Dear Brethren of The Restored Church of God,
Mr. Pack has often stated in the past that he wants us to be the most
informed Church among all the splinter groups. I know you haven’t been
hearing that lately, so here is some information that is vital for you
to know, about which Mr. Pack has somehow failed to inform you.
It is with great sadness and heaviness of heart that I, Thomas L. Munson
must write this to you. It is my duty as a Trustee of The Restored Church
of God, Ministerial assistant and Ministerial trainee of Mr. Pack, Treasurer
for the Church and a converted Christian who is committed to the entirety
of the truth of God as taught to us by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, to inform
you of particular events that have occurred over a period of time. These
events happened in my presence while I was employed at RCG. If you are
as committed to the truth of God as I am, then you will want to know. If
you are not, then you will not care to know what this letter contains.
I now have the distinction of being the longest lived employee of Restored,
although I was the newest employee as recently as mid-January of this year.
Mr. Pack has repeatedly stated in the past that he wanted to run the
Church in a squeaky clean manner. As the Treasurer of the Church for the
past three months now, I can see a clear and consistent pattern of overspending,
wastefulness and worst of all, a misuse of all three categories of directed
tithe funds. Anybody who is a contributor to the Restored Church of God
should be concerned with that statement. What do I mean? Let me explain.
Directed funds are funds where you, the contributor, specify exactly how
they should be spent as a condition of RCG accepting the funds. Example:
Third tithe. Everyone in the Church knows it is to go to the widows and
the orphans and other needy people as their legitimate needs arise. This
is a long standing doctrine of the Church. However, very little third tithe
contributed to RCG is actually spent in the manner which God says it should
be. Mr. Pack has even instructed me to deny people who need third tithe,
and instead use the third tithe to help meet payroll, rent, attorney salary,
and other expenses unrelated to third tithe. I cannot in good conscience
comply with his demands any longer.
Mr. Pack has repeatedly instructed me to turn down those requesting
second tithe assistance while also repeatedly instructing me to deposit
all excess second tithe, and tithe of second tithe into our main checking
account, (which is the first tithe account) to cover our shortfalls due
to overspending. I have refused to do as he demands, explaining to him
that my conscience tells me not to do as he demands. Of course his demands
are verbal and not in writing. When I told him of my crisis of conscience,
he became extremely angry and verbally abusive of me. He even made many
untrue and unkind remarks to me about my wife, and even attacked Mr. Armstrong’s
integrity. He claimed Mr. Armstrong misused third tithe and festival tithes
in such a way that I “wouldn’t even believe it.” That saddened me. I had
hoped he would have said: “Tom, you passed the test, I really didn’t expect
you to do what I was telling you to do, I was just testing you.” But he
didn’t. He told me a condition of my continued employment was to pay the
bills with excess second tithe, and tithe of a tithe and third tithe. I
won’t steal God’s tithe in my personal life and I won’t steal God’s tithes
from the needy. Mr. Pack should have known I was honest when he hired me.
Even though the Church pays me $54,000.00 per year as a salary, and
I am by no means the highest paid employee of the Church, I am no pauper
either. After speaking to Mr. Pack about my crisis of conscience, he privately
offered to give me money from the third tithe fund “to keep me happy and
to help me out.” I declined his offer, assuring him that I did not need
to be “helped out.” I could come to no other conclusion except that he
was offering me a bribe. And, had I accepted the money, I felt I would
be just as guilty as he.
Brethren, this is a new twist of a doctrinal change. He teaches excess
second tithe, tithe of a tithe, and third tithe, but he seldom uses it
for the purpose which God intends. And when he does, only a small portion
is spent as it is intended. The rest goes to pay Mr. Pack’s salary, and
the salary of his attorney and the excessive rent payment for our office
complex. We only use about half of the space for which we are paying. Mr.
Pack is only too willing to use these directed tithe funds as a part of
the normal operating budget. Meanwhile the needy do without. God will not
bless a Church or its leader who blatantly rob him. This is immoral and
illegal. I cannot ignore the seriousness of what I have witnessed. As a
trustee of the Church, I have an obligation to the members of the Church
and to God that supercedes any obligation to Mr. Pack as my employer. I
also have to consider the fact that my attorney has advised me that I may
be exposed to prison time if I comply with Mr. Pack’s directions.
