Vic Kubik's Whitewashing Of WCG Implosion And Birth Of UCG

 

Victor Kubik has a long-running blog about his life, church, LifeNets, and personal travels, Victor Kubik's Home Website. He has done a lot of good through his LifeNets organization by helping people all around the world, particularly in Africa and Ukraine.

One of the bigger draws to his blog is his personal reflections on life in the church and his exit from the Worldwide Church of God. He has a recent entry up, Ground Zero — Chapter 12 — From Turmoil to Transition detailing his leaving the WCG during the Great Apostasy, as so many of the splinter groups call it.

One thing for sure about his latest entry it is a huge whitewash of church history and a major gaslighting to those impacted by his maneuverings and shenanigans during those eventful days. He presents himself as an innocent bystander as UCG was being planned and as a poor picked on minister having to deal with the doctrinal changes. Everybody was wrong except for him and a few of his co-conspirators.

Since he wrote this close to Passover, he based the jist of his article on how horrible the Passover season was in the mother church as compared to today with life in the eternally blissful rainbow and cotton candy-filled world that UCG is currently in.

He used this photo to illustrate these two different worlds. The mother church is dark and evil, and UCG is the millennial kingdom of peace and calmness. Excuse me while I go and vomit.

Why this history of Ground Zero? As I write this chapter detailing the final days of our direct engagement with the Worldwide Church of God, there is inescapable irony. I write now just a short time before the Passover of 2025. As I prepare to publish this chapter, thousands of members of the United Church of God plan to peaceably gather around the world for the solemn annual observance of the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Allow me a moment to briefly contrast today with the tumultuous time 30 years ago. In prior chapters I have outlined the internal turmoil associated with unwanted and unasked-for doctrinal dissolution. But also during those years the entire prior focus of the Worldwide Church of God was being forcibly dismantled amidst growing chaos.

Yep, you can tell already this is going to be a barn-burner of a post lamenting the changes to the church and his position as minister as he contrasts this "Passover" season with "Passover " in mid 1990's.

As those in the Church of God fellowship well know, the biblical events of the Passover are crucial to salvation and eternal life. The weeks leading up to the Passover traditionally include intense Bible study and review of the life and standards set by Jesus. During this time, we conduct a thorough examination of where we are in our relationship with God and how we can continue to steadfastly grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We often typically distinguish our present state of a Child of God (1 John 3:2) with the times of our former, pre-baptism thoughts and actions. To one degree or another, we have all come of out of a spiritual Egypt. 

 

Why bring this up? In this pre-Passover season three decades ago, instead of purposeful plans for a traditional peaceful assembly, there was turmoil and pain, even agony. As friends and families were being ripped apart by foreign teachings, no road map or prior planning guided us.

Thirty years ago, we yearned for peace and a place to worship in peace, beginning anew the annual Holy Day cycle that we had learned and understood directly from the Word of God. For many thousands of people, the time of the 1995 Passover was a tough stretch.

A time to remember

The irony? This year of 2025, 30 years removed from the Passover of 1995, there are many baptized members who will observe the Passover this year who had no part in the Worldwide Church of God. To them, the city of “Pasadena” is a place where there is a major annual parade and football game. Church leaders of the day and their actions in the 1980s and 1990s seem all but unknown, perhaps even somewhat irrelevant to a younger generation. While today we have doctrinal peace in our fellowship, we must remember that such peace is something that must be vigilantly safeguarded. 

 

Kubik writes: 

In the history of our fellowship from the 1930s, we saw direct intervention from God to preserve the integrity of the Church, often in the form of an unexpected turn in events or personnel. There was powerful global growth in those times, but not without major challenges.

But this time, it was different. This difference was personally reflected to me by the job and mission that I loved in Church Administration — one where I had the privilege of collaborating with many ministers and members around the world suddenly coming to an abrupt halt. This ended a relationship that began in 1966 with the Worldwide Church of God, one that lasted nearly 30 years before I resigned. 

 

What next?

Suddenly in March of 1995, I was unemployed. Neither my wife Bev nor I had any plans for what to do next or where to go. I went from a high-paced environment to a brief time of wandering and wondering, initially grappling with uncertainty. While Bev and I remained committed to the precious spiritual understanding of what we knew from the Bible, there were few alternatives. Certainly the thought of starting something altogether new was unappealing.

It was well known by many employees in the Landscape and Custodial Depts that many of the men who were soon to jump ship into the "instantaneous and miraculously formed " United Church of God splinter met regularly together in the many months prior to Worlwide Church of God Texas and UCG being formed. Employees watched as these men met in 360 SOG Apts on a regular basis. 

The formation of what later became UCG was a well-planned and well-thought-out entity that was going to provide a secure financial base for as many ministers as possible to jump ship and still keep tier salaries. After all, MONEY is vitally important for a Church of God and to keep one's expected lifestyle fairly intact during the ship jumping.

In those early days before the formation of the United Church of God, just thinking about picking up the pieces was often overwhelming. These were pre-internet days and widespread communication was not simple. There was no widespread network of cell phones with texting capacity and instant 24-7 access to emails. There were no social media platforms with video messaging and links to online resources.

This is pure gaslighting. There were several internet mailing lists actively detailing the doctrinal changes and the rank apostasy of ministers pissed off at the changes. The Good News Grapevine was one excellent course that had a huge internet following. Many readers here today were part of that mailing list and know the truth from the fiction of Kubik's article. There was also the alt.religion.w-w-church-god newsgroup that had a long life and is now nothing more than a giant slobber fest of pro-HWA articles. Members were not in the dark about the shenanigans of Kubik and his crew. The GNG was a major reason more people did not go with UCG. We saw what they were doing and it was disgusting. 

