Thursday, September 1, 2022

UCG is asking its members if…"Is what we are writing, publishing and presenting beneficial to our members, coworkers and others?"




United Church of God's Rick Shabi is asking his followers to be honest and truthful when they respond to a questionnaire asking how well the UCG doing with its operations and care of members. 

Many times over the decades the church has asked similar questions and never once in the entire time did they ever take to heart the concerns of members. If it did the church as a whole would not be having the deep issues it is having today.

We will soon read a glowing report on how superfantabulous the church is and how its ministery and care of the membership is the best it has ever been in 2,000 years.

The real question is:  "Is what we are writing, publishing, and presenting beneficial to our members, coworkers, and others?"

Let UCG know!

At the August Council of Elders meeting, I began my presentation with Proverbs 27:23, which states: “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds.” 
 
For the last few months that’s exactly what we have been doing. 
 
Taking stock of what we do takes time. It’s something we should be doing continually in our personal lives, comparing our actions and behaviors to the standard set for us by Christ. Paul admonishes us in 2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (emphasis added throughout). 
 
In order to remain viable and focused on their mission, vision and purpose, organizations, families and God’s Church need to take the time to examine themselves as well. Otherwise they can get off track, leading to dire consequences. 
 
Poignantly, Judah took the time to assess their actions and behavior after their defeat and captivity by the Babylonians: “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD” (Lamentations 3:40). 
 
And who can forget God’s warning given in Haggai 1:5 and 7: “Consider your ways!” 
 
Individually—and as God’s Church—we must examine ourselves regularly. We are to be growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we are to be doing His will His way, using all the resources He gives us wisely. 
 
As we at the home office examine our operations and our methods, and as we assess the state of the resources God has provided us spiritually, technologically, financially and personally, we ask for and need your help. 
 
God gave His Church the commission to preach the gospel to “every creature,” to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them, and to teach them to observe all things that Christ commanded. So, we are asking ourselves and seeking God’s input as we consider our ways. Are our congregations being cared for and taught the truth in the manner and with the zeal God expects? Are God’s sheep being fed a spiritually rich and edifying diet? Is the body of Christ growing in the “one-ness” and agape love that we must develop? How can we, as His servants, do better? 
 
As we preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to a world that so desperately needs that message of truth and hope, are we using the tools available to us effectively? Is what we are writing, 
publishing and presenting beneficial to our members, coworkers and others? Are there better ways, better methods, other “doors” we should be trying? Are there things we have historically done that are no longer effective in this 21st century world? Are we using the financial resources He provides in the way He wants them to be used? 
 
We don’t have all the answers to those questions, but we are looking to Jesus Christ who does have the answers. He knows where He wants His Church headed, and how to get there. So, we seek His way through prayer, studying His Word, in reflection and in asking questions. 
 
As we go through this assessment and examination process, we ask for and would appreciate your help. 
 
Beginning this Sunday, Sept. 4, we are launching an online member survey at this link: surveymonkey.com/r/UCGSurvey2022. The survey is intended for people of all ages who are associated with the United Church of God. We plan to close the survey right before the Feast of Trumpets, on Sunday, Sept. 25. 
 
Please, as part of your service to God and His Church, make the time to take the survey and answer the questions truthfully and completely. Feel free to record your comments in the spaces provided. We welcome your honest, heartfelt input as fellow workers in this building of God’s spiritual temple. 

Ha, Ha 

The apostle Paul explains our role in the growth of the Body of Christ: “From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). 
 
We all have our part to do in that “working” as members of His body. Taking the time to complete the survey is just one of the ways you can help and participate. 
 
Thank you, pastors and elders, for announcing and encouraging your congregations to participate in this important survey, and thank you, members and others, for taking the time to help us assess “the state of our flocks.” 
 
Have a wonderful day of preparation and an inspiring and uplifting Sabbath.

Rick Shabi






18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shabi hasn't been the top dog for very long, but already he has sent out a letter to UCG members in which he showed that he is either a heretic or a dummy. His complete mishandling of calendar/moon information has made members wonder whether he actually believes what UCG teaches. If he believes what UCG has taught, he's a careless dummy who doesn't proofread his letters before sending them out. The other possibility is that Shabi has his own divergent ideas about the sacred calendar, and that UCG has been so lax in vetting its people that he was able to worm his way all the way to the top.

