There has been a lot of speculation over the last several weeks about the remote possibility that Stephen Flurry might finally scrap the grotesque “no-contact” ruling his spiritual-degenerate father, Gerald Flurry—that self-appointed “That Prophet” and king-of-Britain wannabe pretending to lead a church while playing God with people’s lives—introduced to forbid members from associating with family members, relatives, and friends who had the audacity to leave the Philadelphia Church of God. Many are desperately hoping this is the case. So many are longing to reconnect with loved ones after years of enforced isolation. But on the other hand, what a bitter pill to swallow: after Flurry’s cultish decree has utterly wrecked their lives, survivors now get to sit and watch the whole mess potentially swept under the rug as if it never happened. The irreparable damage has already been done. But this is how Armstrongism has always operated—doctrines and rulings flipped at the flick of a limp -important wrist, with never so much as a mumbled apology in sight.
For nearly two decades this archaic “cutting-off” policy, rooted in Flurry’s own sermon “Exposing Satan,” has demanded total severance from anyone branded “Laodicean.” No phone calls, no letters, no photos, no advocacy—just cold, total exile, even for unbaptized children who dare reject the party line. It has torn families apart with surgical cruelty, enabling abusers, bankrupting parents through unpaid support for kids they are forbidden to see, and leaving behind complex PTSD, parental alienation, and multiple suicides that the organization prefers to paper over as “short illnesses.” One woman wrote to the Exit and Support Network detailing exactly how it gutted her family: parents lost (one already dead), minister brothers turned against her, three teenage sons manipulated into hatred, over $40,000 in child support paid for children whose faces she is not even allowed to glimpse. “Time has been stolen,” she said. Years of growth she will never witness.
That is merely one horror story among dozens. Consider Dan De Gennaro, whose daughter Janet was forced into isolation under the policy, forbidden from contacting her own parents and brother; after three years of enforced silence and mounting despair, she took her life—and only then did Flurry’s regime “relax” the rule long enough to ship her body home in a metal container. Or the father who lost his son Nathan and daughter Elise to the cult’s blackout, never meeting his grandchildren, only to watch another son spiral into suicide after years of grieving the siblings the “no-contact” edict had stolen from him. In the Philippines, the same murderous policy has been linked to multiple suicides—young people like Errol Concepcion hanged after years of mandatory shunning by their own blood relatives under ministerial orders. Grandparents barred from seeing grandchildren, elderly members abandoned when they need help most, teenagers kicked out of homes, marriages strained or dissolved on command: this is the body count of Flurry’s “spiritual purity.”
And let’s not pretend this is some unique Flurry invention. It is pure Armstrongism in action—the same cult environment Herbert W. Armstrong perfected, where “God’s government” always trumps flesh-and-blood family, isolation is sold as holiness, and questioning the hierarchy gets you marked and cut off. HWA himself wrote that when it comes to a disfellowshipped relative, the church family comes first; avoid them completely. Even the more “moderate” Church of God splinter groups—those that publicly soft-pedal the extremes—privately nod along with the same authoritarian instincts. Disfellowshipping policies still lurk in their handbooks, social ostracism of “dissenters” or “Laodiceans” happens quietly, and the underlying mindset remains: loyalty to the organization over love for your own children or parents. It’s the same high-control playbook—secrecy, absolute submission, financial exploitation, and the deliberate destruction of outside relationships to keep the flock trapped.
In the end, this entire archaic ruling stands as a glaring repudiation of the New Covenant. Jesus Christ did not model permanent family exile; He ate with tax collectors and sinners, restored the broken, and taught a process of confrontation aimed at reconciliation, not lifelong blacklisting (Matthew 18). The apostle Paul spoke of a ministry of reconciliation, not a ministry of cutting people off forever (2 Corinthians 5). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—not the cold narcissism of forcing parents to treat their own children as spiritual lepers under threat of the lake of fire. Armstrongism’s legalistic hierarchy, its elevation of human “government” over grace, and its willingness to sacrifice families on the altar of control are the very opposite of the freedom and mercy Christ purchased. No amount of prophetic posturing by a spiritual degenerate like Gerald Flurry can turn this fruit of destruction into anything but what it is: a cultic abuse that has no place in the New Covenant.
The Exit and Support Network letter sharing how Flurry has damaged her family.
DESTRUCTIVE CUTTING OFF POLICY OF PCG
In considering the prospect that the cutting off policy might be relaxed or removed I can’t help feeling quite angry. This policy has been in place for the best part of a couple of decades, and despite any perceived feelings they have of it being “the right thing to do,” it has damaged many, many individuals and families irreparably, including my own family. I’m scared to think how many suicides there have been. I personally know of three; there will no doubt be many more. There will be cover-up stories–“died after a short illness,” etc. I don’t even have words to describe how disgusted this makes me feel and how ice-cold this behavior is. It is narcissistic power and control.
My name is Philippa Labao (was Hercus), from New Zealand, and I’ve been out five years. I’ve lost my parents (Jim and Margaret; dad died last year; my brothers Colin and Steven Hercus; Colin and Jim being ministers. I’ve lost my three children (teenagers) for now. My ex husband Gary Labao was abusive, manipulating, and controlling. He has thoroughly enjoyed the PCG policy and used it to his full advantage. He has lied continuously and everyone appears to believe him. No one checks with me as to the truth.
Aaron Hudson supports and enables him. The children are caught in a web of manipulation–made to feel more righteous for cutting me off, believing every bit of filth their father tells them. It is quite a shock when you realize the stable and apparently loving family you grew up with does not support you. They have not advocated for me, they have not discussed my circumstances with me and tried to help in any way. Why can’t I see my children? I would go as far as to say they have been manipulated into hatred for me. To date I have paid that evil man over $40,000 in child support (alimony). For children I don’t get to see. It’s been over three years. A few months ago I appealed to them all (including top tier ministers) for a change. Not one single reply and not one change!
Aaron Hudson’s own family are not all in the PCG, but they all see each other. MY family refuse to even send me photos of my own children. My point is, they relax this policy now and where does it leave my family? Do they say, “Oh whoops, we can see you now” and expect me to pick up where we left off? Think again. If and when I get to see my dear boys again it will take YEARS to repair the damage. Time has been lost, stolen, in their growth. There are parts of them that I will never see. There are parts of their personality as they grew that I will never experience. Not to mention the long term affects of parental alienation just on them.
I have government funded therapy for my CPTSD, but who is helping them? Where is the accountability for the abuser who sits there raking in money? So they continue to play with people’s minds and lives and really it’s all about money. It’s got nothing to do with God’s love, that is for sure. How absolutely disgusting.
By Philippa Labao
August 3, 2026
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