You Saved Me From Fred Coulter's Group:

January 23, 2006

I wanted to thank you for your website. Yesterday I went to my mailbox and inside was a free book called, The Day Jesus The Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter. I had never heard of him or of this book. Being a Christian, I was very interested. I began to read it and was intrigued.

I read it until very late last night and planned on reading more today. But I also noticed two website addresses on the back of the book. I looked at them today and saw it was their website, the Christian Biblical Church of God. I contacted them and even thought I'd go to their church if one was close by!!

Then I decided to look up and see if there was anything written against this Fred R. Coulter. That is when I found your website. I couldn't believe some of the stuff I read! Sounds like a cult to me.

Being that I am from a cult-type background since I was raised in the Jehovah's Witnesses, I guess my mind goes back to it easily. What seems to be truth and what "makes sense" is what I am attracted to. So, I was glad to have your website to read about their beliefs, doctrines and history.

Thanks so much. You just may have saved me from another many years stuck in a cult! --Oklahoma

Update: More info regarding what others have said about Fred Coulter's group is listed on Articles on Offshoots & Splinter Groups of WCG.

Worldwide Church of God Distributing Rick Warren Literature:

January 31, 2006

Worldwide Church of God has a very extensive site in German, and they are going modern, distributing literature by Rick Warren and others. I don't think that there is a major change in doctrine, though, they just seem to be changing tracks. --C. B.

Comment: For more on Rick Warren and the Church Growth Movement, see November 16, 2004 letter to ESN (and letters following that).

WCG and UCG Front Connections with Dynamic Resource Group:

February 19, 2006

I am a former employee of House of White Birches, a major publishing company in Berne, Indiana owned by Dynamic Resource Group, which also owns several other major craft book trade companies.

The DRG company execs (a majority of them) are listed on their company website as having attended Ambassador College, some in Pasadena, some in Big Sandy Texas. I have done enough research on these institutions to realize that they were run by the Worldwide Church of God. Also, the recent CEO, John Robinson (whom I understand was David Robinson's son but died in January of this year), personally developed many church publications of the WCG.

The current DRG employees who write for the "church" newsletter are involved in the United Church of God, which I understand is a split-off from the NEW philosophies of the WCG, and follows the traditions of the old WCG. The congregation they write for is in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the nearest large city to the DRG hub offices.

In searching for information about DRG in Berne, Indiana, I realized that the United Church of God congregation in Fort Wayne (local to DRG) was set up in the mid-90's by several DRG employees, including the CEO (John Robinson), who was incidentally an elder in this congregation. Other employees include the DRG marketing director, Scott Moss, who is a deacon in the congregation, a DRG editor, Laura Dunn Scott, who serves as managing editor for the local church newspaper, and her husband, DRG book marketing manager Craig Scott, who serves as treasurer for the congregation. All of these people are both high-ranking DRG employees and founding members of the Fort Wayne UCG congregation, and all of these people (with the exception of the editor, whom I have not been able to determine) attended Ambassador College, either in Big Sandy or in Pasadena. Does this sound like a link to the WCG or not?

DRG's owners are active, evangelical members of the Church of God and also own the church's "Youth" teen ministry publication. Many of their employees have positions outside the company as writers and editors for Church of God newsletters. (In these newsletters these employees' contact information gives their DRG work e-mail address.) Their website does not overtly admit any ties to a particular church, but does clearly state that an unspecified portion of their profits will go to churches (which means their own, one would guess.) Also, their "church" website states that any donation surplus over $3,000 in a given month is shipped back to headquarters on a monthly basis.

I have been investigating this company for some time as I have become aware that it appears to be a front for generating money for this cult-like church. When I worked there, I was not told of any affiliation with any church. Nor have I been told of this in my freelance dealings with them.

I would like this company exposed as the church-generated money machine that it is. This company has millions of unwitting subscribers across the country who give money to this company, without knowing they are really supporting a cult. In addition, there are hundreds if not thousands of freelance designers in the past few years, who unknowingly supported this "church" by selling their designs to DRG publications. I think this is a highly unethical arrangement, and I feel the masses who make up DRG's customers and artisans deserve to know the true nature of this company and its subordinate companies.

There are legal and ethical basis for exposing this. It just seems underhanded and immoral to me, if not illegal, to run a massive business involving millions of customers and hardworking freelancers, without disclosing any of this religion-based orientation.

I have contacted others regarding this. Please pass my research on. --P. J.

Comment: This man's research has been passed on to several others. More info on John Robinson can be found in OIU Newsletter 4, pt. 2 and info on UCG is located in Vol. 3, Pt. 1, Vol. 3, Pt. 2 and Vol. 4, Pt. 2.

My Children Were in the LCG Congregation That Had the Shooting:

February 20, 2006

I was a member of The Worldwide Church of God and then The Living Church of God. I was a member for about 12 years. I was never the perfect member and always questioned many of the teachings. I eventually left the "church." I know how they work on people. I am very happy to see your web site and this info. I found very little info on them six years ago. My ex-wife and children are still in the LCG. My son does not agree with the teachings and his mother is using all of the tactics on him. I am starting proceedings to have him live with me. My children were in the LCG congregation that had the shooting; my daughter was the girl that was injured and my former mother-in-law was killed. Several years later I see the pattern that the LCG uses on its members and know that is why Terry Ratzmann went over the edge. It is a dangerous organization. I will be referring to your site for information and also to help my son to deal with the feelings and emotions he will have on down the road. I just wanted to share some background and thank the people responsible for this site. --Former member of WCG and LCG

Comment: Letters to ESN regarding the LCG shooting spree are listed here.

