Is Rod Meredith Running LCG for the Benefit of His Family and Friends?

A Comment from the previous posting about the Meredith family empire.

Not long ago, I was shown a letter written by an LCG member to a minister in another ACOG. Here is the letter, with some personal information removed:

Dear [minister’s name]:

[Family member and] I are at our wit’s end and don’t know what to do. [Family member] was baptized in [YEAR], and for a while we were both very excited to hear Dr. Meredith and the other ministers preaching from the Bible, teaching so many wonderful things.

When [my family member] moved to Charlotte, I was so happy for [my family member]. Unfortunately, what we have learned since then has torn us up inside.

The shocking truth is that Dr. Meredith is a constant liar who runs LCG for the benefit of his children and their friends. His children have broken civil laws and moral laws that would get any other member kicked out, but family members keep collecting their paychecks. The sheer amount of sin among Dr. Meredith’s own family members is hard to believe unless you see it for yourself. What is even harder to believe is that not only does he tolerate it, he rewards it with office jobs and big salaries. I know this is so hard for loyal LCG members to believe, but [family member] has seen it and could testify in court if required to. It isn’t false rumor.

Even aside from his own family members, Dr. Meredith puts other liars and abusive ministers in positions of authority, and when innocent people ask him about this he attacks or even disfellowships them. Because of this, LCG’s income is down, and Dr. Meredith may soon bankrupt LCG, just as he bankrupted GCG, though the liars around Dr. Meredith are taking big steps to hide this from members.

Behind their backs, Dr. Meredith says awful things about some of his top ministers. Ambitious younger ministers trash-talk Dr. Meredith and are eagerly waiting for him (and other older ministers) to die, so they can move up in the organization. There is no love or loyalty among the ministers in Charlotte, only competition.

Other LCG members have told us these kinds of problems are found in every Church of God headquarters office, and that it was even worse under Mr. Herbert Armstrong, so we should be glad it isn’t even worse than it is at LCG.

My question to you is simple. If [family member] moves to [Home Office city], will [family member] find more of the same, and become even more discouraged? I am concerned that if [family member] moves and only finds more of the same, the discouragement will be too much for either of us to bare.

Please, no more lies. Is [group name] a place where the leadership sincerely tries to live by the bible, and where people do not get ahead through lies and cruel acts? Or must we wait until Christ’s return to find peace and truth and decency in the ministers we rely on?

The Meredith Family Business

From Painful Truth Blog

From a reader here with links to the Living Church of God:

In a recent article put out by LCG Rod Meredith appoints Dick Ames to be the successor to his throne. Even if Ames is the "face" they push as the new church leader, on paper and in truth it will be Jim Meredith. The Meredith's look at LCG as a 10 Million dollar a year "family business".  They have said as much openly in the presence of many over they years. Of course I realize that Ames is Meredith's brother in-law (the nepotism in that organization is profound) but the money and power will be left to the son, Jim.
 
Unfortunately Jim has a proficiency for bankrupting business. That's how he ended up suckling off of his daddy's tit in the 1st place. His poor management and extravagant expenditures caused his California business to go belly-up so he was forced to come to Charlotte because he was broke. His daddy tried to make the move as comfortable as possible for him by putting him in charge of the Feast of Tabernacles so that he could travel the world, stay in fancy hotels and eat gourmet meals with the company credit card (I wonder how the tithing member who makes $300 a week feels about Jim spending $300 a night to stay at 4 and 5 star hotels with their tithe money). Jim dislikes Charlotte so much (cool people live in California after all) that he uses any excuse possible to leave town. His daddy also gave him a cushy executive office right next to his.  Exactly where one would assume the 2nd in command would sit.
 
At least LCG is wise enough to know that (most) of the members would be outraged if they thought Jim was taking over so they peddle the rouse that Ames will be in control (although, so many of the members now blindly follow anything Rod Meredith he says regardless of its insanity).
 
When Rod Meredith dies and LCG implodes Jim will take the money and run (probably to Hawaii) where he will retire comfortably with his wife).  I would venture to guess that legal paperwork is already in place to turn the bank accounts over to Jim as soon as the old man dies. Ironically, Jim is spending so much money on travel expenses and Feast sites that there may not be that much left in the end!