The David defense

Remember the "David Defense"? King David was a jerk, a murderer, an adulterer and occasionally not at all right in the head. Cruel, sadistic, and yet he was "a man after God's own heart." If David could be such a person, well, the least we could do is overlook modern ministerial peccadilloes (cue in those rumours about Garner Ted and airline stewardesses, and later Herb and Dorothy).

You'd have thought the enlightened pastors of Joe Tkach's GCI would know to steer well clear of that sort of thing these days, restricting themselves to indecipherable "Trinitarian theology" and making vacuous statements of the kind Ted Johnston does. Apparently not. Not in Eau Claire, Wisconsin anyway.

"Pastor" Roger Galstad wrote on this very topic for the local paper, the Leader Telegraph, in July.

Rog sets out the obvious dilemma. Solution: "David sinned big, and he repented even bigger."

What?

The David stories are part of the national epic of ancient Israel, cobbled together out of disparate sources. Archaeology confirms that major parts of the Davidic kingdom tales are highly fictionalized. The writers of this not-so-historical material weren't greatly interested in either historical accuracy or ethical excellence. Rog seems totally oblivious to all this, biblical background seems to totally evade him. Rog is an unreconstructed literalist. Does he really think David wrote Psalm 51 (hint, check a good commentary).

It's all a bit of surprise in that Roger was awarded a Ph.D in religious studies in 2012. You'd think he'd know this stuff. Mind you, the institution (Trinity College, Newburgh, IN) is described as "a conservative evangelical Bible college", mainly offers distance degrees (including their prestigious Ph.D) and is - surprise - unaccredited.

But putting scholarship issues aside, this is just the old self-serving argument dredged up from decades past. "Mr. Ted Armstrong may have done some things which he now regrets, but he's repented and you need to forget it." Then Ted would write articles in the Good News warning of the danger of spreading wicked rumours, just in case we hadn't got the message.

Until, that is, the next time Ted had zipper failure. But no worries, Ted repented again, and again. He was a compulsive repenter. I recollect a sermon he gave in his CGI days where, having just finished writing Peter's Story he proclaimed loudly that he had burned out the very last of his sinful egotism and self obsession.

Turned out he hadn't, as anyone with half a brain could have known just by listening to such a ludicrous statement.

And Roger hasn't moved beyond these kindergarten apologetics?

You may be able to take the preacher out of Armstrongism, but it seems you can't always take Armstrongism out of the preacher.

Quit pickin' on Joe

It always amazes me when people don't "get" the problem with the way Joe Tkach's GCI is set up.

"As for the board members, who should they be? Who would be the voting populaton [sic]? The general membership of GCI? Should there be the travesty like our current national elections carried out in GCI?"

GCI isn't a private company, it's supposed to be a church, a non-profit. It claims a membership. A church needs lines of accountability that ensure that membership is fairly served. It needs officers who serve at the membership's pleasure. It needs lines of accountability that flow both ways - no just accountability of the "members" to the leaders, but even more importantly the leaders to the members.

The Episcopal Lie

GCI claims to be organized on an episcopal basis. That's a fiction. There was no talk of any such thing until the receivership crisis. Prior to that WCG (as it was then known) operated on a legally different basis. Not that it lived up to those obligations; that was one of the big issues that underlay the action by the State of California. The near-papal claims that then conveniently emerged - and the reorganization as a corporate sole - were little more than a ruse to avoid its obligations. Joe Tkach has maintained the lie despite the fact that there is no appetite in GCI for a return to the old Armstrong ways.

Have a look at other church bodies, both in North America and throughout the Western world. Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal (yes, even the Episcopal Church), Lutheran, Adventist, Methodist. Add in the Church of God (Seventh Day) for something more directly related to GCI. All have some form of representative structure varying from General Conferences to delegated Synods. Even the Mormons go through the motions. GCI? Not.

It's entirely moronic to imply that because a particular political system has flaws, therefore members of a church should be deprived of their rights and the leaders effectively given carte blanche to do as they please. No system is perfect, but some are clearly much better than others. There's a wide range of helpful models out there used by various denominations. One thing is for sure, GCI's is among the very worst. It takes some swallowing, but both LCG and UCG do a better job in transparency (though their structures continue to deny basic lines of leadership accountability).

But Joe and Co. are nice guys

It's not an issue that a Board has some decent members. Joe has been careful in that respect, apart from larding it up with Tammy. The issue is - is it a real board, capable of independent action and hauling the church's officers into line when necessary? Or is it a collection of carefully selected yes-men and yes-women beholden to the "owner", serving at his pleasure. And exactly who do those board members represent given that they're appointed not elected.

Questions that need clarification

Wouldn't it be wonderful if one of those hand-picked board members responded to the following questions and set any misunderstandings at rest?

1. Who is Joe accountable to?
2. Who is the Board accountable to?
3. Who has (and hasn't) access to the financial statements?
4. Who has (and hasn't) access to Board minutes?
5. What exactly is the legal status of the GCI "members"?

My understanding - and I hope I'm mistaken or years out of date - is:

1. Technically the Board. In reality no-one.
2. Joseph Tkach Jr.
3. Almost nobody. In contrast to UCG and LCG which, dubious as their organizations might be in other ways (and I'm a fan of neither), have a solid record of reporting to their memberships - and in fact anyone else who cares to view them.
4. Almost nobody. In contrast to UCG which publishes minutes online for all to see.
5. They have no real status or rights. Apart from some limited local input, denominational decisions are taken over the tops of their heads entirely. You could describe them as "stakeholders" or "clients". Members? Not really.

Again, I'd be delighted to correct any misunderstandings on my part. The challenge is for Joe or any of his Board members to set the record straight. One lives in hope, but I won't be holding my breath.

