Perpetual Office Managers: The Rot That Afflicts Every Church of God Splinter

Perpetual Office Managers: The Rot That Afflicts Every Church of God Splinter

The United Church of God’s problems with entrenched, unaccountable Operations Managers aren’t a UCG-only bug. They’re a feature across the entire fractured landscape of Armstrongist “Churches of God.” Nathan Albright’s recent paper shines a much-needed light on the governance failure in UCG, but the same sickness—lifelong administrative fiefdoms, opaque decision-making, and resistance to real accountability—plagues virtually every major splinter. What began as a reaction against Herbert W. Armstrong’s and Joseph Tkach’s top-down authoritarianism has calcified into its own form of bureaucratic permanence. The result? Stagnation, groupthink, silenced dissent, and a leadership class more focused on preserving its own comfort than serving the flock.

As Albright rightly notes in his executive summary:

This paper examines a governance weakness within the United Church of God (UCG): the absence of term limits or genuine accountability for Operations Managers, particularly those overseeing Ministerial and Member Services and Media and Communications Services. While the UCG was formed in response to prior authoritarian abuses within the Worldwide Church of God, its own governing structure has permitted long-term consolidation of administrative power.

Replace “UCG” with LCG, PCG, CCOG, COGWA, RCG, or any of the smaller groups, and the paragraph still works perfectly. The names change, the letterhead rotates, but the pattern remains: a handful of men (almost always the same small circle) dig in for decades, shaping doctrine, ministry assignments, media narratives, and discipline with little meaningful oversight.

The Same Old Story Across the Splinters

UCG’s Council of Elders and General Conference of Elders were supposed to provide collegial balance. In practice, as Albright documents, Operations Managers over Ministerial and Member Services and Media become “semi-permanent and virtually immune to broad accountability.” They control pastoral assignments, credentialing, internal communications, public messaging, and responses to controversy. Dissenting ministers get reassigned, marginalized, or quietly sidelined. Media output stays tightly controlled to protect the approved narrative.

This isn’t unique to UCG. In the Living Church of God, long-serving administrators and headquarters loyalists have maintained tight control over ministerial culture and public image for years, even as membership and income trends tell their own story. In the Philadelphia Church of God, Gerald Flurry’s inner circle operates with even less pretense of accountability—after all, it’s “God’s government” in their telling. David C. Pack’s Restored Church of God takes it to cultish extremes, where questioning headquarters means questioning “God’s apostle.” Bob Thiel’s Continuing Church of God functions as a one-man (plus a few loyal lieutenants) operation where administrative power is simply whatever “Bwana Bob” decrees.

Across the board, the absence of term limits for these key operational roles creates the very centralization the splinters claimed to escape. Albright nails the structural problem in UCG:

The Constitution and Bylaws do not specify term limits for Operations Managers nor mandate periodic reviews or reappointment processes… Long-serving individuals in these roles often shape the institutional culture to their own vision, marginalizing dissent and consolidating influence through internal promotions and informal networks.

The same bylaws-level vacuum (or outright disregard for accountability) exists elsewhere. Presidents, Operations Managers, Media Directors, and “counsel of elders” equivalents become de facto lifelong positions. Fresh ideas dry up. Emerging leaders with different perspectives are either co-opted or pushed out. Innovation dies. The result is the slow-motion decline visible in shrinking congregations, aging memberships, and increasingly desperate fundraising across most groups.

Biblical Leadership: This Is Not

The New Testament knows nothing of perpetual office managers lording it over the saints. As Albright points out:
 

Scripture consistently presents leadership as a responsibility, not a personal possession. The New Testament pattern emphasizes rotation, plurality, and accountability. Paul and Peter both warn against lording it over the flock (1 Peter 5:1–3), and Christ commands His followers not to exercise authority as the Gentiles do (Matthew 20:25–28).

Instead of servant leadership and plurality, we get administrative permanence that breeds exactly the kind of institutional idolatry and abuse of power the splinters once condemned in the old WCG. Media control becomes narrative control. Ministerial oversight becomes the ability to shape (or silence) theology and discipline. When these powers rest in the same unchanging hands for decades, spiritual vitality suffers and the church drifts toward the very hierarchical model it fled.

