UPDATED Exclusive: Elizabeth Scarborough Letter: Update on court case

I appreciate Mrs. Scarborough deciding to release this information here. This site has now become the "go to" source for updates and information on the various issues that are hurting LCG members lives. This site also allows LCG members to comment freely and anonymously.

NOTE: James Malm has copied information from below and added it to his blog, as if it was sent directly to him, where he has added his own commentary that is misinformed and wildly inaccurate.   His accusations against Dennis are completely false.  Dennis has had no contact or correspondence with the Scarborough's at anytime.  Malm also is spreading misinformation about the Scarborough's and in effect lying about them.  He has added his own interpretation as to the reasons for the lawsuit and for its dismissal, all totally inaccurate. Malm's wild accusation further discredits him in the eyes of the few he pretends to reach.

You have my permission to post this.

I know that many people, both in ACOGs and out, now look to your site for the information that LCG tries to keep under wraps.  I would prefer to have the truth out there over speculation.

Thank you,

Elizabeth

As you and your readers know, we had a court date last Monday wherein the Living Church of God pled for a dismissal on Ecclesiastical Abstention grounds. We left the proceedings feeling rather confident that the judge would rule in our favor. The high-priced, fancy lawyers for LCG weren’t very impressive in their presentation to the judge (in fact they appeared to actually annoy the judge) and we felt our lawyer did a good job with his arguments. Our lawyer explained to the judge that we were in no way disputing the churches right to mark us for whatever reasons, real or completely made-up, but rather that we were suing them for slandering us on multiple occasions with statements that we can easily prove were false AND of a vindictive nature.

Ecclesiastical abstention basically gives the church permission to treat members as horribly as they want because the members join of their own free will and in so doing give permission to those in power do whatever they want to them. It stems from the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution and makes the claim that courts don’t have the “jurisdiction” to attempt to resolve disputes that are inherently religious in nature. It specifically states that the court should refrain from issues that are based on religious doctrine or church governance, or having to do with decisions handed down by the church leadership.

Our complaint was not “religious in nature”. We were slandered. No matter who you are, it’s against the law to say untrue,defamatory things about people. It’s even worse when those statements are lies spoken with the intent to harm someone’s reputation and good name. THAT is what our case was based on. Not doctrine.

Late Friday night our lawyer informed us that the judge granted LCG the dismissal. Needless to say, we were shocked. At this point our claim is completely dead unless we decide to appeal. We have 30 days to make that decision.

All we ever wanted was for them to admit that they made a wrong decision, based on wrong information, and to meet with us to make peace even if that meant we never walked through LCG’s doors again. We just wanted peace but they refused to talk to us time and time again. A month before we filed the lawsuit, we hired a lawyer to write LCG a letter. That letter expressed our fervent desire to meet to work on peaceful resolution and it stated that we didn’t want to file the lawsuit but said that if they didn’t reply to the letter, we would file the suit. The deadline to reply came and went with no response from LCG. They could have gotten out of this without spending a dime, but they chose to continue to ignore our plea for peace.

Patrick and I counted 44 emails and letters that we wrote LCG literally begging them for peace. While they refused to work on peace, they had no problem having Dexter Wakefield draft a “Release” letter they wanted us to sign which absolved them of any wrong doing “from the beginning of time”. Sadly, we were so desperate to have the marking removed at that time that we probably would have signed it if they would have agreed that signing it meant we could start counseling toward resolution, but they still refused, so we didn’t sign it. If you read the Release, you would be utterly shocked at its content. It was extremely inflammatory. Their behavior toward us has been nothing less than completely unbelievable.

