It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone with a pulse and half a brain that the Philadelphia Church of God (PCG) is hemorrhaging members faster than nearly any other Church of God splinter—possibly trailing only the equally imploding Restored Church of God in the great exodus sweepstakes. Gerald Flurry’s health has been visibly fading for years, yet the real exodus isn’t from old age; it’s from the group’s ever-more-bizarre doctrines and the iron-fisted demand that loyal members completely shun spouses, children, parents, grandparents, and even old friends the moment they dare to walk away from the cult. Nothing says “Christian love” quite like turning your family into persona non grata the instant they stop writing tithe checks.
But the doctrinal dumpster fire is only half the fun. What’s really driving people out the door is the breathtaking financial waste and elite-level grift. While the shrinking flock is constantly harangued for more “support for the work,” the leadership treats donations like an unlimited black card for the Flurry family’s personal theme park.
Let’s talk about that Gulfstream G450 private jet—the crown jewel of PCG extravagance. Bought years ago so the Flurrys could skip the indignity of commercial airports, this flying money pit costs roughly $4,363 per hour to operate. One single round-trip flight from Oklahoma City to Birmingham, England (with a fuel stop) clocks in at about 18.5 hours and $80,700 in operating costs alone. That’s more than most members will ever see in a year of faithful tithing—and far more than a first-class commercial ticket would cost. Yet the jet keeps flying to holy-day sites, personal appearance campaigns, Celtic dance competitions, and whatever other “urgent” errands the inner circle dreams up. Because nothing says “humble servants of God” like burning tens of thousands of dollars in jet fuel while preaching about end-time poverty and sacrifice.
And don’t get us started on the traveling road shows—especially the glossy Celtic Throne dance productions that have toured dozens of cities across 21 states (including Israel and the UK) over the past five years. These aren’t humble outreach events; they’re full-scale theatrical spectacles starring Gerald Flurry’s own offspring (Jude Flurry, Vienna Flurry, and the rest of the favored “elite children”) along with other hand-picked young performers. Promotional stunts in front of Mount Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial, choreographed perfection analyzed down to the last synchronized leap, and enough production costs to fund a small country’s missionary work—all while the actual membership base evaporates. It’s less “spreading the gospel” and more “Flurry family vanity tour on the church’s dime.” The road shows highlight exactly who the real VIPs are: the spawn and the inner circle, not the tired, aging rank-and-file still mailing in their last dollars.
Add to that the outrageously expensive concert series at Armstrong Auditorium, the white-elephant mansion moldering away in the English countryside that nobody wants, and the perpetually money-hemorrhaging Jerusalem office. The message is crystal clear: tithe payers get guilt-tripped sermons and no-contact orders; the Flurry elite get Gulfstreams, dance troupes, and five-star global jaunts.
The PCG’s own recent admissions have made the collapse impossible to spin. In Stephen Flurry’s Trumpet Daily episode “America’s Disappearing Men” (aired May 14, 2026), he casually dropped that the organization now has only about 500 men aged 25–55 actively “supporting the work.” That bombshell came at the 41:25 mark and was phrased as “As we heard the other day,” as if it were some casual sermon statistic instead of a glaring neon sign screaming we’re in trouble.
Their Feast of Tabernacles site “capacities” total around 3,700 seats worldwide—cute, except those are maximum venue sizes, not bodies in chairs. They generously include babies, kids, and non-member spouses. Realistic estimates put actual attendance this year at 3,000 or fewer, with baptized adult members likely well under 2,000. As one longtime observer dryly noted, “The numbers are indicative of meeting capacity; in no way do they show actual attendance… They definitely have under 2000 actual baptized members. It’s gratifying to watch them shrink!”
Even that bleak 500-men figure and 3,000-Feast projection get eye-rolls from insiders. “It is surprising that Stephen Flurry would actually admit that number,” one commentator wrote on May 15, 2026. “But 3000 is even a stretch… Knowing them I’d say 500 is even a stretch because they are liars!”
Here’s the delicious irony the PCG leadership will never admit: they’ve built a multimillion-dollar empire of jets, mansions, dance troupes, and concert hall on the backs of a dwindling band of loyal (and increasingly elderly) supporters—only to watch the very people footing the bill walk away in disgust. The more they double down on shunning families, flaunting elite excess, and demanding sacrificial giving to fund Gulfstream getaways and Flurry-family road-show glamour, the faster the whole thing collapses.
Five hundred working-age men left to “support the work”? That’s not a church anymore—that’s a dying family business with excellent PR and a really nice jet. The Philadelphia Church of God didn’t lose its members to some external Satanic attack; it lost them to the blindingly obvious truth that a “Philadelphia” work built on control, cash, and celebrity offspring was never very Philadelphian to begin with.
