Jesus Demands a Gulfstream and Dance Troupe, But Apparently Not This Jerusalem Lease

As the Philadelphia Church of God hurtles down its spectacular financial death spiral, the once-proud outfit has been unceremoniously told to vacate from its swanky long-term lease on prestigious David Marcus Street in Jerusalem. The very building they crowed about securing in 2022—because only the best will do for God’s most elite remnant—now belongs to someone else. 

 
It housed the late Dr. Eilat Mazar’s archaeological library and research, the spoils they eagerly claimed after she mysteriously bequeathed her life’s work to them. (Because nothing screams “divine favor” like inheriting dusty artifacts from someone else’s decades of toil.) This was their grand imitation of Herbert W. Armstrong’s “iron bridge” with Benjamin Mazar: twenty years after the original digs died with Armstrong in 1986, PCG wormed their way back in with Eilat on the City of David and Ophel excavations, strutting around like they’d single-handedly reinvented biblical archaeology. 

 
But the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology was always mired in controversy. Critics slammed it as little more than a slick apologetics outfit pushing maximalist, literalist interpretations designed to “prove” the Bible at all costs—cherry-picking finds to prop up PCG’s end-time narrative while dismissing mainstream scholars as godless minimalists. Their work was routinely accused of bias, politics, and turning science into propaganda for Gerald Flurry’s prophetic fantasies. Yet none of that stopped the tithe pipeline. 

Archaeology was just the warm-up act. They needed that prime Jerusalem pad as a luxury forward operating base for their prophesied role as the Two Witnesses—so after a long day of fiery sackcloth street theater, God’s chosen could retire to a hot shower and a gourmet meal instead of roughing it like common prophets. All of it bankrolled by the tithe slaves back home, who were simultaneously funding far more critical “kingdom work”: the obscene millions lavished on Gerald Flurry’s private Gulfstream jet (because commercial cattle class is far too worldly for a latter-day apostle with delicate health) and the extravagant Celtic Throne traveling road show. That glittering Irish-dance vanity project stars the Flurry spawn and a bloated entourage of over 60 performers and crew, with every last penny for food, luxury lodging, airfare, security, and “other necessities” gleefully extracted from the faithful. Nothing spreads the gospel quite like daddy’s dancers prancing and twirling on your dime while the “Work” supposedly races toward the end of the age. 

Gerald Flurry has always had ironclad theological justifications for this breathtaking waste, of course. Every private jet flight, every dance tour encores, every overpriced Jerusalem lease, and every empty English mansion was “God’s will”—part of the final warning message, building faith through archaeology that “proves” the Bible, preparing the place of safety, and positioning the PCG as the elite end-time players who will shake nations. The tithes aren’t being wasted; they’re “invested” in the most important Work on Earth. How dare you question God’s apostle? 

 
Yet here we are. With an aging, shrinking membership, disillusioned victims finally waking up to the spiritual abuse and nonstop financial fleecing, the coffers are bone dry. Extreme budget cuts have landed like divine judgment. The Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology building on David Marcus 1 has been sold. Staff and volunteers must vacate by the end of August 2026. Brad Macdonald piously bleated that God will “choose another building in Jerusalem for us.” How touching—right after this one got yanked. 

 
And don’t forget the crown jewel of fiscal incompetence: they’re still chained to that grotesquely overpriced Edstone mansion in England that no one has expressed any interest in since on the market, quietly hemorrhaging cash while the Gulfstream guzzles fuel and the dancers keep prancing.

This is peak Armstrongism in all its hypocritical glory: preach imminent apocalypse while living like minor royalty on other people’s sacrifices, then act shocked when the money evaporates. The Two Witnesses can’t even keep their fancy Jerusalem apartment. The “great Work” is imploding under the weight of its own extravagance, yet the desperate, guilt-soaked pleas for more tithes will only grow louder and more hysterical. 
 
Truly a masterclass in end-time stewardship. Keep sacrificing, you glorious tithe slaves—Gerald still needs that next tank of jet fuel, another round of applause for the family dance troupe, and fresh “revelations” to justify it all while the whole glittering empire circles the drain. 

hattip to two different readers here for information.

 From The Exit and Support Network

Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology Sold:
May 28, 2026
I was more than surprised to see in the May 22, 2026 Friday Philadelphian under “Jerusalem” that the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AIBA) was sold and to be vacated by August.
“Staff received notification that the sale of the institute building on David Marcus 1 was finalized: The building will be vacated by the end of August, with the help of the summer excavation volunteers.”
Brad Macdonald said that God “will choose another building in Jerusalem for us.”
GF “approved plans” yesterday for Chris Eames (whose visa expires in a few months) to move to Edmond in September following the excavation.
I did a search and found the property had been a long term lease to the AI. Then today found an article in The Times of Israel about property deals. Don’t know if there is any connection but the institute was very supportive of the City of David development. The Institute is in the Talbijeh district. –[name withheld]