Spiritual Blindness in Present WCG Members:

February 27, 2006

I speak to several WCG members at present, but the spiritual blindness is truly amazing.
They acknowledge that they are being told lies, etc., but they cannot bring themselves to leave. I appreciate the work which you have done and I spread it far and wide amongst WCG, as is possible. Although a member for a very long time myself, your material was an eye opener. Much Grace. --Former member of WCG

Confusion in Minds of Those Who Listened to HWA:

March 2, 2006

In reading what certain exiters in offshoots have written, I can see they still believe that so and so leads the "church," but that it has been corrupted. Many others believe that the "true believers" have been scattered and will have to be gathered up before Christ returns. What confusion there is in their minds. --Exiter of WCG/PCG

Reply: Many of these people do not avail themselves of the books that exposed HWA and his WCG. Only when someone goes back to the root--Herbert Armstrong--and discovers who he really was and where he received his "truths" from will they break free. Here is an insightful quote (out of many) from Chapter XII of The Armstrong Empire by Joseph Hopkins: (While this is referring to HWA's group when it was called Radio Church of God, it certainly applied later, and can also apply to a number of splinter groups today that still believe "God worked through HWA.")

[Harry W.] Lowe's final criticism is at the point of the movement's fruits. Absence of "a consciousness of the peace of Christ in the life and victory of redeeming grace" in day-by-day living, as confessed by "persons who have left the Radio Church of God," is cited as proof that evidential fruit is missing. Lowe elaborates,

We have gone through about thirty-six copies of The Plain Truth, noting the letters...and we have not found any that speak of the victorious experience through Christ's grace. There may be some that we have not seen, but the main emphasis surely seems to be on blessings received from tithe paying or keeping the law, or a consciousness of knowledge or enlightenment beyond the blindness of those around them. None seems to emphasize a deeper love for Christ as Savior. (Radio Church of God: How Its Teachings Differ from those of Seventh-Day Adventists, p. 5, by Harry W. Lowe)

Herbert Armstrong and His Communist Friends:

March 5, 2006

Around 1985 or 1986 WCG I remember viewing a film at the Feast of Tabernacles where HWA was showing off the Pasadena campus to Armand Hammer. HWA was bragging to Armand about what he had accomplished and kept saying, "Not bad, eh?" Armand's father, Julius, co-founded the American Communist Party and Armand laundered money for the communist government. I recently read that Armand was considered "an accomplice of every Russian leader from Lenin to Gorbachev." It always bothered me that Armstrong and Armand were friends. That made me suspicious.
--H. Nelson (Former WCG member)

Comment: HWA also met with other communists; i. e., Alger Hiss at the first United Nations meeting in San Francisco, 1945. Read this part in HWA's November 24, 1967 letter to Plain Truth subscribers where he boasts about how Alger Hiss signed his entry pass into that meeting.

Update: Read 2007 letter to ESN: Herbert Armstrong Used Mein Kampf as a Guide in Controlling People.

Worldwide Church of God in the UK Links to Evangelical Alliance:

March 8, 2006

Worldwide Church of God website in the UK has a link to Evangelical Alliance at the top left side of the site and could therefore be seen as endorsing their methods. I wrote the Evangelical Alliance, but got no reply from them. --UK

Comment: Evangelical Alliance is the United Kingdom's version of the stateside National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). 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. They are involved in ecumenical compromise. For more info, read: The Evangelical Alliance/World Evangelical Fellowship [1846].

Deception by David C. Pack:

March 9, 2006

Just a quick email to say thank you for your site. I was listening to David C Pack and found some of his biblical subjects very helpful (or so I thought), until I tried to find out some more about him. I'm grateful that my search eventually ended up on your page.
I also found some Armstrong leaflets useful as I could see that David C Pack's sermons were direct copies of HWA's leaflets. Pack speaks very clearly and convincingly, but, as always, when you dig a bit deeper and actually check the Bible passages, they are not quite as he states in his positive manner. I was amazed at the size of this deception and was so sorry to see that it is gaining a foothold in the UK. This is the first time that I have heard of this organisation and its offshoots.

Keep up the good work. Sadly it is needed

In Him, --United Kingdom

UCG Breaks Up Five Year Relationship:

March 22, 2006

I would like to begin by thanking you for this website. It has helped me realize that what goes on within the United Church of God is not right. My five year relationship with a UCG member ended recently, and I can't help but feel that it is a result of the UCG's control over her. Many of the incidents in the articles are exactly what I have gone through with her, such as, alienation from me after a church service, a youth camp, or a feast. Until I found this site, I believed that what goes on within the UCG is okay. But the stories I have read are identical to the situations I've been exposed to for the past five years. I love this girl with all my heart, and the reason she says that we can't be together is because I'm not part of the UCG. She has told me that it's not impossible for us to marry, but the "church" would frown upon it. I know that she loves me, but after attending a recent dance in Cincinnati, Ohio, she returned to tell me that our relationship would never work. I can't help but believe that someone has "brainwashed" her to keep her from being with me. She is not the same person she was for five years, its almost like she is possessed. I am really scared that she is going to let UCG keep her from being happy with me and that they are going to force her into staying within the group and marrying someone who will abuse her like many of the other stories. I just don't know how to help her. I know it will virtually be impossible to get her to leave the group. I've read the page on how to deal with a person in a mind controlling group. I think the actions of the UCG need to be revealed to the public on a much larger scale.

Thank You. --J. T.

Comment: UCG's belief system has been known to break up relationships and exiters have testified to going through a very difficult period upon exiting. Read email to ESN: Exiter of UCG Feels Like He is Going Crazy.