The shrinkage isn’t just gratifying to watch—it’s inevitable. And every new transatlantic flight, every glittering Celtic Throne performance, and every fresh no-contact decree only accelerates the day when the last few faithful finally realize they’ve been tithing to a very expensive mirage.
Five hundred working-age men left to “support the work”? That’s not a church anymore—that’s a dying family business with excellent PR and a really nice jet. The Philadelphia Church of God didn’t lose its members to some external Satanic attack; it lost them to the blindingly obvious truth that a “Philadelphia” work built on control, cash, and celebrity offspring was never very Philadelphian to begin with.
The shrinkage isn’t just gratifying to watch—it’s inevitable. And every new transatlantic flight, every glittering Celtic Throne performance, and every fresh no-contact decree only accelerates the day when the last few faithful finally realize they’ve been tithing to a very expensive mirage.
_______________________________________
Based upon Exit and Support letters:
PCG Is Shrinking:
May 13, 2026
It’s interesting to see the upcoming FOT sites. Totaling 3700 worldwide. What makes it funny is the numbers are indicative of meeting capacity; in NO way do they show actual attendance. And as stated, the numbers include children/babies and non-member spouses. They definitely have under 2000 actual baptized members. It’s gratifying to watch them shrink! –T. C.
PCG Numbers:
May 15, 2026
Just to back up the latest post regarding the current membership numbers, Stephen Flurry just mentioned in his latest Trumpet Daily that the PCG only has about 500 men between the ages of 25–55 years old supporting the work.
Those FOT site numbers are capacity, not attendance numbers; the real number for this year’s Feast is around 3000. –[name withheld]
Such a Stretch on the PCG Numbers:
May 15, 2026
Regarding the previous letter about 500 men baptized. It is surprising that SF would actually admit that number. But 3000 is even a stretch for FOT attendance.
So I just listened to it the Trumpet Daily, aired: May 14, 2026, “America’s Disappearing Men” and he (SF) does say that at about 41:25 into the show. It sounded like someone in a sermon used that statistic as he said “As we heard the other day.”
So knowing them I’d say 500 is even a stretch because they are liars! –[name withheld]
18 comments:
I haven't been here in a while but the AI generated images for all the articles are hilarious. You can enjoy 99% of the article content by just scrolling through the images.
Yes it’s gratifying to see their shrinkage.
And may it continue. And it will!
To Bob Thiel and all the other what-a-be followers of HWA, each proclaiming they are the True cog and the True Philadelphia remanent…..we say BOLLOCKS.
Guys, this is just so awesome! It's such a gas watching the Gamaliel principle at work!
I remember being encouraged on seeing the news when Flurry bought the G-450 and the Edstone estate, knowing that they were creating financial burdens that would divert money from all outreach programs that could draw more members into their cult and eventually help bankrupt them. Glad to see it happening. Gerald still wins to some degree in that he lived with riches and accolades for several years while exploiting his cult members.
All the ACOGs follow the North Korean model to various degrees, which many scriptures condemn. God does not bless religious Gulags.
So much of the declining funds of these splinter groups is spent on buildings, jets, salaries, ect. that it is a wonder that any of them still exist. Oh I forgot, there are enough brain washed tithe slaves to keep these orgs. barely alive.
They borrowed money, then called for a church wide fast. Hoping the rest of those members wake up and get the hell out of that hell of a cult. It’s definitely in its last throes.
I hope you are right, 7:14. The problem is frog in boiling water syndrome. A couple years ago someone asked a member of either Flurry's or Pack's group about a then recent outrage committed by leadership. The member replied that all the church brethren took it into stride. Apparently, it was just another day in the church. They are accustomed to their own standards, and actually happy that those standards are distinctly different from "the world's" standards.
We obtained a good understanding of this from the half a dozen "Weinland Watch" blogs which sprung up following Ron's bold prophecies and incarceration. Former members would share their experiences, and occasionally Weinland's remaining followers would show up and write comments like, "How dare you attack God's Apostle like that???"
You gotta get in the Wayback Machine and remember when all of us reacted in that same stereotypical way. Seems a bit more extreme these days, but as they are now, we once were ourselves. It is part of being stuck in the cultic mentality.
Another thing. If suddenly some of these cults begin to fall apart and dissolve, somebody, some unexpected person, will assume leadership, and the core will continue as a downsized group. Happens all the time when a vacuum is created. Some will leave, and some will continue as independents in the basic package of beliefs, but many have been so mentally debilitated to the point where they need a strong authority structure just to continue to be functional. Strange as is seems, your Cal Culpepper types will step up to the plate, and be the next Jon Brisby. A lot will be said from the pulpit about a small, elite, righteous group keeping the faith.
The pathology runs too deep. There just aren't too many members who will conclude that "the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls" and embrace the sounds of silence!