Reread Mr. Pack’s own book “There Came a Falling Away” on page 403,
change 257. This outlines exactly how all the different tithes are to be
used. On the bottom of page 25 of the revised
“Why
The Restored Church of God?” booklet , Mr. Pack states: “I have gone
on record for so long, and in writing, through these books and tapes about
exactly where I stand on doctrine and the pursuit of holding fast to all
of it, no matter the cost, that I could never get away with making changes
now. God’s people (and my detractors) would be quick to “call me on it.””
I “called him on it.” He treated me harshly when I brought up to him how
I believed he was compromising God’s doctrines, teachings and law in a
clear way. He compounded his wrong practices with unChrist-like behavior.
His unChrist-like behavior has been witnessed by me since the day I began
working at RCG headquarters. I can excuse this behavior no longer in my
mind.
As Treasurer, I can attest to the fact that God has been removing his
blessings from Restored. Mr. Armstrong often said “If our ways please God,
he will bless the work.” Mr. Pack used to say that frequently, the last
few months he has forgotten this. He even scoffed at me when I suggested
that God is not pleased with some aspect of Restored a month ago. Income
is dropping steadily, and so is membership in RCG. I believe it is in part
due to Mr. Pack misusing God’s tithes. Membership in RCG is dropping faster
than new members can replace the ones who are leaving, despite what Mr.
Pack so often says or would have you believe. Over 100 of the less than
200 members at the feast last year have dropped out. Mr. Pack did the math
himself. Most who left are not from the local congregation at headquarters,
although some are. At least half of the new members gained after the feast
have also dropped out. Some people beg for counseling and are ignored,
others are dealt with so harshly only a masochist would take the abuse.
I am not exaggerating, brethren. I could go on and on. I have worked side
by side with Mr. Pack for the past eight months, I have witnessed too much.
I refuse to be a witness to any further abuse or neglect of God’s sheep.
Currently membership in RCG is less than 200 in total around the world
and dropping, not rising as Mr. Pack claims.
The bylaws of The Restored Church of God seem not to be worth even the
paper upon which they are written. I have ample supporting evidence to
back this up. This legal document defining who and what RCG is and what
it must do “By Law” has not been adhered to ever since the day Mr. Pack
and his full time attorney wrote them. When I bring these matters to the
attention of Mr. Pack, his solution is not to abide by them, but to rewrite
them. There is so much more I could say about the matter of the bylaws
of the Church, but space prevents me.
Mr. Pack changes his mind more than any person I have ever met in my
entire life. This is very damaging to the morale of the office staff, both
past and present. Now I can clearly see why so many have walked away from
working with Mr. Pack. This instability doesn’t come out in sermon tapes
but it sure does at the headquarters office. I have taken more than any
reasonable person can withstand and I can excuse his behavior no longer.
With my departure, his longest lived employee is employed 6 months. Is
it a coincidence that ALL his employees but the two most recent have left
him? After they leave he pronounces that they were unconverted. What are
the odds that all his former employees were unconverted? What a very poor
judge of character he must be after twenty some years in the ministry if
all his employees whom he hand picks personally are unconverted.
Mr. Pack and his attorney have repeatedly, in the presence of the office
staff of RCG, commented how thankful they are that Mr. Pack can fire any
employee at anytime, for any reason, and the Restored Church of God will
not have to pay out one cent in unemployment compensation benefits. Churches
in Ohio can only rarely obtain unemployment benefits for its staff. Hearing
this bantered about demoralizes the employees, especially those who quit
more secure jobs, and had no knowledge of this prior to coming to work
for Mr. Pack. The work environment at RCG headquarters, which Mr. Pack
has created, is best described as dysfunctional. I have personally witnessed
Mr. Pack lose his temper so many times I have lost count. Previous employees
of RCG can affirm that he has a lack of self-control in the temper department.
Many are the victims of his wrath. I believe the only reason Mr. Pack has
not been sued is because of the unwavering Christian values of his former
victims.
Mr. Pack has repeatedly told outright lies in my presence in order to
manipulate people and obtain whatever results he desires as a result of
those lies. He does not seem to care about the consequences those lies
may bring to his victims. The scripture he has quoted most in my presence
is 2 Cor. 12:16. He constantly goes around proudly saying “I caught you/him/her/them
with guile.” Any study of the word guile in a concordance will show you
if God approves of his private interpretation of this scripture. Rev. 14:4-5
is what Mr. Pack should try to attain and teach. As a ministerial trainee,
I need to report that he has tried to teach me that catching people with
guile (deceit) is a Godly attribute worthy of apostles. He knows that I
cannot and will not agree with him on this matter.
