Forty years after Herbert Armstrong's death, despite hundreds of splinter groups all proclaiming themselves as the one true Philadelphia church, not a single one is able to attract and maintain members. Sure, there are the dubious reports by Crackpot Bob about amazing growth in Africa, but it is all unsubstantiated and depends upon a tight-knit group of church-hopping former Adventists/COG7/Armstrongite leaders. Bob's numbers are as dubious as Wade Cox proclaiming that half of Africa has joined his cult, including scores of Muslims. If we were to believe either self-appointed nutjob, the entire continent is now Church of God members. How are they all going to fit in Petra?
When the church imploded, there was no unified exodus to one church. Hundreds of competing self-righteous know-it-alls set themselves up as HWA's rightful heir of the one true church. Disgruntled members of these groups also church-hopped from one group to the next until they found one that best fit their feelings.
More and more people are seeing through the lies of COG leaders and continue to drop out of church groups. Plus, the foundation of all of these splinters is former WCG folk who are now in their 70s and 90s. As more members die each month, no new younger people are joining. Why should they? Younger people have search engines. They can read the history, the failed dates, the leadership scandals, the endless “we are the one true remnant” press releases, and the critical archives in an afternoon. The internet did not just expose the remnants. It made joining them look like volunteering for a retirement home with extra prophecy charts.Greetings from Charlotte,
The Council of Elders met online Wednesday to gain a quick overview of trends within the Church around the world. We are seeing new members come along—some brand new and others coming to us with a WCG background or from other fellowships—but growth is slow, in large part due to having to replace those who have finished their race. Several members died recently, including our longest ordained minister, Mr. James Wells in Kansas City. I’ll be traveling there for his funeral. We still struggle to reach a younger demographic, but there are congregations that have significant numbers of children and teens. Many young couples are having three or more children, and it does not take many child-bearing couples to significantly impact a congregation. Dr. Wilner Pierre reports that all our members are safe following a gang raid in Haiti, near Port-au-Prince, that left at least 47 dead and 50 kidnapped. With such violence, along with earthquakes, fires, floods, and other natural disasters, let us remember to pray for one another.
—Gerald E. Weston