The silver lining in all this is that after over 20 hours of depositions, we now know why Rod McNair and Rod Meredith decided to mark us, which is something we have struggled to understand for nearly 2 years now. Rod McNair testified, under oath, that we were marked for the following reasons: 1. we had a Greek-themed party in 2009 (after returning from a trip to Greece) that looked like a “toga party” 2. In 2011 I sang the Andrew’s Sisters 1945 hit “Rum & Coca-Cola” at Spokesman Club ladies night and McNair believes the song promotes prostitution (they asked me to sing that night and pre-approved the song but I still got in trouble for it) 3. In 2014 I invited two couples, close friends (or so I thought at the time but apparently I was wrong) to my home for a bbq to show them unconditional love because they had been suspended from church and were feeling discouraged. They had been suspended for reading the Book of Enoch and having private Bible studies which we were NEVER a part of but we loved them and wanted to support them because they were very discouraged and upset. We ALL expressed concern over the behavior of HQ’s ministry that night but these couples were Rod McNair’s friends so they got off unscathed while “speaking negatively of ministry” and “causing church division” was added to McNair’s file against me when he found out about our conversations. And then lastly, 4. They blamed Patrick for being the source of information posted on cogwriter.com about Mr. Apartian. Bob Thiel emailed LCG, called LCG and posted on his blog that we were NOT his source (we subsequently found out WHO the source actually was) but LCG continued to pin this accusation on Patrick because they literally had NOTHING else to justify marking him. One LCG minister even testified under oath that the information posted on cogwriter was TRUE and that Mr. Apartian had actually made those statements to a handful of people in his last year of life. So they marked Patrick for TRUE information that he didn’t give Thiel!

That’s it. They took all our friends, our church and our entire social life, our support system, and ruined our reputations because I didn’t handle their accusations of impropriety in 2009 and 2011 very well (as evidenced by my refusing to take the pictures off of my personal Facebook page at McNair’s request), the completely false accusation about cogwriter and one night of openly expressed opinions on brutish behavior we had observed first-hand by LCG ministry.

I’m sure you all think we are better off but that doesn’t negate the devastating pain and loss we suffered and the utter heartache we endured by being shunned by people that we truly loved and thought were our friends. I still can’t understand how people who were our friends for over a decade can just turn their backs on us because Rod Meredith and Rod McNair told them to.

And for that they have opted to spend tens of thousands of dollars defending themselves instead of just sitting down with us like grown-ups (let alone Christians) and working through our problems.

I’m sure the hours and hours of deposition transcripts would make salacious and eye-opening reading for many. At one point, Rod Meredith said that if it were up to him we would NEVER be allowed to attend ANY church of God again. It gave me goosebumps! And he thinks that’s a converted attitude?! Praise God that decision is not his. Meredith also said that “causing church division is worse than murder or child molestation”. Ironic since he’s formed two churches through division himself and we never caused or urged a single person to leave LCG. He used this as his defense as to why McNair called the pastor of our new church and attempted to get us kicked out of that church too. Apparently, it wasn’t enough for them to kick us out of LCG. They’d prefer that we not be able to attend ANY church EVER. So very Christian of them.

Anyway, we just wanted to let you and your readers know because we know that many of them have been supporting us in our effort to seek justice. I have gotten so many private messages from people that have suffered at the hands of these men. Each story I read made me feel even more strongly that we needed to press on. Not to exact revenge but rather, in the hope that if they got their hands smacked for abusing members, they might change their ways or at least think twice before ruining another person’s life. As it stands, they probably think God is on their side and feel empowered to continue to behave as unjust bullies.

I have total faith that in the end, they will be made accountable. 

David C Pack: More trouble in Wadsworth as more ministers leave the Restored Church of God

From an RCG source:

For the last year or so David C Pack has been preaching an endless series of sermons on the 1^st Dominion and how an end-time Church of God would emerge that would be the most faithful restored COG to ever exist.  No “end time” work is will be as large, as incredible, as the Restored Church of God.  The world will soon become aware of its message and trembling in fear.  Splinter group COG members will realize how spiritually dead their own COG's are and they will abandon their COG’s and flock to the RCG by the tens of thousands…and with their money, since it already belongs to Dave and the RCG.

This series of sermons has drug on for so long that members are starting to get exhausted and confused by it all.  They want it to stop!  There are even members breaking down in tears because of the endless drivel coming forth.   They fear they are still in for more and more sermons.  They are currently only at part 37 or 38! 

