Fred Coulter’s “Full Accountability”: Trust Us, the Brethren Have No Need to Verify

For decades Fred Coulter has positioned the Christian Biblical Church of God as one of the rare Church of God groups that actually practices financial transparency. Every year the membership receives an income-and-expense report. Fred has repeatedly insisted that those who receive support from the brethren “are accountable to both God and to the brethren as to how these tithes and offerings are used.” He has quoted 1 Timothy 3 about overseers not being greedy for gain. He has mocked Worldwide for treating members as walking ATMs. He has told the brethren to “prove all things” and has even invoked Ronald Reagan’s “trust but verify.”

Then a member named John Van Atta actually tried to verify.

What followed was a six-month masterclass in stonewalling, feigned ignorance, belittling questions as “stupid,” and finally an unsolicited refund of the man’s contributions so the inconvenient conversation could be declared over.

Opening Salvo – March 2026

Van Atta’s March 20 letter was polite, detailed, and entirely reasonable. He noted that the published financials listed only one bank with two accounts, yet members knew other accounts existed. He asked why donations made payable to CBCG were being endorsed by other entities. He asked about the tangled corporate history of Christian Biblical Church of God versus Christian Scriptural Church of God (the only entity that actually holds the IRS determination letter for tax-deductible contributions). He asked why there is never a balance sheet. He asked who currently holds signatory authority on the accounts holding God’s money.

Fred’s March 25 response was the classic COG non-answer: everything funnels into the main account, the accountant (an enrolled agent, not a CPA) consolidates it, there are “no assets except three used copiers and no liabilities,” therefore no balance sheet is possible or necessary, and York Publishing is somehow both separate and not separate. Problem solved. Move along.

Van Atta did not move along. His April 13 reply laid out the corporate history in uncomfortable detail, noted the recent tax lien, questioned the revolving door of DBA registrations, and pointed out that brethren were never informed that donations to the name they actually write on their checks (CBCG) are not the ones the IRS recognizes. Fred’s next reply essentially said “I’ve already answered everything” and closed the matter.

The “Stupid” Questions and the Cashier’s Check

By late April Van Atta was still asking for specific, documented answers rather than high-level generalities. Fred’s May 1 letter is a classic of the genre:

“Your stupid request could only be answered if you sat in my lap while I was writing and issuing checks, which will never happen… We are not a gang of thieves and robbers, as you insinuate… Enclosed is cashier’s check #2242505553. This is a return of any contributions that you sent… The return of these donations demonstrates that this is the end of the matter.”

Nothing says “we welcome accountability” quite like refunding a member’s tithes and offerings so he will stop asking questions.

Matthew 18 – Because Scripture Only Applies When Convenient

In August, Van Atta (now joined by Nathan Mitchell as a second witness) formally invoked Matthew 18. The letter quoted Fred’s own past statements about accountability back to him and suggested a livestream explanation of the complete financial operations, live questions, and posting of documents by August 29.

Fred’s reply the next day was two sentences long:

“We do everything according to God and publish it in our reports, as we have done for 30 years, completely within all Scriptural requirements. I don’t understand the purpose of your email.”

Van Atta’s final note was blunt: you have refused to hear the complaint one-on-one or with a witness. The church will now hear it. If you continue to ignore it, Matthew 18:17 applies.
What the Numbers Actually Show

A side-by-side comparison of the published reports from 2021–2025 raises the very questions Fred refuses to answer:

Hundreds of thousands in “Writing & Editing” and “Current Book” expenses – who is being paid?

“Housing Allowance – For Elders” jumping to $71,000 in 2025 – which elders?

Auto maintenance, fuel, and insurance every year while the official position is that the church owns essentially no assets.

Office rent nearly doubling in one year.

“Africa Work” money appearing and disappearing after reported disagreements with Kenyan contacts.

Large “Assistance” line items with no breakdown of who received help.

