Poor Victor Kubik keeps getting raked through the coals and looks worse every day in regards to the Zambia cattle rusting situation.
First he made false public allegations against Zambia COGWA members stealing cows he had given to UCG brethren (this was prior to the split) through his "charity" Lifenets. COGWA hit back denying the allegations just prior to the Feast. They essentially called him a lair and took the UCG members who stole the cattle to court and won. The cattle had to be returned.
Kubik hits back at them again and COGWA quickly responds calling him a lair again.
Today, Apostle Malm has a behind the scenes background on UCG and Kubik which gets into how UCG was formed when they jumped ship in 1994/5.
Kubik and a large group of cronies met for months while on WCG's payroll in the 360-390 apartments on the Pasadena campus. They plotted and schemed on how they could form a new splinter group, take a lot of money along with them, and to ensure that their standards of living would be maintained. For many of these in this group it was more about maintaining their living standards that they were used to than it was about leaving over doctrines. Remember that almost all of these men had never held a normal civilian job in their lives. They had no work ethic to fall back on to.
Malm correctly points out that many of these men (who were still employed by WCG) actively kicked out WCG members during this time because they were not agreeing with the changes. Yet while they were doing this they were secretly plotting to form a new church where some of these disfellowshipped people would join after it was formed.
You would think that once they been abused by these abusive men that they would steer clear of the new organization, but no, they jumped right over and started getting abused again. Many in the COG are just like battered women. They hate the abuse, but find safety in the presence of the abuser because they think they have no where else to go. A beating now and then pales in having a "home" to come back to all the time.
Malm lists several things that these men were concerned about as they were sitting in the apartments plotting their new group:
Finally in Dec 1994-Jan 1995 both shoes fell. The new doctrines were presented to the brethren, shocking those who had insisted on keeping their eyes tightly shut and denying the reality around them. Then the shock treatment was applied to the ministry.
This was BEFORE most of the brethren had left; and was PLANNED well before the announcement in the PGR. This was a very carefully prepared corporate move to divest of potential dissidents and financial burdens.
- The Jan 95 Pastor General Report indicated that the Pastors could not be guaranteed their jobs in the future and should now start evaluating their marketable skills.
- Over 40 ministers were handed “last chance” retirement packages.
- 30 more ministers were scheduled for lay-off with a 150 additional lay-offs projected by the end of 1995
- Contracts for the entire fleet of ministerial rental cars were canceled.
- Many local churches throughout the US merged for services.
- All subsidies to the International work have been discontinued.
In additional news:
- The WCG airplane was put up for sale.
- Hundreds of regular employees were laid off.
- Imperial School closed as of July 1st.
- 1/2 of the editorial staff was dismissed.
- Major cuts abound at the Festival Office, and the Feast of Tabernacles `95 (now known as the celebration of Jesus Christ) looks questionable.
- Seven evangelists were offered healthy severance packages [only if they agree to never preach again and to keep quiet about their WCG experience] including Debar Appertain, David Hulme, Dean Wilson, Leroy Neff and the famous Gerald Waterhouse.
Some elders left because of doctrine! Others left to get and hold a job! Still others left to continue the effort to apostatize the brethren! In most cases they did NOT leave of their own will, but were FORCED OUT!
These men were FORCED out; and the later meeting led by Denny Luker, to form a new entity was done with the knowledge and tacit approval of Joseph Tkach! Most of these men did not leave voluntarily; they were forced out by Tkach for economic reasons, or as a part of the stripping away of any potential dissidents to his new doctrine.
Very many in the vanguard of the Tkach doctrinal changes, also left WCG to have a job and the adulation of the people; These folks wanted to follow the Charismatic mega church success model and to eventually bring the Tkach changes into the new organization called UCG. Others were indeed followers of the HWA success model and wanted to maintain the HWA focus and his traditional teachings and style.
From the very beginning UCG was a deeply divided organization with these two internal founding groups battling for power and control. That made a further split inevitable which ultimately came in Dec 2010.
The HWA based folks left to form the COGWA and those who wanted the Evangelical mold remained and now control UCG.
Malm is pointing all of this out because he says this is the background story of the Zambia cattle situation. It's the HWA men (COGWA) vs the liberals in UCG who want to maintained their power positions.
The present situation in Zambia developed when the majority of the Zambia board chose to terminate Association with UCG and instead Associate with COGWA. COGWA being much more Armstrong loyalists. The church in Zambia was registered as an independent legal entity in accordance with the UCGaia Rules of Association. All Zambian church assets were vested in this legal entity and not in individuals, and certainly not solely in Mr. Banda. The legal entity in Zambia is managed by 5 Trustees of which Banda is one.
The situation in Zambia came to a crisis point when a person was unwilling to subscribe to the terms of the loan program of the cattle revolving fund. The animals in question were NOT the personal property of these particular individual. This person, angry over losing the animals (which were all voluntarily returned), and angry over the split of the congregation fabricated the “rustling” story.
Then Malm says that Kubik sued the COGWA for the return of the cattle and lost the lawsuit.
Vic Kubik sued Banda as an individual, demanding that he (as an individual) hand over assets to himself [to Kubik], which belonged to the Zambian church entity mentioned above. It would be illegal (and theft) for Mr. Banda to take assets registered in the name of this entity, and hand them over to Mr. Kubik. Mr. Banda has no authority to do this.
After the above was explained to the court, the injunction that was obtained against Banda at the behest of Mr. Kubik was discharged, and Mr. Kubik was stricken from the proceedings. It seems that Banda was involuntarily dragged to the courts of this world by Vic Kubik.
UCG is ripe with corruption and greedy men. This was well known by many when they formed their group back in the mid 90's. That is why so many who disagreed with the changes did not go with UCG and stopped attending.
UCG had a chance when they formed their church to start a new and revitalized organization. Instead they brought the same corrupt men over, put them into the same power positions where corruption reigns to this day. Their homes, cars, and salaries are their first priority, power is second, and for a select few, caring for the brethren is then taken into consideration. Others couldn't give a rat's ass what happens to the members. They have made this quit obvious in their actions.
If UCG had truly believed in their core doctrines they would have stepped out in faith and might had done amazing things. But greed and power was the model for the day and remains to this day. It is no wonder that UCG is losing members rapidly and is NOT the glorious beacon of Truth that they let on.
Read the rest of Malm's blog entry here: The Zambian situation explained