If the poll reveals that Shabi's communications are the least beneficial things UCG is sending, does anybody seriously expect UCG to act on that, or even to reveal that outcome?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said

Well, at least they asked. Dave Pack would never dare ask his members questions like that. He'd get too much "It was going really well until you switched gears and every word out of your mouth for last five years has been you on theological prophetic crack and meaningless". Other than that, nice Gospel homes and cars, flowers and trees.

Anonymous said...

“Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds.”


The UCG does not seem to care about the flock of true believers.

The UCG also does not do anything about the herd of godless swine in its midst.

Anonymous said...


How many people who are not a part of UCG will fill out the survey?

To whom it may concern.... I really don't care for the Message Bible.

Anonymous said...

UCG: You're neither cold nor hot.

Anonymous said...

He's softening them up to tell them "God's work needs an Executive Jet"
All 2000 UCG titheslaves to buy him a gleaming new Gulfstream G700 Jet

Anonymous said...

"your honest, heartfelt input" is a trap.
I found this out the hard way while attending services. The problem is that most ministers are at war with their members and all information can be weaponized. In war time, spies are so deadly that they are shot. In complaining, members are giving away their mental defences. I once complained to a abusive minister that I have rights, and in the next sermonette he attacked rights.
As in all police states. It's best to keep ones mouth shut..

Anonymous said...

I believe that some of us long term regulars on this site have recommended this sort of survey throughout the past, so let's not suddenly pan UCG for doing it before monitoring how sincerely and effectively it is executed, and what positive (or negative) results it may bring. According to the laws of probability, sooner or later something has to go right with one of the ACOGs.

Phinnpoy said...

Nothing will ever go 'right' with the ACOG's as long as they hang onto Herbert Armstrong's Judaizing, Adventist heresies. Adventism, in any form, is doomed to failure. It started failing in 1844, and has failed constantly in predictions and false doctrines ever since. Adventism, whether it's an ACOG or some other group, is a spiritually dead movement. It's time to hold the funeral, and bury it's rotting corpse.

Anonymous said...

Are the ministers sheep? Frankly, I have one Shepherd, but will take to heart the words of a true servant of God.
Is the intelligent/humble 65 year old man a sheep in relation to the ministers as supposed shepherds? Again, one Shepherd.

Anonymous said...

What !!!! Another survey ?????? Are you kidding me. What about the 2020 February survey ????? Then the follow up video presentation ?????
This is beyond a joke. For what do these surveys actually achieve ? Why does UCG keep doing such frequent surveys?

Anonymous said...

So you type anon but who knows from which angle you view.

Anonymous said...

UCG have done numerous surveys going right back to when Clyde Kilough was UCG President and look how that turned out.

Ex670 said...

It’s anonymous tho isn’t it? So how can they know it’s you?

Anonymous said...

Where in the bible does it say "sacred calendar"? (asking for a friend)

Anonymous said...

Ex670 get real. The survey has UCG members state which UCG congregation they attend, age range and gender. It's easy peasy for the ministry to find out who's praised them or more likely grassed them up.
All kinds of hell comes from these surveys for all sides. The are no winners. UCG members share the truth at a very high cost.
The fact UCG is doing a survey in September 2022 at the beginning of Presidents Shabi's time seems peculiar.
What do they need to know in 2022 that the survey of 2020 didn't tell them ?

Anonymous said...

UCG is always doing a survey and giving an appearance of trying to do something better while LCG never needs your opinion (unless you obtain a rank) since they are always patting each other on the back, saying how successful they are.

UCG is asking its members if they are being properly cared for and fed? Really? Do the local elders really want to know that as much as the top men do? Who gets reprimanded in the end when one starts judging and another starts despising? (Rom 14:3)

When this is done publically it is grounds for a charge of causing division and an example of murmuring. It happened to me 25 years ago.

What do you want UCG? To hear it or not hear it? If you want to hear it, then don't use it as a weapon against the people (bring guilt upon them) or, conversely, do nothing at all (i.e., connive at the sins of the elders).

A survey isn't the solution. True reconciliation over the blood of Christ is. But that is too much of a price to pay for these men who are supposedly baptized.

Ex670 said...

I went through it to see and no, you’re wrong. There was no gender question and the age range and congregation question was specifically marked as “optional”. So it can in all be anonymous from what I’ve seen.

But what I wonder now is how I was able to take it before September 4. How is it that it’s already available? I ask this broadly not necessarily to you but you can reply back to me if you want.