COGWA’s Epic 15-Year Glow-Up: From Rebellion to “Look How Virtuous We Are!”

Gather round, scattered sheep of the former Worldwide Church of God empire. Pull up a folding chair in your living-room Sabbath service and prepare to be blessed by the latest self-congratulatory press release from the one, the only, the truly virtuous Church of God, a Worldwide Association. Because according to their latest elders’ letter, COGWA has spent the last fifteen years radiating nothing but peace, productivity, and pure, unadulterated service—the noble opposite of that ugly selfishness they heroically fled from back in 2010.

From their sparkling headquarters in McKinney, Texas (because nothing says “humble service” like a slick corporate campus with assigned pastors guarding every flock), they now “serve” 104 U.S. congregations and 166 international ones—270 total little kingdoms. They even planted shiny new flags in Uganda and Australia this year. Finances? Up every single year since the split—small but consistent growth, they boast. New doors for preaching the gospel? Wide open. And for fifteen glorious years, they’ve enjoyed “peace and productivity,” which they graciously pray will continue… provided everyone keeps remembering how much holier they are than the selfish monsters they left behind.

Cue the world’s tiniest violin.

Let’s rewind to the actual origin story these folks love to airbrush. December 2010: COGWA didn’t “apostatize” in some noble doctrinal rebellion—nope, doctrines are basically identical to UCG’s. It was a classic power-grab soap opera over governance and authority. UCG’s General Council of Elders had just elected a new council more sympathetic to a less autocratic, more collegial model (you know, the whole “Council of Elders” thing they’d bragged about since forming in 1995 to avoid Herbert Armstrong-style one-man rule). The “old guard”—including future COGWA heavyweights like Jim Franks, Mike Hanisko, and Leon Walker—didn’t like it one bit. Cue the immediate triggers: personnel reassignments, communication blackouts, and demands for ministerial loyalty oaths. Hanisko later admitted the real reasons were “unethical, sometimes sinful conduct” by UCG leadership and “ungodly treatment of brethren.” (Translation: “How dare the council try to curb our hierarchical vibes?”) Earlier, when they controlled UCG, they’d already divided no fewer than 22 congregations to crush local advisory boards, building funds, and any whiff of congregational input—hundreds of elders bailed then too. But sure, now they were the selfless heroes.

The damage was biblical in scale. Over 170 elders and ministers walked out between June 2010 and March 2011 (roughly half the full-time paid pastors). About 40% of UCG’s membership—thousands of people—followed, swelling COGWA to around 8,000 attendees and 170 elders by early 2011. Congregations split right down the middle. Families stopped speaking. Friendships evaporated. The “great work” of preaching the gospel? Yeah, that took a backseat while lawyers, dueling websites, and angry Feast-of-Tabernacles meltdowns took center stage. Real servant-hearted stuff, right? Families torn apart so a few ministers could keep calling the shots.

But here’s the punchline that turns this into pure comedy gold: COGWA is UCG with a fresh coat of paint, better branding, and the exact same attitude of selfishness—just rebranded as “service.” Same legalistic checklist—keep the Sabbath, Holy Days, tithes, clean meats, and the full Armstrong starter pack or you’re not really “in” and definitely not making it into the Kingdom. Same top-down structure where “assigned pastors” make sure the sheep stay in their assigned pens. Same endless chest-thumping about numbers, money, and “new doors” while pretending it’s all about humble service instead of empire-building. They just swapped the acronyms and the zip code.

Fifteen years later and they’re still patting themselves on the back in their annual letter: “One of the key elements for maintaining peace and productivity is the concept of service, which is the very opposite of selfishness.” Translation: “We’re not like those guys. We’re the good ones. Please keep sending in those tithes so we can keep growing our little 270-congregation empire and reminding everyone how selfless we are—unlike the UCG we fled because they tried to make governance slightly less heavy-handed.”

Spoiler alert: It’s selfishness with a smiley-face emoji. Same attitude, different headquarters. Another splinter from a splinter from a splinter, all claiming to be the one true continuation of Herbert W. Armstrong’s legacy while the rest of the scattered brethren watch the same tired soap opera on repeat—complete with the same governance fights, the same loyalty tests, and the same “we’re the virtuous ones” press releases.

