COGWA’s Foolish Path

 

The Church of God A Worldwide Association (COGWA) has been in existence for fifteen years, and is described as a great success by Jim Franks in a recent letter to the members (December 2025). According to that letter, the church is reaching considerable numbers of people and now has unprecedented opportunities to reach even more people. All of this, we are told, is the result in part of the church’s disciplined spending.

In previous comments, Jim Franks has highlighted the relatively quick payoff of the loan for the main church office building, and stated that the church website receives approximately 500,000 unique visitors each month. More recently, in September, Jim Franks announced—while standing in front of a bulldozer—the groundbreaking of another building, this time an auditorium.

Before standing up to applaud these developments, church members may wish to look more closely at their local congregations. In my view, many will probably notice that it is largely the same people who have been present year after year, most of them probably over the age of sixty, with relatively few young couples. COGWA members might also consider counting new attendees and, in particular, noting how many visitors actually return. In addition, many COGWA congregations do not meet in church-owned facilities, instead often spending substantial sums month after month on rented spaces. COGWA members that contribute funds may also wish to ask their pastor how much their congregation has paid in rent over the past five years.

From this perspective, the church appears to be following an ineffective model. While the church may have a well-equipped headquarters, much of the rest of the church operates in facilities that limit growth and often do not adequately meet the needs of members, particularly families with children.  (The church may acknowledge this but so far the main focus appears to have been meeting the needs of the leadership).

Despite the optimism expressed by COGWA’s current leadership, there is reason for concern that the church is stagnant, rapidly aging, and facing precipitous decline. Those who genuinely care about the church and its future should speak-up together and constructively challenge what appears to be a well-intentioned, but increasingly foolish, ineffective, and misguided path.

Aristophanes

 

References:

December 2025 Member Letter

December 4, 2025

Dear Brethren,

The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, will celebrate 15 years of operation as an organization on Dec. 23, 2025. That means that January 2026 will mark the beginning of our 16th fiscal year. I bring this up because this month, the Ministerial Board of Directors (MBOD) will once again gather for its annual meeting at our headquarters in McKinney to review and approve a new strategic plan, operation plans for each department, and a new budget for 2026. God has blessed us with the financial resources to spread the gospel in a greater way this coming year than we have experienced in our previous 15 years. For that, we are very thankful and very excited!

I have to admit that for most of my ministry I had never used or even heard the term strategic plan, as applied to the Church. A strategic plan was something I associated with businesses—not with the Church. The application to the Church was something that I came to rather late in my ministry. After all, I knew the mission of the Church because it was laid out in Scripture.

Each year, beginning in 2012, I have been required to present a strategic plan, a series of operation plans, and a budget to the MBOD for its approval. To be clear, everything we do must be driven by Scripture, and it is in Scripture that we are told that our mission is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as we sow the seed in all nations (Matthew 24:14; 13:18-23) and that we are to make disciples and care for those whom God chooses to call throughout the world (John 6:44; Matthew 28:19). That is a simple, yet profound “strategic plan.” It gives us our mission, but we must still determine how to accomplish that mission. There is no doubt about our mission, but how to accomplish it is not clearly laid out in Scripture. When this mission was given in the first century, the means of spreading the gospel were very different than they are today. So, each year we discuss the various ways to accomplish that mission, which was given by Christ to His apostles almost 2,000 years ago.

Recently, out of curiosity, I did an Internet search as to the maximum number of people the apostle Paul would have preached to during his ministry. Most estimates suggested Paul could have reached between 20,000 and 50,000 people during his ministry, taking into account the populations of the various cities that Paul visited. Two of our recent Life, Hope & Truth Presents videos currently have more than 300,000 views each. These are our most viewed programs, yet they are only two of the more than 40 we have produced so far. Our most popular booklet for downloads is the Book of Revelation, and it has more than 150,000 downloads. Our capacity for reaching people today is incredible when compared to just 50 years ago, let alone during the time of the apostle Paul. But how can we use these opportunities to our advantage when spreading the gospel? That is where our strategic plan and our operation plans come in.

