| I was baptized into the
Worldwide
Church of God in
1968. I raised a son who graduated from Ambassador in 1996. Fortunately,
I was not among the upper crust in the WCG. I did not make a lot of money
so I was not a "righteous" man. I had questions and doubts
before the doctrinal changes came but I wanted to keep my family together. As a
parent, I saw how children were raised. I saw children beaten down
emotionally. We did not raise our son that way. That is one of the
reason I never moved up in "the church." I started coming to WCG
services when I was
twenty years old and was properly programmed by the ministry. When a
minister spoke, the words were coming "from God himself." This
is one of the reasons that parents behaved the way they did. For those
of you who now have children you know what a challenge it can be. Enter:
The Plain Truth About Child Rearing.1 This was how "God wanted" children to be. For parents who loved their children they
felt this was a gift from heaven. The problem was it did not work. Our
son did not respond, so we quit using it. This was the greatest thing
that could have happened to him and us. If a person has any ambition at
all in church [WCG] it is necessary to "talk the talk and walk the
walk."
When the WCG split we were
left with a minister who was sympathetic with the old teachings but, was
a good friend of the Tkach family. While he droned on in his sermons, I was
studying. He was finally fired and a new
minister was sent to our area. Tom Pickett still had the old WCG arrogance. He decided the
remainder of the congregation should be fed "spiritual milk." This
was fine for some people, but not me. Services were still being held on
Saturday afternoon. People were still thanking God for the holy Sabbath
day. I am 56 years old and was among the younger people there. I do not
want to judge other people but I wonder about the understanding of the
minister. I felt his sermons were vague and often pointless. His main
thrust was to invite people to services which were so bland that when
visitors came, they only came once. All of this time I had been reading
and learning things on my own. One day services were so bad that I told
my wife that I "just can't take it any more." Others who left
tried to talk to this minister who replied that they were
"rejecting what the Holy Spirit had inspired him to say." It
is the same old story. When a minister opens his mouth it is "God
speaking."
When the new changes came, we
began to read all the "forbidden" literature by "worldly" ministers in
evangelical Christianity. (Imagine the shock waves that sent friends and
family to United Church
of God and the
other splinter groups.) Imagine
our shock when our lives improved. The things that worked in
their lives worked in ours. Our son and his family attend a Baptist
Church (imagine the disappointment from WCG friends and family). His
life has gotten better. All of us were welcomed with open arms into
other Bible believing churches.
I am writing these things to let
everyone know something I just recently discovered (THIS IS BIG).
God
really does love us!! He loves us so much that he sent his only begotten
Son. He loves us so much that He led us out of the
Worldwide Church of
God. There is help and healing for all of us. I tried to live under the
Law and became a candidate for suicide. Now I live a much more peaceful
life based on a personal relationship with Jesus. When you feel that you
can let go of the past, DO IT. By no means are things perfect, but they
are so much better. God has His arms wide open waiting for you.
A recovering WCG parent.
By Lee
July 18, 2003
Footnote by ESN:
1 The WCG for many
years told their members to follow
The Plain Truth About Child
Rearing, a dreadful booklet written by Garner Ted
Armstrong. (Update: GTA died of pneumonia at age 73 on 9-15-03.)
Articles For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
Back to Stories & Testimonies by
Former Members of WCG and Offshoots
|
Home