Consequences We’ve All Seen

Stifled innovation and fresh voices: 

• Talented ministers and members with new ideas hit the same entrenched wall.
• Lack of transparency: Decisions about discipline, doctrine emphasis, and finances happen behind closed doors with minimal reporting to the brethren.
• Groupthink and cover-ups: Problems (doctrinal drift, moral failures, financial mismanagement) get minimized or buried to protect the institution and its long-serving managers.
• Declining health: Membership stagnates or shrinks while headquarters empires remain comfortable.

This isn’t servant leadership. It’s bureaucratic self-preservation dressed up in religious language.

Time for Real Reform Across the Board

Albright’s recommendations for UCG apply broadly: term limits (five-year renewable terms with mandatory sabbaticals after ten years), transparent annual reviews with input from field ministers and members, clearer separation of strategic council oversight from day-to-day administrative power, broader involvement in appointments, and a renewed culture of servant leadership.

Until the Churches of God adopt genuine accountability structures—real term limits, independent reviews, and actual plurality—the pattern of “perpetual office managers” will continue producing the same sad results: declining churches run by comfortable insiders who mistake institutional survival for faithfulness to the Gospel.

The original break from the WCG was driven by a desire to restore biblical governance and avoid the abuses of unchecked power. Thirty years later, most splinters have failed to live up to that vision. As Albright warns in his conclusion:

The United Church of God has noble origins in resisting ecclesiastical overreach. Yet without meaningful reform, it risks reproducing the very patterns it once rejected. Operations Managers must not become unaccountable power centers.

The same warning applies to every Church of God group. The brethren deserve better than lifelong bureaucratic overlords. Real New Covenant freedom includes freedom from the heavy hand of perpetual office managers who have confused their own positions with the work of God.

It’s long past time for genuine reform—before more generations are ground down by the same unaccountable system.

Nathan Albright's paper: White Paper: Unaccountable Stewardship — The Structural Problems of Perpetual Operations Managers in the United Church of God

The German Blitz That Crumbled Before It Started – Thanks, Demographics!

For decades, Armstrongism has clung desperately to the long-held delusion that Germany will once again rise as a military juggernaut, invade the United States, England, Australia, Canada, and other so-called “Israelitish” nations, slaughter a third of the inhabitants, haul off millions of prisoners (especially the young and fit), and ship them across the Atlantic to serve as slaves for their European overlords. It even reached peak absurdity at one point with the claim that when the Germans stormed ashore, they’d be so dazzled by the Ambassador Auditorium and surrounding properties in Pasadena that they’d declare it the invasion headquarters. Heaven forbid they tear it down—after all, why destroy such a fine example of God’s (or at least Herbert’s) handiwork when you could just occupy it instead?

Herbert Armstrong kicked off this paranoid fever dream by repeatedly insisting that Hitler was still alive and hiding out in South America, most likely Argentina, plotting his comeback tour. Then Rod Meredith had what can only be described as a particularly vivid wet dream about Americans being cooked in Nazi ovens, hung on meat hooks to die slow deaths, and—because nothing says “biblical prophecy” like extra cruelty—skin from those with tattoos being turned into lampshades, just like the Nazis actually did in some concentration camps.

Scores of breathless articles flooded the Plain Truth, Good News, and World Tomorrow magazines, warning of the imminent German blitz. And who could forget Gerald Waterhouse’s traveling road show of unhinged stupidity, where he not only regurgitated these delusions but happily invented fresh ones for the flock? Even today, the usual suspects—Bob Thiel (a.k.a. Bwana Bob, the Crackpot Prophet), Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland, Alton Billingsley, Dave Pack, and a whole clown car full of other self-appointed know-it-alls—continue to peddle this nonsense as if it’s cutting-edge revelation instead of moldy 1930s-era geopolitical fan fiction. It should be painfully obvious by now that mental illness and grand delusions are occupational hazards for far too many Church of God leaders and evangelists.

These Church of God leaders need this German invasion to happen. It simply must occur! Only then can they finally declare victory and prove that every wild-eyed prediction they’ve ever made wasn’t the ravings of paranoid men living in perpetual fear of being exposed as frauds.

All of this stems from their stubborn refusal to leave the Old Covenant behind—those heavy chains of law-keeping, enforcement, and threats used to keep the sheep in line. Armstrongism’s allergic reaction to fully embracing the New Covenant is precisely why they keep recycling this apocalyptic garbage. Instead of finding rest in the One who accomplished it all, they prefer to wallow in fear and cower before imagined divine wrath.

