The Philadelphia Church of God is getting ready to hold their yearly Summer "Educational" Program (SEP...how original) on their cult compound in Edmond Oklahoma. Horror stories circulate widely on Facebook from former attendees who were forced to participate in outdoor activities in high heat and extreme humidity and were ridiculed when they fell ill and many times were denied much-needed medical assistance.
As you will see below, parents are expected to sign away their children's lives because PCG admits that the "risk of injury is significant including permanent disability and death"! So much for outgoing godly love towards its potential future tithe payers!
PCG is also forcing parents to waive all rights to sue the church if their child is injured to dies AND they will keep that notarized statement on file for 7 years or longer.
Jason Cocomise mailed a letter with 4 PDF documents for those who will be attending Philadelphia Church of God Summer Educational Program aka SEP (formerly called Philadelphia Youth Camp or PYC) to sign. To attend camp it will cost $350 per camper. The documents contain many questions parents must answer and a multitude of rules they agree to follow. Here is some of it:
They must fill in their travel plans to camp and from camp with the airline, flight number, arrival or departure date (to and from Oklahoma City). If they aren’t traveling by airplane to camp, or are coming in early, they must explain their travel arrangements (i.e., who they will be traveling with, who is driving, estimated time of departure, etc.). They must explain the same thing for departure from camp.
There also is a Medical Consent for Rendering of Medical Services that must be signed and notarized.
Then there is a Minor Waiver/Release which says that the risk of injury to your child from the activities is significant including permanent disability and death. When you sign you are saying that you will freely assume all such risks. Signing this paper is to “release and hold harmless the Philadelphia Church of God Summer Educational Program, (goes on to include directors, employees, volunteers, etc.) with respect to any and all injury, disability, death,” etc.
The signed waiver/release “will be kept on file by the SEP for at least 7 years or possibly longer if the participant has been involved in a serious injury.”
The participant and the parent/guardian must also sign the S.E.P. Release and Acknowledgment of S.E.P. Standards which is a covenant not to sue and to release and hold harmless PCG from and against claims or suits, resulting from personal injuries and bodily injuries, etc. The “S.E.P. Standards” at end of this document covers the “high standards of personal conduct. These standards include rules against intoxication or possession of intoxicants, sexual misconduct, use or possession of illegal drugs, stealing, smoking, disorderly conduct, intentional destruction of property, refusal to cooperate with Church or S.E.P. counselors, chaperons or helpers or any conduct or attitudes not in keeping with God’s law and beliefs of the Church. Applicants and chaperons will also be expected to maintain high standards of dress and grooming.”
The rules are endless and much of it is in all caps to make sure you understand. –Oklahoma [name withheld] Exit and Support Network
33 comments:
Cult Camp and don't forget to wave, look thrilled and smile whenever you see the Limo passing through!
If Their camp is so dangerous you could get permanent disability or death you are better off not going.
Parents are made to feel guilty of not supporting "God's work" should they have an inclination not to send their children. The fact is they just want them to shell out that $350, never mind if they send their kids or not.
"Applicants and chaperons will also be expected to maintain high standards of dress and grooming."
Does this mean that Dennis Leap will no longer be running around in his tight bike shorts letting the world know he is not a gentile?
2:28 wrote: "Does this mean that Dennis Leap will no longer be running around in his tight bike shorts letting the world know he is not a gentile?"
You may have noticed that it says nothing about what ministers have to do.
Haven't families had problems in the past with kids receiving anti-family indoctrination at these events?
Don't let your kids be subjected to this abuse. I would not trust anything left to the guardianship of Gerald Flurry anymore than I would Chester who hangs out at Vito's XXX theater. Be vigilant and protect your kids.
Why does Hitler Youth Camp come to my mind when reading about this? High moral standards . . . perhaps GTA didn't get the memo back in the 70's. Avoid drunkenness . . . . after all, this isn't the FOT, it's summer camp.
One Facebook group had people talking about how they lost their virginity at PCG's summer camps.
Haven't families had problems in the past with kids receiving anti-family indoctrination at these events?
It depends on what you mean by "anti-family." On the one hand, there's very little molestation, just a couple of insider men who are watched closely now that their tendencies are known. On the other hand, there's a LOT of teaching that implies if not outright says that the church is your "real" family and that you should be more obedient to the ministry than to your biological parents.
It's especially tough for kids who come from troubled families. They see HWA College as a potential escape from unhappy home life, and as potential entry into the PCG elite, so they are eager to do whatever it takes to be accepted as HWA College material. This means ratting on other kids and even on their parents, if necessary. However, kids who rat on their parents have a disadvantage at HWAC, as there's a premium placed on coming from a good family, and punishment tends to follow the North Korean (and OT) model, where a problem member will tarnish the reputation of both his/her parents and children.