BB
“PCG Only Has 500 Men Left To Fund The Flurry Family's Personal Theme Park”
Calling those ignorant, gutless, PCG members “men” is a real stretch. They need to man up and repent and stop supporting such outrageous evil.
The Dwindling PCG Fraud
On December 7, 1989, a day that will live forever in infamy, Gerald R. Flurry launched his surprise attack on the Worldwide Church of God people with the start of his Philadelphia Church of Fraud. It had all begun when Jules Dervaes sent a copy of his Letter to Laodicea writings to about 700 Worldwide Church of God ministers, including Gerald Flurry. Gerald Flurry basically plagiarized it to produce what he called Malachi's Message, which, after a number of revisions over the years, somehow became the little scroll mentioned in Revelation that had been delivered by a mighty angel, and that had been revealed only to Gerald Flurry and to nobody else.
When the apostate Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. did the Great Apostasy of January 1995 by openly throwing out of the Worldwide Church of God virtually everything that Herbert W. Armstrong had taught, many WCG people went looking for a splinter group to carry on the old teachings. Gerald Flurry was waiting for them by using HWA's name and photograph and by falsely claiming to be faithfully holding fast to everything that HWA had taught. The real dastardly hook was when Gerald Flurry began to illegally reprint HWA's last book called Mystery of the Ages. After losing the court case, Gerald Flurry bought the copyright to it from the apostate Joseph Tkach, Jr. Basically, the Devil sold the copyright to Satan.
Of the thousands of people who tried the PCG splinter group, most of them quickly left or got kicked out. Gerald Flurry lost hundreds more people when he tried his satanic identity theft stunt of claiming that he, rather than Jesus, was what he called “That Prophet” of Deuteronomy 18:18-19 that everyone was supposed to listen to. Others just slept through that series of five sermons and stayed in the PCG. Mystery of the Ages got edited and changed so that Gerald Flurry could pass himself off as a prophet leading the church. When there were still about 7,000 people in the PCG, it was announced that more people had already gone through the PCG (left or been kicked out) than were currently attending it.
Herbert W. Armstrong had taught that the “true purpose” and the “very purpose” of the church was to carry out the Great Commission of preaching the gospel (meaning “good news”) of the coming kingdom of God in all the world for a witness to all nations before the end of this present evil age would come. Interestingly, one of the first things that Gerald Flurry did was to do away with this Great Commission by saying that HWA had already done it, as if it were all over now, and by claiming that the PCG had been given a “new commission” to warn the Laodiceans. Warning the Laodiceans basically meant raging away at WCG people and refusing to have anything to do with them if they would not go along with Gerald Flurry and help him to suppress the preaching of the gospel.
Herbert W. Armstrong had also made a big deal in his later years about Malachi 4:5-6 talking about turning the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. So, of course, Gerald Flurry came up with a “No Contact” policy to break up marriages, families, relatives, and friends if anyone would not go along with Gerald Flurry's monstrous heresies.
Some people might have thought that they were following Herbert W. Armstrong, but once inside the PCG they were required to worship Gerald Flurry, who wasted all the years coming up with more and more fancy names, titles, offices, and positions for himself until he even became the new king of England.
Over the past 25 years, the PCG has continued to dwindle. People eventually smarten up and leave, or get kicked out, or die. No new people feel the need for any of the lies and satanic abuse that the PCG has to offer them.
It seems that the PCoG is rapidly approaching a critical mass point in which they will not have enough tithing members to support HWA college, headquarters payrolls, Flurry's jet and the Celtic Dance ensemble. Flurry seems obessessed with more titles, standing ovations and exalting himself. I look for defections & others forming their own group if paycuts become necessary.
When the apostate Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. did the Great Apostasy of January 1995
the apostasy sadly had already begun under Armstrong himself unfortunately. A bible study demonstrates so.
PS May 17, 2026 at 9:44:13 P
read this good post:
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-failures-of-armstrongism-it-all.html
This is one of the big major splinters located precariously in Tornado Alley. I guess they have to rent a hangar for the Jet and have insurance as a hangar would not protect it from a tornado. Somebody tell him that Rader leased - did not purchase - Herbie's Jet! Must have been the same for GTA's Falcon jet also.
If you look at satellite view of Big Sandy, you can see the crumbling Herbie/GTA jet airstrip still there, it's quite a sight, must have cost a fortune!
Aren't some of the PCG fellas hefty enough to fill 2 airliner seats anyway?
And why is G. Flurry pictured more like Dick Cheney up there...
They're probably mad about the way he treated Ms. Bareiro.
The youth growing up in PCG & then leave at age 18, likely know that Iran is "east" of Jerusalem & not "south".
They also see El Presidenté Trump cleaning Iran's sorry clock to where they won't function as any king of any "south".
The HWA airstrip in Big Sandy ia a mile long! Must have cost a fortune!
Post a Comment