They desperately need to see an invading army of jackbooted Germans marching down the streets of Charlotte or Grover Beach. But not once do they sit down and actually think this mythical scenario through. Germany currently fields around 1,000,000 active and reserve military personnel, while the United States has about 3,000,000. Oh wait, they always have an escape hatch: After Germany miraculously drops nuclear bombs on all the major military installations and cities, the number of defenders will be minimal. And of those who remain, many will conveniently perish from hunger and disease. Armstrongism has a convenient workaround for everything!

One thing these prophetic geniuses never had the intellectual honesty to consider is the current state of Germany’s military. This tidbit was on a German page on X:

“Germany can no longer raise an army, simply because of how many Muslims are now German citizens” 

 

“Now, allegedly, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz has privately admitted that he's worried about the country's ability to raise an army, simply because Germany doesn't want to put weapons in the hands of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Germans. And he'd be right in worrying, because a recent study of young Muslim Germans showed that nearly half expressed latent Islamist attitudes, which are, you know, the kind of attitudes that turn Muslims into terrorists, and more than half said that their religious commandments were more important to them than even German democracy. And if you ask me, these don't sound like the attitudes of Germans. These sound like the attitudes of Germany's enemies”

Let’s get into the facts. A 2025–2026 German government-backed study by MOTRA, Radicalization Monitoring System, involving the Federal Criminal Police Office, found that 45.1% of Muslims under 40 in Germany hold either “manifest” (11.5%) or “latent” (33.6%) Islamist attitudes. This includes preferences for Sharia over the constitution, antisemitic views, and Islamist leanings. When you have a significant population of Muslims who hold a pro-Sharia Law mindset, you can’t trust them in your military.

In the end, the entire edifice of Armstrongist prophecy about a German invasion crumbles under the slightest scrutiny, revealing itself as nothing more than a fear-based control mechanism dressed up in biblical language. While these leaders continue to hype imaginary jackbooted hordes, the real world moves on—Germany grapples with its own demographic and security challenges that make conquering the United States about as likely as Herbert Armstrong returning from Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena to lead the charge himself.

The tragedy is that generations of sincere people have lived in dread, sacrificing time, money, and peace of mind to support a fantasy that has failed spectacularly for decades. The New Covenant offers rest, freedom, and security in Christ, not endless paranoia about European superpowers or nuclear doomsday scenarios conveniently rigged in favor of the “one true church.” It’s long past time for those still trapped in this system to step away from the delusions, embrace the finished work of the Savior, and leave the failed prophets to their increasingly desperate echo chambers. True peace doesn’t come from watching for German tanks on the horizon—it comes from the One who has already overcome the world.

Persecution Coming Within Four Years… Or Eight… Or Twelve… But Definitely Real This Time, Brethren!

 

Why Bob Thiel Is Convinced His Tiny Sabbath-Keeping “Philadelphian Remnant” Will Be Persecuted Within the Next Four Years (And Why He’s Been Wrong About Every Single Deadline Since the Last Ice Age)
Oh look, brethren—er, I mean, the three dozen faithful who haven’t yet fled to another city—real persecution is coming. Again. This week’s recommended sermon from the Continuing Church of God’s very own Dr. Bob Thiel (PhD in made-up prophecy) is all about “prophecies related to Sabbath-keepers,” which is Thiel-speak for “please keep tithing while I recycle the same 1970s Armstrongist fear-porn and pretend it’s fresh revelation from God.”
The man who once claimed God gave him a dream that he was the prophesied Elijah-to-come (before quietly walking that one back when it got too embarrassing) is now dusting off Matthew 10:23 like it’s a brand-new text hot off the divine press: 