As a small organization, we don’t have unlimited financial resources, but we have been blessed with an increase in our income virtually every year since we began, and through diligent oversight of those funds, we have never overspent our budget in any of our 15 years of existence. Because of those two factors—increased income and disciplined spending—we have added additional funds for spreading the gospel this next year, while also constructing a new building on our property that will serve as an education center and auditorium.

With these important factors in place, we have developed a most aggressive and far-reaching plan for 2026. In developing our plan, the five administrators from headquarters (Dave Myers, Doug Horchak, Clyde Kilough, Britt Taylor and I) get together and discuss these three elements: the strategic plan, the operation plan for each department and the budget. Normally we schedule three sessions for open-ended discussions, beginning after the Feast and concluding the week before Thanksgiving. We are required to present these plans to the MBOD two weeks in advance of their annual meeting.

This year the meeting of the MBOD is scheduled for Dec. 8-10. So, our deadline for submitting our plans was Monday, Nov. 24. I am pleased to say we have never failed to make our deadline. This year we sent digital copies of each document on Thursday, Nov. 20, several days in advance of our deadline. These documents are now in the hands of the MBOD for their consideration in advance of the annual meeting.

Our strategic plan doesn’t vary that much from year to year, and this year is no exception. We have more funds than any year in our history, and we now have a plan for using those funds to (1) preach the gospel to the world, (2) sow seed and make disciples in all nations and (3) care for the brethren wherever they have been called. We have members in more than 40 countries, and some areas are very poor and require a greater investment for their most basic needs. Let me list our three basic strategies as proposed for this coming year:

1. Preaching the gospel into all the world. In 2023 we added a regular video program to our efforts for preaching the gospel. The Internet has no boundaries and can reach virtually the entire world. We plan to substantially increase our advertising budget for 2026.
2. Infrastructure development to provide care for the members around the world. Our membership is in approximately two equal parts—the United States and areas outside the United States. Providing pastors for all our congregations and proper facilities for Sabbath services is a priority for the Church. Each year we increase our investment in this infrastructure.
3. Leadership development and training. It is our plan to expand in all areas of leadership development. We currently have seven distinct programs that are being used to provide education for the brethren and to develop future leaders for the Church. This next year alone, we have six U.S. pastors who will retire from the full-time ministry—the most we’ve had in any one year. And in addition, we have two international pastors who will be retiring in 2026. To this point, we have been able to provide new pastors for all the areas where pastors have retired. But we cannot slow down! We must continue developing leadership programs and investing resources in the future for the Church in all areas of the world. Currently, we have three U.S. pastors who are serving outside the U.S. This is truly a sacrifice for them and their families, and we are very thankful for their willingness to take on these assignments. These moves are interim measures to assure continuous pastoral care in all areas while we continue leadership development to fulfill needs within and outside the U.S.

Please pray for the success of our upcoming meetings with the administration and the Ministerial Board of Directors. And please pray for our successful use of the resources God has provided for us as we look ahead to a new fiscal year.

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,

Jim Franks

 

Dave Pack: Mentally Ill People Do Not Deserve Anointing

 

Exit and Support Network featured yet another damning letter about the Restored Church of God and its self-important "ministers." 

Anyone who's survived the nightmare of Armstrongism knows all too well the group's antiquated traditional view: mental illness? Pfft, that's just demons squatting in your brain. Real spiritual warfare, don't you know. Only a handful of ministers ever dared whisper otherwise without fear of being labeled Laodicean heretics themselves.

And let's not forget Armstrongism's stellar track record—decades of smugly diagnosing anyone who dared stray from their narrow definition of "normal" (read: conformist, white, middle-class, hyper-obedient) behavior as "demon-influenced." Depression? Demons. Anxiety? Demons. Questioning Herbert W. Armstrong's endless failed prophecies or his lavish lifestyle? Definitely demons. Non-conformity in gender roles, sexuality, or even emotional expression? You guessed it—straight to demonic possession territory.

This wasn't some fringe quirk; it stemmed directly from HWA's teachings, which banned medical intervention (including psychiatry) in favor of "divine healing" through anointing and prayer alone. Doctors were suspect, psychologists were gateways for Satan, and mental health issues were spiritual failures or outright infernal attacks. The result? Countless members suffered in silence, denied proper treatment, shamed into hiding their struggles, or worse—exorcised like something out of a bad horror flick. Suicides, breakdowns, and shattered families piled up, all while the ministry patted itself on the back for "discerning spirits."