One Facebook group had people talking about how they lost their virginity at PCG's summer camps.
I don't know whether this is still true, but for a few years Robbers Cove was notorious among insiders as a place where the (closeted) gay PCG kids in Edmond were able to secretly act on their unbiblical urges. PYC is much more tightly supervised, so other than occasional "bad touch" (curtailed in recent years with better oversight) a camper is much more likely to break a limb than to lose his or her virginity.
Gerald Flurry is the very worst false prophet that Satan ever sent against former Worldwide Church of God people. Gerald Flurry is anti-gospel, anti-Christ, anti-Elijah, and anti-family. Everything that Gerald Flurry does is a satanic fraud.
Some Perversions of Satan's False Prophet Gerald R. Flurry
Anti-gospel: Gerald Flurry claims that preaching the gospel ended with the death of HWA and that Gerald's PCG cult was given a “new commission” to “warn the Laodiceans” by refusing to talk to former WCG people and by acting like jerks towards them.
Anti-Christ: Gerald Flurry claims that he, rather than Jesus Christ, is what he calls “That Prophet” of Deuteronomy 18:18-19 that everyone is supposed to listen to or else God will call them to account.
Anti-Elijah: Gerald Flurry edited and changed HWA's old writings, including HWA's last book called Mystery of the Ages so that Gerald Flurry could be a prophet leading the church.
Anti-family: Gerald Flurry made up a “No Contact Policy” for PCG members to cause division, including breaking up marriages and families in his PCG cult.
I remember Leap from when I was at PYC. I remember those bicycle shorts too! LOL
Leap has regularly trotted out as the epitome of masculinity.
I can't stop laughing at these pictures. They are so spot on!
We have nothing to fear from Summer Camp. These kids will be taught good values and respect.
Critical race theory will be taught, like White Anglo Saxons are superior to all.
Gender lessons will be straightforward, women in the home and kitchen and to be silent in church.
Equality for Gays, stay in the closet and keep the door firmly closed.
And of course discipline will be enforced, shut up and do as we say.
All in all, balanced and far fetched I mean far sighted. Practice your goose stepping before arrival please.
I am waiting for Bob Thiel to start his summer camps.
For the boys: Bookcase making with Overseer Bob
For the girls: How to patch worn out faded curtains
Girls: Learn how to wear your skirts like Fatima
Boys and Girls: Learn how to read Mayan
Boys Public Speaking class: Learn how to flounce and bounce in your chair
Boys and Girls: How to dream like I do so you too can start a church
Hermeneutics class: Learn how to use the words, "could be", "maybe", "possibly"
Boys: How to give double blessings
Girls: How to make sandwiches for your husband
Girls: The many uses use of saran wrap
Boys: How to lose your train of thought when speaking
Boys and Girls: How to select propehcy dates archery class
All of the COGs should just get together for a mass camp, and have an "elimination tournament" paintball war, and let God decide who is the "winner".
Slingshot competition, with rocks, ala David and Goliath, for the championship game! (however, make sure those injury release forms are on file!)
This waiver would cover tornadoes. They kill and disable. I remember heat exhaustion in 90's at Pasadena summer camp.
The dangers of summer camp - even in the secular world there are problems. Taken from the article: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/8/9/20759014/camp-summer-bad
"But camp’s philosophical framework remained fixed. Its rationale, in the eyes of both parents and proponents, was broadly utilitarian: Camp functioned as a vehicle for moral instruction as much as recreation, because kids’ characters needed building."
"A hundred and forty years later, a warped copy of that blueprint lingers, tainting the modern camp experience. Strict schedules of activity times, meals, lights out, and morning assembly workify the fun. A hierarchy of privileges, like later bedtimes and more off-campus socializing, accrues to older kids to encourage repeat customers."
"(Regarding election to the camps highest hierarchical level for campers - The Council) Us kids had it backward. Character wasn’t what earned you a seat but what the council would ultimately impart: the soft skills needed to advocate for something you wanted; the congeniality to cultivate allies in its pursuit; the self-assurance that attends even the hollowest power."
This is very similar to the AC/Big Sandy atmosphere that emphasized not education but knowledge of a system of hierarchy. No wonder attendance at SEP was considered a credential for admission to AC.
Note: I have never had contact with a summer camp, religious or secular. I can only take the authors word on this.
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I can see the value of giving details on children's arrival and departure details. PCG, in turn, give detailed information on their end of the adventure: who will pick them up, take them where, and a detailed itinerary. Before signing a "life or death" waiver of human rights, I'd like to know almost to a micromanagement level what my child would be doing, to be able to check at any reasonable time, and allow my child to exit the program at any point without fear of criticism or punishment.
Does GF or Stevie pop in and visit them like HWA did? I remember HWA saying something like, "I wanted to ask them, 'Why are you allowed to have so much fun?'".
