There is one thing you can say about the Church of God with confidence, everything they do seems to be an imitation of their harlot mother, the Worldwide Church of God.
Decades ago Ambassador College entered into the accreditation process in order to grant degrees that had validity and worth. Herbert Armstrong claimed to never have been part of the discussion and threw a royal hissy-fit and stopped the accreditation process of Ambassador College in order to preserve what he perceived was its theological integrity. At that time, Michael Germano was apart of the process and later in the Big Sandy process. In one swift sweep of his strong arm, Herb invalidated the process and threw the college and student body into turmoil once they found out their degrees were essentially worthless again.
Today in 2017, that same scenario has played out once again in the Living Church of God with their "university." Once again Germano was part of the process and once again the accreditation process has been squelched.
The Church of God has always believed that their educational institutions were the best in the world and gave their students a well-rounded education that made them highly desirable to the world and to fellow church brethren.
Living Church of God still carries the same belief that WCG had with Ambassador College:
“Should I take a Living University course even though I am enrolled in another university?”
Answer: Yes! This is a great idea! You will learn a great deal through your coursework from other universities. However, what is one area that you will be missing? Biblical understanding or theology. Consider taking a Living University course, even just once a year, to balance out your other university coursework. Living University can provide you with the important “missing dimension in knowledge” that is lacking in a typical education. It will also help you build a more solid foundation and grounding in God’s truth.
“What if I plan to go to college elsewhere? Wouldn’t Living University be a waste of my time?”
Answer: Great question! The short answer is that building your spiritual foundation and decreasing your likelihood of being deceived can never be a waste of your time. In addition, in this age of high unemployment, where many college graduates and other young people are competing against those with real-life experience, taking a year or two to attend LU will help you develop that much more emotional and spiritual maturity. It will also help you develop more confidence, and even enrich your public speaking and interpersonal skills—which all employers desire, but that most are seeing less and less of. By adding a year or two of Living University maturity and skills to your resume, you will make yourself that much more marketable to future employers.
That "missing dimension" was a big crock of theological crap. Its theological education was based upon the 6-month study of a man in a public library and endless hours spent kneeling at a dirty rock in the Oregon woods, all while never providing for his family because he could not hold a steady job due to his flippant arrogance. Just like Joseph Smith of Mormondom, Herb's god revealed exclusive knowledge that was supposed to be earth-shattering, even though the theological stances of both men are easily discredited as pure hokum.
Living University thought so highly of its self that they thought they needed to be accredited. Once again they found out that if they went that route they would have to deeply examine their teachings and research practices on everything they taught. Having to deeply examine, with integrity, their beliefs and to teach real biblical hermeneutics, exegesis, and biblical criticism was too much for the organization to do. After all, it is much easier to imitate and use everything from Herbert than it is moving forward into the 21st century.
Therefore, Gerald Weston has made a decree to stop the accreditation process in order to preserve LCG's theological integrity.
Dear Brethren,
We concluded a very encouraging series of Council of Elders meetings this past week in which we affirmed the need to hold onto the biblically based traditions of the Church. However, regarding Living University, we recognize that we are at a crossroads. The current situation is that individuals in at least 20 states are not able to take online courses in Living University due to changing state laws. It is apparent that its existing structure is not able to meet the educational needs of the youth and members of the Living Church of God.
The Council of Elders has reviewed the situation, and in keeping with the clearly stated wishes of Dr. Meredith, the Council has advised that accreditation efforts be dropped, in favor of developing a more flexible, less restrictive, and more effective program to support the development of future ministers, to serve our youth, and to serve our general membership.
This has not been an easy decision as much effort has been put into Living University. Many of you have supported these efforts through your prayers and financial donations. For this we are ever grateful. However, as evidenced by the recent limitations placed on licensed universities, restrictions on conducting online classes in an increasing number of states limit our ability to serve our ministers and members.
I believe there are exciting opportunities before us regarding a variety of educational programs and I will be forming a committee next week to begin restructuring our Living Church of God educational programs to serve our ministry, our youth, and our general membership. In the meantime, classes as currently configured will continue to operate for the time being. The decision as to how we restructure will be announced in the near future. I am looking forward to explaining more about this in the weeks ahead.
Sincerely,
In Christ’s service,
Gerald E. Weston
Living University has been a boondoggle since its inception, draining off money in order to stroke the egos of a few men who should have retired years ago or at least gotten real jobs.
