Worldwide Church of
God:
New Changes, Ecumenical & New Age Connections
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In their race to become accepted by mainstream Christianity, WCG has involved themselves in the ecumenical movement and endorsed several New Age authors. Their services can include a potpourri of belief styles, including tongues speaking1 (which developed soon after the new changes) and other emotional gestures which are prevalent in Pentecostal, Four Square Gospel, and modern Charismatic churches. Joseph Tkach Jr. (pastor general of Worldwide Church of God) visited the Four Square Gospel Church (a tongues-speaking church) at the time of the changes in 1996 and was wholeheartedly accepted. [tape with ESN] Tkach Jr. and Michael Feazell also appeared on the Los Angeles area radio program Christian Commentary. The host of the program was Pastor Helms of the Angeles Temple Church, headquarters of the International Church of the Four Square Gospel. An Open Letter to Our Acquaintances in The Church of God mentions how Armstrongism wasn't profitable for the WCG anymore after HWA died, leaving no choice but to mainstream. Approximately two years after the new changes commenced, WCG had "healing sessions"2 for their confused and distraught members. These were never considered very successful or helpful and certain members have testified to this. WCG did not speak out on the harm in reading the Harry Potter books, but instead published an article entitled, "Harry Potter: What's All The Fuss About?" in the February/March 2002 edition of their British Plain Truth magazine. This same article was later published in the April 2002 edition of Northern Light (the WCG Canadian magazine). WCG has aligned themselves with Neo-Evangelicals and have promoted New Ager Richard J. Foster from Renovaré, (known as mystical movement) and Dallas Willard.
The April 22, 1997 Worldwide News first quoted Foster regarding prophecy speculations. Richard Foster is also Professor of spiritual formation at Azusa Pacific University. Richard Foster promotes New Age philosophy to churches. ("New Age Ideas in Christianity," Cross Walk radio program. Tape available.) WCG has not only quoted from Richard Foster, but has recommended and used his book Celebration of Discipline as a resource (i. e., "Spiritual Discipline Series," 1998, 1999, "Discovery Group Course," "Recommended Reading, Books for Biblical Studies," etc.) Mike Feazell encouraged their lay pastors to read Foster's book at pastor's conferences. (i. e., WN, January 21, 1997, "Lay pastors equipped in intensive sessions," by Tom C. Hanson.) WCG encouraged members and pastors to attend Foster's Renovaré October 2000 conference in Laguna Hills, California. (Weekly update from Joe Tkach, June 15, 2000.) As early as 1996, Mike Feazell encouraged the lay pastors to read Foster's book (OIU 6, Pt. 2, "Patterns of deception"). Feazell quoted Richard J. Foster's letter written to those on his Renovaré mailing list. (WN, April 22, 1997, p. 14). Richard Foster was WCG's guest speaker at the International Pastor's and Elder's Conference, July 26-29, 2007, at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and Spa, a resort in the Palm Springs area of Southern California. (December 6, 2006 weekly update by Joseph Tkach; "Coming Events – activity calendar for the WCG"; "Worldwide Church of God Caribbean," July 26, 2006) More than 800 attended the conference, including 19 Filipino WCG ministers with their wives. The conference focused on Spiritual Formation. For more info on Foster's teachings and activities, see the exposé articles: Richard Foster - General Teachings and Activities and A Critique on the Ministry of Richard Foster. (The latter goes into detail about Foster's New Age teachings and connections.)
For more on Dallas Willard, including his connections and endorsements,
see:
Dallas Willard - Promoting Contemplative Prayer and Mysticism Through
Spiritual Formation.
WCG's involvement with the ecumenical movement (which includes interfaith unity) includes the modern Charismatic movement (Read Letters to ESN dated September 9, 2003: WCG Getting Into the Toronto Blessing and May 14, 2004: WCG Sells Part of AC Campus to Radically Charismatic Church), and many compromising organizations, one of which is Promise Keepers. The modern Charismatic "Word-faith" movement (signs/ wonders, prophetic revelations) is gaining a foothold in many churches today. Their ministers are on many radio and TV stations and they bring in millions of dollars from their uninformed followers. (For more info on neo-evangelicalism and the ecumenical movement, see Booklist and Apostasy links.) Books by Henri Nouwen are endorsed by WCG on their website. (To read articles about Henri Nouwen and his belief in contemplative spirituality see: What did Henri Nouwen really believe?) Also read: The Issue of Other Religious Practices as Worship in the Church, which shows the eastern mystical source of contemplative and centering prayer. This last article also mentions authors which WCG has spoken favorably about; i. e., Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Brian McLaren, and Thomas Merton.
WCG has endorsed
Rick Warren (pastor of Saddleback Community Church in California, situated
on a 120 acre campus) and his material.
WCG is listed on The Mission America Coalition as one of the churches endorsing
the 40 days of Purpose initiative and also the Passion of the Christ.