Endured Shame, Humiliation and Abuse as a Woman in WCG:

March 28, 2006

Hello, 

My former husband wrote for The Plain Truth. I grew up in the WCG and only left after my children died in a car accident in 1991. In 1983 I was tossed out of Ambassador College, accused of sexual misconduct I did not commit and which under any definition was mild compared to the high level of sexual activity on the Ambassador College campus in Pasadena. 

Today, this very afternoon, through a series of the strangest circumstances of my life, the real reason for my expulsion was unveiled by reconnection after 20+ years with a childhood friend who still attends an offshoot of WCG. It turns out I was tossed out because I had stumbled onto a major sin by church leaders, one that might have cost Mr. Tkach Sr. his inherited position. I was quite unaware that I was sniffing too close to someone’s mess. I had no idea until this afternoon why I was not only expelled but shamed, my "scarlet letter" being announced publicly at every service all weekend in Pasadena--to the whole membership, humiliating me and my family.

It seems in retrospect an unbelievably cruel thing to do to a child (I was only 18 at the time). But now I understand. The realization brought up a thousand issues I have with my childhood in the WCG, and thus I searched for your website. You know, though, of all the abuse I suffered at the hands of the established "church" (despite the love and support of the brethren in the 22 years I attended), the worst was the constant assault on me as a woman. Everything I have achieved in life as a business owner, woman, author, professional speaker and free thinker can be traced to trying to overcome the abuse on women I endured in the WCG. I believe that there ought to be a little something about the cruelty to the female gender in the WCG on your site. Just a suggestion, but that seems among the most egregious of sins. 

Thanks for the work you do. I’ll be back to read more. --W. K.

Read: Do Philadelphia Church of God Husbands Abuse Their Wives?  (can also apply to women who have suffered abuse in the WCG) 

FBI Files on the Worldwide Church of God:

March 29, 2006

I once met with and talked to Anthony Buzzard. I find that his connections (mentioned in the report you link to) are very interesting. I marked some in red for quick perusal. 
I used to talk to Gene Bailey and I was the one that told him about the files on the WWCG with the FBI, etc. He later tried to obtain them, but they were blacked out and the information hidden. However, I obtained and viewed the files from the early 1970's that weren't blacked out. I had written the Un-American Activities Commission in 1972 and received information that HWA and WWCG were under surveillance and suspected of UnAmerican activities. I also received a letter from the Congressional Library. (Unfortunately, I lost these documents when I moved.)

This all documents the connections between the evil powers of the underworld and the WWCG. --H. Nelson (Former WCG member)

Comment: The report being referred to is The Conspiracy Was Strong. Herbert W. Armstrong and Anthony Buzzard and their connections are mentioned in Parts 1-3. (Just search for the words "Worldwide Church of God" in Pt. I.) The FBI files on Herbert Armstrong and Stanley Rader are mentioned. Anthony Buzzard was formerly a lecturer at Ambassador College in Bricket Wood, England. The Ambassador Report #48, May 1991, has a section entitled, "The FBI's Files on the WCG." Ambassador Report #51, October 1992, followed up by saying these files were later released to Gene Bailey but with much blacked out.

It is alleged that many groups known as "cults" are fronts for a hidden agenda and work together to create a passive people. (Read this part in the Rules of Disinformation which talks about the CIA being involved in Waco and Jonestown.) Is it any wonder they have similar methods of deception, manipulation, abuse, and related goals? Author Alex Constantine has stated: "That cults are dangerous has been proven time and again. That they are often fronts for intelligence activity is indisputable (as anyone who has dug into researching CIA mind control experimentation knows full well)." Read more about this and WCG / HWA activities from OIU Newsletter #6.

Clues to Application of Mind Control in WCG:

April 24, 2006

I studied for years to figure out how WWCG was able to remove God as the true God in my mind and replace it with the Worldwide Church of God. I now understand.

Many pages in Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web by David Robinson (e.g., 55, 63, 97, 98, 113, 127, 130,154, 165, 176, 187, 212, 233, 236, 280, 240) either fully illustrate or give clues to the manner in which mind control was applied in the Worldwide Church of God.

Page 113 says, "And he [HWA] realized that power came from a transfer of authority from God to himself in the minds of his followers. He must always identify God and himself very closely in the minds of his believers."

I believe the above statement is a testimony to the methods used and is a reason that, upon my disfellowshipment, I could not find God. God and the Worldwide Church had become one in my mind.

The same kind of "transference" was used both in verbal language from headquarters and the pulpit, as well as the written word. In the written word, brackets were inserted to show the "true" meaning of a verse, or to give the preceding word a meaning. Example: "The church [the vine] is moving to get back on track." This is transferring (subtly) the meaning of the word "church" to be the Vine, which is reserved to only Jesus Christ.

Headquarters told the people that many did not understand the changes because "some were slow learners" (our fault) and "if they wait long enough, they will finally understand." This was a lie. The facts are that "scrambling" is a cult practice of mind control, and then "flooding" is next. They never deprogrammed people from the old doctrines. They just scrambled the doctrinal message (made it confusing), and next they overwhelmed them with the new message. By the time the members got out of the scrambling mode, they were so grateful to understand anything that they accepted the new message (new doctrines). It was a process in mind control--planned and perpetrated on the unwary. That is why it was/is better to leave, with "no place to go," than stay in and get trapped into the new mind control.

Another word WWCG used was "division." That was a scare technique to quiet the truth and stop healthy reasoning with each other. The Apostles reasoned together. It is okay to talk about your misgivings. Instead, Worldwide wanted to have everyone muzzled so that they became isolated.