When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

 Jesus was talking to first-century apostles. Bob Thiel reads it and hears a personal four-year eviction notice aimed squarely at his living-room Zoom Bible study in Arroyo Grande. Because nothing says “humble servant of God” like turning a travel advisory for the Twelve into a personalized persecution countdown clock that somehow always lands on “within four years… or maybe eight… or twelve… but definitely soon, brethren, send more money.”
But the real comedy gold comes when Thiel drags out Daniel 11:28-35—the passage every failed end-times huckster has been misapplying since the ink dried. The king of the North gets mad, pollutes the sanctuary, persecutes the “wise,” etc. In Thiel’s special translation (the one with the invisible asterisk that says “*This means me and my 47 followers first”), this somehow proves the “bulk of a relatively soon coming persecution (perhaps within four years)” will hit the Philadelphian remnant Christians before anyone else. Why? Because Revelation 3:8 says they have “a little strength” and have kept His word. Translation: Bob’s group still meets on Saturday, avoids bacon, and tithes like it’s 1974, so obviously Satan has them circled in red Sharpie on the global hit list.
The logic is airtight if you’ve had a lobotomy:

1. Bob Thiel = the Philadelphian remnant (he checked the dream journal). 
2. Daniel 11 says the remnant gets hammered first. 
3. Jesus said flee, so pack the freeze-dried manna. 
4. Therefore, within four years the government, the Vatican, the UN, the Illuminati, and probably the local HOA will burst in demanding Sunday worship and Easter ham while forcing everyone to work Saturdays in matching “666” T-shirts. 
5. Don’t forget to buy Bob’s latest book on the subject. It’s only $29.99 and comes with a free “I told you so” sticker for when it doesn’t happen.

What’s especially hilarious is how Thiel’s four-year windows have the structural integrity of wet toilet paper. He’s been peddling this “persecution is right around the corner” schtick for over a decade now. Every failed prediction gets quietly memory-holed while a shiny new sermon series pops up: “Why the Great Tribulation Is Still Coming—Just a Little Later Than the Last 47 Times I Said It Would.” Some random European law, a papal handshake, a TikTok about Sunday laws, or the fact that Walmart sells hot dogs on Saturday—all of it is “proof” in Thiel’s fever-dream theology. He even wrote an entire article called “Persecutions by Church and State” that’s basically a greatest-hits album of out-of-context Ellen White quotes, Herbert Armstrong fever dreams, and Bob’s own self-referential footnotes.
And the lies? Oh, the lies are the real miracle here. Thiel has claimed divine dreams proving he’s a prophet more times than most people change their socks. He’s predicted specific wars, economic collapses, and end-time events with calendar precision—none of which have arrived on schedule. When they don’t, he simply moves the goalposts, reinterprets the dream, or blames the brethren for not praying hard enough. It’s the prophetic equivalent of that friend who keeps swearing “this time the check is in the mail” while his bank account is overdrawn into next year.
Meanwhile, the rest of Christianity—billions of people who also claim to follow Jesus—gets a free pass until Bob’s elite little flock has been sufficiently thinned out. Because nothing screams “the true church” like believing the entire planet’s apocalyptic drama revolves around whether your micro-group in California gets raided before the Baptists do. The arrogance is almost impressive. Almost.
So yes, real persecution is going to come. Any day now. Within four years. Or eight. Or twelve. Just keep fleeing to the next city, brethren. The Son of Man is right behind you—probably stuck in the same prophetic traffic jam Bob Thiel has been directing since he split off from the Living Church of God because they wouldn’t crown him Elijah 2.0 fast enough.
Pass the popcorn. And maybe some bacon. You know—for the non-remnant who aren’t living in Bob’s perpetual four-year countdown to nowhere

Great News Out Of Edmond, Oklahoma!!!!! PCG Income Continues Spiraling Down

 

Courtesy of Dan Moffett

From The Exit and Support Network

June 7, 2026

Fred Dattolo (Chief Financial Officer) recently stated in the June 5 Friday Philadelphian: “Meanwhile, the decline in first tithe continues. Consequently, total income for the year is barely keeping up with last year, while some expenses are rising.”

Then Dattolo added: “So, your generous holy day offerings have been appreciated!” (I.e., members are to “take up the slack.”)

I’ve noticed lately that HQs is talking more and more about “the Work,” telling members to pray for every last thing PCG is doing, or planning on doing. This serves the purpose of keeping members’ minds and prayers continually focused on “the Work.” –[name withheld]

Why Does Armstrongism Obsess Over Irrelevant Topics?

Why Does Armstrongism Obsess Over Irrelevant Topics?

