Many years ago, the Pasadena Church Offices were located on the 1st floor of the Hall of Administration just down the hallway from the Security Department and next door to the switchboard for the college and church. Security staff said they regularly heard ministers standing in the hallway making fun of members who had come in for counseling. Mocking church members regarding their problems and issues was a regular thing with far too many in the ministry. Since none of them had ever been properly trained in REAL counseling techniques, they had no concept of what confidentiality was or the sacredness of the space.
That tradition carries on in the Living Church of God today.
This is from a reader:
I thought you might find this interesting.
I went on a tour of LCG headquarters in Charlotte, NC. The tour guide showed us around the entire building.
While I was there a woman who worked there in the office showed me this bulletin board they have for when they receive Tomorrow's World emails. She said that they get so many prayer requests and [some are] "ridiculous" so they hang them on the bulletin board and make fun of them.
One, in particular, she pointed out to me was from a man who politely asked them to pray that God sends him a wife.
They mocked him and made fun of him and hung his letter on their "wall of shame" for all to see in order to degrade him and attempt to humiliate him for bringing such a request to their attention.
They mocked and made fun of people who contacted them and asked for prayers for healing and all sorts of different issues they were facing.
The lady told me she sits at the desk and laughs at people's emails and how ridiculous and idiotic they are.
She told me a story about how a mail truck caught on fire down the street from headquarters and all the mail burned up except for one single envelope of theirs that they proudly display on their beloved bulletin board.
She told me that God protected their mail and preserved the letter lol.
Obviously, they burned it themselves with a match and hung it up there.
They are such cold-hearted people to make fun of people asking for requests like this.
24 comments:
They have never been about helping people. Unless those people are molesting children. Then they will cover for them, and even try to make them look good. Once I became aware of multiple instances of LCG higher ups doing this, I left and never looked back. To call them whitewashed tombs is too generous.
Yes, it's a shame that "Mr. Blinders" didn't work in the Hall of Administration to hear this. Or, maybe he actually did!
This sort of thing was always so bad in the church that years later, I realized that I had never even begun to learn anything about ethics until leaving WCG. Boy, was that ever a very shocking eye opener! Hypothetically speaking, what good would it do to have all the correct doctrines (they don't!), and to have all of this institutional evil permeating the organization from top to bottom? Somehow, I don't believe that God would choose and use people with such blatant facades to nurture His sheep! What compounds the evil is that members were always exhorted to counsel with "Gawd's Ministers" about every little ridiculous thing or decision! The diligent ones looked for opportunities to go in for counseling, and apparently didn't get the brownie points with the ministers that they expected! They got to be the brunt of the party conversations at ministerial dinner parties.
I once heard on the news that the police had arrested a man who was standing under some stairs and looking up women's dresses. Men who do that are justly called unflattering names. The mental equivalent of this is ACOG ministers asking members peeping Tom, voyeuristic questions in so called, unasked for "counselling sessions." These are no different than the perverts who look up womens dresses.
These churches want a "dirt file" on every member. If members question a teaching, the information given in confidence is used as a club against them. This is police state behavior.
The We-have-a-dirt-file-on-you Church of HWA.
Just the same behavior from degenerates as we read in the manpower papers.
It appears that the senders identities are blacked out.
I worked on the WATTS lines for several years as a volunteer back in the WCG HWA days. There are indeed some very strange, and bizarre calls that came in, and there was often the need to "talk it out" after receiving one, as Im sure there is in the letter answering department.
The HWA World Tomorrow prophecy broadcasts really brought out some strange calls. Especially the ones with showings of famines, atomic weapons going off, etc. I remember one caller who claimed that he had dreamed the entire program in detail before it had gone on the air , and then demanding that he speak to HWA right then and there. I had at least two people who called who were ready to commit suicide right there on the spot.
One older lady , who was 90, told me that she has all the other old ladies at the rest home are watching HWA broadcasts. When I asked what they liked best about the program she answered "We all think Herbert is HOT!" LOL!
It was actually surprising how many little children would call in, dialing the number off the screen , when told "call now!... operators are waiting". There were many mentally ill or compromised people who called, with some strange conversations. Of course there were lots of normal folks too, and some very nice and bright inquiring people as well. Nonetheless, one had to battle not to become cynical or run-of-the-mill after a while. Any business that deals with the general public has to deal with this, and clientele in any venture can be real pain in the asses.
AI responds:
It's disheartening to hear about an experience like that during your tour of LCG headquarters in Charlotte, NC. Prayer requests are deeply personal and often come from a place of genuine need or longing. It's important for organizations, especially those associated with religious or spiritual matters, to treat such requests with respect and sensitivity.
Mocking and making fun of someone's sincere prayer request is not only unkind but also goes against the principles of empathy, compassion, and understanding that are often associated with religious organizations. People reach out with their requests to seek support, guidance, and comfort, and they should be met with kindness and respect.
It's possible that this incident might not reflect the organization's overall culture and values, but rather the actions of a few individuals. If you found this experience troubling, it might be worth sharing your concerns with the organization's management or leadership so that they can address it appropriately and ensure a more compassionate approach to handling prayer requests in the future.
In any case, let's hope that such incidents do not overshadow the positive and meaningful work that religious organizations can and should be doing to support their communities and those in need.
In the wacky world of Armstrongism, reporting such trends to the higher ups generally triggers a whitewash. They cannot accept the fact that anything deeply systemic would be wrong with "God's True Church".