There were many other mind control techniques used which are simple to explain and understand if one studies such things as self-hypnosis, trance, coercive persuasion, thought reform and mind control.

Milton Erickson was a master at hypnosis. He did it outside of the client's knowledge or perception. The cults have perfected this method (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). WWCG used it. If we got un-hypnotized, they would lose their control over us.
We were trained to dissociate and trance out. Cults take the normal feelings away from you. Other cults use the reverse. They hype you up and make you feel false feelings. In each case you are not an authentic person. It's a splitting of the personality.

Cults try to get between you and family members and break bonds. When we cut off from people, we did it under duress, with the influence of their using methodical guilt to get us to change our behaviors. Their causing us to withdraw from our families was all part of the conditioning process for total control--and they set out to victimize us.
Many of these people have breakdowns, or get mixed up with another cult, if they don't investigate what happened to them.

Mind control techniques were taught across the board, and I believe still are being effectively used upon the membership and ministry, as a matter of course. They use the most compliant men to become ministers, except the ones at the top who know exactly what is going on. The membership, of course, has no idea of such mind control, as it cannot be detected by the five senses. It is completely out of the victim's awareness. That is why Herbert Armstrong always told us, "A deceived person does not know he is deceived."

There's not a lot of difference between a cult and communism, except cults do it under the guise of a "church." --H. Nelson (Former member of WCG)

Comment: The following was taken from OIU Vol. 1:

"Another topic for research is 'dialectical materialism' (double-speak; i.e. the combining of opposites. Whenever a person or people can be seduced into simultaneously accepting, two opposing beliefs as true, they are, by that, rendered docile, passive and indifferent to the advances of their enemy. The goal is to neutralize the people. ... Totalitarian governments of all sizes use these techniques to gain control of their people. Karl Marx was very fond of this technique!"

Members become enmeshed in the government of the group. See: How to Recover After Exiting a Deceptive, Abusive Group.

Update: Read Could No Longer Ignore We Were Victimized by the WCG (2008 email to ESN; shows why it is hard to see were victimized)

Samuele Bacchiocchi Presenting Himself in a Less Than Accurate Way?

May 16, 2006

I was browsing your site now, and find it really very interesting. Thanks for the good work you've done helping these people.

Considering Samuele Bacchiocchi's influence in the areas of the Sabbath and Holy Days in the branches of the Church of God movement, there may well be something to the words in a letter from the Gregorian University [a Jesuit university in Rome]. It was mailed June 11, 2004 by the Secretary General of the Pontifical Gregorian University to James A. Murray, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan concerning Bacchiocchi's credentials. It reads in part as follows:

I am writing in regard to Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, who resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan. My understanding is that this city is within the geographical territory of the Kalamazoo Diocese. It has recently come to our attention that Dr. Bacchiocchi is presenting himself and his degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in a less than accurate way. Both his publicity and web site indicate several errors about his degree and awards he claims to have received here. Further, our information...indicates that Dr. Bacchiocchi is actively engaged in anti-Catholic teaching.

Dr. Bacchiocchi did indeed graduate with a doctoral degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and was the first non-Catholic to do so. However, other claims he makes do not match those in our records. Those include:

1. He did not receive a summa from the Gregorian as he maintains.

2. He did not receive the Pope’s Gold Medal (this is presented each year in a public ceremony to only a handful of students who have achieved the highest quality of work in their dissertations).

3. He was not allowed to publish his dissertation in whole. Due to extensive problems with the text, he was only allowed to publish one chapter of his work and this only after extensive revision. The publication of one chapter signifies the minimum requirement to receive the doctoral degree at the Gregorian. His publicity and web site indicate that the whole dissertation has been published in book form with surrounding claims about its quality as a Gregorian publication. He has also used the official signature of the Gregorian University Press on the cover page of a book published by Biblical Perspectives.

4. At one time an imprimatur was claimed by Dr. Bacchiocchi, though we understand he later said this had been rescinded. As you know, this does not happen, nor does the Church find a need to give an imprimatur to non-Catholics who write on a variety of topics.

God bless, --S. K.

Comment: There seems to be more to Samuele Bacchiocchi than meets the eye. He's mentioned several times in OIU Vol. 4, pt. 2: "The immediate and timely introduction of Samuele Bacchiocchi was strategic in countering any possible critical thinking by ex-WCGers. Bacchiocchi's Adventist spin provided the necessary distraction..."

Also, in Chapter 2, p. 159, of Roger Chamber's book, The Plain Truth About Armstrongism, the author states, "Bacchiocchi's book fails the test of historiography, not only in that he offers an argument without data, but that his conclusion contradicts the evidence that does exist, some of which is surveyed in this chapter."

Joseph W. Tkach Jr. and His "Alamo Award" Propaganda:

June 1, 2006 

I just finished reading the propaganda regarding the 1997 Alamo award given to: "Joseph W. Tkach, Jr.--ex-cultic Apostle of Grace." This title just doesn't make sense. How can the word "cultic" and "grace" be in the same sentence? Sometimes I doubt if members (and the interviewer admitted he was a "long time member") ever really think about what they write? If evangelical ministries are looking for re-assurance that WCG is Christian, this title is certainly odd! 

Another outlandish part in the interview were these words by the author (I've bolded): 

"Let me hasten to add that while the Worldwide Church of God was a cult, it was - while a cult - still part - of the body of Christ and any (if not most) of its members were genuine Christians wholly devoted to God and doing His will. And God's grace extended to them even in their heretical doctrinal errors."