It's remarkable how Armstrongism consistently busies itself with doctrinal rabbit trails that have little to no bearing on a genuine Christian's daily walk with Jesus. Instead of focusing on faith, grace, love, and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, these groups remain fixated on speculative genealogy, obscure prophetic timelines, and Old Covenant shadows. A recent tidbit from the United Church of God's Council of Elders report perfectly illustrates this misplaced priority.

The Doctrine Committee currently has two projects remanded to it by the Council of Elders. “Modern Tribes of Israel” is now under review by the Prophecy Advisory Committee. “The Resurrection at the Seventh Trumpet Within God’s Plan of Salvation” was completed with remarkable speed—after reviewing over 5,000 pages of material. This included historical and current teachings from Churches of God groups, writings by the originator of the Pentecost resurrection theory, and files dating back to 2013. The project was fast-tracked at the request of Steve Myers to address “false teachings” about the meaning of the Day of Pentecost. Mr. de Campos served as lead author, and the committee earned praise for burning the midnight oil to finish in just 20 days.

Let's be honest: no one outside these echo chambers actually cares who the “modern tribes of Israel” are supposed to be. And knowing (or pretending to know) has zero relevance to anyone's relationship with Christ. As the Apostle Paul made crystal clear in Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

This British Israelism fixation does nothing but puff up certain people—mostly those in the English-speaking West—with a false sense of specialness. It creates unnecessary rifts and divisions that have no place in the Body of Christ. Christians in Africa, India, Asia, Latin America, and everywhere else couldn't care less about whether Americans, Canadians, or Australians might be distant descendants of ancient Israelite tribes. Their walk with the Lord is refreshingly direct: faith in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, without the need for imaginary national identities to feel significant.

The Pentecost project is equally telling. After more than a century of Armstrongism, these groups still can't get their act together on what the Day of Pentecost truly represents. So they do what they always do: look backwards with longing for the “leeks and garlic” of the Old Covenant, debating resurrection timing and trumpets instead of embracing the vibrant reality of the New Covenant. Jesus promised His followers an Advocate, a Helper—the Holy Spirit—who would guide, comfort, empower, and equip believers to live out their faith and serve others through spiritual gifts. That's the heart of Pentecost, not some convoluted theory requiring 5,000 pages of committee wrangling.

In the end, this endless preoccupation with prophetic minutiae and genealogical myths reveals the deeper problem with Armstrongism: it remains trapped in a legalistic, Old Covenant mindset that distracts from the simplicity and freedom found in Christ. While sincere believers in these groups pour their hearts (and often their wallets) into supporting such scholarly exercises, the average Christian around the world is simply walking with Jesus, loving their neighbor, and bearing the fruit of the Spirit—without needing a Prophecy Advisory Committee to tell them who they are.

It's almost comical after all these decades: the same movement that once confidently predicted the end times in the 1970s is still publishing lengthy reports to sort out basic New Testament realities. One has to wonder how many more thousands of pages and emergency committee meetings it will take before they finally realize that the true “special people” are simply those who are in Christ—full stop. No tribal membership card required. The real power and joy of Pentecost isn't found in looking backward to ancient shadows, but in living today in the light of the risen Savior and the indwelling Holy Spirit. That's a message worth sharing, without the unnecessary baggage.

Yisrayl Hawkins and the House of Yahweh (HOY): Armstrongism, Failed Prophecies, Bigamy, Child Labor, and Abuse Allegations

Yisrayl Hawkins (born Buffalo Bill Hawkins), leader of the House of Yahweh (HOY) in Eula/Clyde, Texas, positioned himself as a modern-day prophet and one of the "two witnesses" of Revelation. His movement, which emerged from Sabbatarian and Church of God traditions, heavily emphasized apocalyptic end-times scenarios. Like many high-control groups, HOY used urgent doomsday predictions to foster fear, demand total commitment, and retain members. These prophecies repeatedly failed, yet the group adapted explanations or shifted dates—a classic pattern in failed prophetic movements.

