Sheldon Monson: Pulled a Bob Thiel and Now Demands Zero Criticism

 

When Sheldon Monson, in a fit of rebellion and backstabbing, left the Living Church of God to form his own group, it seemed perfectly fine to him to disregard respect for Roderick Meredith (and later Gerald Weston) along with any criticism directed at him. So he goes and pulls a Bob Thiel, launching his own organization—the Church of God Assembly—while drawing away as many members as he can persuade (or, some would say, con) into following him.

Then, lo and behold, two of his highly placed men turned their backs on him, and he was not happy. Suddenly his followers needed to be reminded—via a staff writer in the April–June issue of A Good Report—that they must submit to the ministry at every level and must never criticize their leaders. Doing so, the piece insists, is nothing less than rebellion against God!

The irony is almost too rich to ignore. The very man who once found it acceptable to break ranks, question authority, and lead a significant portion of the flock out of LCG now oversees a publication that hammers home the classic Armstrongist refrain of top-down church government: absolute submission, zero criticism, and the equation of questioning human leaders with opposing God Himself. What was once framed as necessary faithfulness or standing for truth when he was the one departing is recast as satanic rebellion the moment the shoe is on the other foot and his own subordinates walk away.

This pattern is painfully familiar across the Churches of God landscape. Leaders frequently invoke the language of divine hierarchy and “God’s government” only after they have secured their own position. Criticism is tolerated—or even celebrated—when it justifies a split; it becomes anathema the moment it threatens the new structure. The April–June A Good Report article simply continues that long tradition, admonishing the rank-and-file to keep quiet, stay in line, and treat every level of the ministry as beyond reproach, all while the group’s own founding story is one of open break with the previous hierarchy.In short: rebellion is fine when you’re the one rebelling. Once you’re in charge, it’s suddenly an unforgivable sin against God.