Many in the Worldwide and other cultic groups, including myself, were wholly devoted to God and sincerely wanted to do his will. However, I didn't do His will, because his will is that I believe in Him completely for salvation outside of myself and my works! I have a hard time believing that those in WWCG under the teaching of Armstrong could be genuine Christians, as fear is what kept them in line, and they had no knowledge of salvation outside this group. Free grace was cancelled out. I do believe, however, that God can extend to us His grace even in our deceived state. Then indeed it is a free gift. As a group effort, though, I do not believe this. --Former member of WCG

Comment: This Alamo Award was said to be given to: "deserving individuals who have exhibited courage under fire, who have put themselves in harm's way for liberty and truth, who have sacrificed self for others, and who have demonstrated heroism, either in daily living or under extraordinary circumstances." (How many survivors who know the real agenda behind the new changes would find those words a mockery? Read: Transformed by Truth or Transformed by Lies??)

Joseph Tkach Jr. Sidesteps Issues in the Alamo Award Interview:

June 6, 2006

Is this article serious? [see above letter] Is Joseph W. Tkach Jr. really on the board of directors for the NAE? If the interviewer noticed that he and JWT Jr. didn't agree on many issues (except about the Cross), then how does it make JWT Jr. a Christian? (The interviewer wouldn't agree with a Jehovah's Witness either, except about the Cross.) Did you notice how JWT Jr. could sidestep issues and give wishy-washy, "we love Jesus, too" answers? JWT Jr. could blame the members for trying to hold onto Armstrongism, but he doesn't tell the interviewer that they tried to uphold Herbert Armstrong as "God's Apostle" during the changes. How can one uphold HWA and shoot down all his core doctrines? Then HQ would backtrack and say "nothing had changed." The people left because they knew they were being lied to by the Tkaches. JWT Jr. also soft-pedals the historical errors due to "poor scholarship." This was NOT due to poor scholarship--it was due to intentional deceit. This is another area that JWT Jr. does not want to point out to the interviewer. HWA intentionally distorted and omitted historical records. JWT Jr. is a pro when it comes to smooth talking and diverting the interviewer away from what really happened. --Former WCG member

Cautioned Not to Reveal Doctrines in Public Appearances in 70's:

July 21, 2006 

I attended the public appearances by WCG in my area in the 70s. At the time, I started talking with a ranking visiting minister in a context of church doctrines. He cautioned me not to discuss matters of doctrine where non-member visitors might overhear me.
I wondered why we were to avoid conversations in doctrinal context IF WCG was out to proclaim the Plain Truth. Of course, later I realized that they feared scaring prospective members away if they knew too much about our beliefs and practices. That was why I was cautioned not to reveal our doctrines. 

My eyes should have opened decades before they did. I often had an uneasiness that something was dreadfully wrong. --Former WCG member/deacon, Florida

Worldwide Church of God Being Prepared to Join the Apostate Church:

August 2, 2006

My last regular attendance in WCG was sometime in 1998 or 1999. My last visit to WCG in the Philippines was in 2004. You could say I faded away from the WCG (having been a member since 1977). I agree that the many doctrinal changes in the WCG were just, right, and necessary. But lately I've noticed that they are teaching heretical things like ecumenicalism and amillennialism. That's why I had thought of contacting WCG people--first the WCG headquarters. But they just would not bother. They have ignored my articles and think of me as a nuisance.

I have been thinking of Matthew 13:33 (the parable of the leaven). The church--the majority of Christendom--is now very much leavened with false doctrines, just as prophesied. And the Worldwide Church of God has been moving along with the bandwagon. This matter of apostasy is very, very important to be addressed. Jude 3 says we should contend for the faith:

WCG ministers call the Second Coming issue "majoring in the minors." I suspect that the reason for this is their going along with the Dominion theology [also known as Reconstructionism]. I also suspect that they have adopted Replacement Theology. I base my suspicion from articles on the WCG website and from the overall emphasis of their organization.

I can give definite proofs of the WCG's watering down doctrines. I know a couple who are WCG members--and there might be others--who also are active members of Couples for Christ [an ecumenical organization]. I know an officer who allows her teen-age daughter to sing in the Catholic choir every Sunday! Whatever happened to separation? Does the WCG believe now that the Roman Catholic Church is Christian? And that Promise Keepers (which I heard long ago) "experienced God." Experience is valued more than doctrine, which is a wrong order.

Ambivalence--this is the term for the WCG's stance on a number of doctrines. One minister once wrote to me about it (Millennium, Second Coming, etc.). He sounded like neither cold nor hot. So did Paul Kroll and Mike Morrison. I think Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary are wrong places to study theology. The WCG is being prepared to join the One World Religion.

Look also at some of the names that the WCG endorses: Richard J. Foster, Rick Warren (and Co.).  These are the modern Herodians who mix Christianity with modern New Age philosophies. The WCG may not be guilty of having the leaven of the Pharisees--formalism and legalism--but of the other two kinds of leaven I'm afraid the WCG is not guiltless. Like the Sadducees, their ministers refuse to believe in the supernatural promises of God, for example the pre-Trib Rapture. They allegorize the prophecies. I don't know if they have joined Rick Warren's "Peace Plan to Christianize the World." One time over the phone, a WCG minister told me that the 1,000 years of Revelation 20 merely means "a long period of time." The WCG sides with Augustine calling the doctrine of the Millennium, disparagingly, "chiliasm," recommending Richard J. Foster's article on this issue.

What is now the difference between the WCG offshoot churches--United Church of God-AIA, Living Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, Restored Church of God, etc.--and the WCG? The splinter groups are so hard-headed with their Judaizing, but the WCG is apostatizing!