A Pattern of Unfulfilled Predictions

Hawkins’ track record of prophetic failure spans decades:

• 1999–2002: In the 1999 Channel 4 documentary Welcome to Armageddon, Hawkins declared that four-fifths of the world's population would be wiped out between then and mid-2002. When challenged, he replied confidently: "There is no possibility that it could not take place just as I have told you." The date passed without incident. 
• 1993–2000: He tied the Israeli Peace Accord of October 13, 1993, to the start of a seven-year Tribulation, predicting Christ’s return by October 14, 2000. This too failed. 
• 2006 Nuclear War: In a February 2006 newsletter, Hawkins announced that nuclear war would begin on September 12, 2006. When that date passed, he revised the timeline, claiming the war was “conceived” on that date and would be “born” nine months later (June 12, 2007). 
• 2007–2008: That deadline also failed. Hawkins then set June 12, 2008, as the start of nuclear war. After this final major miss, he stopped setting specific new dates for global catastrophe, though the group continued emphasizing imminent end times.

Ex-members described how these shifting predictions created a cycle of heightened anxiety followed by rationalizations: “It was only conceived,” “Yahweh gave more time,” or “The warnings delayed judgment.” One former member noted that the world was supposed to end “at least three or four times” during her involvement, with excuses always provided.

These failures align with Deuteronomy 18:22 in the Bible: If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the thing does not happen, “that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken.” Hawkins’ unfulfilled words mark him as a false prophet by his own scriptural standard.

Ties to Armstrongism

The House of Yahweh did not emerge in isolation. It draws heavily from Armstrongism—the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Both stress Torah observance, rejection of “pagan” holidays, British Israelism (or similar identity doctrines), and a strong apocalyptic framework. Hawkins radicalized these elements: claiming to be one of the two witnesses, establishing a physical “place of safety” on the Texas compound, and enforcing stricter controls. The pattern of date-setting, fear-mongering, and post-failure adjustment is a shared legacy.

Bigamy, Child Labor Violations, and Abuse at the HOY Compound

Beyond failed prophecies, the group faced serious legal scrutiny over practices at its 44-acre compound. Authorities investigated allegations of polygamy (bigamy), child labor exploitation, and sexual abuse.

In February 2008, Yisrayl Hawkins (then 73–74) was arrested and charged with four counts of promoting bigamy and one count of practicing bigamy, along with child labor violations. 

Prosecutors accused him of performing polygamous weddings and maintaining multiple wives—former members and reports estimated at least two dozen wives. State records showed him listed as the father of children born in 2007 to young women in the group. His initial bail was set at $10 million before being reduced.

The bigamy charges were ultimately dismissed in October 2009 as part of a plea deal. 

Hawkins pleaded no contest to four misdemeanor counts of child labor violations involving children working on the compound. He received 15 months of probation and fines. Children were reportedly required to work long hours (e.g., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in fields, a cannery, and butter operations.

The Case of Yedidiyah Hawkins

The most disturbing incidents involved sexual abuse by group elders. In 2007, Yedidiyah Hawkins (age ~40), an elder in the House of Yahweh and reportedly one of Yisrayl’s associates, was arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was convicted in October 2008 of molesting his 11-year-old stepdaughter under the pretext of performing “cervical cancer checks.” Testimony revealed he used a gynecological speculum (purchased online) on the girl, with abuse alleged to have occurred over years, beginning as early as age 8. A former member testified that some elders knew and failed to report it.

Yedidiyah was sentenced to 30 years in prison in December 2008. The case highlighted broader concerns about an environment where polygamy was taught as doctrine (with sermons promoting it as early as 1993), young women faced pressure into sanctioned unions, and child protection failures occurred. Civil suits and investigations also addressed failure to report child sexual abuse. These events compounded the human cost: families fractured, children exposed to labor and alleged exploitation, and a culture of control reinforced by apocalyptic urgency. Ex-members described the group as enforcing isolation, heavy tithing, restricted education, and total allegiance to Hawkins.

Videos and Documentaries

Several documentaries and interviews expose these dynamics:

• How I Escaped My Cult (Freeform, 2025 episode on HOY) features ex-member Debby detailing life inside, apocalyptic preparations, control tactics, and her escape. 
• The 1999 Channel 4 Welcome to Armageddon documentary includes direct interviews with Hawkins making bold predictions. 
• YouTube hosts ex-member testimonies, news segments on the 2006–2008 dates, the 2008 arrests, and discussions of compound life.

Exposing the Lies of Armstrongism

The repeated failures of Yisrayl Hawkins, combined with the documented legal issues of bigamy promotion, child labor, and sexual abuse cases like Yedidiyah Hawkins’, stand as a stark warning about the dangers of date-setting, rigid prophetic speculation, and unchecked authority in high-control groups. Armstrong’s system and its offshoots promised unique “revealed truth” — yet foundational predictions collapsed, requiring constant reinterpretation, while members paid a heavy personal price.

