be a liar and a false teacher."
Prove it.
- - - - -
Thiel teaches false teachings of HWA like tithing money, three resurrections, etc. These are unsupported by scripture. Hence, Thiel is a liar and a false teacher like HWA was.
I heard some of Bob Thiel's people in Africa are leaving his group to go with Monson.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of smiling faces in the picture posted of this new group. But what happens when the mask issue goes away? Are these people united in their love of Jesus Christ and their care for their fellow human beings, or have they temporarily united over their dislike of a piece of cloth, or perhaps their common unhappiness with the situation in their previous group?
ReplyDeleteMore to the point, what makes this group ultimately any different or better than all the other COG groups out there who also claim to follow Jesus Christ and profess to be guided by the scriptures as this group does? And is that truly the bar they have set for themselves, or will this turn into yet another HWA fan club, which will ultimately come to nothing, and have little or no impact?
New COG groups pop up every few years, but after the excitement of the new group wears off, most start looking about the same to any objective bystander. They carry the same baggage, and most begin to have the same issues of heavy handed leaders, corruption, and the propensity to uphold and idolize a dead man, making him and church tradition their bar and standard, rather than looking with fresh eyes at scripture and humbly asking God to reveal His mind and heart.
Until those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ are willing to objectively address our own internal issues, and allow His spirit to unite and mend us, we will continue to split and divide, and our efforts to share the gospel will fall on deaf ears, because all someone has to do is an internet search and they will see that we do not reflect the love of Jesus Christ or wear His trademark... "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35
Concerned Sister
2:01 Anonymous HWA said...
ReplyDelete"Thiel has proven himself to be a liar and a false teacher."
Prove it."
Here are just a few of the false teachings of Bob Thiel:
God told him to start anew church
God gave him a double portion of the Holy Spirit
God has set him apart as a prophet for the end times
He is fulfilling the role of Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Habbakuk, Daniel, Joshua
God speaks to him in dreams
He teaches tithing
He teaches the holy days are required
HE preaches that the Sabbath is a new covenant command
He teaches Petra
He teaches his little group is the only church to know when it will be time to flee
He preaches about clean and unclean meats
He ignores Jesus
He ignores grace
he ignores justification
He embraces legalism
He teaches Moses over Jesus
He says the Old Covenant is still required
That he is a Christian
That HWA was Elijah
That he knows more than Rod Meredith
He preaches he is being persecuted
That he is a world-renown religious scholar
The least disturbing thing about the photo is the black lives matter pose of the leadership.
ReplyDeletenck
11:27 wrote:
ReplyDeleteI heard some of Bob Thiel's people in Africa are leaving his group to go with Monson.
Why should they have to leave Thiel to go with Monson? The pattern in Africa is to affiliate with as many groups as will give you their money.
I don't think he teaches HWA was Elijah. Bob seems to keep HWA at a convenient distance...
ReplyDeleteAnd I wouldn't call some of the Covenant-related teachings wrong. Sorry, the whole concept of Covenants is not really understood by Bob and probably 99.44% of the COGs.
Whoa! The lady in the front of the photo is exposing too much lower limb! Has this new COG reduced the mandated dress standards?
ReplyDeleteWatch and pay always that you may be accounted worthy to escape the mask.
ReplyDeleteMunson 3:16
ReplyDeleteBob Thiel has 5000 members. Wow I am very surprised. I would of guessed say 143,997 from Kennya + Bob his wife and budgie making it 144000. Seriously, 5000 seems alot, but then God works in mysterious ways.
FINANCIAL FACT CHECKING!
ReplyDeleteUSA only. In some non English countries, members don't even know Monson's left!!!
I'am looking at LCG ministry. They've 155 ministers in the States and 94 abroad. But only 6 US ministers went with Monson, including Monson himself. That's 2.4 percent of the ministry. With one other paid employee leaving LCG, that's around $350k savings in salaries for LCG.
LCG attendance is around 5,000 members in the States.
In spite of Monson's claims, his live attendance on Youtube was quite low during the feast (max 100 people). With 400 members attending in person, that's 500 in total for his feast. One big wealthy family had left LCG years ago and a few others come from UCG. That's 450 members leaving LCG for Monson, or 7 percent of LCG membership in the States.
Not as impressive as Monson boasts. But still a blow for LCG considering how many active people left. We're looking at a 5 percent income loss for LCG. Put another way, an annual loss of $700-800k in tithe and offering ($17.8 million in tithe and offerings in 2018 in the States).
Do the math: 800-350=450. An annual net loss around £450k-500k for LCG. That's 2-3 percent drop in income.
1:33 The 5000 in BT's grasp include the goats, sheep, cows and chickens in the extended families of the "members".
ReplyDeleteAnon 1231 -
ReplyDeleteBob 'answered' your points to his own satisfaction. Some of his 'answers' lead to more questions.
You are right that Bob's knee jerk reaction to posts on this blog leaves more questions than he answered. I find it interesting that Bob has to spend so much time defending himself. When a person has to endlessly defend themselves it just lets the world know that there is something wrong with the guy. Red flags go up every time Bob does this. He just cannot handle any criticism. That was one of his beefs with Meredith. Meredith criticized him and called him out on his deluded thinking and Bob did not like that. In his usual fit of rebellion, he had to start his own church where he could dispense HIS wisdom freely. He never imagined people would react the way they have to his heretical and godless teachings. Even worse, he never imagined a blog such as this one and the Painful Truth holding his delicate ass to the fire. He admits he has lost members in Africa to posts here which I think is both hilarious and GOOD! As for the claim his group has 5,000 members, that's not true. Many of his so-called "members" are groups that straddle different COG groups and denominations. There is truth to the comments that they go with who ever has the money. Bob is too vain to realize that and thinks all of his African followers are 100% behind him. They are not.
ReplyDelete5,000?!?!
ReplyDeleteBob readily admits the bulk of his membership came from other church groups (COG and nonCOG) in Africa. In fact, one of the member's dreams had to do with something like a crystal ball full of black people.
One of Bob's issues with Banned comments is about the stability of his African membership, his other issues are questions of credibility.
more questions than he answered
Definitely. The first point he addressed, saying God didn't tell him to start a new church, doesn't explain why he was so quick to get one up and running. Even points on which I'd tend to be on Bob's side don't really seem to be adequately or correctly supported.
Rather than call this persecution, I'd say it's testing. Does he meet the test?
And if it hasn't been mentioned already, the out of African pastoral post is now sermonette material.
ReplyDeleteYou missed another Elder to go with GOG-Assembly.
ReplyDeleteDan Baisley is from middle Tennessee, and a fine, caring 'ol boy. He was actually "sidelined" by a typical LCG "overlord"....Martin Fannin and his son-in-law,
"Lil Jimmy Tar/Paper Shack- Meredith " ! Fannin, single handedly destroyed the Crossville Tn. Congregation made up of "salt of the earth" folks ! Danny Baisley did all he could to serve them, but never received any intervention from the Hierachy in Charlotte!
Danny will make a fine addition to this new "movement" of loving and caring members.
Unfortunately it has turned out that the CGA ministers are still abusing members, especially the women.
ReplyDelete