October 5, 1994

Dear Mr. ----,

It came to my attention that you read one of my letters to the congregation on 8-20-94. I thought I would write you to let you know the main reason that I have left the Worldwide Church of God.

In the WCG we always said, "Yes, I believe we are saved by grace, but there are works to do." How can it be Christ plus anything? How can we follow both Christ and the law? Paul said he determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. I no longer believe that we have to observe certain holy days, keep the Sabbath, or perform other works of the old covenant, as all pointed to Christ and all were fulfilled in Him.

You said, in a 3-9-94 Bible study, that when someone leaves the WCG we are to "give them back over to Satan" so that they "learn the lesson and that will bring them back into the church." The emphasis seems to be on fear that we can't find salvation anywhere else but the WCG, and we better stay in. How can salvation be free if people have to come to the WCG in order to receive it? In the 6-14-94 W.N., Earl Williams said otherwise. I don't believe I can lose my salvation. (John 10:28, I John 5:13)

We can't put the new wine of grace in Christ into the old wineskin of law. ("For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17)

I'm sure you will believe my thinking has become "muddled and confused," but I would rather be free in Christ than believe in grace plus bondage of the law. (Galatians 5:1)

In Him,

D. Williams

Before the above letter was written, my husband relayed how this minister got up before his congregation and read either one or all of the letters that I had written privately to a few close friends in the congregation, telling why I left, and also a letter that I had written to Headquarters, asking questions. 

Our minister said, "You people always have all these questions, but you won't come to me to ask them." [Comment:: Yet, today if questions are asked that the ministers don't like, the member is kicked out or asked to go elsewhere.] This church is not controlling like it used to be. Doctrine isn't important. We are not to look at the past. We, as individuals should be able to change and accept change or we are feeling sorry for ourselves." [Comment: Using the words, "feeling sorry" are typical to make members feel guilty for questioning.]

I tried to obtain this tape to hear first-hand his reading my letters and all his words, but the tape was unfortunately "not working" that Sabbath and so was "unavailable." How convenient! I have heard that this ploy often used by the WCG when they don't want a tape to get in the wrong hands. 

UPDATE 2003: This minister has since left the WCG, but his wife still attends.

Was "We miss you" an apology? (It should have been!) Did "We miss you" mean, "It's all right, we forgive you. There were wrongs done on both sides, so let's just forget about it and start over"? (No, the abuses and wrongs were ONE-sided and accountability should be expected.) Was it a sincere "We miss you"? (Yes, I believe it could have been.) But if sincere, then why would it have been said with no apparent depth of understanding of the horrendous spiritual and emotional abuse inflicted by Armstrongism? (Perhaps this lack of compassion is a result of mindlessly following the abuser who discredits the cries of the victims?) Was it saying, "Look at us, we can now treat you, a 'bitter dissident,' with acceptance!"? (This would be total arrogance, nothing new for the WCG!) Did "We miss you" mean you consider us a part of your "family"? (Sorry, we have a new family, that of the invisible body of believers, where grace and freedom in Christ are not just talked about, but lived! Where all are treated with respect and as equals in the body of Christ as we follow His lead as individuals!)

Despite what Joe Tkach is telling you, we are not to be "reclaimed." We have already been reclaimed, by Jesus Christ. And we are HIS, not WCG's anymore. We have not left "the fellowship where God placed us." On the contrary, we escaped an abusive cult founded by an egotistical, incestuous, false prophet and heretic. (God has never used a heretic to shepherd his people. In fact, Paul damns heretics!) And the Tkach hierarchy continues to abuse its members, using the good old heretic's methods--guilt, manipulation, information and mind-control, and now by ignoring their victims' need for spiritual healing.

We will continue to pray for God's continued dispersal of WCG members to healthy fellowships where they can find the freedom and spiritual healing in Christ, which they so richly deserve. We thank God every day for His grace in leading us out of an abusive cult.

Most Sincerely,

John and Shirley Smith [names changed]

NOTE: Read the above couple's email to ESN: Thoughts Concerning WCG and David Covington at PFO Conference (includes Covington's private comments to them about Worldwide Church of God)

August 4, 1995

Mr. Joseph Tkach
Pastor General
Worldwide Church of God
P.O. Box 111
Pasadena, CA 91123

Dear Mr. Tkach,

I want to take this time to express my innermost feelings to you and all the other top cult leaders of the Worldwide Church of God.

My husband and I attended the WCG for 7 years. We truly felt that it was a wholesome and healthy Christian environment. Mr. Tkach, I had a great deal of respect for you at one time and felt that the WCG had the truth. Little did we know we were being brain-washed by a destructive religious cult with historical roots coming from the same as those of the Branch Davidians from WACO. It was a very slow and insidious process that began dividing my husband and me over a period of time, and which nearly resulted in our divorce. [Note: ESN was told that after this letter was written, a divorce eventually did take place.]

The financial expectations placed on members "for God's work" was and is cruel and abhorrent. So many people in our church were desperately struggling to put food on the table for their families, barely able to make ends meet. All so that you and the Armstrong regime could live your opulent life-styles, with jet airplanes, lavish homes, expensive automobiles, and all the other materialism that you and the other WCG commandos have surrounded yourselves with. Then with your mind control techniques (i.e. guilt, fear, etc.) you squeezed more and more from innocent God fearing people who had nothing left to give, causing  unbearable pressures within families; so much so that many cracked and broke apart. It is beyond me how any of us could have been sucked-up into this WCG ugly web of destruction. Then we were told that to leave would put us in the "lake of fire." No wonder so many members had mental, family, financial, and relationship problems too numerous to list. Talented people gave up promising careers, loving families, financial security, medical care, etc., etc., etc., to unknowingly remain in this repulsive bondage.

It is easy, if you sit long enough in the landscape of some very odd picture, to be thinking "What is wrong with me, this doesn't feel right?" instead of "What is wrong with this picture?" You see that everyone else thinks this odd place is normal, and because you don't see it as normal, well, then you must be abnormal. You start questioning  yourself, your judgment gets wacky, you don't want to be odd, you want to fit in, so you become normal as defined by the abnormal picture. You become odd. At this point, if you're lucky, someone will help you to awaken your brain and help you start critically thinking again. It will be like someone slapping you and waking you out of a nightmare from the control and deception. You will say, "Whew, what happened to me?" Like everyone else, you will be stunned and amazed and 100% dumbfounded when you realize that you, too, are vulnerable to the seduction of a cult.

No one wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says, "I think I'll join a cult today." It doesn't work that way.

Ambush happens.

I am aware that "things" are "changing" to a more enlightened approach. Which confirms in my mind even more how misleading this whole experience has been. The Truth does not change. The real truth is that many people have begun to catch on to this scam.

Mr. Tkach, I feel pity and sorrow for you as well as the "Armstrongites." It is possible that at one time in your life you were a God fearing Christian man. But you too have become shrouded in the power, greed and insatiability of all cult leaders. you are deceived. I will pray for you.

Sincerely,

Monica W.

UPDATE: In November 2004 the Worldwide Church of God moved its headquarters from Pasadena to Glendora, California. (Pasadena Star-News, October 25, 2004). By May 2006 all their offices were moved to Glendora. (Together May-June 2006). They are now considering a name change. Read: Worldwide Church of God is Changing Their Name.