True biblical prophecy does not rely on shifting timelines or human leaders’ charisma. It calls for discernment, testing spirits, and fruit that lasts (Matthew 7:15-20). Movements like HOY demonstrate how mixing legalism, isolation, apocalyptic fear, and authoritarian control can harm vulnerable people seeking meaning. Hawkins is gone, but the cautionary tale remains: Beware any group that claims exclusive access to God’s timeline while demanding your total allegiance and isolating you from accountability.

Silent Pilgrim

Restored Church of God: David C. Pack is a Lying False Prophet

 

David C. Pack is a Lying False Prophet

David C. Pack is a lying false prophet. To believe otherwise requires willful foolishness and stubborn denial of the overwhelming documented facts that are freely available to all who care to examine.

It would be far too kind to describe David C. Pack as being the least truthiest minister in the COGs. The stark reality is that the Pastor General of The Restored Church of God is a bald-faced liar. He does not just issue verbal mistakes or fumble into biblical whoopsie daisies, but he intentionally deceives the brethren whom he professes to love.

As a Christian impostor, he counts on his mind-numb worshippers being so mentally exhausted that they will fail to realize the numerous contradictions and intentional lies he utters ex cathedra. The human idol and Pope of Wadsworth makes up his own rules as he goes along, ignoring Bible verses he claims to uphold.

The only escape David C. Pack has from being a certified prolific liar is if he turns out to be a theological moron with a neurological condition that prevents him from remembering anything longer than 30 seconds ago.

The only rational conclusion any critically thinking human being can conclude is that, with the preponderance of the evidence, David C. Pack is a lying false prophet.

This video provides a fraction of the receipts:

Dave’s delusional prophethood was extensively covered in the 2024 article, “Prophet David C. Pack,” but due to his most recent declarations, an update was in order.

 

I would like to see Bradford G. Schleifer try to grease his way out of this one:

Part 579 – June 7, 2025
@ 57:01 And it would be easy to throw my hands up and just say, “No man knows the day of the hour.” And oh, do the mockers love to hit me on that. “Oh, this man is a false prophet.” I've never claimed to be a prophet.

Part 447 – June 6, 2023
@ 2:02:42 Now, the fact that He's [God] revealing this to me, I have to be a prophet.

@ 2:02:58 I have to be Elijah now.

Part 27 – May 7, 2016
@ 1:46:53 I knew I understood I was Elijah.

Part 273 – December 12, 2020
@ 2:29:03 That prophet has to talk about it. If it's not me, brethren, then you better go looking for him.

David C. Pack was so convinced that he was the Elijah to come that he preached that God would destroy the earth if his commission was stopped.

First a Moses, Now Elijah—130 Proofs! (Part 3) – January 24, 2015
@ 1:16:51 Or is it something bigger that causes the devil to want me dead above all human beings on earth? If Elijah's commission is stopped, God said He would destroy the earth, brethren. Now, if you’re uncomfortable with me holding that job, it couldn’t be as much as I am.

Ah, shucks, fellas. If you keep me from doing my job, the entire earth blows up. Gee whiz.

No wonder David C. Pack called me "That devil, Marc Cebrian" at the supper table during the Feast of Tabernacles in 2023:

@ 1:16:58 If the devil can kill or discredit or block me using every means possible, he can make God put God in a position to destroy this planet.

My apologies to the inhabitants of the earth. The purpose of exrcg.org was not to annihilate the globe. But fear not, people of the little blue dot, for even David C. Pack came to his senses and agreed with me. He undeclared he was a prophet.

Part 291 – February 27, 2021
@ 1:02:14 I am not Elijah. Not yet. But as an apostle, the Bible does say, Paul did say, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.”

Unfortunately for Dave, only God installs men into positions of authority. Humans cannot do that. Either David C. Pack was never a prophet to begin with and presumptuously stole the title for himself, or he is a prophet ordained by God and has since proven himself to be false.

Which is it, Brad? You can rope Ed in on that one and confer. I will eagerly await your generic non-answer excuse why it is okay to allow that blaspheming liar to continue as RCG’s figurehead.