Matthew 13: 31,32 says:

"...The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

The above parable is supposed to be a positive one [according to liberal churches]. But no. Actually the parable shows that Christendom, particularly during the last years of its existence, would be so permeated with false and evil doctrines that its branches--denominations--become the lodging places of the "birds of the air." The birds of the air, just like leaven, is an expositional constant in the Bible. Whereas leaven stands for hypocrisy and evil doctrines, the birds of the air represent demonic spirits that haunt the churches. (1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 18:2)

It's obvious that the cults are haunting grounds for the demons, e.g., the Roman Catholic Church, Mormon church, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. Evangelical churches are not immune, though. The mustard seed parable means the abnormal growth of Christianity, growth in quantity but not in quality. It is so prophesied. Why don't we just believe the Bible and not insist on our own plans? Only the return of Jesus Christ will straighten out this world. The danger of following the worldly churches is that we are being prepared to accept the coming prince who is none other than the Antichrist. We had better stick to the Bible, the Word of God, not to churches coming together at the expense of doctrinal purity.

--Edgardo Meneses (Former member of WCG, Philippines)

Update: Edgardo later wrote a letter and Cc it to many ministers. We have posted it as an article and included comments from ESN: Letter to Worldwide Church of God, Philippines (On Apostasy--A Radical Proposal).

WCG's Acceptance of Richard J. Foster and Brian McLaren:

August 8, 2006

The WCG has scheduled its International Pastors and Elders Conference on July 26-29, 2007 in the Palm Springs area of southern California. The conference will focus on spiritual formation. And you know what? Joe Tkach announced that Dr. Richard J. Foster will be the celebrity guest and speaker for the conference.

In WCG's latest update I read a short review of the book written by Brian McLaren. He is of the same feather as Richard Foster and Rick Warren (both espouse New Age philosophies). Brian McLaren is a key figure in the emerging church growth movement.
Mainstream Christianity now seems to be polarized: One group is faithful to the Bible and looking for the imminent coming of the Lord; the other is geared toward ecumenism and trying to improve the world, unmindful of what the Word of God says. The WCG belongs to the latter. --Edgardo Meneses

Update: Last Wake-Up Call to Joseph Tkach Jr. Goes Unheeded  (by Edgardo)

I Thank God I Walked Away From WCG:

August 14, 2006

I'm a 3rd generation of WCG and attended Imperial Schools. One of my brothers committed suicide in 1972, the other died of a brain tumor at age 9, and the third is agnostic with no spiritual life. I thank God that I walked away from the WCG in 1992. I stayed in confusion until two years ago when I found Jesus Christ. My mother is sold out to Gerald Flurry's group in Oklahoma. By God's will, (and with little seeds planted here and there in conversations) I think she will be renewed with the truth someday.

Sad to say, I was a victim and when I read the truth two years ago, I was so mad and angered. I read your letters and how we all were betrayed and used. Prayer is the answer through Jesus our Lord. God is using me today and I am so glad to be a vessel for Him. My dream is to reach all the ones who have strayed from Him and are lost and don't know what to do. I was there. We are winners through Jesus. --M. D.

Critique of Mystery of the Ages Best Defense Against Cult Propaganda:

August 18, 2006

I just finished the last chapter of Kelly's critique of Mystery of the Ages (chap. 7). Now I want to go back and read it again from the beginning. It is the best defense I know of against the cult propaganda. For those who haven't read it, I can only say the whole series has been a real eye opener. When I was first "called" or rather recruited, I did not have ready access to the information that is now available on the history of the early church. I took HWA at his word, and assumed he was really an expert and sincere. The vast amount of information that was purposely withheld and, indeed, twisted to say what it did not say, helped open my eyes to the depth of the deception that was being done to innocent and naïve people. I also had virtually no knowledge of the techniques that are commonly used by all cults to mind control their members. I totally recommend both of the critiques that can be found on ESN. They don't just say the same things. Each brings a different view which helps the reader to get the true focus. --K. J.

I Appreciate the Grace of Christ So Much More:

September 3, 2006

Dear ESN,

I am a long time former member, now under true grace. I have renounced the WCG and all its offshoots.

When you think about all the crazy mind control techniques the WCG ministers used, the question arises how did they learn them? (You know shaming/guilt, etc.) If they were taught, then they must have been corrupt also, knowing it was deceit surely?

Armstrong produced many little Hitlers did he not? Little Hitlers, really, that's a very good synonym for the WCG/PCG ministry. Honestly, I look back now and say, "How did we fall for it?" With me, they got me when I was 14/15 years old and my mother had a stroke which left her paralyzed and I was in the Catholic High School system, looking for answers and very vulnerable. When they get a young, naïve mind early, their lies are hard to spot and harder to get out of your head.

Pity I had such a penchant for studying their material.

One thing, though. I know after the WCG cult experience, it makes me truly appreciate THE GRACE OF CHRIST so much more I think than I would normally have done. I would also note that holding onto grace is a much harder battle, as thoughts of works (leaven) do creep back and the grace (mind) battle is on again, but each time grace embeds in my mind so much more powerfully. It's like another vaccine shot against the virus of works for righteousness and cults.

In our little fellowship group, we recently had the special insight to ask a cult couple to leave, as they were sheep stealers and listed as a cult (The Local Church) and exhibiting cultish authoritarianism / doctrinal error.

I just want to say how valuable I think your ESN site is. It's a wake up call for many.