So the next time COGWA pats itself on the back for its “spirit of service,” just remember: they didn’t leave UCG because they were holier. They left because they wanted to be the ones in charge—exactly like the UCG leaders they accused of the same sin. Fifteen years later, they’re still exactly the same—only now they get to write the press releases.

Service? 

The show never ends.

 

From our headquarters in McKinney, we serve 104 congregations in the U.S. and 166 outside the U.S. for a total of 270 congregations. Each has an assigned pastor. This past year we added new congregations in Uganda and Australia. Each year since our beginning we have seen increases in our finances—small but consistent growth. We have also seen the opening of new doors for preaching the gospel. So, what will this new fiscal year bring for the Church?

For 15 years, we have seen peace and productivity in the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, and we pray that this will continue. But we must never take it for granted. We must continue to work to promote this atmosphere in the Church throughout the world. One of the key elements for maintaining peace and productivity is the concept of service, which is the very opposite of selfishness. Whenever we focus on serving others instead of ourselves, good fruit is produced. 

Are you playing games with God?

Truly, nothing screams “New Covenant freedom in Christ” quite like a 2,000-word manifesto demanding that every Christian on Earth must kneel at the spiritual altar of Herbert W. Armstrong, join the one-and-only reincarnated Worldwide Church of God (or else), and treat a mid-20th-century radio preacher as the guy who personally restored “apostolic rule” while everyone else is just “playing games with God.” 
Jesus must be so relieved that you cleared this up for Him. After all, in Matthew 16:18 He only said He would build “His church”—not “churches,” you see. So obviously that means one single, visible, headquarters-based organization with a top-down government structure, tithe-collecting conferences, and a guy in Pasadena (or wherever the latest splinter landed) holding the divine copyright on truth. Because when the Son of God said “church,” He clearly meant “denominational franchise with membership cards and a loyalty oath to a dead apostle’s successor.” Anyone who thinks otherwise is calling Jesus a liar. Got it. Solid exegesis. 
And that Elijah prophecy in Matthew 17:11? Kitchen’s got it locked: Jesus was totally foreshadowing Herbert W. Armstrong restoring “the government of God” exactly as it existed in the first century (you know, the one where Peter was the rock and nobody ever disagreed or started new works). Never mind that Jesus Himself already told us John the Baptist fulfilled the Elijah role for the first coming (Matthew 11:14; 17:12-13). Details, details. Armstrong gets the sequel because… fruits? Ordination by the Oregon Conference? A handful of guys laying hands on him in the 1930s while the other Church of God factions were declared spiritually dead by divine fiat? 
Nothing says “law, not grace” like tying your eternal salvation to whether you stayed inside the right splinter after 1970s schisms. Ministers who left? Spiritually sealed for death. Members who remain? They alone get to ordain the Two Witnesses and hold the Philadelphia candlestick. Everyone else is either Laodicean lukewarm or headed for martyrdom-as-repentance. Because the New Covenant is totally about God running a cosmic game of musical chairs where the prize for leaving the “true church” is a ticket to be beheaded so you can maybe get grafted back in. 
Kitchen even gives us the eschatological bonus round: the Worldwide Church of God (his version) goes to a “place of safety” (Revelation 12:14-17, of course), the Two Witnesses tag-team in Jerusalem as the first witness’s hype men, Herbert himself gets resurrected as a “sport God being” (I assume that’s “spirit God being”—autocorrect is brutal), and the whole thing reboots Ambassador College in the World Tomorrow. It’s all one program, you see. One spiritual Temple. One unbroken chain of government. Jesus isn’t a liar, the Word cannot be broken… and apparently neither can the organizational chart. 

