Exit and Support Network has a letter from someone who writes about the Philadelphia Church of God and how they collect money.
When it really boils down to it, the Church of God's version of the Feast of Tabernacles is the money-making machine that keeps the church afloat till spring holy days when they are guilt-tripped into giving more money because they caused the death of Christ for their previous year worth of sins.
More money is raked in during these eight days than imagined, especially when these apostate men pit one site against the next to see who can give more money.
FEAST NOT ABOUT GATHERING BUT COLLECTION
The Feast is not about gathering but about collection. Not about people gathering to a place selected by God, but about forcing the members to go through a very narrow gate and choke point in order to be stripped of what they have saved for all year long. Instead of having the PCG’s bill collectors coming to you, you must come to them in their appointed places. How convenient.
When hearing another message from Gerry-boam’s ministers regarding feeding the flock at the Feast, and how they are commanded to be joyful, or else, poison at the pulpit is what outspoken voice the members ought to hear, and then run away from there.
How can a member become so convinced that what they experience there is joy before God? The giant motel/hotel corporations take away most of that joy for themselves and leave the members with a post-Feast headache when it comes time to pay the bills. What kind of a private deal must exist between HQ and their chosen Feast sites?
The spiritual food that goes into the members’ minds at the Feast is just as fabricated as are their fake orated prayers coming out of their mouths. You may leave there a bit fatter but be ever more thirsty and hungry in the spirit.
The members do not come to eat and drink and be merry, but only for themselves to be processed in a spiritual factory, as a living meat sacrifice unto greedy men who neither care for them nor their families welfare. The ministers slice and dice the words of the Bible to flavor and garnish their brainwashing sermons, but the primary message boils down to keeping that religious mafia’s living assets (aka members), under complete control.
That money loving Philadelphian church brags about its proceeds going higher and higher, but where does all that money and all that love come from? And the average offering per member is always announced on their commanded offering days in order to shame the majority of the members whose offerings fall below the announced average. Where does all that money come from that so inflates the average? From a few extraordinarily wealthy members, or from some unnamed source?
With the headcount of the PCG membership shrinking, it defies nature and logic that offerings and donations could be going higher and higher.
Read the entire letter here.
I wonder what the expense/offering ratio looks like for the FOT for these churches
ReplyDeleteBy the time one is commanded to be happy the show is over. Just as in "You MUST relax" where the "must" puts stress on "relax", so "commanded" kinda mucks up "be joyful" part. But that's the way of the Grand Poopa "Smile Brethren!" Annual , give more than you are able or should, Festival Road Show.
ReplyDeleteI learnt that the hard way when I started attending services in the 1970s. Members are simply chattel to be heartlessly exploited by the ministry and their boot lickers. Christ instructed to beware of these Pharisees. The church taught the exact opposite with their brainwashing "outgoing concern" mantra. Victims are expected to embrace their abusers.:Nice!
ReplyDeleteman...does that PCG fleecing ever sound like Pink Floyd The Wall with marching hammers dance & also the meatgrinder 🪓
ReplyDeleteso gimme 3 steps aughhhhhhh
Did any of you ever try to drink a diet cola in front of brethren eyeing your every move at a FOT? Or invite folks to a restaurant that "might" have some atoms of msg in a menu item? There were times I thought they'd crown me with a dunce cap.
ReplyDeleteat-ten-SHUNN!! all hail thou me, for I am your new Podium Prefect : the Rt. Hon. G. Flurry
ReplyDeletefork over your dough spritely & quick, into the gilded passing plate making it's way down each aisle
Only foolish dopes would wait until Monday to count their change.
ReplyDeleteDavid C. Pack of The Restored Church of God has a designated Business and Accounting employee break the Sabbath on those days at every US Feast Site. They must all SKIP the PM Services on each Holy Day that "takes up" an offering so they can quickly count and deposit the money the SAME DAY. If it gets to supper time and Dave does not yet have a report about the income, he gets really cranky.
I have spoken to a few BOA employees about this over the years. All of them knew it was wrong, but they "had" to do it.
Don't believe everything you read at ESN.
ReplyDeleteWhy pick on the usual people?
ReplyDelete"We are fighting the wrong people over here" -- General Patton.
Has anybody actually thought about what that really means? Was Patton crazy? A traitor? Or did he know something the rest of you do not?