The things that Dave is preaching about is so far removed from anything Herbert Armstrong taught that most RCG members are becoming very disturbed by it all.  Dave is interjecting his own “revelations” as truth.  Of course when it is presented as “restored revealed truth” members are expected to accept it unquestionably.

If the members are finding this entire series disturbing, so is Dave.  He seems to be forgetting what he has said in the past and is now either back tracking or completely changing things as he goes. All one has to do is to check out his latest videos and watch them…if you are able to get past his bombastic narcissism.

Dave’s revealed truths have become so disturbing that several ministers have left the RCG over the last six months.  This is not only happening out in the field churches but right smack dab in the middle of the Wadsworth headquarters.  Two ministers there recently left, which shocked many.   Today, another minister left the church shocking even more members.

For those of us who have left the church, we know how difficult this must be for those members to sit there week by week and listen to this endless drivel and then to see men whom they may have deep respect for, turn around and walk away. 

Throughout the endless series of sermons, in Dave’s writings, and in most of his booklets, its all about things his "god" has supposedly revealed to him.  There is hardly anything about Jesus Christ, grace, love, mercy or forgiveness.  It must be exhausting for RCG members with all the new rules and teachings, all things that Jesus never even worried about or taught.

Dave either does not get it or he truly does not care. Narcissists are that way though, its all about them.

Philadelphia Church of God: PCG Members May Only Communicate With Other Babtized Members

The deviate teachings of the Philadelphia Church of God just keep getting sicker and sicker.  How could any parent actually follow this?

Guess last Saturday, the PCG told their congregation that if they have children of the age of or older to be baptized and are not, they are to dissolve them from their lives. Any and all children or relations that they are okay to correspond with are only baptized members, or younger children being brought up in the church. Sad

This is the kind of filth that is supported by the Edmond, Oklahoma community that support the concert series in the Auditorium. I wonder how many of them would be supporting this deviancy if they knew the story of the leadership and how the PCG members lives are filled with such tyranny.

PCG has the potential to soon become deadly.  I honestly think that these brain-dead members would actually kill themselves if Flurry or the deviate Culpepper told them to.

Dear Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry and Rod Meredith...

Calling a Nail a Nail: How NOT To Handle YOUR Problems Caused By Your Bullying, Mentally Ill or Personality Disordered Church of God Leader/Minister

How Sick Can Cal Culpepper and Gerald Flurry Get?

This is an excerpt from a posting on Exit and Support.

Recently, I was surprised to receive a call from a good friend from my PCG days whose name is Cassie Flory. Cassie, who was baptized, was married to Scott Flory.1 I was very fond of Scott and Cassie and when I first came into the PCG I would fellowship with them often. We would have meals after services, and I even stayed at their house from time to time. Scott, as I recall, was a very devoted husband and father. I never saw him mistreat his wife and kids in any way. He worked hard to provide for his family and his wife and his kids never lacked anything. In all actuality, I envied them because at that time I was single and living alone. Cassie told me that her marriage to Scott was, for all practical purposes, dissolved by the Regional Director of the North East PCG--Cal Culpepper. She said they both were cast out ("suspended") from the PCG a few years ago under the direct orders from Cal Culpepper for certain offenses that Culpepper found unacceptable. 

Scott apparently pined away faithfully during all the time of their suspension and was waiting for that special phone call from Culpepper that would allow them to return to the "church." Well, some time ago, he got the green light from Culpepper to return. However Scott was faced with a dilemma. The condition of his return to the PCG was that he had to turn out his wife Cassie and no longer allow her to live with him. When Scott told Cassie that he was allowed back in PCG, she said, "What about me?" He told her to leave his house ASAP. Cassie told me that she had nowhere to go!! She packed some of her belongings and lived for a while with various friends. She finally found her own place and is trying to rebuild her life, but is now living without the man she loved and was married to for over 10 years. All of this on the direct orders from the demonized Cal Culpeper.

This couple has two children, a boy and a girl. They are both grown young people and, from what I understand, do not attend the PCG any longer. So it seems that my once good friend Scott who I always remembered as a loving husband has--at the behest of Culpepper and for the sake of saving his skin from the Tribulation--lost his wife and children. As a consequence of this new policy from Flurry, he will (in his own mind) never see his family again unless they repent under torture from the Beast power and be "martyred for the faith." Then they will all be happily united in HWA's "World Tomorrow." My question is this: What kind of poisonous spiritual Kool Aid is Gerald Flurry forcing his followers to drink that would turn a loving husband and father into something like this?

