I am a survivor of severe
spiritual and emotional abuse by very heavy-handed, tyrannical, power
hungry and demanding ministers of
Worldwide
Church of God. In my case it was
perpetrated onto me willfully and intentionally because for some reason
the ministers felt I had not surrendered every facet of my life to their
will. These authoritarians got themselves involved in my family
life and they were totally ignorant of how to advise in such matters.
They inflicted heavy damage onto my marriage. They had absolutely no
understanding of human nature, while they would tell us they completely
understood it. They were demanding that I surrender aspects of my
life and activities over to them that had absolutely
nothing to do with church life, doctrines or activities.
I felt that I was fully submissive to them in all areas of church
matters, doctrines, and practices. I wasn't one to question
authority over me. However, in my case they wanted authority over
me in areas they had absolutely no right to. They pitched their
temper tantrums against me to extremes. Every effort was made to
further intimidate me and to make my life miserable.
When I decided to bring an end to it, my attorney fully agreed that I
was dealing with a bully and that he was making a very good living
having bullies cut down to size. He fully assured me that we had
something to go after. However, there was a truce about that time
and for a little while I lived in peace within the church. However, another bully came along. Again, my legal counsel assured
me that even if these tyrants were on the right side of the issues
(which they were not) they were clearly overstepping any bounds of their
authority and this could be dealt with legally.
Getting my attorney involved
gave me power far beyond my expectation. My attorney figured we would
have to confront the pastor and/or the church through the church's legal
office or in the courts. We had become ready to do so.
I sent HQ a package with an
abundance of documentation that should have gotten their attention. However,
the extremely abusive pastor melted the instant I told him my attorney
would be in contact with him and the church.
I was then promised that my mistreatment would be appropriately
addressed and I again started living in peace within WCG. I was
never so surprised in my life. They had such great fear of power that
was not theirs. This provided joy to several other struggling souls who
had no power with which to affect their abusers. Some of my mistreated
friends were so happy that the pastor had finally picked a fight he
couldn't win. By the time this came about, Headquarters was onto the ministry about
causing legal problems and was trying to reign them in. They had a very
powerful legal team, but it costs them big money to fight lawsuits and by
this time the courts were holding churches responsible for their
actions. My attorney saw the makings of a very good case here.
My most serious problem was that I actually believed that I was dealing
with a ministry of Jesus Christ and that I had to accept their bad
treatment in order to be saved. This became a nightmare. This gave them the "power" over us. From their teachings, we had
lost sight of the fact that we are saved in Jesus Christ, because we had
to have the approval of these tyrants to escape the Great Tribulation and a Lake of Fire. There was a total absence of love in these
"power monsters." At the same I kept hearing from other
members who were being abusively handled in ways similar to my
mistreatment. I was well aware that the
abusiveness was quite widespread from input I was receiving from others
who were suffering to some extent from it.
It was shortly after the promise I received from HQ that my mistreatment
was being addressed that we were shown the
video from JWT Sr. in which
he announced massive changes in doctrines and practices. It was so
obvious to me that the rotten system needed some changes and I thought I
would remain around and see how this would wash out. In my personal case
the abuse did indeed come to an end, but I now understand it did not
cease for others who were having such problems. I welcomed the
massive changes and took some time to work my way through it all. I desired to see what directions the church would take, although we were
given no information in this area. The fact that the
church was completely adrift became easy to understand after a while. It
seemed that some congregations were going off in one direction while
others were going into other directions. There was a lack of
firm standing on any issues of doctrines and most practices. We seemed to be simply adrift and trends toward "NEW AGEISM"
become clearly apparent.
Along with all the foregoing we were getting people in who were "self
promoters" and this was very easy to pick up on. This "self
promotion" was clearly allowed to proceed unchecked, which was
certainly different than the past. This would show up in several
forms, an example being individuals who wanted to be special music
singers who did not have any talent or capability for such. They were
demanding (and getting) music sound levels that were far too high for
comfort. Some of what was presented was in disrespect to the
congregation. The quality of church services went into decline and
continued downward until I finally left.
The "joy"' of being in worshipful services suffered when God
was not being glorified and we were not being uplifted in spirit. I
became more and more sick of it all. I very much wanted to be a
part of a church in which I could grow in Jesus Christ and I now clearly
understood it could not be WCG.
I started visiting other churches on Sundays. I walked out of
several during services when it became clear to me I did not want to be
there. However, I found one near my neighborhood that I kept visiting
and I came to love it. There was actually a "love" there
that I did not experience in WCG. Each week I again eagerly look
forward to the Bible Study and church services. Even though I am
not a member I am regularly called upon for prayers and I am a different
animal than when I did the same in WCG. Where "love" is
you will know it. It is not hidden. I can see I had been in
a church without any real love from the leadership. There were
some Christian members in WCG that did have the "love" of
Christ. However, it was totally absent from higher levels.
I'm beginning to call it "my church" now. I feel a peacefulness
that never existed during my many years in WCG. I love being under
the leadership and services of a ministry that loves Jesus Christ and
the people over whom they serve. In WCG we were "ruled over"
by men who should never have any positions of authority, since they have
amply demonstrated they will use it abusively. In the church I now
attend the ministry "serves over" us, teaching us from the
Word of God.
Why did I ever allow the continued abusiveness of myself that I suffered
under? I still wonder about that. When they gain your trust
(and they had mine) and they teach you that essentially they have the
keys to the Kingdom, or to the Lake of Fire if you don't have their
approval they gain a lot of "power" over their subjects. When one comes to believe them (and I did) they gain that "power"
over the individual. They utterly failed in the proper use of any
"power" over us. They would boldly trample over you (and
they did trample over me) and go on as if it were the right thing to do. They had us believing them, trusting them and they went to every effort
to prove they could not be worthy of the "power" that gave
them over us.
I walked out of WCG at my discretion; at the time of my choosing. I took control for myself. I am now more at peace now than at any
time during the many years of my involvement with WCG. I can take
control of my life and I choose to surrender it to Jesus Christ, in
whose name we are saved. I am spiritually happier than I have been
in many years. I am no longer subject to the evil treatment of men
who have no understanding of how to deal with people.
I am free. Thank you so much for "being there" with your
most helpful web site for those who were thrown out of, or chose to walk
out of WCG. I know I needed you. I have gained strength from your
works. You are doing a most important work. May God ever so
richly bless you.
By Ralph
June 18, 2001
Note: Also read:
Worldwide Church of
God: New Changes, Ecumenical & New Age Connections
Articles For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
Back to Stories & Testimonies by
Former Members of WCG and Offshoots
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