I'm sure that Tonto's experiences with the WATTS lines are real and valid. However, if I understand the original point which was being made, the discussion was about actual church brethren coming to the ministry for advice and counsel, sharing their problems and activities with the ministers, and having their confidences betrayed and their problems laughed at. We all know that when communication is opened with the general population, many crazies come out of the woodwork, and what they say is fair game for discussion. It is totally another thing when members pour out their hearts to the ministers, only to have their problems blabbed all over the place by the ministers whom they trusted. This does serious harm, removes the possibility of obtaining confidential counsel, and can lead to members leaving the church. Armstrongism was just plain weird, and in this case, highly toxic. We spent so much time putting down the Catholics, but this is one area in which their policies were vastly superior to our own.
Ministers, Priests, and Rabbis are held to be a physical extension of God into our lives. When God hears prayers, He does not blab the details around and laugh. Neither should those who aspire to be His representatives. They should embody His character, not that of the personalities on TMZ!
Tonto said: “ Any business that deals with the general public has to deal with this, and clientele in any venture can be real pain in the asses.”
It is apt to call it a business (albeit a poor one with questionable ethics and morality). It would be misguided to call it a church.
Just want to chime in as no doubt someone is wailing about “pre-feast trials” or “pre-feast persecution.” LCG has shown themselves to have poor morality, no ethics, and have mistaken their worldy politics for Godly morality. These kind of insights into their worldly thinking can bubble up anytime of the year. Why would satan attack them? They are in the same team.
Rod Meredith demanded a church wide Sabbath fast for his medical problems. He also asked members to meditate on his specific medical problem as if "the force" or Dark City's "tuning" is real. In my church area it likewise became obvious that pray requests from the pulpit were only for those close to the minister. So I changed my requests to God to account for this partially. I refuse to treat some people as more equal than others.
9.28 This blog would not exist if the problem is just a few rotten apples in the organization.
Tonto is Bob Thiel's account. We know you worked there Bobby, I have proof it's Bob Thiel's account. You have too much time on your hands, why don't you get a job Bobby boy qnd stop living off of donations.
"It's possible that this incident might not reflect the organization's overall culture and values, but rather the actions of a few individuals." Agree, but the leadership sets the tone, creates an atmosphere which leads to such insensitive behavior. It reminds me of the sessions in Pasadena where a committee of self-righteous leaders evaluate the college students.
It's possible that this incident might not reflect the organization's overall culture and values, but rather the actions of a few individuals.
It's on a shared wall (not inside someone's cubicle) at LCG's headquarters. It has been part of LCG tours for years. Weston and Winnail both know about it. Either they are afraid of offending the woman who maintains the Wall of Shame, or they are pleased by its presence.
When I was working my way through college one of my jobs was in the mail-receiving department of a massive American corporation. We used to get some really wild letters, ranging from terrorist threats to info about "Jewish ritual murder"l and everything in between and beyond. I can imagine a speculative organization like LCG probably gets some interesting ones.
Those desperate people who sent prayer requests to LCG should send their requests to Banned by HWA; there people who frequent this site who would feel compelled to prayer for each of them.
The old adage "not everyone at Church is in the Church" applies to all, ministers, staff, as well as congregants.
" Anonymous Anonymous said...
Tonto is Bob Thiel's account. We know you worked there Bobby, I have proof it's Bob Thiel's account. You have too much time on your hands, why don't you get a job Bobby boy qnd stop living off of donations.
Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 11:31:00 AM PDT"
Eh, I think it's Connie.
What did you think would happen? The WCG was a Pharisaical organization, weak on grace, with an organization driven by hierarchy. Ambassador College is where this “culture” was incubated. The education there was about theology only in a secondary or tertiary way. There is not enough little booklet theological material to have a four-year college-level program. The education, by intent or inadvertently, was about coming to understand The Hierarchy. This happened principally through participation in the informal training program that was constituted by the day-to-day operations of Ambassador College. People immersed in this environment related to each other not through Christian love but through The Hierarchy. This is true also of secular organizations but they are not as extreme in most cases because they are not impelled by cultic religious fervor. And those who got the picture took this with them into the field.
The Hierarchy says that some people are important, the few, and other people are unimportant, the many. For “church trash”, the cream of the crud, there is no limit on the derision that can be shown to them. They are “sources” and not “uses”. Their resources needed to be organized, managed and mined. Their personal issues are just a nuisance and clog an otherwise very efficient, revenue-collecting hierarchical system.
So, this is just a little part of what you get. Not really even worth mentioning against the more ominous backdrop of the big issues.
6.55.00 AM
The Hierarchy has another name in everyday life. It's called a gang. Join a ACOG and one has joined a gang. Those at the bottom of the gang pyramid are your "church trash."
Scratching the surface of the Pharisaic veneer will show this.
No where does the bible endorse gang morality.
While this is technically true, this phrase is most often used as a no true Scotsman fallacy, or as a passive aggressive condemnation for the target of this comment not properly following the accuser’s version of churchianity.
I think I know who this “woman” is. She used to go to Walterboro, SC for church in LCG. I’m not surprised.
A "reader" who was so offended by mocking and ridicule that they came here to tell all of you respectful and caring people all about it? Oh that's rich.
6:55 "A "reader" who was so offended by mocking and ridicule that they came here to tell all of you respectful and caring people all about it? Oh that's rich."
Oh look! An LCG employee who thinks their shit doesn't stink comes here all upset because the unchristian actions exhibited in full display was pointed out. Yep, a perfect example of Living Church of God 'love".
Wow why does that sound so accurate...so LCGish so spot on about the old curmudgeon who it's said that HWA never wanted RCM ever in charge of much
Post a Comment