Scarborough Trial Set for September 6, 2016

Civil Calendars for MECKLENBURG County 
Superior Court:

# 8 _____________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

15-CVS-017573  

SCARBOROUGH,PATRICK                      CORBY,STEPHEN,MICHAEL
               

SCARBOROUGH,PATRICK                      CORBY,STEPHEN,MICHAEL
               

S,S                                      CORBY,STEPHEN,MICHAEL
               

S,I                                      CORBY,STEPHEN,MICHAEL
               

SCARBOROUGH,ELIZABETH                    CORBY,STEPHEN,MICHAEL
               

SCARBOROUGH,ELIZABETH                    CORBY,STEPHEN,MICHAEL

               -VS-

LIVING CHURCH OF GOD                     PRO,SE

MEREDITH,RODERICK,C OFFICIAL             WARREN,BRIDGET,V

CAPACITY                                 GAROFALO,MEL,J
 

MEREDITH,RODERICK,C                      WARREN,BRIDGET,V

                                         GAROFALO,MEL,J

MCNAIR,ROD OFFICIAL CAPACITY             GAROFALO,MEL,J
                                         WARREN,BRIDGET,V

MCNAIR,ROD                               GAROFALO,MEL,J
                                         WARREN,BRIDGET,V

LEAGUE,BOB ESTATE OF                     GAROFALO,MEL,J
                                         WARREN,BRIDGET,V               

LEAGUE,BOB ESTATE OF OFFICIAL            GAROFALO,MEL,J

CAPACITY                                 WARREN,BRIDGET,V
 

LIVING CHURCH OF GOD INC                 PRO,SE

LIVING CHURCH OF GOD                     GAROFALO,MEL,J
               

INTERNATIONAL INC                        WARREN,BRIDGET,V

Did Doug Winnail Take Another Broadside At Rod Meredith?

Doug Winnail has another Friday posting up on how to be a peacemaker.  Do you think Rod Meredith is listening?

CAD Comments - Friday, August 05, 2016Are You a Peacemaker?
When Jesus Christ returns, He will establish the government of God that will bring peace to the earth (Isaiah 9:6-7). This is why Jesus emphasized a fundamental teaching of Christianity, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). This is also why the Apostle Paul advised Christians in Rome, “as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:17-21). Paul explained that we can promote peace by not seeking revenge, by not mistreating others, and by overcoming evil by doing good. Solomon wisely observed, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). Jesus warned that making angry or disparaging comments about a brother or sister is the same as murder because it breaks the spirit of the law (Matthew 5:21-26). David wrote, “Great peace have those who love Your law” (Psalm 119:165). One of the most important lessons we must learn if we want to reign with Christ in the Kingdom of God is that peace comes when we follow and learn to apply the laws of God.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

Rod Meredith....did you read this?  "...promote peace by not seeking revenge..." Just think how much better things would have been if you had promoted peace and apologized to the Scarborough's.  Now you are dropping millions to defend yourself, McNair and others for smearing the Scarborough's reputation. A soft answer like, "I'm sorry." would have solved it all, but your disparaging remarks against your brothers and sisters was like sticking a knife in their backs.

Huffington Post: I Was Sexually Harassed by A Christian Fundamentalist Minister (COG)

The Huffington Post has an excellent article up about a woman who was sexually harassed by a WCG minister in Pasadena when she was a student.

This is NOT an isolated case when it comes to the details she tells in her story.  It has long been recorded in the Ambassador Reports, The Painful Truth, and other blogs and web sites about how ministers in Pasadena and Big Sandy would ask men and women, sexually charged questions when called in for counseling.  This kind of behavior was  practiced by many in Pasadena.  Many of these perverts are now in leadership positions in other COG groups where they still do the exact same thing.