 

Dave walked back being Elijah, but held onto his "prophesying" assertions by altering the meaning to be "just teaching what the Bible says." But slathered with healthy portions of wishy-washy verbiage.

Part 501 – March 30, 2024
@ 27:42 So, it's possible, it's possible, I guess, I'll just say, maybe that I'm prophesying things that are gonna happen.

Part 583 – July 12, 2025
@ 01:30 Now, I’m not setting a date. I’m presenting an immensely powerful pile of evidence for examination… If a date is set, the material will do it. Not me.

So, the material has been wrong 144 times since August 30, 2013, and not David C. Pack. Gotcha.

Even after unlawfully revoking his own Elijah status, Dave continued to lie to the church while claiming God’s authority and speaking in His name.

Part 471 – September 30, 2023
@ 1:43:41 I just don't know. And I’m not here to tell you the day. I’ll never do it again. I’ll never do it again.

Did Dave learn his lesson?

Part 602 – October 18, 2025
@ 1:49:40 Now, if the three bedrock points covered today… can all be wrong, all of it's just all wrong, we can just acknowledge together today that I couldn’t possibly ever offer another date in their place. Could never be done.

Did David C. Pack stop lying?

Part 617 – January 17, 2026
@ 1:31:48 It wudden’t Trumpets. And it wudden’t Abib 1, and it wudden’t Tevet 10, and I was trying to figure—we got it. We got it!

Daniel’s 1335 did not begin on February 2, 2026, on Shevat 16, but that was the sermon that invented the hilarious Regret-O-Meter. I would also like to formally thank David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God for providing this immortalized moment of raw hubris and a supreme vanity.

Did Dave finally realize how awful he was at his self-assigned job and come to a horrific realization that God is not backing up anything he preaches?

Part 631 – April 11, 2026
@ 1:49:45 I know the exact date, absolutely, 1000% that the Kingdom is coming, and you know it can't be later than the Second Passover, and that's 19 1/2 days away.

Dave tries to utilize gaslighting and lies to erase the past. Only an enemy of the church would dare write down what he said and remind you about it. Contrary to his assertions, I do not want anyone in RCG dead. I just want them to remember.

Part 634 – May 2, 2026
@ 1:39:35 But Elijah the Prophet has not yet appeared. I am not Elijah. Nobody is.

David C. Pack circumvents scripture to once again manifest his own “because I say so” theology that conveniently excuses his perpetual failings. Using self-serving logic, he conjures biblical excuses without being able to quote a verse or provide any proof.

Just like any false prophet would.

@ 1:39:43 I’m still a messenger and an apostle, and I can err. I can get dates wrong… Surely, everyone knows I can err.

This is an admission of defeat without assuming any accountability.

@ 1:40:20 But, I can err. A prophet, when Elijah is raised as a prophet, a prophet cannot err because he gets the words directly from God’s mouth.

@ 1:40:51 I’m not getting any words from God’s mouth.

So, that makes preaching 144 wrong dates since 2013 perfectly fine now.

David C. Pack currently denies that he is a prophet and is not Elijah. Because he is “just an apostle,” he self-pardons himself from past responsibility and is perpetually excused for making prophetic “mistakes.” But boy, if one of those dates popped, he would be hopping up and down while pissing himself with excitement that he finally got one right, and crying out at the top of his lungs how right he was.

Dave often teaches that a carnal mind has an amazing ability to find a way to justify sin and disobedience. His ego cannot let him consider that he is doing this right now. By claiming he is not a prophet, he desperately tries to defuse the accurate observation that he is a false prophet.

There are no "take-backs" in Bible prophecy, Dave.

In this way, the Pastor General is retroactively excusing his fraudulent declarations by hiding behind a non-existent biblical loophole. On August 30, 2013, David C. Pack had a singular opportunity to be proven legitimate. And he failed. Which is why he will continue to fail into the grave.

David C. Pack is a hypocritical blaspheming liar, false apostle, false teacher, and false prophet. He discredits himself, and his own words dissolve all of his credibility. He does not speak with God's authority or on God's behalf. The Holy Spirit does not inspire David C. Pack to preach what he does.

No amount of lying or gaslighting will change the reality that David C. Pack is a false prophet.

Marc Cebrian

See: David C. Pack is a Lying False Prophet