Sexual Abuse of Children in the Churches of God

Sexual Abuse of Children in the COG

A statement reportedly made previously at a Church of God summer camp—that ministers have higher authority than campers’ parents—should raise serious concerns for any Christian parent. If the intent was simply to explain that camp staff had temporary authority to enforce rules, supervise activities, and ensure safety that might be understandable. Every school and camp operates that way. However, if the statement was meant to imply that ministers possess greater spiritual or moral authority than parents, it directly conflicts with the biblical pattern. Scripture consistently places the primary responsibility for raising children on parents, not church leaders (Deuteronomy 6:6–7; Proverbs 1:8; Ephesians 6:1–4). Church leaders are called to serve and shepherd, not replace or override parental authority (1 Peter 5:2–3).

This matters because child protection experts have long documented how abuse can develop in environments where authority is misunderstood or overstated. Offenders in trusted positions often use authority, influence, and spiritual language to shift a child’s trust away from parents and toward the adult in control. This process is commonly described as grooming. While a statement about authority alone does not prove wrongdoing or intent to harm, it can still create an unhealthy dynamic if children are taught that a minister’s authority supersedes their parents’. That kind of framing can discourage children from speaking openly with their parents or questioning inappropriate behavior.

The history of abuse in many churches (including the COG) makes clarity on this issue essential. Investigations across multiple denominations have shown that harm is more likely to persist when authority is concentrated, unquestioned, or handled internally rather than transparently. For that reason, churches must be careful never to communicate that spiritual leaders outrank parents in a child’s life. Healthy ministry strengthens family trust rather than weakening it.

Parents in all churches should teach children that they can always speak openly about anything that makes them uncomfortable and that no adult—minister, teacher, or counselor—should ever ask them to keep secrets from their parents. If a child raises concerns that may involve abuse or criminal behavior, parents should listen carefully, take it seriously, and report it directly to law enforcement or child protective services. Criminal allegations require independent investigation. Protecting children is not disloyalty to the church; rather it is a basic responsibility of loving parents and an act of obedience to God’s will.
Please email this blog post to all parents that you know in the COG!

Aristophanes

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Resources:

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
General information on abuse, reporting, and warning signs
https://www.rainn.org/

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
Child safety, exploitation prevention, reporting resources
https://www.missingkids.org/

GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment)
Independent investigations and abuse prevention in churches
https://www.netgrace.org/

Don’t Ignore Bible Prophecy? LCG's Fear Driven Imagined Future

Don’t Ignore Bible Prophecy: In spite of the fact that nearly a third of the Bible is prophecy—much of which pertains to our time today—Bible prophecy is seldom or never addressed by mainstream “Christianity,” and the subject is largely ignored by modern media. Yet no other religious book contains a collection of more than two thousand amazingly accurate prophecies that have come and are coming true—which is one of the proofs of the divine inspiration of Scripture (Isaiah 46:8–11). Though the Bible devotes more verses to prophecy than any other subject, ministers in some Churches of God have been admonished not to talk about prophecy, because it can attract the wrong kind of people and lead some into prophecy addiction. However, God has given His Church “a more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV) so it can fulfill its mission of warning God’s people and the world of coming events (Matthew 24) and give us hope for the future (Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 2:2–4; 11). Let’s never ignore Bible prophecy.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

Here we go again, another urgent reminder from Douglas Winnail: “Don’t Ignore Bible Prophecy.” Because clearly, if there’s one thing the Bible is desperate for us to do, it’s to spend as much time as possible worrying about the end of the world. Roughly one-third of the Bible is prophecy, we’re told, and ignoring it apparently makes us spiritually negligent, possibly even complicit in the coming chaos.
How dare mainstream Christianity mostly focus on things like grace, love, and following Jesus instead of obsessing over whether Russia, China, or the European Union is secretly fulfilling ancient prophecies this week? It’s almost as if they think the gospel is sufficient on its own. The horror.

The message helpfully acknowledges that some ministers have warned against over-emphasizing prophecy because it can attract “the wrong kind of people” and lead to “prophecy addiction.” But then it bravely overrides that concern, because apparently the risk of creating anxious, hyper-focused members is worth it. After all, someone has to warn the world about all the terrible things that are definitely about to happen.
Nothing says “good news” quite like regularly reminding people that global catastrophe is just around the corner and that only those paying close attention to the right interpretations will be prepared. It’s a bold strategy: keep the flock slightly terrified, then offer them hope after the really bad stuff happens. Classic.

And let’s not forget the special calling. While other Christians are apparently busy being deceived by their lack of prophetic insight, we have been given “a more sure word of prophecy” so we can fulfill our mission of warning everyone. It’s almost like having secret access to the divine weather forecast that nobody else bothered to check.