It's basic psychology 101. Make the brethren feel invested in the cult, and they'll never leave it. It's a "cause", something bigger than self. To remain in good standing, you must be involved in doing myriad things which set you apart as weird. You are forced to stick out by constantly asking permission to be excepted from activities or tasks that others think nothing of performing. These all have the net effect of marginalizing one, causing you to be easily written off, or not taken seriously. You find yourself drawn to people with whom you would normally not associate, because they are your only support group. You become a dead head, and unfortunately this does not mean you get to listen to great music, because these are not the Grateful ones. They are instead the kind who smilingly check their brains at the ACOG door!
ReplyDeleteIt's basic psychology 101. Make the brethren feel invested in the cult, and they'll never leave it. It's a "cause", something bigger than self. To remain in good standing, you must be involved in doing myriad things which set you apart as weird. You are forced to stick out by constantly asking permission to be excepted from activities or tasks that others think nothing of performing. These all have the net effect of marginalizing one, causing you to be easily written off, or not taken seriously. You find yourself drawn to people with whom you would normally not associate, because they are your only support group. You become a dead head, and unfortunately this does not mean you get to listen to great music, because these are not the Grateful ones. They are instead the kind who smilingly check their brains at the ACOG door!
ReplyDeleteI stopped attending services after the Tkach changes. When I once doodled with the idea of returning to an ACOG, the Holy Spirit warned me away from it, pointing out that I would be joining a gang. Yes, I know that "God told me" is proof for me, but not proof for others. But I mention it to expose readers to an idea. In a gang, members feel entitled to take from others without giving anything in return. In a gang, members peck in those beneath them. Gang morality and biblical morality are very different.
ReplyDeleteOne doesn't have to attend a corporate church to be a successful Christian. Being despised for not attending services, as I have experienced, is unwarranted.
There is even a gang in COG against single men who haven't amassed wealth.
DeleteYou attend a COG as a single (or widowed like I am) man who has income level of lower middle class and you read all the dating literature & try dutifully following the "don't be yoked together with unbelievers" clause (not date out of the church).
Then you find the uppity high maintenance single ladies are "willing to be friends" with you but will not consider you as eligible for marriage unless you have a home like Ward Cleaver or Fred MacMurray My 3 sons or J.R. Ewing with Southfork ranch on Dallas.
Isn't a modest apartment on retired Soc. Sec. with full Medicare enough to wait out the days together (2 heads better than 1) but no, the gangs in COG of keeping singles single unless the fella is swimming in portfolios & equity & hedgefunds will shun you from being in any marriage potential.
They shun most modest income marriages under the guise of : "well Paul says it's better to not marry" (but if you got some dough or at least "appear to" by carrying an empty COG briefcase to services, THEN the COG ladies "might" give you a chance.) It's a gang promoting only rich being married in EVERY COG I ever visited.
Tkach himself gave me permission to stop attending his services in 1995 when he began to say "Pasadena no longer requires or mandates y'all to attentively attend services weekly" so I faded off & I re-examined "top down chain of command" church leadership
DeleteI've long wondered where the hell all that money comes from to keep the big COG's going, and even growing. I wonder why folks who make those kind of big bucks would even want to throw any of it at religion, especially at what most would call a cult. The only explanation that makes any sense to me is a relatively few extremely wealthy, and eccentric, and maybe a bit crazy, individuals. I'd like to interview one of them.
DeleteThe more I observe crazy weather and the breakdown of democracy in this country and the concern in Europe about that breakdown as well as waning support for Ukraine, the more I am convinced that Herbert Armstrong was right about a coming United States of Europe and the collapse of the United States. For a long time I thought the whole idea was a bit crazy, but, slowly and inexorably, world events are moving precisely in the way the Armstrongs said they would. I certainly don't understand everything: you can make a compelling case against HWA, with the incest allegations, GTA's womanizing, financial exploitation, and financial mismanagement, etc., etc. I'm also not convinced by COG explanations as to why millions or billions have to die before a new world is ushered in. All I know is what I read in the news in comparison to what I used to read in the Plain Truth in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Politically, things are happening in this country which I never thought possible. Flurry's organization, with it's sick pandering to Trumpian foolishness, is part of the decline that is happening in the U.S.: maybe Flurry and his crew want that to happen quickly, so Gerald can get his hands on that rod of iron he so craves. This nation is rotting from the inside, and eventually we will be picked off by aggressors in this dog-eat-dog world. It won't happen tomorrow and maybe not in the ACOG standard "5-7 years", but it WILL happen, and my young grandson will see it if he lives to middle- or old-age. I don't know what to think when it comes to personal protection from that which is to come. Maybe Armstrongism in all its current incarnations --- some of them quite wacky --- is not the answer. Maybe simple faith in and reliance on God is the way to go. In any event, we are not promised eternity in this mortal coil anyway. The storm clouds are already gathering. God help us all.