RCG’s policy: If you don’t tithe you’re out. Over half of the mailing
list was removed for one reason and one reason only, they didn’t give as
much as Mr. Pack wanted them to. Forget about “freely you received, freely
give.” One of the biggest events of the day for Mr. Pack is when the mail
comes in. He opens the mail personally in order to count every last cent
that comes in, and to see who has suddenly stopped tithing. If someone
hasn’t given money in a while, he usually won’t counsel with them. What
he does is to remove them from the mailing list. This is true of prospective
members, too. Everything seems to revolve around money for Mr. Pack. If
you knew how much he spent per month on rent and for his personal attorney,
or how huge his salary is, then you would know why he is so concerned with
the tithes, and why he is so willing to misuse the other tithes as well
as first tithe.
He stereotypes people based on what group they came out of. Mr. Pack
acts one way to people to their faces or over the phone but behind their
backs he acts entirely different. Here is what Mr. Pack has told me he
feels about those who are in Restored: If an RCG member came with us from
PCG, they are as spiritually insane as Gerald Flurry and are likely to
detonate. He says he shudders every time someone new comes with us from
PCG. If you came from Living then you are lukewarm and compromised like
Rod Meredith. If you came from Global straight to Restored, then you are
balanced. (That’s the route Mr. Pack took!) All others don’t even register.
How insulting of his membership. At best, this leaves no room for change
or growth, assuming his stereotypes are correct. I do not believe his stereotypes
are Godly or correct.
Mr. Pack gossips constantly. When you counsel with Mr. Pack it is not
confidential. If you counsel with him about someone else and ask for confidentiality,
sooner or later he betrays that trust and tells the other person what was
said, and oftentimes he puts a spin on what was said. I have witnessed
this repeatedly, and previous employees have witnessed this, too.
Make-up: Despite Mr. Pack’s claims to the contrary, RCG does permit
the use of cosmetics when it is convenient to do so. I am personally aware
of people who have left RCG because Mr. Pack refused to enforce his ruling
on make-up. Many people he allows to come to services with make-up on as
long as they, guess what, TITHE. Those who want to wear make-up and don’t
tithe are put out.
Open door policy: RCG does indeed practice an open door policy. Perhaps
the worst violator of the open door policy is Mr. Pack himself. He has
invited his own relatives who have no intention of joining Restored to
services and allowed the women to wear make-up. Protestants, other COG,
ex WCG now unbelieving, etc., etc. Even a woman who works downstairs in
another office but has no clue about God’s truth asked to come and the
Packs invited her. The reason she wanted to come to Church was because
she could hear the song service and liked the music and singing. Also in
violation of his stated policies, Mr. Pack sent out Feast registration
forms to dozens of people who are not members of RCG. He is flinging the
doors of our Feast wide open.
Mr. Pack spends an inordinate amount of time trying to pin something,
anything, on previous employees. It was Mr. Pack and his attorney who called
the police on Don Tiger after Don refused to sign over the rights to his
CD’s to RCG. Mr. Pack knew there was an outstanding federal warrant for
Don Tiger when he hired him. Mr. Pack wanted the CD project so badly that
he was willing to overlook the warrant. Don’s mistake was to counsel with
Mr. Pack. Sadly, Mr. Pack used that information against Don later, violating
yet another confidence. Mr. Pack turned Don Tiger over to the police. Read
the following quote from Mr. Pack’s persecution statement: “The history
of the True Church is replete with a basic replicating pattern of persecution
that comes, almost entirely, from two basic sources. First, those who hold
fast to the full Truth of God are eventually expelled, attacked and accused
because they will not go along with either the wholesale, or even PARTIAL,
sell-out of God’s Truth! Second, is that the civil governments of this
world become involved in directly persecuting the people of God, as well.
As true and painful as this is, in itself, this often happens (perhaps
even most often happens) because the persecuting Church “members” are the
ones who actually betray the true brethren to the authorities who, it is
hoped, will seek to bring or precipitate greater persecution upon those
same true brethren.” What a sickening policy for Restored to have!! Mr.
Pack falsely accuses this man. Here’s an example of many: “In this light,
it is interesting to note that the old Trust Fund was overdrawn by approximately
$3,500, an amount that might now be difficult to recoup.” False! Untrue!