Women suffered the brunt of these sick ministers, though many men did too.  Many stories came out of counseling sessions of ministers masturbating while talking about the sexual habits of coeds and men.  Some of these men are now parked in LCG, PCG, RCG, UCG and COGWA.

I Was Sexually Harassed By A Christian Fundamentalist Minister

The author writes:

Today, I read an article by a fellow HuffPost blogger about how cruelly some individuals in her fringe religion treated her when she was date-raped and got pregnant. 

Her words ignited a passion in me to tell my own “church abuse” story publicly for the first time. Maybe her courage and mine will inspire other women with Fundamentalist or other extremist religious backgrounds to speak up, or maybe even escape and find a new spiritual path, one that supports both genders as we seek to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

My parents joined an extreme Fundamentalist Christian fringe group when I was six years old.

While enrolled at Arizona State she got accepted to "God's College."

During the second half of my junior year, a string of unfortunate events led to me be accepted at the last minute after all into “God’s college”. 

My friends threw a going-away party the night before I left. During it, I saw the wife of a junior minister making out with her brother-in-law. His hand was up her shirt! As in most Fundamentalist “religions”, members are encouraged to tattle on one another. I was torn. I didn’t want to get involved. But I didn’t want to sin. So I did my duty and told an elder what I’d seen. He assured me he would handle it.  

As a female transfer student from a “worldly” [read:pagan/heathen/sinful] university, a girl with a budding journalist’s mind and attitude, I was under scrutiny from the minute I arrived on that small campus. The third day, I was called to the dean’s office. He asked me if I had accused a godly woman of inappropriate conduct with her brother-in-law. I said yes and told him accurately what I’d seen. 

He informed me that I had not seen any such thing, that she had denied it, and that I was to never speak about it again. (Probably not blog about it on HuffPost, either!) 

The author then relates how the minister's wife went and lied to the ministry about her, then was called in and was instructed to find a minister to counsel with and this is what happened:

The minister I chose had me sit on a small, hard wooden chair set a good distance from his large wooden desk. He ignored me completely while I fidgeted and cried. I was terrified of him, of God, of the church itself. Of my blood running in the streets when an avenging Jesus came back to slaughter unbelievers. I knew Jesus would be extra vicious with those who had spurned the truth. 

The minister began to ask me horrifying questions.

“Where did he touch you?”
“How did that feel?”
“Did your panties get wet?”
“Did you see his...”

Then she relates the sickening part:

I told him the truth, because I had been taught not to lie. That first day, he just listened to me tearfully confess that my teenage body responded to being around Dave. I was shaking and crying as I told him these deeply intimate, shameful things. He told me to come back the next day.  

The next day, after I waited silently in my little chair for what seemed like an hour, he asked similar questions. But this time, he was so angry at me (I thought) that he was banging the underside of his desk drawer. His face got really red and then he made a sound I’d never heard before. Then, in the middle of my next sentence, he seemed to suddenly relax. He told me to leave.  

I had no idea what was going on. 

He did the same thing the next day. And the next. It was terrifying when his face got so red! And the banging noise! 

This man and the other men who did this same thing over the decades now think they are God's chosen ministers in the various splinter cults.  They have done no wrong in their lifetime.

Read the entire story here: I Was Sexually Harassed By A Christian Fundamentalist Minister

Read her excellent blog here: Wendy Keller Compassion Page

James Malm and Jonathan Bell...Two of Canada's More Questionable Exports

Canada has exported many wonderful things to the States, but unfortunately a few stinkers too.

Remember Jonathan Bell, the screaming public access minister?  No one listened to him.  No one sent him money. No one believed his message.  Women ignored him.

Listening to his comments it reminds us of another Canadian export, James Malm.  The similarities are striking in the things they both say.

ht: to reader here

3 Universal Truths That All Church of Gods Agree Upon

This is also applicable to all Church of God's out there today claiming they are the only ones that are right, that all the others are wrong, and that they are better than all the others.

Rod Meredith, Dave Pack, Ron Weinland, Gerald Flurry, Bob Thiel, James Malm, 

Vic Kubik, Gerald Weston, and David Hulme have all said this very thing.