Instead… drumroll, please… every single one of them plopped the exact same aging ministers from the glory days right back at the top. The very men who had spent decades perfecting the art of top-down control, ministerial privilege, and “because I said so” governance were dusted off, given new letterhead, and told, “Carry on, gentlemen!”
Nothing—absolutely nothing—changed.
The same learned patterns of dominance, the same “God speaks through me, not you” mentality, the same fear-based loyalty tests, the same endless fund-raising sermons—they carried it all over with gusto into their shiny new “remnant” entities.
Why reinvent the wheel when you can just bolt on a new name and pretend the old hubcaps still shine?
Not one of them seriously considered injecting fresh blood into the system. New ideas? Younger voices? Actual accountability? Perish the thought! The old guard “knew it all,” you see. They had sat at the feet of the apostles (or at least at the right hand of the one true apostle), so clearly they were irreplaceable. And conveniently, there just weren’t that many younger men stepping forward—either because the system had already burned them out, scared them off, or because the few who remained looked at the circus and thought, “Hard pass.”
So here we are, decades later: each splinter group still marching proudly forward under its old tattered and graying banner of “We Are the One True Church.” The ministers may be slower, the sermons may be shorter (or longer, depending on the painkillers), and the congregations may be smaller and grayer, but the structure? Untouched. The attitude? Identical. The claim to exclusive truth? Louder than ever.
Truly visionary leadership. A masterclass in innovation. If only the rest of the world could learn from such bold, forward-thinking stewardship of God’s government.
As for the Church, we are facing some real challenges this year, with eight full-time ministers retiring (six in the U.S. and two outside the U.S.). The challenge will be replacing these individuals. But I am happy to report that Ministerial Services has developed a plan over the past year to make sure that every congregation will have an assigned pastor. This has required the hiring of several men, younger men, I might add. Replacing pastors who represent hundreds of years of combined service is very difficult, but with God’s mercy and blessing, we plan to make sure that all our congregations have pastors. We believe it is impossible to put a value on what these men and their wives have contributed to the Church. But we are excited about the future pastors who are coming along. To fulfill the role of pastor, we look for men who have a good understanding of the truth, including a love for the truth and a love for the brethren. And we look for those who have a true heart of service.
Let me conclude this letter by quoting Hebrews 6:10, which I quoted in my sermon on the Sabbath in western Michigan. “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” This is an important principle. God promises not to forget our works of service.
Brethren, let’s not get distracted from our calling by the events unfolding in the world around us, but let us keep our focus on our need to grow spiritually by serving each other and on our need to preach the gospel in all the world. This is the true answer to the chaos we see unfolding in the world around us. This is where our focus must be as we look ahead to another year.
Sincerely, your brother in Christ,
Jim Franks
37 comments:
50 years ago, the ministry was considered a calling and you were expected to work until you dropped dead. Then the idea of retirement entered the picture, and ministers looked forward to the days when they could relax after the Feast and watch sports tournaments instead of serving the brethren.
Now the top ministry writes to the membership about buying seats to attend expensive and frivolous sports tournaments instead of ministering, and nobody bats an eyelash.
Times have changed.
Three fresh posts on COGWA yet not one on UCG recent release of their UCG member survey results video that has many views on UTube.
He claims that they're looking for men with "a love of the truth." Such members have never fared well in Armstrongism. They've typically been persecuted. But the claim makes good public relations.
4:37, what do you mean when you say that the ministry writes to the membership about pursuing pleasure (i.e., attending sports events)? Who is doing that? Are they saying this in jest?
The apostle John, Polycarp and HWA went into their '80s and beyond and were still active in their ministries.
What does it mean for a minister to retire? Does it mean that you don't call him anymore?
Jim Franks has endorsed retirement for ministers, based on the Old Testament example.
He said he "watched" the AO final. He didn't say how he watched it. He and other top COGWA ministers were in Australia and New Zealand during the first week of February, but maybe he simply tuned to Nine Network.
Well Anon 4:50 am - if there is such mind-boggling information in the UCG video about the member survey, why don't you put that in a note to the webmaster here and see if they will post it? I have sent things in the past, and they have posted it. But no, all you did was whine. I, for one, would not waste my time watching any video of a COG to search for information because videos are easily edited if things become controversial or if someone highlights something they were too dumb to notice.
cogwa is the epitome of the cogs masquerading as sheep in wolves clothing. While the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of many cog leaders are blatantly apparent, cogwa lies low in a sinister way. Judgmental and condemning attitudes from the self-righteous hirelings are as rampant in cogwa as in other cogs, but just more carefully concealed. cogwa is a splinter founded on lies and slander more than anything biblical, harshly ruled by the cronyism (and for the financial support of) the good ole boy's country clubbers. It is a whited sepulcher to beware of.
Spiritual inbreeding and indoctrination from the AC and WCG years have seemingly produced a limited genetic pool in the cogs, no matter what their differences, as each claims either directly or by inference to be the only true cog.
