Apparently, the boys in Charlotte are not doing too well with maintaining their membership data or this is a slick way to keep track of your members to see who is causing trouble.
Church Survey—Repeat Announcement
Earlier this year, all Church pastors were sent membership listings of their congregations for conducting the periodic Church Survey. This Church Survey is needed from time to time to keep our files up to date. For example, the survey is vital to make sure all members receive their Church literature in the mail. We also need this information for Festival registration, to begin this year on May 2. Thank you to all members for helping your pastor collect your updated contact information!
In every type of hierarchy pyramidal human structure, there is ALWAYS the practice of "keeping track" and "attitude monitoring". Nothing new here in the COG for sure.
ReplyDeleteAs is the case in LCG, their reasons here are to cover what they really do and their internal attitudes not for the public. Just for one instance, I had been travelling for some weeks away from my home congregation, being with family elsewhere and working through the passings of several loved ones far away. When I got back weeks later and showed up at church, it had been already concluded that I had left the church. They were suspicious of me because I hadn't showed up in my home LCG congregation for just two weeks, and so that was that. Did they reach out to me with genuine outgoing concern, or even just to casually find out where I had gotten to? No. they were skeptical of me rather than reaching out to at least offer a safe place to worship and to grieve. Their ranking deaconess who just loves the attention and praise of the ministers got it in her mind that I was out of the church, and so they believed her, and Iwas "on probation" since that time. Try as I might I could not snap them out of it, and I was accused by the ministers, who never even spoke to me directly, of trying to cover up a "bad attitude" on my part. No, no bad attitude, whatever that means. I was actually one of their more loyal and knowledgeable members, and I was travelling and spending time with loved ones. that's all. But of course they were right, the deaconess said so, and God is inspiring and leading his true ministers because he is the head of his church, so logically how could it be otherwise. For those of us who believe (broadly speaking) in the teachings from Mr. Armstrong, it is impossible for me at least to recommend LCG to others as a Jesus-centered church which holds to the truths. Its leadership has contorted it into an insidious corperation with the veneer of some things familiar to us, not as blatant as Dave Pack but in ways actually worse, and in which suck-ups and players like this deaconess damage and even destroy the faith of the lay people. In 1987 at a Feast Of Tabernacles a Mr. Wainwright gave a sermon entitled The God Of The Barbecue, in which he preached against this climbers' mentality just like this deaconess. A few years ago one from our congregation slipped her a copy of that sermon as a nudge. Well, it didn't do any good. It is easy enough to superimpose a veneer of religious duties on one's lifestyle, change their day of worship, stop eating certain meats and so forth. This is all well and good inasmuch as it should be done and as far as it goes. But, I wonder how many people, like these insidious ministers in LCG and the high-strung deaconess have really and truly begun their inner spiritual journey, let alone understanding true conversion. When LCG's stats policy began to be enforced I did challenge the elder on the real reasons for why they were more aggressively and thoroughly taking down notes like this, and he did acknowledge that it was to keep tabs on members.
ReplyDelete@12:38 PM, you aren't the first formerly loyal LCG member to be burned by the cult's shooting itself in the foot with its approach to members. LCG has put itself in the unenviable position that the people who LEAST belong in the "church" are the very ones who are most motivated to stay and to put up whatever appearances and play whatever politics will give them "position" in the church. Meanwhile, sincere Christians are easy marks for these political people, and are often abused and thrown away if that helps some ambitious deacon or elder gain favor with those higher in the hierarchy.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see a copy of the entire survey and a lovely coup to be able to post it here.
ReplyDeleteThe survey must be about more than collecting names and addresses.
LCG should have names and addresses from tithe checks.
Perhaps LCG is concerned that people are attending but never tithing.
Anyway, local deacons and deaconesses should have tabs on each of the very few members in every church area - surely those shrinking numbers would not be difficult to track.
The reason I never updated my address on the survey is that I don't want their literature or pathetic letters from Weston on how awful the world is and his incessant begging for money.
ReplyDelete