Not soon after GNG started, AOL COG groups formed, and they kept spilling the beans on the changes, then Yahoo groups formed. Armstrongism would never again be the same as it was in the so-called glory days. The long-hidden underbelly of hypocrisy and lies was exposed for all to see, including the United Church of God. This is why today, there is no COG splinter group that is doing an effectual ministry that is world-encompassing and making an impact. The COG presence here in the Los Angeles basin is unknown. No one knows who they are.

Kubik then goes on to portray himself and the other dissenters as beacons of faith in a cruel world.                  

Our faith, however, remained strong and intact, even in the face of unexpected internal persecution from people we once regarded as friends and trusted leaders. A huge chasm was yawning open with alarming speed, sundering long-time relationships. 

 

Now we relied on and trusted God, His Word, and His promises not to abandon us. The Bible is filled with stories of heroes of faith who stood firmly against hostility toward their beliefs and consciences. We drew strength from them often. 

 

Thankfully, we did not have to endure anything close to what the brave and faithful individuals of Hebrews 11 experienced.. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t difficult and trying times. There exist countless tales of valor and courage displayed by ministers and brethren alike during this challenging and complicated time.

It cannot be ignored that the manner in which the changes came down the pipeline was distorted, underhanded, and unethical. Many blatant lies were said during the times by those in charge. "There are no changes coming" was supposed to be the rallying cry, but everyone, including those who agreed with the changes, knew it was untruthful.

Those who lived and worked in the Pasadena/Los Angeles area knew for decades that the church was a cesspool of corruption, manipulation, power control, and outright degeneracy at times. Even before HWA died, the church was littered by one scandal after another. What worked in their favor at the time was that the internet was not widely spread among members, and also, the threat of disfellowshipment by seeking out church gossip and criticizing Pasadena was forbidden. Being held over the lake of fire by a thin thread was always a good deterrent of control in the church.

This is part of the reason why so many in Pasadena understood the changes so well and agreed with them They saw what was working was not actually working. Grace and mercy were never useful standards in the church.

As I written earlier, what bewildered me was how people I had known for years, who shared my faith and ministered alongside me, could be so mercurial and impulsive about the most critical and essential aspects of their lives. We were admonished for years concerning the warnings in the Bible to be alert to possible deceit and heresy. Yet, when the time came, once-rock-solid pillars of spiritual strength dissolved before my eyes.

Those "once-rock-solid pillars of spiritual strength" finally let the grace of God to enter into their lives and to see that there was a better way. They too were equally bewildered as to why so many willfully continued to be blinded and sought to remain in the security of the old ways.

It has always been fascinating to watch all of these splinter group leaders and ministers portray themselves as martyrs for the truth. They were anything but that! Kubik even invokes Paul to his side:

We were firmly lodged in a spiritual and psychological war, as described by the Apostle Paul: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:10-13). 

 

This spiritual warfare savaged pastors who objected to the "new teachings." If they openly objected, they were picked off and summarily fired one by one.

Others bided their time. They quietly waited on the sidelines of the conflict to see what and how the front line of those opposing the new teachings and resisting spiritual regression would do. It was a confusing time for multiple thousands of people, members and ministers alike. 

 

Rumors and questions abounded. Would the resisters and those who resigned or were fired succeed in forming something new? If so, would any emerging organization be “good enough” in terms of doctrine and organization? As talk of new assemblies grew, others resigned themselves to thinking thoughts like, “Why should I leave one imperfect organization and join another imperfect one?”

So went the talk as the WCG state of affairs further deteriorated. Sadly, the faith of many was pierced through. Betrayed, many walked away, angry and suspicious. With betrayal at such a high level, who could be trusted? The spiritual debris field was tragically wide and deep.

The spiritual debris field of Armstrongism has left a wide and deep field of people whose lives were damaged, ruined or actually lost due to the church. That debris field has been going on since Herbert Armstrong let Loma con him to thinking he was some great man sent by God to lead people to all truth. Like Eve in the Garden of Eden, Loma held out a delicious apple to tempt Herbert, who was at her side, both seeking something greater than the poverty they were living in. Religion was the way out of that poverty, particularly if you conned people into giving you their money, as tent preachers at that time were prone to do.

Kubik, Meredith, Flurry, and many other splinter leaders have actually left a debris field in their wake. These men are not pillars of light that they love to imagine themselves being.

Kubik ends with this:

As ministers were resigning in growing numbers, Guy Swenson and Bev were assembling a list of people for a possible meeting with the Regional Pastors who had resigned (or shortly would resign). In one of many ironies, the earlier effort we had taken to assemble a group of experienced and faithful longtime ministers to serve as regional administrators was now coalescing into the core leadership of what would become the United Church of God.

This was truly an ironic outcome that we never envisioned. 

 

This list grew on a daily basis. John Anderson, who was still working in Church Administration in Pasadena, would regularly update us about who had resigned from the ministry.

There were many ugly confrontations. As ministers resigned or were fired, momentum started building for a new assembly. Many openly taunted us for considering the possibility of starting something new. Ironically, it reminded some of the times when we had visited with the Church of God Seventh Day leadership, which organization Herbert W. Armstrong split from to form the Radio Church of God (later renamed the Worldwide Church of God).

One minister chided and sternly warned me about establishing something new, saying, “If you split once, you’ll split again and again.” Unfortunately and sadly, that prophecy came to pass on many levels. There was much anger as relationships were torn asunder, even painfully within my own family.

The COG has always been really good at gaslighting members as its own leaders rip it to shreds. One apostasy after another has left us with a debris field with so many blithering idiots today, all thinking they are doing it the right way. 

While I find some truthful things in Kubik's story there is a lot that is blatantly false and is a deliberate cover to make his underhandedness during the changes a moot subject. Far too many know differently.

You can read his story here.