The Restored Church of God recently posted its
Behind the Work 2014 video online that it made for the Feast of Tabernacles. Its a slick piece of propaganda meant to stir the hearts of the fledgling membership to sacrifice more time and money in order to make Dave's "vision" come true.
Dave Pack's vision came to him a few years ago in a nightmare he had. He likens that nightmare to the one that Loma Armstrong had that spurred on HWA to spend
six months day and night in a public library instead of taking care of his family. Dave's nightmare though is even grander that HWA's. Dave envisions that three Church of God leaders will be struck dead and their entire group's will turn towards the glorious light of Wadsworth and come with their tithes and financial offerings.
The only problem is, this prophecy that Dave uttered close to four years ago has FAILED for the last three years. No COG leader was struck down by Dave's god. Tens of thousands of COG members and former members have not seen the glorious light of Wadsworth and have NOT come to him with their money and financial offerings.
Membership in the Restored Church of God remains stagnant despite the grandiose building campaign Dave has been on. Millions have been dumped onto the Wadsworth property in order to impress the world and to give Dave a little credibility in his memberships eyes. Try as he might in imitating Herbert Armstrong, Dave CANNOT seem to succeed in accomplishing things like HWA did.
His campus is Wadsworth in no way shape or form even comes close to emulating the Pasadena campus. Even Big Sandy, with it huge acreage and more rural atmosphere was light years ahead of the Wadsworth property. Being located between a pollution belching highway and a big-box store is NOT a huge accomplishment. Even buying a large weed patch next to the campus in order to give Dale Schurter a garden to play in is nothing to brag about. His gardening and farming techniques were a failure in Big Sandy as they will most likely be in Wadsworth. Millennial farming will NOT be based upon any of the malarkey that Schurter preaches.
I was struck in the early moments of the video on how Dave had to have film of himself stepping off a plane like HWA used to do. The problem with Dave's narcissistic shot is that it is a LITTLE plane that was way smaller than anything HWA would have ever dreamed of being seen flying in! Poor Dave just can't quit measure up!
The next thing you will notice about the film is how cold and sterile the offices and campus truly are. There is no feeling of warmth, compassion or deep Christian love being exuded anywhere. All of those being interviewed, those filmed working in the offices, and those in the shipping areas are in starched white shirts and dark blue suits. Women are in long dresses and make-up free. Desks are sterile and sparkling clean. Everything looks like a sterile petri dish and FAKE! The falseness comes through in most of the interviews. You have to wonder if some of those men (no women allowed) actually believe the bullshit Dave espouses. Money speaks loudly though.
The film ends with a telling interview where it is told how the RCG membership has been TRAINED over the last several years in ways of becoming money-streams to finance Dave's vision. The tithe money alone cannot support Dave any longer so the membership has to hold garage sales, work concessions, sell in flea markets, hold bake sales, and do as much as they can to keep the money stream flowing.
Despite Dave's grand impression of himself, he has always never quite measured up. He never has quit measured up to any other COG leader. He can't build grand buildings like HWA did. Even his proposed auditorium is a little scaled down remnant of the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. His preaching has not garnered hundreds of thousands of followers. His booklets, three magazines, television show and the worlds most superfantabuolous web site ever to be created, have not brought in or touched the lives of millions of people. World leaders are not impressed by him even though he owns a piece of Steuben glass. Over half a million people passed though the membership rolls of the Worldwide Church of God in its lifetime. Dave will be lucky to be able to hit the ten thousand member mark. As members continue to leave because of the horrific abuse they receive at the hands of the RCG task-master ministry, Dave's little empire is going to start rotting at the seams and be sold to another cult or become a Catholic school of higher education. With any luck it will bulldozed down to expand the parking lot of the big-lot store across the street.
View Dave's propaganda here:
Behind the Work 2014