ReplyDeleteYou should watch British Television, 9:42, specifically MI-5. I have certainly gained new perspectives from recently binge-watching the series.
DeleteGlobalism, led by the USA, is what has been largely responsible for preventing World War III. What scares Europe is the US having a non-globalist president who kills the international business climate with tariffs and rumblings of trade war. Oh, and getting out of NATO.
The wearher also concerns me. I understand warm ocean currents and their effect on the jetstreams which bring us our weather. That is why I try to minimize my carbon footprint. It's something all people who care can do. It's a paradox how big business loves how the consumer drives business when it's to their advantage but cranks out the propaganda when consumers cause them extra steps or inconvenience.
We're going to be fine . We just need the correct paradigm shifts.
As one who's been around the COG's for fifty years, yes, things are starting to happen now, finally, finally, finally. But too late for those who bailed over the years because, it just took to blasted long for them, it didn't happen on their timetable, so they bailed and went back to eating pork, and probably loving it better than they did before. Those folks look at what's happening now, the rapid collapse of the U.S. and weather disasters which cannot be explained by mindless "climate change", and simply mock. That's all they can do.
Delete5:30 pm said, "Don't believe everything you read at ESN."
ReplyDeleteESN does have some good stuff, but it is also filled with a lot of right-wing conspiracy crap that Armstrongists love to wallow in.
Do COG single ladies still require the men they date to have portfolios, equity, hedgefunds, or wealth management before they or their COG minister will even consider the fella as marriage eligible?
ReplyDeleteJeez, 10:04! When I was a WCG member, those were all things that a member in good standing was NOT to have. They indicated lack of commitment to the work!
Delete10:04
ReplyDeleteI can see why women find you so distasteful. Who would want to be around a misogynistic whining crybaby all the time. Woe is me, women don't like me. Who can blame them!
You sound high maintenance like they are. COG women & you too are pretty demanding, monetarily. They want us guys to pay for their wigs and hair color & fake raised eyebrows & air conditioning.
Deleteooh you just won the audition to be cast in "Real Housewives Of COG" episode 4 : "my man better buy me some new wigs & get me a Bahamas cruise"
Delete10:04 & 12:53
ReplyDelete"You sound high maintenance like they are. COG women & you too are pretty demanding, monetarily. They want us guys to pay for their wigs and hair color & fake raised eyebrows & air conditioning."
I hate to bust your bubble dude, but I am a guy, 31 years old with a drop-dead gorgeous wife and two wonderful small kids. You are in serious need of a therapist or better yet a psychiatrist! Your anger at women says more about you than anything they might have possibly done to you. Sadly, there are many men in the church who are just like you. Perpetual bachelors because no woman will ever measure up to their asinine standards. You and they demand Proverbs 13 women and yet feel you/they can be complete assholes towards them.
Like I said before, I can see why women find you distasteful.
My experience while I attended services was the same as 10.94 and 12.53. Women would not go out with church guys unless they were willing to spend a lot of money on them.
ReplyDeleteName calling and character assassinating those who disagree with you is evil.
If you can't, I ask you go elsewhere.
My experience with women in general is that they won't go out with you unless you will spend money on them. I don't have any money and I used to sit at home and cry myself to sleep every night. But as you get older you get philosophical about that, at least you should.
DeleteThanks for sharing how you saw some things too 5:30.
DeleteAnd 1:17 says I am critical of "women" but I tried to state that it was "COG women" only that brought me too into using "exit support network" & the "no longer trapped by HWA" movement. "Banned" by HWA mentality still prevailing in COG also includes banning general, modest income gents from being eligible for a COG dating experience toward marriage. That's why I came to this "Banned" site, because unless a COG man has a bigger income with portfolios, equity, hedgefunds etc., they still "ban" you from marriage consideration.