The 40 Days of Purpose is tied in with Rick Warren,
author of The Purpose Driven Church (the Church Growth Movement). (Note:
At present this list is
posted on the internet. In case it is moved again, a mirror of the original
list may be
viewed here.) Their name is also listed on
Honor Our Heroes, which is an initiative of the
Mission America Coalition The Worldwide News,
1999, gave a report on a Mission America meeting in which WCG
attended: "Dan Rogers, superintendent of ministers, and his wife,
Barbara, represented the WCG Jan. 21 at Mission America's annual meeting
in San Francisco." ("Mission America: Sharing Christ by the end of
2000") More on WCG and Mission America is in
OIU Newsletter #6, Pt. 2. The WCG in the Caribbean stated they have had conferences sponsored by: Willow Creek Community Church (Bill Hybels) 3 They are using Willow Creek's "Promiseland" curriculum for the children in their congregation.4 (Read: Willow Creek Hegelian Dialectic & the New World Order and Protestant No More: Willow Creek Infiltrated by a Mystic Quaker Movement Called Renovaré for more info on WCA.) WCG has been a participate in the meeting of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. The National Council of Churches is represented. WCG's name was listed as part of churches/organizations which agreed to join CCT, but was withdrawn as of August 2006. However, Michael Morrison, Worldwide Church of God, is listed for Participants of the 2006 Meeting of CCT-USA. CCT has been set up "to broaden and expand fellowship, unity, and witness among the diverse expressions of Christian faith today." They believe overcoming poverty is central to the mission of the church and to their unity in Christ. More can be discerned about this ecumenical organization from their website. They have embraced Replacement Theology and Amillennialism. [Read: Letter to Worldwide Church of God, Philippines (On Apostasy--A Radical Proposal, including the follow-up letter: Reply to Michael Morrison) The following are only a few quotes taken from WCG's website and/or literature which show this:
WCG joined the Evangelical Ministries to New Religions in 1998. EMNR is a Lausanne-covenanted organization and has, in fact, been instrumental in mainstreaming the Mormon religion as a Christian denomination. For more information, read the following report: Evangelical Ministries to New Religions. WCG has given their approval to the Lausanne Movement, calling it a work of God.5 The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) accepted the Worldwide Church of God into full membership in 1997.6 Worldwide Church of God website in the UK has a link to Evangelical Alliance, which is the United Kingdom's version of the stateside National Association of Evangelicals. The NAE is under the umbrella/authority of the global World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). The WEF was originally named the Evangelical Alliance and was founded at a global gathering of missionaries in 1846. Very significantly, this meeting was held at the United Grand Lodge in London England and "dedicated to the purposes of Freemasonry." It was renamed the World Evangelical Fellowship in the U.S. in 1951; other nations, such as the UK, still retain the name Evangelical Alliance. For more info, read: The Evangelical Alliance/World Evangelical Fellowship [1846] Many present WCG ministers obtained their doctorates from Fuller Theological Seminary (which no longer holds to the doctrine of inerrancy and where most of the "church growth movement" can be traced back to) and Azusa Pacific University (which is known as a theologically liberal institution, Charismatic, Pentecostal, and a member of Willow Creek Association). WCG appears to have immersed themselves in "whatever works" in religion. They mix regularly with new evangelicals. Has it enabled them to get into countries they couldn't penetrate before? Ecumenical Movement (from OIU Newsletter Five) Several groups known as religious "cults" are beginning to mainstream.7 In November 2003 the ICC [International Church of Christ] leader stepped down and "apologized to members for his sins of arrogance, anger and insensitivity" and said ICC will develop a "new governance." The Mormon Church is even beginning to appear more and more Christian. Mainstreaming Mormonism [offsite link] After they finished their "study" on the role of women in the church, WCG now supports the ordaining of women as elders and pastors. (WCG News, "Doctrinal Team Completes Study of Scripture; Announces Policy on Women in Leadership," Jan./Feb. 2007 Together.) Propaganda works through repetition. When members are exposed to the same message over and over again (in this case the "new" changes), it shuts down their cognitive powers, eliminates questioning, and has a narcotic-like effect on the central nervous system, making them an easy subject for suggestion and manipulation. Since part of their new programming is "God intervened in the WCG," the new changes now have meaning for them. It gives them a reason to remain in the WCG. But they still have a group mentality and focus on "the church" and what "they" or "God" is accomplishing in the world. They are kept busy with conferences and traditions (milieu control), strong discipleship methods, self-criticism and a sense of belonging. More than listening to the rhetoric about the new changes, it will benefit members and outsiders alike to understand how Neuro-Linguistic Programming8 has been used. While WCG continues to plead ignorance of the errors of the past, they have given only spurious apologies for the devastation they caused to thousands. [Read: Called to Be Free (Is it Truth or Only More Worldwide Church of God Propaganda?)] Since members are kept in a positive mood (common in cults) and being fed a steady stream of propaganda about the changes, they will never believe anything could ever have been that wrong