In offshoots like the Restored Church of God, this toxic legacy lingers, blending control, fear, and pseudospiritual arrogance. Because nothing says "God's true church" like ignoring modern medicine and blaming invisible boogeymen for brain chemistry. How godly.

I came across your website and just had to get this experience published. I have a daughter who is in her early thirties who has suffered with mental health issues for most of her life. About 9 years ago, I started exploring Restored Church of God’s website & watching David C. Pack videos. 

 

I tried contacting David Pack to get prayer and/or a healing cloth for my daughter. I was not able to speak to Pack but they put me in touch with one of his ministers in the Chicago region. I don’t remember his name. I spoke to this minister on the phone 2 or 3 times but also emailed with him several times, mostly about my daughter’s need for healing. After a month or so, he said he would have to speak with David Pack about getting an anointed cloth sent out to me for my daughter. 

 

About 2 weeks later, I received an email from this local minister. I was informed that he had spoken with David Pack & his colleagues (or whatever they are) from headquarters in Wadsworth, Ohio regarding my daughter’s mental health issues and need for healing. The email said that David Pack instructed him to email me and inform me that God does not get involved with helping “mentally ill” people and therefore they would NOT be sending me an anointed cloth. After that email, I never heard from him again. That response sounded crazy to me. Where on earth did that come from? Rhetorical question, of course! –Impacted by RCG

Crackpot Prophet Says You Are Cavorting With Demons If You Celebrate New Years

Here we go again. Another so-called “pagan” holiday has barely passed, and the next one is mere hours away—cue our favorite crackpot prophet working himself into a frothy lather. With evil demonic entities supposedly lurking behind every lamppost, this poor soul manages to spot satanic symbolism in absolutely everything around him. Apparently, we’re all being tempted to sin—though, let’s be honest, he seems far more temptable than the rest of us.
This time, he nearly popped a blood vessel when he discovered that—gasp!—certain Muslim clerics also disapprove of New Year’s Eve and Day.

A while back, Turkey’s top religious authority, Mehmet Görmez, publicly condemned both Christmas and New Year’s as pagan:

“Christmas and New Year celebrations are events where both pagan rituals and capitalist drives are intertwined,” the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate said in a statement.

“What I will most object to as the religious affairs head is the Christmas consumer economy that causes cultural and identity-related erosion in children,” he added.

“I see mass parties and celebrations similar to a form of revenge people take on the time phenomenon,” Görmez continued. “Especially [celebrating] with drinking, gambling and lotteries… it is impossible to approve of such things.”

So, a non-Christian scholar politely suggests that wild New Year’s parties are morally dubious and that Christmas marketing isn’t great for kids. And suddenly this is supposed to matter to Christians? Since when do Bible-thumping fundamentalists give a flying rat’s ass what an Islamic cleric thinks?
Undeterred, our fearless prophet presses on:

“January 1st is not a biblical holiday, and even the Church of Rome has forbidden some of its attributes as demonic.” 

 

Oh noes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He then launches into a lurid description of the drunken debauchery that allegedly erupts in motels, hotels, and office parties on New Year’s Eve—which, funnily enough, sounds remarkably similar to the scandalous stories we’ve heard about certain Feast of Tabernacles gatherings in the old Armstrong movement. Not to mention the “singles mixers” that somehow turned into full-blown sex parties at nearly every feast site. Truly, Armstrongism was every bit as “pagan” as the holidays it loved to condemn.
Real Christians, he insists, should never participate in pagan holidays—especially those involving drunken revelry. And doesn’t the observance of New Year’s Day lead to blasphemy among the Gentiles (or at least some Muslims) because so many who profess Christ keep it? This must never be!
So, naturally, he quotes his handy Muslim preacher yet again to justify his seething hatred of New Year’s. Brilliant strategy.
In honor of the esteemed Bwana Bob, I’ll be blowing an extra-loud toot on my party horn and pouring myself an extra-generous glass of champagne this year. Cheers!

Should You Trust Scripture Twisting Crackpot Prophets When They Bloviate About The End Times???