Any investigation of the account can clearly show that Mr. Tiger never
overdrew the funds by one cent! There was a balance of over $270.00 on
the very day when Mr. Pack gave in to Worldwide attorney Ralph Helge and
closed it down. I could literally cite dozens of outright defamatory lies
Mr. Pack has made while attacking Don Tiger. I believe the Tigers have
acted in an honorable fashion by not suing Mr. Pack for slander and libel.
My hope is that Mr. Pack will repent of telling lies and will bring forth
fruits of repentance by admitting the lies and setting the record straight
with the truth.
Mr. Pack also knew about an outstanding traffic ticket Don received
because the most recently hired employee told Mr. Pack about it. Mr. Pack
wanted Don Tiger’s email list too. Don didn’t feel comfortable with giving
it up so he declined to give it away. This angered Mr. Pack. Mr. Pack used
confidential knowledge to turn Don in. I was there when it happened.
June 7 Update: “Do not be afraid to
believe that God may dramatically intervene to protect His Church from
enemies who threaten to attack it!”
June
10 Update: “Just hours before Donald Tiger was arrested the second
time on Wednesday night, Mr. Pack announced on this web site (please see
June
7th Update) that “do not be afraid to believe that God will dramatically
intervene to protect His church from His enemies.” We believe that God
has dramatically intervened in a way we could have never imagined.” Mr.
Pack sicced the police on Don Tiger days before and was told in advance
that he would be picked up for the traffic ticket and warrant. There was
no surprise involved. Both updates were written by Mr. Pack. Need I say
more. The following is a quote from Mr. Pack’s persecution statement, I
think it applies to what Mr. Pack did to Mr. Tiger: “Certainly, if I wanted
to accuse somebody, and also make them look as bad as I possibly could
in the process (probably because I wanted to also divert attention away
from the real doctrinal issues), one of the most brilliant “strokes” that
I could contrive would be to say that the person I am seeking to attack
and accuse is really attacking and accusing me. What more effective and
clever strategy to deflect attention from the real issues could you think
of while you, at the same time, portray yourself as a victim?” Think about
this and try to recall even one single incident where Mr. Tiger “attacked”
or “accused” Mr. Pack. Mr. Pack has certainly made multiple attacks and
accusations against Mr. Tiger, and even went so far as to send the police
after Mr. Tiger. The reason Mr. Pack refuses to answer his accusers is
that he would be faced with three clear and distinct choices. 1) Deny the
statements and be called a liar. 2) Repent and confess his sins and change
his ways and be forgiven. 3) Say nothing at all and hope it will all go
away. Mr. Pack chooses to slyly deny anything brought against him by refusing
to comment. Or he says something to this effect: “I refuse to answer those
who accuse me falsely.” That is of course an answer to the accusation and
a counteraccusation. He tries to hide behind his book “Should Accusers
Be Answered” saying he will not answer his accusers and all the while answering
and counter-accusing. The following is a quote from Mr. Pack’s persecution
statement: “As I mentioned above, most people understand that I will never
answer my accusers – no matter what those accusations may be. This particular
accusation would never require an answer anyway because everything I do
(books, booklets, tapes, and letters to members, Newsletters and Updates)
is public and open for all to review themselves.” The question many people
have for Mr. Pack is: How do you explain this in light of your removing
updates from the website? How do you explain this in light of your open
door policy? How do you explain this in light of the fact that many write
in with requests, and you refuse to honor those requests? Where are all
the things which you mentioned above public and open for all to review
themselves? Mr. Pack, again you are not being honest with your audience.
Why?
I fully expect that I too will be accused of the most heinous of crimes
when I am gone. My real crime was selling my successful business and making
the largest contribution to Restored in its history. The majority of the
directed funds I contributed were not spent as directed, by the way. Now
I will face certain economic hardship in order to stand on principle. I
put my family in harms way by coming to work for him, but I do not fear.
God is my rock. He has always been there for me.
As my final act as Trustee I send you this letter. For the above stated
reasons and many, many more I hereby tender my resignation as a Trustee
of The Restored Church of God, as its treasurer, my position as Ministerial
trainee and assistant, and my membership in Restored Church of God. I join
an ever growing list of former employees who wished Restored would have
lived up to its promises but now believe that the man in charge is incapable
of keeping his promises. You may contact me at 1-330-xxx-xxxx or email
me at
tmunson@xxxx if you
so desire. You may write to me at P.O. Box xxxx, Wadsworth, Ohio 44282.
It has been a pleasure to be of service to you for the last eight months.
I wish you well.
Your servant,
Thomas Munson
