| I recall one of the things that
made a strong impression on me during our first Sabbath service was the
absence of collection plates. We had brought our usual, obligatory
Sunday offering, but were surprised when the brass plates with velvet
centers weren't passed to receive it. Afterwards, we questioned our
pastor to find out why. He explained to us that 1st tithe was used to
fund "The Work," and part of that work was covering the hall
rentals, expenses for running the local church, for training and
providing for the ministry, etc. (Of course he never mentioned 2nd and
3rd tithes until we had been in for awhile). He said we were to send our
tithe to Headquarters and that's why they didn't "pass the
plate." It made sense to me and sounded as if they were utilizing
the funds properly.
Once we became involved in the
WCG, we discovered that we were pressured to do fundraisers. The first
church area we were involved in sold fruit baskets around Christmas
time. Now this bothered my husband's conscience because his co-workers
wanted to know why he was selling stuff for Christmas when he didn't
even keep Christmas! He had to agree that it was hypocritical. We
questioned our pastor about this matter and he said, "These people
are going to keep Christmas anyway, so why not capitalize on it?"
We were so naďve and trusting since we were already convinced that
God's ministers spoke God's will. We failed to analyze exactly what he
was saying: "When it comes to money, it's okay to compromise your
standards."
Each Sabbath it was announced
who had sold the most baskets that week. Now
the message was clear: "Those who love God's Work will go out and
sell the
most baskets." This caused a terrible conflict between my husband
and me. He didn't believe we should sell them and I believed that we
should "because it was for the Work" (and that reason alone
should absolve any reasonings against it). The world was coming to an
end, I reasoned, so what if we use sinners' money to fund God's work? I
was completely blinded by my loyalty to the organization, and I could
not see the wrong in what I was doing. So I went door-to-door with
another member and we sold fruit baskets. The other member who went with
me was an older woman. "Don't tell them what church you're
in," she warned me, "People around here don't like the
Church." So when the person came to the door, I let her do the
talking. She showered the people with compliments about their home, and
when they asked what they fundraiser was for, she would tell them that
the money was going to be used for "buying uniforms for the kids in
our Youth Group." She was very good at distracting people, so they
rarely got around to questioning who exactly we were representing.
Herbert Armstrong told us that we should always tell the truth, but we
didn't have to always tell it. She knew how to do this well. I never
questioned the dishonesty (deceiving people to buy our fruit, while
deriding these same people for keeping Christmas).
We lived in other church areas
where various fundraisers were held. In one area, we sold cases of
citrus fruit around Christmas. In another area we sold wooden duck fruit
baskets. That project was almost a year long one. The project would
begin early in the year with several men who had woodworking tools in
their garage. They would spend months cutting the duck parts out with a
router. Others would cut the slats. Then a working party would get
together and assemble the ducks with glue and staple guns. Members would
take orders for the baskets. They could go door-to-door or sell them at
their workplaces. Another work party (usually women) would get together
to bag up the dry fruit, nuts and candy into individual bags. Then the
day would arrive when nearly the whole church would come out and
assemble these baskets. The baskets were shrink-wrapped in cellophane
and tied with a bow. They were beautiful when they were finished, and we
were proud of them. We were certain that they were a fine example of
"God's Quality."
Other church areas we knew were
selling candy, and another area we heard
were selling pajama bags that looked like frogs. We also were exhorted
to donate baked goods and sell concessions for the various sporting and
Y.O.U.
events throughout the year "to help pay for uniforms and gym
rentals". We were kept busy doing these fundraisers for "God's
Work," and it was our personal part in "qualifying" for
the Kingdom.
Now one would think that the
money made in fundraisers would stay in the
local area. After all, we were sending our tithes to Headquarters, and
they
reassured us that the funds were used to keep the church functioning.
Imagine my surprise when we discovered that 10% of our fundraising money
had to be sent to HQ! There is no place in the Bible that commands the
Church, itself, to tithe! Yet, that's exactly what we did!
The WCG painted a picture of
financial stability and accountability, claiming that 1st tithe was
being used to provide for "the Work," that the money was being
used to provide for the local church areas. Is this true?
When I finally sat down and did
the math, it was quite an eye-opener for me:
350 members (average church
size) times $2,000 per year (1st tithe based on
$20,000 average salary) = $700,000 per year
$700,000 divided by 12 months = $58,333 income per month (even if you
cut
this figure in half, it's still a lot of money)
From this amount we can deduce
the following:
Hall rental for Sabbath
services ($500-$1000 per month depending on the
area)
Ministers' salary (usually
$50,000 per year on average or $4166 per month; the Associate Pastor's
made approx. $35,000 pay on average or $2916 per month. Total combined
salaries = $7082 per month [not counting perks])
So the
two biggest costs to the local area would be hall rentals and minister
salaries. With that taken care of, there still remains $49,000 per month
going to HQ. (At its peak, the WCG boasted an annual income of
$223 million dollars with a membership of 150,0001).
