Gerald Flurry made good on his promise to buy property in England in order to start another cult college in the "new Europe." Flurry wants a college in the UK because he feels that he and the PCG will ultimately come into possession of the Stone of Scone and/or the Lia-Fail of Ireland before they flee to Petra. He will then take it to Petra in order to keep it safe so that Jesus can return and be crowned King of Kings upon it. That's a pretty wimpy impotent god that needs a human to keep some stone safe in the middle of the Jordanian desert!
He feels his college students may start a "dig" in Ireland where they will discover the Lia-Fail. Plus, Flurry has also bragged that this campus would give them more credibility by being European to the people of Europe.
Now Flurry's dream has come true, though now PCG has to struggle to pay this property off which is going to be rough on PCG members considering they are still paying off the 20+ million dollar Armstrong Auditorium. Now they are going to be saddled with a $4.5 million dollar debt in England! Considering Flurry's slowly dwindling flock, this is going to be one risky adventure.
Poor Dave Pack must be really pissed that he has been pushed on to the back burner once again by another more "powerful" COG than his.
Pastor General Gerald Flurry announced in July 2013 that Hanstead House and seven acres of adjacent land were being purchased (for $6.8 million according to one source), which would have enabled PCG to recreate Herbert Armstrong’s Ambassador College. PCG could not afford this purchase, forcing Flurry to admit that “God is not opening a door to purchase the Bricket Wood campus near St. Albans, England.”
A church publication subsequently stated that, “PCG officials .... were pleasantly surprised to find a large number of beautiful estates available that are considerably less expensive than the Bricket Wood campus.”
The opening message for the 2014 Festival of Tabernacles was surprisingly given by Stephen Flurry (his father had done so in all the previous 24 years of PCG’s history), before a backdrop of Edstone Hall, located in Shakespeare country in the English Midlands, for which, it is understood, a bid of £2.8 million ($4.5 million) has been accepted. Although mortgage rates are currently at an all time low, it remains to be seen if the PCG is able to complete the purchase this time.
Edstone Hall