So Jesus bless you and ESN. Let Him care for you and carefully guide you in your individual lives (ESN staff) and the organisation as a whole. --Australia

Tkach Misrepresents HWA at Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches:

September 26, 2006

Joseph Tkach, speaking to an audience from the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches a few months ago, said, "Being of the premillennial dispensational tradition as many Evangelicals are, he [HWA] also made the mistake of predicting when Jesus would return. So, those are two fundamental errors [British-Israelism is the other] that we've recognized, acknowledged and repented of. We really forcefully teach against them now." (insertions mine)

I also noticed that he said, "Mr. Armstrong, a sincere Christian, unwittingly made some mistakes." These statements were made in February or March, 2006 in Quezon City, Philippines.

Shaking my head, --Edgardo Meneses (Former WCG member, Philippines)

Read: Has WCG whitewashed Herbert W. Armstrong? (Q&A)

Ambassador College Didn't Want Thinkers For Students:

October 6, 2006

Lots of men who had no degrees taught theology at Ambassador College. This didn't fly when WCG tried to go after accreditation for AC. They started scrambling, trying to get some of the men to get doctorates at Fuller Theological Seminary in the fields they were teaching, but many ending up leaving WCG after finding out about all the Armstrong lies they had been fed. It was a fiasco.

I remember being told that AC graduates made "above and beyond" average salaries, most of them making "$90,000 a year or more." This was not true at all. HWA would also quip that "the best and the brightest were used in the Work." But it was the hard-nosed student at AC that followed the party line without question that was employed. The ones that had any brains were also the ones that tended to question things, and they were NOT considered for employment after graduation. The "instructors" couldn't stand it when students showed them up, and pounded on them as a result.

I had a friend who attended AC and he told me how Greg Albrecht liked his students to kiss his behind. This man quit AC because he felt like he was wasting his time, and he enrolled in a regular college and got his masters in Industrial Hygiene. He was definitely a "thinker" and I think a thorn in their side. --Former member of WCG

Recent Exiter a Part of the Mind Control For 27+ Years:

October 10, 2006

Many, many, many, many THANKS to you who have poured so MUCH into this website and offering to help those of us in great need!

I just found this website a few days ago and am a very recent exiter of WCG.

I had been unhappy with the way things were going for quite awhile and had only been attending intermittently with my husband over the last several months. We have both been part of the "mind control" for 27+ years. (I was brought up in WCG from 12 years old.) --Former members (and child survivor) of WCG

I Tried to Speak Out About the WCG Duplicity and Paternalism:

October 20, 2006

Our local WCG church was having a special meeting in approximately 1998 where those who wanted could have a say over the microphone. It was more a theme, supposedly, of how well things were going. I hadn't planned to say much, maybe nothing at all, but as the microphone went round, my spirit slowly but surely began to become quite empowered to want speak my mind. When I got the microphone, I very firmly began to point out how hypocritical the WCG was. I pointed out the duplicity with which "the new truth" was being handed out, that is, the Old Covenant was still being preached while certain selected parts of the New Covenant were being preached. If you liked the old ways, sure keep doing it. If you liked the new ways, fine go for it. A mixture of both, even better. Further, I blasted some false doctrines, the regal lifestyle of the WCG elite (the limousines, the fancy table ware and gold cutlery at special functions), the unaccountability of those in power above us, etc.

I received a poor response. One person went out of their way to ridicule me. Nevertheless, God led me to a good and kindly reply.

After the meeting, as chairs were being put away, the minister of our WCG church, came up to me, responding to my claim of duplicity and confided in me, "Well you know, if I had told them the truth, they would have just shot through for the hills." Although this comment nearly took my breath away, I knew what he meant, he was suggesting that if he had preached the truth of the New Covenant boldly and not allowed a duplicitous teaching also of the Old Covenant, clearly quashing old false beliefs, to him and Head Office, this would have caused so much confusion, that the brethren would have left in droves. I wondered at this lack of faith and paternalism. Lack of faith, in that, he, did not simply just trust in Christ (and also His words, that the truth will set you free). Paternalism, in not trusting the brethren to make the right decisions, when spiritual truth was released, that the Holy Spirit would not leap in their chests for joy and guide all through any difficulty.

So I judged the matter by its fruits! What was the result of this duplicitous, unfaithful, paternalistic control? This particular church, my former church, slowly but surely began to die. Split off's occurred to Philadelphia COG, Seventh-day Adventist, United COG, etc. Doctrinal confusion and argument reigned. A good number simply just dropped attending anywhere. Old friendships broke up, some families broke up with divorce. Some teenagers were frustrated, rebelled against parents and became reckless. Depression and anxiety was not uncommon. Some older people died not having this confusion resolved. One deacon/minister had a heart attack and died due, in my opinion, to the stress of it all. Members still kept the Old Covenant holy days, even though clearly they are just an OC shadow of the NC. This church no longer meets, except for a handful of diehard's who still fellowship, about once a month under the WCG banner, at some other town a fair way off.

If only the elders and minister in this church had the courage to simply trust Christ with the pure delivery of New Covenant truth. If only they did not fear the loss of their jobs and income and did not slavishly follow WCG HQ orders of duplicity. If only they did not constantly and selfishly think about what was expedient for themselves. If only they acted like the Apostle Paul, trusting Christ and loving the brethren, even to their own hurt.

To be honest, in the end, I think the Tkach control of the new mainstreaming era, was still a calculated desire with the WCG Upper Echelons to continue to control us and a good portion of our income. I am coming to believe, as has been pointed out in some ESN articles, also with the benefit of hindsight, that the Tkach management foresaw that without Herbert W., the WCG would crumble and it had to mainstream for survival. To me personally, it is becoming unlikely that they simply changed to bring about pure biblical New Covenant truth. If they were genuine, the Gospel of Grace would have been delivered much more forthrightly. The awful fruits of their controlled duplicity, now speak for themselves. --Former WCG Member [name withheld]

Comment: Also read: The Truth Must Be Told (for more of what happened) along articles under Research Info on Worldwide Church of God.