Now we all understand that the PT magazine was costing around 9 cents an
issue in printing costs, and there was the cost of TV time, production
of the World Tomorrow, etc. But even with all these costs taken care of,
it's easy to see that there was plenty of money left--but never enough
money to buy uniforms for the Y.O.U. kids, or for anything else, for
that matter (we still were solicited to send in money for
SEP when the
local church areas could have easily provided the funds to send every
kid that wanted to go). The uniforms were only a few hundred dollars per
year. If Herbert Armstrong claimed that we were "Capturing True
Values," and that he was "turning the hearts of the fathers
back to the children, and the children back to the fathers," then
his words certainly didn't match his actions. And if the 1st tithe was
to be used to provide for all the needs of the local areas, then why did
we have to do any fund raising in the first place?
One of the
characteristics
of a cult is fundraising, in spite of the fact that they are already
controlling and draining the finances of the members. Cults are
notorious for squeezing blood from a turnip, and the WCG with its triple
tithing, plus offerings, plus other financial pleas, fit the bill.
I have been in mainstream
churches that utilize tithing (giving 10%, but no more). They do not
believe in fundraising because they feel that the tithe is sufficient in
running the local church. Even from that 10%, the members are free to
designate where their monies are to be used (missions, youth programs,
building fund, benevolent fund, etc.). I have also been in churches that
do not believe in tithing. They generally have fundraisers as needed,
and the money raised is used for the purpose of that particular
fundraiser (example: a spaghetti dinner is held to raise money for a new
church sign by the road; a flea market is held to upgrade the church
nursery, etc.); in both cases, the money is not sent to some
Headquarters in some distant state. Either way, in both of these
examples, none of these
churches expected their members to give to the point of impoverishing
themselves and their families. They follow Christ's teaching, "He
who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel." (I
Timothy 5:8) If the WCG (or any of its splinters) is "God's True
Church," then why do they teach the very opposite of what Jesus,
Himself, spoke? The WCG expected us to "put the Church first"
and used guilt to continually
extort money from us.
I can
honestly say that I never did know what ever happened to all the money we made in those fundraisers. There was never any type of financial
statement to show how the monies were utilized. Can any of you say the
same? And look at all the ugly, run down halls we met in, or those weird
IOOF and/or Masonic Halls2--such uplifting,
godly environments, huh? I remember being told "not to touch"
the thrones (the three big chairs on the stage). Why would God ever want
His church to meet in buildings that reeked with paganism?
I remember meeting in
sweltering buildings that didn't have air conditioning
during the summer. Many elderly people went home sick after services.
Babies and children would be especially fidgety and cranky. It never
once occurred to me that all those tithes were never used to provide any
type of comfort for the members. Back in 1995, I remember how we were
promised that we would acquire a church building of our own, and how a
big percentage of our tithes would return to the local area. I remember
our church actually planning a fundraiser for a building. Now it's 2003,
and very, very few church areas actually own their buildings. (Of
course, the blame for this goes on the members for being stingy with
their tithes).
In summary: When a church is a
tithing church, it should never, ever have to do fundraisers. The first
tithe is to be used to provide all the needs of the local area. Look
carefully around you--is this true? Do you have beautiful, comfortable
surroundings when you meet for worship? Or do you hear people devaluing
others for wanting these things? ("Our money isn't being wasted on
worldly things like buildings. Every penny is being used to preach the
gospel.") Are you and your family at the mercy of the elements,
while the HQ leaders preach in the comfort of their glorious palaces?
Churches that aren't required
to tithe, should never, ever have to "tithe" on the money that
they made in a fundraiser. There is no Scripture commanding a local
church to tithe to a large, headquarters in some distant state. If your
church was creative and resourceful enough to make extra money for the
local area, then it should stay in the local area for its exclusive use.
The irony of it all was how we
belittled other churches for taking up collections. We were so
self-righteous and smug about our tithing. We were proud of how we were
giving, all the while not ever noticing that our regular giving still
wasn't enough and that we had to do fundraisers on top of everything
else we did for the church. This is just plain wrong.
It takes a lot of courage to
leave an exploitive group. Just because it uses the name "God"
doesn't make it right. I hope and pray that you will take that first
step. We did, and we are happy that we did.
By Lindsey
Exit & Support Network™
November 9,
2003
Footnotes by ESN:
1 It
can be documented that the WCG’s highest number was about 53,000 in 1973.
Discern by listening to Mike Hollman’s tape, "Armstrongism: An
Insider's View,"
available from Watchman Fellowship.
(Hollman was director of data processing in WCG from 1972-1973.) Read
Myth
1 & 2-the greatest of them all in
OIU#6 to learn about the myth of WCG's membership
numbers.
(Also see
this part in
OIU 2, Pt. 1 about "discrepancies with the growth picture starting around
1978.")
2
There has been shown to be a connection between Freemasonry (which is a
false religion) and cults. See our
tapes
on this subject.
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