The elitist cogwads only care about their income and retirements, and by flying below the radar escape detection when in reality they are one of the most abusive, heartless and non-caring cogs on the manipulative market.
I am glad that this blog is highlighting COGWA. They are a manipulative and sneaky group trying to present themselves as light and goodness, and yet underneath, there is spiritual rot.
I remember in United Church of God about 20 years ago those around my age were saying, "things will change once the old guard retires/passes away." But, the excitement of rumors and factions in the years preceding the ucg/cogwa split put that on the back burner. Maybe we felt there might be some transparency and intellectual/spiritual honesty to come. But, it didn't. Change in practice wasn't even exactly necessary, but simple honest discussion without ramifications for having "wrong understandings" should have been.
But, that is your social network so you kinda stay on. You see the same people from 20 years ago who were saying we just need to wait till the old guard retire, now saying the same thing the old guard said 20 years ago. You lose a bit of closeness as an outsider and since there was a split your social network was also split...and some do stop coming too. Which prompted my stopping attending. It's really not that big a deal. it's good to have another social/spiritual network outside the COGs though. That was always discouraged in the COGs however.
One thing that is very unlikely is that change will come with merely the passage of time in the COGs. Either be that change (and likely get kicked out) or not, but don't think waiting it out will work. If you're not yet ready to make a break from your COG, first try to develop friendships and bible groups in your local area. It helps a lot if you do make that break.
Some people make deceitful comments, which is why this site has no credibility other than with some of the people on the site.
Anon 11:07:28 AM PST….Can you detail the deceitful comments made here please. And why you presume as such. A little clarification would be nice. Do you object to the comments made here by many correspondents, and the posts published by this blog, and is that why you claim it has no credibility? These rather flippant off the cuff comments of your own without articulating your concerns with sound examples on site here, leaves one questioning your own credibility.
Yes the comment such as 11.07 is flippant as you noted, and is really no more than seeking to have the last word. As if in doing so they have the advantage. One sees it quite often here as it seems to give such commenters the warm inner glow they are right after all.
I think religion is in trouble. Young men are smarter than the old farts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2V4DYT-kM4
The liars know who they are. And so does anybody who has been around a while. Why pretend otherwise? The lies have been called out and cited many times.
Well anon 6:24:53 PM PST……..’The liars know who they are. And so does anybody who has been around for a while…….the lies have been called out and cited many times’………..What lies are these? Being a commentator here on this blog for a long time. Please cite the lies you alluded too and that have been cited many times. I’m curious bro. State your case with facts and examples thanks.
9.08, it depends on how you define "active." I wouldn't call Herb's incessant two trees sermons him being active. And it was a group of his ministers who wrote the Mystery of the Ages book. There's many articles on the web pointing out that narcissists get worse with old age. People who work in nursing homes know this from experience. They try harder to rob others of their narcissistic supply (mental energy) via abuse in order to compensate for their increasing mental frailty. There's a reason for retirement laws.
Your perspective is totally predictable, 11:07. Any Armstrongite who visits here, unless God is working with them and opening their mind to the fact that they are in a toxic cult, will totally agree with your opinion. Perhaps you'll join us some day???
Very true 6:17.
Not 11:07. Who would want to join your gang in such lies and deceit? Your judging of others to the extent you write, with such flipancy, is shocking.
When did Jesus Christ make you the judge of others ? You barely know yourself nevermind others.
For at least ten years, some poster or posters have left one word comments, like "Liars!" or, "You're all a bunch of liars!" usually when someone has done a particularly good job of exposing Armstrongism or one of the ridiculously hopeless pretenders to the mantle. When asked for further explanation, this slug never provides one. Does he, she, or it lack the ability to verbally or mentally defend his accusation? Are they just an annoying troll? Afraid that discussion will infect them? We can't possibly know. By failing to provide further detail, the perpetrator has relegated himself to an absolutely useless state of existence. If he hopes he's going to get some kind of reward in the kingdom for defending Armstrongism, just for lobbing a few snowballs, he' should really make his comments more specific and effective. Rise above simple cat-calls. Let's turn it around. If one of us went to a pro-Armstrong blog and posted "Armstrongism is crap!", would anyone take it seriously? Oh, wait! They either don't allow comments, or they censor them!
You wrote: "Why reinvent the wheel when you can just bolt on a new name and pretend the old hubcaps still shine?"
That is exactly the problem with every single COG group today. They changed their names, thinking they were doing something bold and godly, yet they are just old and worn-out, still pretending to be WCG pre-1986 or pre-1995. The shine is gone and will never be restored.
Oh Better Bachelor or the Joker. Smarter? Man, you are going to have to be much smarter than this guy and people who follow him who are the red pill types. It's not just about this conservative stuff that's going to solve the problem. Because this guy who has been married and divorced twice was part of the problem back in the day that he speaks of. Let me listen to someone who set the right example.
