In May of 2022, we reported here about another one of Dave Pack's ex-ministers who had started his own church to proclaim the gospel Dave Pack was no longer preaching, His name was Alex Groen' and he started up The Revived Church of God. Groen was a former employee and minister in the Restored Church of God. He is also one of well over 140 RCG ministers/employees who have left the RCG over the past several years.
Introduction
The Church of God Unity Project (COGUP) is a registered 508(c)(1)(a) not-for-profit faith-based organization with a steadfast commitment to fostering unity within the Church of God, the "called out ones." Our primary focus is to bridge the gap between various Church of God corporate organizations by collaborating and working together towards common goals. By embracing the shared values and beliefs that bind us as one body, we strive to create a more harmonious and collaborative environment for all Church of God members worldwide.
Our History
The Church of God Unity Project emerged from a desire to think beyond the boundaries of traditional Church of God organizations. Our story began in 2022 with The Revived Church of God, founded by a minister who, after being part of an organization for 12 years, was navigating the complex landscape of the Church of God community. Despite the initial effort to establish a new organization, a growing sense of purpose revealed the need for a more impactful and innovative approach.
Creating another Church of God organization often carries a stigma within the greater Church and tends to limit the reach of each corporate group to its immediate members. This realization highlighted the pressing need for a different solution – one that could bridge the divides that had emerged among the numerous organizations following the dissolution of the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert W. Armstrong.
Understanding the vital importance of unity and collaboration, we transformed our vision and founded The Church of God Unity Project (COGUP). Our mission is clear: to unite Church of God groups by collaborating on shared projects that promote common goals. As COGUP, we are dedicated to breaking down barriers and fostering an environment where unity, cooperation, and collective growth can thrive through joint efforts and initiatives.
Groen either was not aware of another "unity" group that has been running successfully for many years now or he is deliberately trying to undermine it.
That group is called Common Faith Network.
What is Common Faith Network?
Common Faith Network represents a collaborative effort between churches, congregations, ministries, and individuals to engage, equip and empower fellow Christians and congregations to fulfill the purposes for which God our Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, have called them.
CFN is not an incorporated organization but rather reflects working relationships between Christians accomplishing things together for the good of others.
How did CFN start?
Several years ago, various individuals within the Churches of God Movement began to sense a void in the Christian World. Tiring of the frequent divisions and bickering within the church communities, they decided to start cooperating with one another as autonomous independent entities.
Out of that sense of longing for unity and cooperation, the Common Faith Network movement was born. CFN organized and kept their first joint Feast of Tabernacles observance in the Fall of 2011.
What is a CFN affiliate?
As mentioned above, CFN is an effort of individuals, ministries, congregations, and churches to work together. An affiliate can be either a person or a group from any one of those categories.
Our affiliates believe in the vision and purpose for which CFN operates and exists, and are willing to help in the work to be done.
CFN has been holding many activities for COG members, regardless of church affiliation, including open Feast of Tabernacles sites in various locations.
Groen's new group will fall upon deaf ears of COG members who are tired of every other day hearing about a new COG splinter group claiming to be the best. After witnessing the absolutely appalling behavior of Bob Thiel and his group, members are shying away from this kind of upstarts big time. More will join up with CFN than Groien and Bob Thiel will ever attract.
Hat tip to a reader for this...
See:
This can work. All it takes is a miracle. God can do anything. God is a miracle worker. Just have faith. Just like all the other startups, just step out on faith and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteYeah, 11:14, unless God actually wants these churches to be exactly where they are today, and in this precise condition because, (guess what!) HWA never had that correct amalgam, and God was never part of it.
ReplyDeleteIf you drop a blob of mercury, and it spreads around on the floor, someone could take the time to guide it all back into a larger pool. But, mercury is now known to be very toxic. So, it's much more likely that that someone would clean it up and dispose of it, hopefully in some environmentally sensitive way. As a precocious delinquent, I used to heat up cinnabar in a beaker, and produce mercury to play with. Note my skillful use of self as a metaphor for Herbert W. Armstrong, in that we both generated something toxic. In HWA's case, God had to clean it up. Me? I played with the mercury until I became bored with it, and then discarded it. Either way, the toxic stuff isn't getting back together because (hello!), it is toxic!
This guy is a narcissist and has always creeped me out.
ReplyDeleteThe test will be if the The Common Faith Network and The Church of God Unity Project can agree to share their common faith and unify.
ReplyDeleteGet a real job, Alex!
ReplyDeleteTook the words right out of my mouth!
DeleteAnd then, there is even this one:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofgodnetwork.org/
The test will be if the The Common Faith Network and The Church of God Unity Project can agree to share their common faith and unify.
ReplyDeleteAlex will unify with whoever will let him be a tithe-eater instead of a tithe-payer.
COGUP sounds like what you do after eating something that has upset your stomach.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of a cat coughing up a hairball!
DeleteIt's a good idea to COG-UP.
ReplyDeleteBut will his group (and others) lift Jesus up?
He's the head of the church, after all. Or should be.
Probably the best place for ministers who leave a COG of any kind, is to simply get a real job, and live like everyone else. There needs to be a time of "deprogramming" and self reflection. You dont just have someone who gets off of drugs or alcohol recently, become the drug therapy group leader the next week.
ReplyDeleteBest ministers I ever have known, spent many years working in the private marketplace with real jobs and with real people. Let's hope it wont end up being Groen = GROAN!
Sometimes I think Armstrongist denominations spring up like mushrooms after a rain. I just finished watching the documentary "Waco: An American Apocalypse" on Netflix. I noticed David Koresh used some terms in his talks with negotiators that rang familiar. He referred to "tomorrow's world" and used the expression "proof of the pudding." While the latter must have been a popular expression at one time, I know it only from the speech of HWA and GTA.
ReplyDeleteI read an article some time back about the aftermath of the Waco debacle. It was in Texas Monthly Magazine. The author was present at Sabbath Services in the Waco Compound. He mentioned that there was a member of the Worldwide Church of God in attendance. It makes me wonder what other commonalites there are between the Branch Davidians and the WCG.
I recommend that everyone see the documentary. What is startling is the absoute dedication these people had to the divine mission of David Koresh and his specialness to God. I think of a Branch Davidian named Kathy Schroeder in the film. These people were fully immersed in pure belief. A purity that rises to the level of being scary.
They will never agree on who gets to be in charge and how to divvy up the tithe money.
ReplyDelete"a registered 508(c)(1)(a) not-for-profit faith-based organization"
ReplyDeleteThis is the fastest way known for a high school dropout to own a business jet.
CLOGWAD (cog) and COGUP--- The perfect combination!
ReplyDeleteHow long did he linger in Dave's church after it became obvious that Dave had gone off the rails?
ReplyDeleteThese churches over emphasize unity. Christ said that He brought division rather than unity within families. While I attended services, the splintering within was obvious. It was always along character lines. People with the two talents didn't mix with those who had eight talents. The splintering is for the best.
Btw, Victimizers hate splintering since their victims have escaped them.
Groen just bogarted this idea from Dave himself. Wasn't this the beginning of his end in 2013 with the 3 Shepards dying and Dave reaping all the members and $ under his roof?
ReplyDeleteI believe we all realize that this goes way beyond the so-called "Church Eras". In fact, if anything, this is the era of COGnitive dissonance!
ReplyDeleteSuddenly, a Groen was heard from the back of the crowd!
ReplyDeleteObviously Alex Groen was not growin' so he is now Alex Notgroen. Simple.
ReplyDeleteAnother RCG flunkie who thinks he is qualified to be a minister to lead an organization just because he followed HWA and DCP
ReplyDelete