So it feels a lot freer to finally date "out of the church", where my modest but not high income is more acceptable with the friendly "non-COG" ladies. I'm a senior now, a widower, also I'm a heart patient and I enjoy visiting the non-COG senior center where ladies and men get along very pleasant & they all feel free to mention marriage during coffee chats ☕ and senior prom and music club there much more than stodgy COG with high monetary expectations.
hey I exited away from the ones in COG because their standards are too high
ReplyDeletewhy did you stick up for them here
As a woman growing up in the church, I have to say that most of the men who tried to get close to me left my skin crawling. I never inquired of the financial status of men in the church or any of the accusations 10:04 or 12:53 throw out. What I did expect were men who acted like a man. Respectful, inquisitive, gentle, and not demanding. Throwing around endless Bible verses was never impressive to me. Those that did that tended to never practice what they preached. I wanted a man I could walk beside and not one I had to walk behind. The church was filled with so many passive men that the pickings were few. It wasn't till I left the church and joined a Christ-based church that I found a man who was a real man. A kind, loving, caring man who would do anything for me, including building me a home. I would die for him and he for me. I never found a man in the church who I could imagine doing that.
ReplyDeleteI truly feel sorry for 10:04 and 12:53 that you hold so much anger and bitterness in your hearts towards women.
I suspect that the guy or guys who made that comment were deeply wounded by some female in their past, 1:17. They may have been guys who practiced all of the things taught on family relations in the Plain Truth, or sermons, and then were totally shocked when those principles failed to work. Having listened to sermons in Armstrongism, and sermons in a Sunday-keeping church which was more grace-based, I can certainly understand your ability to find a suitable mate in the latter. This is an area in which the Sunday keepers clearly get it right! We've also heard quite a bit of testimony from current Armstrongites whose children turned out so much better because they had the common sense not to follow what was in the child-rearing booklet!
ReplyDeleteGuys, don't give up on women because of your experiences with marriage in an Armstrong-based church! Blame the church which set you up to fail in yet one more area! That's not to that there are not inept, irresponsible, or just plain bad people of both genders out there. It's just that as with anything else, 5% can make some trash the whole lot.
The ministry made non-minister men less masculine. Wives going to the minister for all sorts of questions. The ministers opinion is the one that counted most in most households and men relinquished certain duties due to it. Further, these men gave a lot of money away in tithes/offerings and took days and weeks off work at unusual unyieldy times which damaged careers at times.
ReplyDeleteThe ministry will say we want men to be the head of the household, but their actions and teaching undermine it.
This quote by CS Lewis is well applied here:
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
Once again, if anyone is confused by the BB who posted at 8:31, I need to point out that that was not me!
ReplyDeleteBB
Sorry Byker,
DeleteI’ll mostly refrain from using, but if I do I’ll note that it’s not you.
8.31 am, The ACOGs are accused of being Borg for good reason. The responsibilities inherent in being made in God's image are stolen by the greedy ministry.
ReplyDeletePractically all the ministers are mentally imprisoned at the schoolyard bully level. They can't rise above it. So all who complain are ignored, beaten down, and/or slandered to minimize their influence. They do their best to twist their members sense of normalcy in order to make them believe that this is God's social system. But it's not. They are lying through their teeth.
Too bad the banks are closed on Oct 9th for Columbus Day...
ReplyDeleteGreat quote and so true BB. I remember all this talk about being the head of your household and being masculine, yet the WCG and splinter COGs made/make decisions on what portion of your income you tithe on, which sexual practices are acceptable within marriage (yes, there were judgments on this), how you spend your weekends, where you go on most of your vacation days, teaching how/when/how much you should pray, that they are the source for Biblical understanding and the guide for questions a family may have.
ReplyDeleteWhat is left for the husband who has often had his career stunted due to COG teachings (that were often not what first lured him into the COG) and who has no more spiritual authority in the household than to regurgitate the teachings of the COGs? Maybe some think this is overstated, and while there is a spectrum of compliance, the dutiful COG member is taught and widely follows the what/where/how of the COGs and wives are often even more dutiful. Which can bring conflict or lost respect if the husband should think differently than the minister or HQ. So, now a minister is viewed as more correct than her husband which is seldom a good thing.
In the end, it is first and foremost you and your relationship to the Lord, not filtered through an organization. Hopefully a church can add to your faith and experience, but the individual must be able to question and disagree or the man/husband is often weakened.
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Anyway, the quote is a good one.