I joined
Worldwide Church of
God in 1981 at 22 and
thought I had found a gift. I believe we all were so busy keeping the
law and trying to be perfect that we refused to see the illness from the
top down. If you were to ask questions, you were told not to worry, or
that ministers had the insight we as little people did not. I noticed
that many of the men were control freaks, tyrants and womanizers. I
married one and he grew up at Pasadena with his father working on
campus. Sadly, my ex has a drinking problem that I am sure started when
he was a teen at A. C., along with the fact that his father was the same
way and they were empowered to rule the family. If you questioned, or
even disagreed, you were "disobedient." I
counseled with ministers for years asking what I should do and finally
gave up asking and just did my best. Depressed, knowing the constant
emotional abuse, anger, etc. were destroying my life and the children's,
I was told to "stick it out" and that I should "submit." Well, I did
that for years and it just made him become even more out of
control. Can you imagine telling a young mother to say because the
husband didn't want to be responsible? How many lives destroyed?
After 20 years, my ex decided to
leave, and it is the best for me and the children now, as we are better
off without his constant rage, anger and blame towards the "church" and
his childhood. There have been no words from him of "are you okay?" Or
"do you need food?" Nothing--except coldness and uncomfortable
situations. Believe me, I don’t want any pity, or money, just kindness.
We left WCG in 1993 about the time
that the new covenant was being spouted.
Seeing the repeat of my Protestant background, we decided to go with
Global Church of God1, believing that Rod Meredith
had a kinder more balanced church in mind with input from the members.
What a crock that was. I read on several ESN letters
the way
Rod would change his colors constantly--and that was what I
observed. After the first feast with Global, Meredith somehow was mad
that the income of the church was not growing, blaming it on us, the
congregation. From that point on, he became abusive in his sermons and
his treatment of us who didn’t follow him blindly. He placed men in
charge that had no business there with their love of control and
politics. We had such destruction done to the people. I asked why?
I was soon shunned and my ex
stopped attending. I traveled an hour and half to services with small
children, and since I didn’t attend weekly, I was then treated with
disdain. Being weary of the whole mess, and not finding any positive
fruits from the whole process except a few kind people, I left. We
stopped attending anywhere for 4 years and then with the children
wanting to attend again we decided the UCG [United
Church of God-AIA] would be the least damaging. Of all the
splinters, as time went on throughout the last 5 years, I feel that UCG
is lacking in love and not moving forward. I attend once every couple of
months, but I have developed a spiritual life without them for the most
part.
People zone out in UCG with
no connection; it is a cheap imitation of WCG when it has the
opportunity to be open to change for the better. (I read that UCG’s
membership is down. I believe it.) So I honestly try my best to go
forward and heal. I know that our family was affected by a
child survivor of WCG. He always
talked about the harshness of Imperial School (he was put back 2 years
by uncertified teachers) and the prevalence of drugs, drinking, and
other immorality, available to the teens in the 70’s. All that hypocrisy
and dysfunction--and then legalism Sabbath mornings. It caused a lot of
people to have split personalities2 like my ex who felt
that he deserved to drink and yell and do whatever he wished to, because
he was the head of the household and also because he had been
brainwashed about how men can treat women as sex objects for their
fulfillment, not giving, just taking and demanding respect every step of
the way. No wonder so many marriages split; it was clean and shiny at
church and abusive at home.
I pray that all this does not make
me a bitter woman. I feel spiritually renewed and emotionally recharged
to be on my own with my beloved children and returning to college and
building a life without the "church" making my choices for me. What
utter freedom to not have a man between me and God the father and our
Savior Jesus Christ.
What is so very sad and ignorant
to me is that so many people in these
splinters have such hate and
suspicions for other Christians in the world and in the other splinter
groups. What total ignorance and lack of Godly love is that? WCG had such
a tremendous amount of abusive behavior and I don’t think Joe Tkach Jr.
is any better. I wish any and all that read this story the very best. I
am just one person with another story to tell and I know that there are
worse stories and more painful actions done to many people. We can
survive and be stronger through it all. I would not want to be some of
these self appointed apostles and ministers who have destroyed so many
lives, when they meet our Lord.
By
Charlotte (With a healing heart and soul. No
thanks to UCG.)
June 14,
2005
Footnotes by ESN:
1 Rod
Meredith founded Global Church of God in 1992. In 1998 he left Global and
formed Living Church of God. Read:
What Happens if I Join Roderick Meredith's Living Church of God?
2
For more on the truth of this, read: Wearing Masks (story by
WCG child survivor)
Articles For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
Back to Stories & Testimonies by
Former Members of WCG and Offshoots
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