 

Oh, glory hallelujah and cue the heavenly trumpets—because God's supreme, doubly-blessed, naturopathy-degreed gift to prophecy, the incomparable Dr. Bob Thiel of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, has mercifully descended from his COGwriter throne just in time for the end-of-2025 festivities to enlighten those bland, lukewarm, sabbath-keepers and a few mainstream Christians with his latest blockbuster saga of cataclysmic doom barreling toward the fan like a divine freight train.

Just like the legendary Armstrongist apocalypse aficionados—who've been nailing zero correct end-times predictions since Herbert W. Armstrong's heyday in the 1930s with a flawless streak of misses that would make even the Chicago Cubs jealous—our esteemed heroes positively quiver with euphoric glee at the prospect of one-third of wicked humanity getting spectacularly barbecued in biblical judgment. Naturally, because the ultra-pure, spotless leaders and members of the splintered Church of God factions are obviously the most impeccably holy, "real" Philadelphia-remnant Christians ever to tiptoe across this doomed, soon-to-be-charred planet. 

 

Lo and behold, the unbeatable duo of Crackpot Bob and his shadowy sidekick (that ever-present co-host in those epic, marathon-length Bible News Prophecy videos) are back at it, generously gifting humanity their hyper-detailed, blow-by-blow script for Armageddon! As we wrap up December 2025, they're absolutely buzzing with fresh "Countdown to the Great Tribulation" alerts, breathlessly decoding Iran's bold declarations of war against the US, Israel, and Europe (clearly the King of the South rising, duh), pondering why Hindus might cozy up to a European Beast power, dissecting the Abomination of Desolation's potential location, and marveling at BRICS ditching the dollar—all while dropping their annual "26 items to prophetically watch in 2026" list, because nothing says "imminent doom" like another recycled checklist of vague signs that somehow never quite materialize. 

 

And let's not forget the summer's blockbuster hit: that red heifer sacrificed back in July 2025 (ashes collected and everything!), which Bob valiantly debated as potentially counting toward temple purification—despite the Temple Institute nitpicking a few stray hairs—proving once again that animal sacrifices are totes necessary for end-times kickoff, even though Jesus kinda already handled that. 

 

But can we honestly entrust our eternal souls to these self-anointed oracles? Or are they just the freshest faces in the endless Armstrongist parade of "prophets" who've perfected the fine arts of scriptural twister, timeline tango, creative current-events alchemy, and perpetual emotional whiplash to keep their minuscule flock in a state of breathless, tithing-fueled suspense—forever nudging that "right around the corner" apocalypse a few more years down the road while explaining away every glorious flop? Oh, what an utterly flawless, divinely inspired legacy of pinpoint accuracy and humble prophecy! One can scarcely contain the awe at this unparalleled display of prophetic brilliance. Truly, the end has never felt so... perpetually delayed!

Countdown to the Great Tribulation 

Is 2026 the year the Great Tribulation finally begins?

Is this is the start of a Sabbatical cycle some have postulated countdowns to the return of Jesus?

Is a Sabbatical cycle or Jubilee year even mentioned by Jesus as a leading indicator of the Great Tribulation?

Jesus, Himself, pointed to events, including some written by the prophet Daniel. If God has placed some of the understanding of the signs of the beginning of the Great Tribulation in the words of Daniel the prophet till the time of the end, what are those signs?

If 2026 is not the year the Great Tribulation begins, could any of the signs mentioned in the book of Daniel begin to take place in 2026?

Could this year be the beginning of the end?

Do you want to know?

In Matthew 24:3 Jesus’ disciples wanted to know.

Of course, we know Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour, but Jesus also told us in Matthew 24:33 that we will know when it is at the very doors!

What about the timing of Armageddon?

Surely you, just like the disciples, want to know.

Watch this video as Dr. Thiel shines the light of Biblical prophecy on the future of the possibilities that await us in the new calendar year.

Listen as Dr. Thiel explains the scriptures that prophesy a seven year (one week) ‘peace deal’ in Daniel, the breaking of that deal, the rise of the king of the north and the king of the south, the Great Tribulation and the return of our Lord and Savior.

The time for the countdown to begin is close at hand.