Can't wait for Bob Thiel's North American summer camp -- don't his able evangelists in Africa already have something like that each year?
Part 1:
Signing a waiver for these kinds of activities is fairly common. My nephew is attending a local 'summer camp' in town that consists of day outings to a local theme park, going to the movies, etc. and his parents had to sign a waiver. Visit any trampoline park or activity that involves speed and forces and that waiver will include reference to accidental death and injury. I've been an avid SCUBA diver most of my adult life -- there's language about death and debilitating conditions in all of these activities. Standard stuff.
I grew up in the WCG and attended about six PYC summer camps as a teen in the PCG. (I am no longer a part of the PCG.) For the most part it was something we all looked forward to every year. Many kids were in scattered congregations and the opportunity for two weeks of contact with kids your age was exciting -- even more so if you were old enough to be interested in the opposite sex. Yeah, there were a couple of closeted kids, but even they enjoyed the opportunity for social interaction.
Back in the day the most dangerous thing was probably mountain biking. The first years it was held on private property of a local man (Benny if I remember his name correctly), who had a fancy mountain bike and leave-nothing-to-the-imagination bike shorts (which Dennis Leap did indeed love to emulate). The trail was fairly advanced and there were a number of serious injuries. In retrospect I think campers should have been given the opportunity to opt out of any activity they weren't comfortable with. There was a lot of crying when it came to cycling and the girls dorms.
(An aside for another Dennis Leap story -- he was extremely competitive when it came to soccer and I and others heard him curse on more than one occasion when things didn't go his way. It was especially fun when the 'workers' played the campers.)
Part II:
As far as shenanigans, there were a few nights that campers snuck out to try to meet up with other campers. That was shut down pretty quickly. Late night gatherings for workers were also heavily discouraged and duly reported. I wasn't aware of any sexual activity going on -- campers were kept too busy and rarely left alone for any period of time. Doesn't mean it didn't happen, but if it did, I believe it was rare.
Sports included water skiing (before they moved camp locations to Guthrie), mountain biking, volley ball, soccer, softball, archery, dance class and probably one or two other things I can't remember now. Also Bible studies, various lectures (which were mostly over the heads of campers when it came to church doctrine), but also included their versions of leadership, manhood and womanhood training. There was also a talent night, at least two dances and a sort of skit night and one evening when the ministers hosted students in their homes for a more formal dinner setting -- I can't remember what they called that.
As far as dorm counselors went, if I remember correctly they had to be baptized. I don't recall any overbearing or mean-spirited counselors. Most of us looked up to them and they treated us respectfully and were for the most part friendly. There was always a handful of disgruntled campers who didn't toe the line. Some were sent home within the first couple of days for 'bad attitudes'. Others (and this makes me laugh now that I think about it) had to hand in contraband which they received back at the end of camp: that included knives and other weapons, one kid had a Walkman and a pretty good collection of Pink Floyd tapes and in some cases food that wasn't allowed. There was a camp store where you could buy healthy snacks and toiletries and kids inevitable got gift boxes from parents that they shared.
Given how much the doctrines have changed over the years, I imagine the camps are even more doctrine-oriented and less social oriented. There were a lot of negative aspects of the PCG, but when it came to stuff for the youth, the camps were something many of us looked forward to. I have no idea what the kids think today.
Heh, judging from my one WCG SEP experience, a quarter of the camper populace had been expelled by the time the two weeks were up.
I think it is in everyone's best interest not to go to summer camp.
What we need now is for Tonto to write PCG lyrics for Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!
It is very evil that they would risk their kids health.
Yes, I agree with all of the above, it was looked forward to and enjoyed by the kid who was always an outsider to peers at home. It was an opportunity to be “normal” . But it was heavy indoctrination, life altering indoctrination. Where you went to learn NOT to question government, where you went to learn to push any logical thinking questions out of you mind because after all it was Satan outing those thoughts there. Toxic, laced with a little fun and friendship.
Agree Hoss, Connie, errrrmmm I mean Tonto's PCG lyrics are needed.
GTA did have an alcohol problem and was probably what you would classify as a functional alcoholic. HWA was also an alcoholic & had a cirrohsis of the liver when he died. (GTA stated that himself) I remember him saying that if you wanted to speak with HWA you better do so prior to 8pm or he would be too trashed to talk to you after that. I heard a rumor that when he was taped on a phone call and the recording was played on 60 minutes regarding Stan Rader, he had already been hitting the Bristol Creme pretty hard.
Hello Muddah
Hello Faddah
Greetings from here:
at Camp Marijuana
Smoking's cool here
but beer is better
I'm so drunk I can hardly write this letter!
Not to mention the brainwashing and indoctrination.
And the Dom Perrigan
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