Significant “Ministerial Expense,” “Travel Meeting Expense,” and “Payroll Expense” with zero transparency about recipients.

These are not “stupid” questions. They are the exact questions any competent steward would expect when handling other people’s money claimed to belong to God.
The Pattern Never Changes

Fred Coulter spent years correctly criticizing Worldwide for secrecy, uncontrolled spending, and treating the brethren as a cash machine. He built a reputation on being different. Yet when a member took his own rhetoric seriously and asked for verification, the response was evasion, insults, a refund check, and a claim not to understand why anyone would even ask.

The reports are published. That is true. What is not published is anything approaching the level of transparency Fred once demanded of others. Multiple legal entities, revolving DBAs, bank accounts that appear and disappear from the reports, no balance sheet, no independent CPA audit, and a leadership that treats detailed questions as personal attacks.

Van Atta followed the process Fred himself claims to follow. He was dismissed. That, more than any spreadsheet line item, is the real financial report of the Christian Biblical Church of God in 2026.

The brethren who continue to send their money under the name CBCG while the tax-deductible entity is actually CSCG, who never see a balance sheet, and who are told that asking for verification is “stupid,” might want to remember Fred’s own favorite phrase:

Trust, but verify.

Some of us are still waiting for the second half.

John Van Atta writes: 

I am a past member of WCG that left in the mid-nineties which was not soon enough. For the last ~30 years, my wife and I had nothing to do with any of the splinter groups. Back a few years ago I began to listen to Coulter a little. I knew better as we had some contact with him in the 90's. He hasn't changed a bit - he's even worse now. 

After a career investigating and prosecuting financial crimes for the federal government, I began to find some questionable financial facts about Fred's operation. Obviously, not having access to the investigative tools that I previously had before retirement, I cannot state whether Fred is involved in any illegal activities. However, from my experience I can say there is smoke and where there is smoke there may be a fire. 

With that stated, I have attempted to correspond with Fred regarding his financial activities. I have at least five different letter/emails to him with his responses. There is a nice stack of letters dating back to May, 2026 to the present time. Much to my surprise, the real name of his organization is the Christian Scriptural Church of God even though everyone believes it is Christian Biblical Church of God (CBCG) and they give money to CBCG (or think they do).  

Would you be interested in posting some or all of the letters and Fred's responses on your website? I believe strongly that anyone who is considering funding his business should read these before they do so. Then, at least, they could make an informed decision about throwing their money away.  

John Van Atta

Double-click to enlarge

 

Fred's response:

Fred's letter to members regarding church financials:

Armstrongism’s Favorite Groundhog Day: King of the South Edition, Petra Edition, Still Waiting Edition

 

h/t to a reader:

Armstrongism has never met a newspaper headline it couldn’t stretch into an “end-time indicator.” A new maritime defense pact here, a Houthi drone there, a red heifer somewhere, and suddenly the professional prophecy class is once again whipping the faithful into a fine lather about the King of the South and the imminent dash for the caves of Petra.

The latest entry comes from the Living Church of God. Gerry and the boys have posted another breathless brief about Saudi Arabia’s 14-nation maritime coalition to protect the Red Sea corridor. Egypt is in it. Turkey is (awkwardly) in it. Iran is suspected of poking Egypt with a drone. Therefore, according to the inspired analysis, we may be watching the “king of the South” slowly assemble itself so that one day it can poke the “king of the North” and trigger the great flight to Jordan.

This is the same script Armstrongism has been running for decades. The King of the South is always “almost” ready. Petra is always “almost” the place of safety. The only thing that reliably arrives on schedule is the next fundraising letter reminding everyone that the Work must continue so the true Church can be ready when the real King of the South finally shows up.