Here’s the actual New Covenant problem with all this: 
The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:6-13) is explicitly not like the old one. No more central physical temple, no more Levitical priesthood, no more “one visible headquarters on Earth” model. The church is the body of Christ—every believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:4-6). Authority flows from Christ the Head, not from an unbroken chain of ordinations that somehow survived from Peter through the Sardis-era Oregon Conference to HWA. The priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9) means you don’t need a special class of “government of God” ministers to mediate between you and Jesus. 
The idea that salvation and truth are locked inside one human organization with a divine government structure is classic Old Covenant thinking dressed up in Revelation 2-3 proof-texts and historicist-era labels. It’s the same error the Pharisees ran with: “We have Abraham as our father” → “We have Herbert as our father and the Philadelphia candlestick.” It turns the gospel into geography, membership rolls, and loyalty to a man’s “fruits” instead of faith in Christ’s finished work. 
So no, Samuel, people aren’t “playing games with God” by refusing to join your reincarnated WCG and bow at the Armstrong altar. They’re simply living in the New Covenant reality where Jesus built His church out of living stones—scattered, imperfect, arguing, and still loved—without needing a single organizational franchise to keep the franchise alive. 
The real game-playing is pretending the New Covenant is just the Old Covenant with better branding and a radio program. Jesus isn’t a liar. But this theology sure treats the cross like it was optional.

Priscilla Mulozowa’s Stand for Truth: How Hope of Israel Malawi Is Defending Its Members Against Bob Thiel’s Aggressive Poaching and Coerced “Reconciliation”.

In the small but fiercely contested world of Armstrongist Church of God splinters operating in Malawi, one woman’s courage is exposing a troubling pattern of spiritual manipulation, hypocrisy, and member-stealing. Priscilla Mulozowa—mother, former deaconess, and longtime believer—has become the unwilling focal point of a high-profile campaign by Bob Thiel’s Continuing Church of God (CCOG). Rather than respecting her autonomy after years of documented personal betrayal, Thiel and his top lieutenant, Evans Ochieng, have resorted to personal texts, voicemails, staged meetings, and alleged incentives to drag her back into a marriage she has every biblical and moral right to leave.

The story is as heartbreaking as it is revealing. For roughly four years, credible reports have detailed how Radson Mulozowa—Bob Thiel’s hand-picked pastor in Malawi—has been living openly with another woman, Patricia Sambani, while maintaining additional relationships. Priscilla, along with their children, publicly shared the pain of the adultery, financial strain, and family destruction it caused through videos and statements condemning Radson’s actions. When she and several deacons (including John Machemba and Louis Wahela) sought refuge in the Hope of Israel, they did so because that group offered genuine pastoral care and refused to sweep serious moral failure under the rug for the sake of “growth statistics.”

Yet instead of honoring Priscilla’s decision and the clear scriptural teachings on divorce and remarriage in cases of sexual immorality, Bob Thiel has now escalated. In a move that even his critics describe as surreal, the self-proclaimed “prophet” personally texted and left voicemails urging Priscilla to return to Radson “as a good little wife.” This happened even though Radson has been settled with Patricia Sambani for years—a fact repeatedly documented by this blog and eyewitnesses since the early 2020s. 

As one observer aptly put it:

Picture this: Crackpot Bob, in all his prophetic glory, personally texting and then voicemailing the ex-wife of one of his top ministers, earnestly pleading with her to go back and be a good little wife again. How touching. How spiritual. The only minor detail? Her ex-husband, Radson Mulozowa, has been cozily settled with a new wife (Patricia Sambani) for years.

This sudden burst of “family values” from Thiel rings hollow. For years, he and Evans Ochieng reportedly ignored or downplayed the scandal, prioritizing CCOG’s claimed African membership numbers over biblical integrity. Now, with some of those same members having found a safer home in Hope of Israel, the strategy has shifted to outright reclamation—complete with Evans Ochieng’s recent trip to Malawi alongside Radson himself.

According to multiple reports, the delegation’s mission was twofold: pressure Priscilla into a public reconciliation photo-op and lure disaffected Hope of Israel members back to CCOG with offers of financial support, motorcycles, cell phones, and other inducements. Meetings were reportedly arranged, only to be canceled or disrupted when word spread. Hope of Israel leaders have stood firm, refusing to let their congregation be treated like pawns in a numbers game.

Priscilla’s refusal to be coerced speaks volumes about her character and the support she receives from Hope of Israel. She has made her position unmistakably clear through both public actions and official channels. When she, deacon John Machemba, and others were taken to the police station in Phalombe and questioned about certain letters and communications claiming they wanted to return to CCOG, Priscilla and the group explicitly refused to acknowledge them. In the presence of Constable Matipwiri, they stated they were “not aware of this” and denied authoring or standing by any such statements. As one report summarized their unified response at the police station: “We refused that we are not writing.” This was not a one-off; it echoed earlier denials when similar claims surfaced.