Of course, there’s always that awkward part of the New Testament where Jesus and the apostles seem far more interested in transformed hearts, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit writing God’s law inside people rather than on endless prophecy charts. Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8–10 talk about a covenant based on relationship and internal change, not on correctly identifying modern nations with ancient ones.
But why focus on something as boring as “Christ has already overcome the world” when you could instead spend your time decoding the latest geopolitical developments as if they’re a divine scavenger hunt? Much more exciting.

The New Covenant even has the audacity to suggest that believers can have peace now, rather than a nervous hope that arrives only after the Tribulation, the mark of the beast, and whatever else is currently trending in prophecy circles. How terribly inconvenient.

A Quick Summary for the Prophecy Enthusiast

• Old approach: Read the Bible, get scared, warn everyone else to get scared too, repeat.
• New Covenant approach: Jesus already dealt with the biggest problem (sin and death). The Spirit is at work in hearts. Try not to be anxious about tomorrow.

One of these feels like it was designed to produce slightly neurotic disciples who are always bracing for impact. The other feels like it was designed to produce people who can actually sleep at night.
So by all means, study prophecy if you enjoy it. Just don’t let anyone convince you that failing to make it your primary spiritual focus means you’re ignoring God. That particular guilt trip has been running for decades, and it’s remarkably effective at keeping people dependent on the next urgent prophetic update.
After all, nothing unites a group quite like a shared sense of impending doom… and the comforting belief that at least you saw it coming.

Adam and Eve Were Mid-Brown Skinned

Remember this post from 2020? I had forgotten about it until I received an irate comment about how offensive the article is for claiming that Adam and Eve were not Caucasians. Ignoring the fact that Caucasians did not exist at that time, what it boils down to is that they were not white-skinned. Therefore, this creates an issue with British Israelism, which in Armstrongism means that all the people entitled to receive the blessings of British Israelism are white people. You can see that this obviously comes through in the very first comment that follows the article.

Below are excerpts from an article in Church of God Outreach Ministries New Horizons emagazine, Sept/Oct., 2020.

This will be sure to get the staunch British Israelite white Anglo-Saxon supporters into a tizzy when it states that there is "less than 0.012%" genetic difference between us (races). For some reason, it is vitally important that a pure white bloodline is in existence to ensure Jesus has a throne to come back and sit upon. It is important to those Armstrongite followers who demand that British Israelism be true, that white people be the savior of humanity, while the "gentiles" are the problem creators in society. This is the belief taught by the church for decades and which I heard preached in the Cincinnati and Dayton church often, particularly in the midst of some race-related issue happening in society.

Does God see us in colour? After all, He created us with the in-built potential through our genes to be born in a variety of ‘colours’. So that’s what we must discuss.

Difference

Variation in appearance is deceptive. The apostle Paul notes that ‘...[God] has made all nations of men of one blood [DNA] to dwell on all the face of the earth, ordaining fore-appointed seasons and boundaries of their dwell- ing’ (Acts 17:26) - a position backed by biology. (For example, ‘black’ and ‘white’ can exchange blood, given the usual medical precautions.)

Despite skin shading from albino white to purple-black, analysis determines that there is less than 0.012% difference genetically between any of us. And there is one major pigment to determine our skin shade. It is melanin, and the amount present in each of us provides our ‘colour’. The level present is genetically determined by a cluster of genes. It’s the same for our other features.

Science no longer believes that each ‘race’ derives from a different animal forebear but that all of us are from a single stock (dubbed ‘mitochondrial Eve’). Bible believers ascribe this to the creation of ‘man’, Adam—in whom was created the complete gene pool. Necessarily ‘Eve’ was created contemporaneously with Adam, and sharing his DNA.

Division

While not explicitly stated it is most likely that our first parents, median between ’black’ and ’white’ range, were of a mid-brown skin shade.

As the DNA in Adam’s offspring became randomly mixed down the generations there was potential, through natural selection, for a range of skin pigment and other features to manifest in populations. Over the centuries relationships between the like-minded would tend to form specific macro people groups and, ultimately, nations—Caucasoid (Semitic), Mongoloid, Hamitic and many other sub-groups, as indeed exist today. (The terms derive from Noah’s sons Shem, Japheth and Ham.)

Post-flood, Noah and his family carried the complete gene pool of three billion human genes into our present world system. The scattering by language subsequent to Babel coupled with environmental factors (eg light skinned occupying higher or lower latitudes) would reinforce familial characteristics. These characteristics are stated in the Scriptures to continue throughout the millennial reign of Jesus (Rev 20:8, Isaiah 19:23).

It is noteworthy that although we all share the same DNA yet God has also set—and controls— boundaries for our various geographical settlements (Acts 17:26).

The article ends with this:

In sum, God has enabled a variety of varied ‘people groups‘ to populate His special planet. The reality is that we are all different. By accident of our birth we become part of an established nation in which a specific skin colour and culture predominates; by in-born nature we are loyal to it, patriotic, submit to its laws and culture.

Christians are ‘...strangers and pilgrims’. As such we, too, are to emulate the Father and to be ‘colour blind’—in and out of ‘church’.