Several cults are finding it advantageous to mainstream (Refer to: "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.)  

WCG's Wishy-Washy Religion Generates Cash:

October 20, 2006

From what I have read personally from WCG's "doctrine page" on their website, there are several key issues/doctrines that they remain purposefully unclear on. Although I will not take the time to discuss the individual erroneous doctrines that they are guilty of teaching, of this I'm sure: the WCG has embraced ecumenicalism.

As far as their saying that they don't endorse Rick Warren and other ecumenical sources, that's just plain lies. One doesn't go to the trouble and expense of buying the Purpose Driven books without endorsing them. That's just twisted logic.

Whatever the WCG is confronted with, I wouldn't expect them to say, "Well, what do you know! You're absolutely right! Our views are not correct."

They're deceptive. They're wanting to have a "Nothing's wrong, nothing's right; nobody's wrong, nobody's right," wishy-washy religion that generates cash. That's their bottom line. --K. B.

Comment: Two articles that tie in with this are: Letter to Worldwide Church of God, Philippines (On Apostasy--A Radical Proposal) and Is WCG Still Holding on to Some of Herbert W. Armstrong's Doctrines?

Being Brought Up in WCG is Very Hard to Forget:

October 25, 2006

I have happened upon your website from time to time and want to express my gratitude that your site exists. I grew up in WCG before I got a chance to get out when I was a sophomore in college. I went as far as signing up for a year of foreign study in Germany. (I was asked if I would be attending a church in Germany; I wanted to answer "No, I'm running as far as I can from all of this.") 

As a child ("warming a chair," as my mother puts it), I knew it was "false doctrine." It's an upbringing that is very difficult to forget. My mother attended as a "spiritual widow" with my two other siblings and myself. My father did not attend and mocked it from the magazines to the letters received from HWA and Joseph Tkach. My mother is still a member of the LCG in the Milwaukee area. She was in the room during the Living Church of God shooting back in March of 2005. It was my hope and prayer that she would finally get out. Unfortunately, she hasn't and our relationship has suffered over the years due to many reasons. I am saddened that I was exposed to this "church," brought up in it and somehow it being the "demise" of our family. 

I want to express that it's refreshing to know that there are others out there that feel exactly the way that I do and have overcome it through many means. I still struggle with my spiritual beliefs and am extremely leery of any church that I have ever walked in (with the exception of touring one for art's sake) since my exposure to WCG

Thanks again and keep spreading the word! I can only imagine the trauma that it has created in so many lives.  --Child survivor of WCG

WCG's Way of Recruiting the Youth in the Philippines:

October 27, 2006

I just read the Oct. 27 WCG Philippines weekly update: "Festival 2006 Bulacan, Philippines Yields 272 Baptisms." I think that most of these baptisms are children below teen-age years. What they do (based on the April 14 update I read entitled, "Bulacan Youth Summer Camp 2006 Culminates with 108 Baptisms") is first let the young people see the movie "The Passion of the Christ" and then have an altar call after the show. Then they later ask those who respond if they are submitting themselves to the ordinance of baptism. 

One of the reasons why they easily recruit so many young people is because the school teachers in the (WCG Philippine) church bring their pupils into their youth camps and other church activities. --Philippines

Comment: We posted a number of letters in 2004 regarding "The Passion of the Christ" and how the movie presents a false gospel and a false Christ.

Suffered at the Hands of WCG:

December 1, 2006

What a blessing it was to find your site! I knew that I wasn't the only one that suffered at the hands of the WCG but I never had an outlet to share my experiences and sufferings. It was only recently that I realized the WCG was a cult. I have gleaned a lot of useful information from your site, especially the history of WCG since I left. --Neil Donaldson, Child survivor of WCG

Comment: Be sure and read Neil's testimony: My Entire Childhood Was Sacrificed.

Thank You From the Bottom of My Heart:

December 6, 2006

Dearest ESN,
Let me first start by sincerely thanking you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing. I am 25 years old. I was raised in the WCG along with my sisters by my mother whom was baptized into the group. My mother was, and still is, a very mentally disturbed person who had to endure many traumatic episodes which included an alcoholic father who was physically abusive. She and her brother left for the GCG in 1995 and later into the LCG and then left for the PCG where they are today.

Both my mother and her brother were very mentally and emotionally abusive to all three of us. My sisters stopped attending back in '97 but I held on. There was a lot of pressure on me because I was the first born and the son, although I will not in any way underscore what my sisters had to go through. Once I finally called it quits in 2001, my mother made it her mission to make my life a living hell. I finally left when I met my then girlfriend and moved out. I can't tell you enough how much the Letter to Child Survivors meant to me. As I kept reading, all I could keep saying to myself is, "Oh My God, This is Me!!"

When I came across writings on ESN by James Kazimir my jaw dropped! You see, I know James Kazimir very well. I first met him when I was really little at my first F.O.T. in the Poconos. ... Then I didn't see him again for a really long time until my mother and stepfather joined the PCG. To this day I consider him one of the genuinely nicest human beings I had ever met. ... If you could, I would really appreciate it if you could let him know that I'm looking to get in touch with him. He knows who I am and I know that he would be more than happy to hear from me.

Once again, thank you so much for everything you're doing. God bless you!
Sincerely, --J. R., Child survivor of WCG

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