Priscilla has not issued a personal press release, but her consistent actions—remaining with Hope of Israel, supporting her children’s public condemnations of the adultery via video, and rejecting false narratives of reconciliation—speak louder than any staged photo. She is not a “prodigal” returning to a faithful husband; she is a survivor who has already endured public humiliation, family disruption, and now renewed pressure from powerful church figures thousands of miles away.

Hope of Israel Malawi emerges from this saga as the clear voice of integrity. Founded in part by leaders who left other splinters over similar issues of accountability, the group has prioritized caring for its Malawian members without the grand prophetic claims or empire-building tactics seen elsewhere. They welcomed Priscilla and her family when CCOG leadership failed them. They have refused to participate in the back-and-forth poaching that has characterized relations between these tiny factions. And they continue to uphold biblical standards on marriage—recognizing that forcing a woman back into an adulterous union is not “reconciliation”; it is spiritual abuse.

Bob Thiel’s COGwriter website has responded with photos of group meetings and emails from others (Evans Ochieng, Radson, Machemba, and Wahela) claiming Priscilla begged to return. Yet Priscilla herself has never personally confirmed any of these communications. The pattern is familiar: staged images and carefully worded statements from Thiel’s representatives that critics say do not reflect the full reality on the ground—or Priscilla’s own documented refusals before authorities. Independent reporting has consistently shown that these “returns” often collapse under scrutiny, with the same individuals later reaffirming their departure or denying the authenticity of the communications.

In the end, this is not merely a turf war between two small African church groups. It is a test of whether self-appointed leaders will respect the dignity and conscience of individual believers—especially women like Priscilla who have already suffered enough. Hope of Israel’s steadfast support for Priscilla demonstrates what genuine shepherding looks like: protecting the vulnerable rather than exploiting them for growth metrics or public relations victories.

Priscilla Mulozowa deserves to live free from harassment, manipulation, and public shaming. The members of Hope of Israel deserve to worship without fear of being bribed or pressured away. As this story continues to unfold in Malawi, one thing is clear: truth and integrity are not found in desperate texts and phone calls from California or photo-ops arranged by traveling pseudo-evangelists. They are found in the quiet resolve of a faithful woman who has repeatedly said “no” through her actions and official denials—and in the local church that has the courage to stand with her.

Anonymous

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Big Show Evans Malawian update came in about 45 minutes ago. Mr Evans and Radson sent the Village chief over to Priscilla's house to demand she and the children come to the bribe show. Evans wanted the Chief and others that were bribed to Manhandle Priscilla into submission and of course make up stories that her and Radson have sorted the mess and that she's the one who chased Radson away and must now Reconcile. Priscilla was out of town, so she know they can't touch her. Her Uncle gave a strong warning to her Children not to attend any meeting with Evans or Radson, so hopefully they won't be forced in the usual picture is worth a thousand word B.S.

Well time for another Big Show Evans Malawian update. Mr Evans sent the Village chief to Priscilla's house and demand she and the children attend Evans meeting. Problem was Priscilla wasn't home , she had just left town. She didn't want anything to do with Evans or Radson. Priscilla's Uncle did warn Priscilla's children not to attend as he knows the treacherous behavior and lies of Evans and Radson. The meeting was set up as a big Bribe fest with the Chief and others to make Priscilla submit to Stupid stories and threaten her possibly into reconciliation with Radson. Bob spent thousands to get this meeting arranged as he's in Panic Mode since the article on Banned appeared. He can't handle and accept the truth that Radsons Adultery and abuse caused the divorce and he won't accept Radson is married to Patricia Sambani, the woman that Bob believes is Radsons kissing cousin. Anyway it was also reported Machemba has arrived and possibly Wahela, also Motorcycles maybe? Ccog members should question Bobs spending tithe money on such an unchristian event. You heard it here first on Banned- Total Farce-Stay tuned for more Big Show Evans bribe fest