Living Church of God Hierarchy

Man-made traditions of the Church of God results in the power structure illustrated above.  The higher up the chain of command the more in touch with God the ordained are.  This kind of silliness demonstrates the chain of command present in the Living Church of God. 

The first fallacy above is the idea that Herbert Armstrong is directly under God the Father.  Next you will notice that in the chain of command HWA is right there beside Jesus Christ and the upper echelon ministers.  HWA and crew are on par with Jesus Christ because HWA gets far more mention than Jesus Christ ever does in the Living Church of God.  That inconvenient man named Jesus is usually relegated to one sentence or a small paragraph at the end of an article, letter, booklet or sermon.

The next fallacy is that men ordained through Herbert Armstrong received a higher degree of consciousness than the lay members possess.  These men possess all scriptural and doctrinal knowledge that the LCG deems fit for its members.  These men are far more enlightened than any of the lowly LCG members.  That's part of the reason LCG has instituted a new policy that LCG members are not allowed to congregate together to study the Bible on their own.  One of the elite ministers has to be present to give the OFFICIAL version of things.

Then you have the big tithers in the LCG.  These are the ones that get by with all kinds of indiscretions and never are punished.  The regular members always are at the bottom of the heap are held to a higher standard and pay the consequences quit severely at times.

This is also what has led to McNair and Meredith telling members that they are NOT to question the ministry on anything.  God works with them personally and they are incapable of making a mistake.  Even if what they tell you is 100% wrong, God will bless you if you do what they say.  Its all about submission.

That threat of submission also intimidates members into sending in more money to LCG HQ.  LCG members are reporting lots of sermons lately on money.  Income in the LCG has dropped and they are scrambling to keep the money flow coming in.  Certain lifestyles need to be maintained!  Lil'Jimmy needs to decorate his office again.  Brethren there ARE priorities!

The cash cow for the LCG and other Church of God's is the Festival season. With Trumpet's, Atonement and the Feast, money freely flows into the coffers.  They foolishly make people believe they are required to give offerings and turn over a tithe of the tithe to LCG at this time of year.  If you are an LCG member reading this it would be in your best interest to keep that tithe of the tithe for use by your OWN family and have the best feast possible and enjoy it to the fullest, because if Meredith dies in the next year the LCG is going to be ripped apart by division and you will never experience another Feast like this one.  Besides, why are your giving a tithe of the tithe to the LCG ministry when they are all getting $4-6,000.00 in ministerial benefits to travel to and from Feast sites, stay in expensive hotels or condo's and enjoy the finest wines and delicacies while you and your family are eating at Hardee's.  You are paying for Lil'Jimmy's trips to Hawaii and Rod McNair's trips.  Why?

It's Satan brethren!  Satan is attacking the church!  Satan is causing the drop in income!  Satan is casing members to leave!  Satan gets far more air time in the Living Church of God than Jesus Christ ever does.  I have always wondered why they never included Satan in their organizational charts.

Living Church of God: Forbidden Bible Study

The Living Church of God not only FORBIDS its members to study the Book of Enoch, it now also forbids its members to study the Holy Bible.

LCG has had the policy that its members are not permitted to have private Bible studies with "10 or more  people without a minister" for some time now. Their justification is that studying the Bible without one of "God's ministers" present could potentially lead to a wrong understanding which could in turn lead to potential problems and "divisive ideas". Several Charlotte members have been suspended and/or put out for participating in "private Bible studies".

Of course it's far better for the controlled to be spoon-fed their information from those in control. After all, lay members are probably too stupid to understand the written Word all by themselves. The control of information is always the best way to maintain one's authority over the people.

Gone are the days of HWA pounding his fist on his desk shouting, "Don't trust me! Look it up in your own Bible. Prove these things to yourself brethren!".

They have been fully replaced with, "If you don't understand our doctrinal upgrades, perhaps you aren't fully converted" and "is it your job to question God's ministry?". And the ever popular, "you may not fully understand it brethren, but if you have faith that we are God's chosen ministers, you should have the faith to do what we say, even WHEN you don't fully understand it".

Apparently not trusting or even questioning a LCG minister is akin to not trusting Christ Himself. Who knew?!

All that was crazy enough but LCG has tightened the reigns EVEN MORE of late. Now the private Bible study rule has been extended to ALL groups regardless of size. Even a group of two constitutes a forbidden offense in the Charlotte congregation.

Of course many continue to study their Bibles with friends. Just don't get caught by LCG Gestapo or you will have Rod McNair to deal with! Guess who's name will turn up as the next "Visiting Minister" prize winner???

The old-timers aren't happy with the new rule and are having a difficult time understanding how a church feels it has the right to tell its members NOT to study the Bible. When questioned, McNair spouts non sequiturs like, "you might be strong enough to study the Bible by yourself, but what about the babes in Christ and what about the teens? Should they be able to do Bible study without a minister?"

It's convenient to use the "we must have the same rules for everyone" line when it suits them. Only, everyone has seen that the same rules do not, in fact, apply to everyone in LCG where favoritism and unbalanced scales abound.

If you are an LCG member reading this and you don't believe it true, don't trust me, go ask you minister.

Or don't. Sometimes not knowing how tyrannical the church you've pledged allegiance to is easier than the change that acknowledgment will likely foster. 

The Church of God Obsession With Creepy Sock Puppets

This is Jelly and his "handler" in one of many of United Church of God's creepy sock puppet campaigns to brainwash their kids with aberrant doctrines.

Not to be outdone is the Church of God International with Buckaroo Bob and the Roadkill Cafe.