with their "church." They are still the "elect" that God is working with and it is still "God's church." They fluff off the misery and wrecked lives that the members and their relatives and friends suffered over the years, telling members to "take responsibility for your actions" and "that was the past; we have changed." The new doctrinal changes, since 1995, have produced: (1) a massive exodus of members into offshoot groups; (2) many who still hold to most or all of Herbert Armstrong's doctrines and feel he had "God's truth"; (3) exiters who have embraced agnosticism or atheism; (4) those who have involved themselves with New Age teachings, cultic churches, or the Charismatic/Word-Faith movement; (5) multitudes of survivors (especially child survivors) who still suffer trauma and incomplete healing; (6) a lack of critical thinking skills; and (7) confusion and disunity. How could this be considered good fruit? The membership in the Worldwide Church of God continues to decline,9 even down to 5-8 people, or less, in some congregations that formerly had 100 or more attending. Many have exited, saying that they saw no real changes in the members and no changes of any worth in the organization as a whole. All they saw was cognitive dissonance and the same programmed minds. Others have told us that they have learned more about grace and their freedom in Christ in the few years they have been out than they ever did when listening to the confusing explanations in WCG. By D. W. UPDATE: Letter to Worldwide Church of God, Philippines (On Apostasy--A Radical Proposal) (Reveals the disturbing direction WCG is headed doctrinally; includes New Age authors WCG has endorsed. This Oct. 2006 letter was later forwarded to over 300 WCG ministers, including those at Headquarters. Includes link to a rebuttal to Mike Morrison's reply.) NOTICE: In November 2004 the Worldwide Church of God moved its headquarters from Pasadena to Glendora, California. (Pasadena Star-News, October 25, 2004) By May 2006 all their offices were moved to Glendora. (Together May-June 2006). Read letter to ESN concerning this. In 2006 they were considering a name change. Read: Worldwide Church of God is Changing Their Name.
1 "We do not forbid tongues speaking." "We welcome tongues-speakers into our fellowship, as long as they do not use their gift in a contentious or offensive way." (Worldwide Church of God Articles About Speaking in Tongues, Pentecostalism, and the Word of Faith, "Does the WCG forbid tongues in church?" July 1997.) Read: WCG members now speaking in tongues? 2 One of the "healing sessions" that WCG brought in (during the changes) to try and deal with members' healing concerns was called "Pathways for Peace and Healing." This was in the form of seminars for local congregations. A search on this group shows that it is based on Shamanism, which is tied in with Reiki healing, a New Age practice. (Read: Reiki a universal energy technique to heal.) The founder of Reiki was Dr. Mikao Usui a Japanese theologian who claims that Reiki came to him in a vision. 3 "Regional Snapshot - New look of the WCG in the Caribbean," By Patrick Fearon, 1998 4 WCG Today, November/December 2005. [Note: In Feb. 2005 The Worldwide News in the United States changed its name to WCG Today. In May 2006 it was changed to Together.] 5 History of Mission Spokane - as of 2-13-00, "What is God Doing?" / "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Gary Roberto. 6 Ted Haggard was former president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) which represents almost 50,000 churches in America. During this time, there were a number of serious concerns regarding him, including his spiritual manipulation, hypocrisy, and promoting the agenda of C. Peter Wagner. On Nov. 4, 2006 Haggard resigned as president of the NAE and was dismissed as senior pastor of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO as a result of sexually immoral behavior. (Read: Will we ever know the truth about Haggard's double life? and Letter to NAE and other concerned Christians.) 7 "From Cult to Church: The Quest for Acceptance," by Dr. Ron Enroth, 1994. (If interested in the tape, email ESN, and ask for it by name. Please include your address on your email.) 8 Neuro-Linguistic Programming involves subliminal messages; i.e., the act of tapping into the unconscious mind apart from the person's conscious knowledge. Also read: Clues to Application of Mind Control in WCG (detailed letter to ESN). 9 WCG is now involved in "church planting" (see Together, July-August 2007, "New Church Leadership Training Conference").
Was God Behind the Worldwide Church of God Changes (Questions to Ask) Outsider's Inside Update Newsletters (Important reading which looks behind the scenes at the real activities and associations pertaining to the "transformation" of the WCG; shows how doctrine was used as a massive propaganda tool; OIU 4, Pt. 1 has a section on Propaganda and Dialectical Materialism) Letter to Worldwide Church of God, Philippines (On Apostasy--A Radical Proposal) (Reveals the disturbing direction WCG is headed doctrinally; includes New Age authors WCG has endorsed. This Oct. 2006 letter was later forwarded to over 300 WCG ministers, including those at Headquarters. Includes link to a rebuttal to Mike Morrison's letter.) The Lamp Ministry (Many articles exposing apostasy and error within Christendom; includes ecumenism and Charismatic issues) Lighthouse Trails Research Project (Exposing the Dangers of Contemplative Spirituality) Letter to author Janis Hutchinson from ESN (Vitally important letter with much exposé regarding WCG's history and the reason for the changes; helpful in undoing the propaganda and misinformation) Is Worldwide Church of God Still Holding on to Some of Herbert W. Armstrong's Doctrines? Back to Articles on WCG Changes and History Revision
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