The results of the UCG member survey are hilarious. They are the exact same results as if someone had conducted the survey 20 years ago. Members have been asking for the same thing, year after year after year after year.
Liars? Seems to me there are two kinds of statements on this blog that are prone to being called lies.
There are the "insider" details that are impossible (or nearly impossible) to verify. "Gerald Flurry has Peyronie's Disease" or "An LCG employee died of AIDS." Sometimes the most seemingly absurd and improbable of these turn out to be correct, but it is easy to dismiss them as obvious lies until they are shown to be true.
And then there are the imputations of motive. Many seem to find it easier to believe that corrupt ACOG ministers are evil schemers than that they are frightened morons. These imputations may not be "lies" but they are speculations that are almost impossible to prove.
Actually, there's also a third category of "lies" on this blog. It consists of demonstrable facts that lazy or fearful Armstrongists are unwilling or unable to verify for themselves. Example: HWA's divorce proceedings, in which Ramona's attorney introduced the matter of Herb's incest with Dorothy. It is a matter of record that neither HWA nor his attorney challenged that accusation. You can speculate as to why they chose to concede its accuracy, but you cannot deny that they did so.
OK, maybe there's a fourth category, but it isn't really "lies" as much as it is "trolls." There are absolutely some people here who like to make fun of Dennis Leap's tight pants or Rod Meredith's weird obsession with queer men. But that's really mocking, not lying. Overall, this website is a much better source of truth than any ACOG website.
Yah, 12:17. All just nostalgia groups in search of relevancy.
Yeah, 4:37, that was before they knew about Alzheimers! I guess they thought the ministry just kept getting older and wiser with age! Now, a pope and a couple of presidents later, people are beginning to realize that nobody is immune to the effects of aging!
Well therein lays all your problems. For your interest is in scandal about a church, rarther than about scripture and what God is doing. Evangelisim is dead.
You've sold your soul for gossip and mockery. To entertain yourselves is far more interesting than dealing with yourselves.
Truth is in the eyes of the beholder on this blog. Your love of gossip masquerades as a beacon of a life's work.
Well therein lays all your problems. For your interest is in scandal about a church, rarther than about scripture and what God is doing. Evangelisim is dead.
You've sold your soul for gossip and mockery. To entertain yourselves is far more interesting than dealing with yourselves.
Truth is in the eyes of the beholder on this blog. Your love of gossip masquerades as a beacon of a life's work.
12:14, yes, our interest is in the scandals of the church because many are sinning in the church and trying to cover it up. Sorry. Won't cut it. The sins have to be exposed and judged if we are to make any progress in the church in these last days.
Gossip and mockery? Yes, the ministers routinely gossip before they make an evaluation of a member. When the members speak to one another it is called gossip, but when the elders do it they are sharing true and confidential info. Mockery? Start obeying Christ and you won't be mocked by Shimei as David was for his sins.
Why don't you start obeying Christ. I'd start with not lying and thinking you can set traps.
Not many these days put much God inspired wisdom in ministry's assessment of members.
What if the LORD makes fools of ministry? Does God not evaluate people these days? Has the way of God in how he dealt with people been forgotten?
Amateur hour assessment based on crap spies, third rate gossip and wishful thinking.
More times than not the ministry gossip about each other to the members. Many members know this and trust none but God.
Your comment clearly gives the game away that this blog is ministry run.
1213 said "Your comment clearly gives the game away that this blog is ministry run." Many of us have known for years that ministers from UCG and LCG are controlling this blog. Their bittereness is evident. They say one thing standing in the pulpit and then come here and say the opposite.
Exactly! ☝️
A very tragic situation.
I wonder if that is true.
"When the members speak to one another it is called gossip, but when the elders do it they are sharing true and confidential info."
Wow. I am going to keep that in mind.
12:14 is probably LCG, & isn't it gossip-based to start up the LCG in the 1st place while claiming it's the most "philadelphian", & that all other COGs are laodicean? To say other COGs are not up to par is a form of gossip too.
Brothers, when I said that members' talk is gossip and ministers' talk is accurate and factual, I was speaking in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I think some elders believe this based on the way they behave. I am not a minister but a lay member who has tried to reconcile with the elders 4-5 times over decades. What I have found is that the elders sin by drawing false conclusions about a lay member and believing their own lies. When they reach that point, they start telling others in the church, wife, son, deacon, fellow elder, the same false narrative about that member so that the devil has them under his control, and the sins begin to snowball.
This is condemned by Paul and falls under the category of slander (katalalos, backbiter, talkative against; Rom 1:30) and calumniation (psithuristes, whispering, detracting secretly; Rom 1:29) God will not allow lies to be repeated in His church without some consequences.
An elder's word can't always be trusted (when he lies), and sometimes the lay member's word is a true and faithful witness (when he reports a lie).
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