Bob Thiel, of course, cannot let LCG have the field to itself. The moment any other group dares to speculate on the King of the South, Crackpot Bob is seized by one of his trademark hysterics. They don’t understand the real King of the South! They are too blind to recognize the moment of flight! Only the improperly named "continuing" Church of God possesses the pure, undiluted understanding of when the little flock should grab their passports and head for the best caves. One can almost hear him already measuring the square footage of Al-Khazneh and deciding which chamber will be reserved for the prophet and which ones the lesser brethren may share.

Both versions have been epic, multi-decade failures. Herbert Armstrong’s 1975 date came and went. The endless “this is it” moments of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s came and went. David Pack’s repeated Wadsworth deadlines came and went. Thiel’s own rolling updates on African kings, European beasts, and Middle Eastern coalitions have come and gone with the same result: the faithful are still sitting in living rooms in the United States and Canada instead of decorating caves in Jordan. The public, by the way, remains magnificently uninterested. These “witnesses to the world” land almost exclusively on people who already grew up on the same prophetic diet. No one outside the bubble is converting because Saudi Arabia formed a naval task force.

The pattern is always the same. Current events are forced into the mold of Daniel 11. Any alliance south of Jerusalem is declared a potential “king.” Any European military move is declared the “king of the North.” The faithful are told to watch, to fear, and to keep sending the money so the church can be ready to flee. When nothing happens, the goalposts are quietly moved and the next headline is declared even more significant than the last. It is a perpetual-motion fear machine that has never once delivered the promised destination.

Those who have actually embraced the New Covenant do not have to live this way. We are not required to interpret every Middle Eastern alliance as the trigger for our personal evacuation. We are not required to keep one eye on the Red Sea and one hand on a packed bag. We are not required to fund the travel budgets of men who clearly enjoy the idea of being the last true prophet leading the remnant into the desert. The New Covenant is not a high-anxiety waiting room for a Jordanian tourist attraction. It is freedom from the entire system of fear-based control.

Christ has already finished the work. The Spirit does not require a cave in Petra in order to be present with His people. The constant drumbeat of “the end is nigh, prepare to flee” is not spiritual vigilance. It is the marketing strategy of a religious product that has been failing its own deadlines for more than half a century.

So let LCG and CCOG keep competing over who has the superior understanding of the King of the South. Let Bob keep eyeing the best real estate in the Siq. The rest of us can enjoy the liberty of not having to pretend that every news cycle is the final one. The caves will still be there if anyone ever actually needs them. In the meantime, they make a lovely backdrop for a man holding a cardboard sign that says exactly what the entire movement has been saying for generations:

“This Is My Cave!”

Saudi Arabia has announced a 14‑nation maritime defense coalition to secure the Bab al‑Mandeb, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden, the corridor linking the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea (Al Jazeera, July 30, 2026). This union became necessary as Yemen’s Houthis have set up a maritime blockade at the Bab al-Mandeb strait, disrupting oil shipments rerouted to avoid the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. The Red Sea accounts for up to 30 percent of global shipping traffic and 5 percent of crude oil and refined petroleum products (Al Jazeera, July 30, 2026). These twin blockades have contributed to rising global energy prices, and crude prices jumped more than 30 percent in July alone (Financial Review, July 24, 2026).

Of the 14 countries involved in the Multinational Maritime Defence Alliance, only Turkey is geographically north of Jerusalem. This is relevant in that the “king of the South,” referenced in Daniel 11, will apparently be a confederation of nations south of Jerusalem. Notably, Egypt is one participant in this maritime alliance, after having suffered its first drone strike on Wednesday, July 29, at the Mediterranean port of Damietta. As of this writing, the attack is suspected to have been committed by Iran, but this has not yet been confirmed (CarnegieEndowment.org, August 3, 2026). The Damietta Port is of major significance in that it lies at the crossroads of international shipping lanes and regional energy networks.

The potential of these events must be understood against the backdrop of Daniel 11, which foretold, “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through” (v. 40). The king of the South has not yet been set up, but the events now occurring in the Middle East may be building to it. To learn more, watch “The Three End-Time Superpowers.”