A company - unless it's a small family firm - has shareholders. The shareholders meet to determine and approve company policy. GCI doesn't even allow that. No shareholders except Joe and ... who knows.

The Bottom Line

A Christian Church isn't a family firm. It isn't a commercial business. It isn't a personal fiefdom. It shouldn't be run like North Korea. Members are entitled to a voice and representation or they're not really members. Whether or not the "Beloved Leader" postures as a model of benevolence or not is beside the point.

G(C)I Joe on Brexit

Joe Tkach has ventured forth to offer enlightened commentary on Brexit in his Weekly Update.

"You have likely heard a lot over the last couple of weeks about “Brexit.”"

Yes, likely.

"GCI-USA Regional Pastor Rick Shallenberger was in the UK the week of the vote and sent me this report".

 On holiday was he? I guess Rick is one of the few left on the payroll.

"What bothers me the most, Joe, is to hear Christians speculate that this decision fulfills prophecy, some indicating that it aligns with British-Israelism. I even heard some say this decision makes way for the rise of the Holy Roman Empire. It saddens me when people read more into an event than is there. The British people need our prayers as they transition into a new reality for the country. Whether or not this was a good decision, it happened and so we pray for the people involved. We also continue to pray that God provides the means for the gospel to be shared in Great Britain."

The trite comments about providing "the means for the gospel to be shared in Great Britain" deserve a separate response, something about "American Evangelical Imperialism", but maybe another time. More to the point, given that Rick will have been chatting to local GCI members, not rabid LCG/PCG types, it seems all that quoting of Torrance and "Trinitarian theology" has had little effect on the doughty survivors from WCG days. Guess that's a "fail".

Back to Joe Jr.

"Years ago, Hebert Armstrong (our denomination’s founder) did say that Britain would eventually leave the European Union. But he did not get that idea from Scripture—he got it from others who taught what is known as Anglo- or British-Israelism... It’s all too easy to grab hold of a few prophetic statements someone makes, thinking they are right and thus should be followed. But we must look at the larger picture. Herbert Armstrong (along with others) made multiple prophetic statements eventually proven wrong. Mr. Armstrong twice wrongly predicted detailed time-frames for end-time events, including Jesus’ return. Major erroneous predictions like those far outweigh the few, relatively minor predictions that actually came to pass."

Did you catch the typo... Hebert Armstrong? Not a professional look Joe. Must have fired all the employees willing to proof read his stuff.

Overall what Joe says is fair comment, and the sort of thing you might read here. I suppose we have to acknowledge that Joe at least addressed the elephant in the room as Brexit has dominated news... Herb's prophecies on Europe, albeit in a hand-wringing, passionless sort of way.

Then it's back to the gelatinous platitudes.

The not-so International News

Those of us who are sufficiently long in the tooth may remember the days when Ted Armstrong struck out defiantly from his father's dominion, and the heady sense of  "a new beginning" in East Texas. The good (and not so good) and the great (sometimes just grating) gathered to the new ensign. Guest preachers in Tyler included Al Portune, Wayne Cole and David Antion bearing the 1978 equivalent of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Ron Dart became second in command. The Church of God, International was launched with high hopes and tasteful offices on the shores of Lake Palestine.

Ted knew the power of publishing as well as radio and TV, and moved quickly to create a stock of new booklets, and a rival for The Plain Truth was launched, Twentieth Century Watch, under the guidance of Alan Heath.

It wasn't to last. Ted had a blow-up with Heath, leaving the magazine project in jeopardy. It's fair to say that it never recovered. Portune, Cole and Antion distanced themselves, and Ted settled down to his old dark habits. All now ancient history. A seedling of the sect in New Zealand withered quickly. Jim Bennett, who was instrumental in beginning the process of setting up CGI in the country returned from a trip to Texas disillusioned. The little group (of which I was, if I remember correctly, secretary), quickly folded.

So what happened to CGI? Ron Dart walked, Ted was finally given the order of the boot and, having snatched back his toys, started all over again with the wonderfully-named Intercontinental Church of God. CGI continued in downsized and understated mode. Today it continues to publish The International News which, unsurprisingly, began under Ted as a clone of WCG's Worldwide News.

All of which is merely a tiresomely long introduction to the current issue of the IN, now reduced to a quarterly tabloid. As someone who still has a copy of one of the early issues in his files, volume 1, number 1 no less, I have to admit to a degree of sadness. But enough of the history. Grumpy old men love to recount rambling tales from olden times, and when we get started it's best to just nod and think of today's shopping list.

This issue (Vol. 37, no. 1) is 16 pages long, overseen by Vance Stinson. It features articles by Bill Watson, Adrian Davis, Lloyd Cary, Ian Boyne, Robert Giovi and a lengthy series of obituaries. A bit like a block of cooking chocolate, solid but hardly exciting.

The PDF is available to download.

GCI - branding churches

GCI is encouraging (requiring?) its larger "charter churches" to rebrand with the name Grace Communion. There also seems to be a renewed push for those churches that still hold Saturday services to move to Sunday. These excerpts from the March issue of Equipper, produced by CAD.

If you don’t own your building, then rent one in a neutral location where signage identifying your congregation can be prominently displayed at all times. Don’t lose your identity by meeting in a non-GCI church building.

If your meeting time for worship services (or other meetings) is out of step with your target community, change it to align with their schedules and cultural expectations (in most places in the U.S. that means moving worship services from Saturday to Sunday).

Consider using “Grace Communion” in your congregation’s name. Not doing so limits the visibility of the denomination and thus your congregation in the world around us. As we go forward, newly chartered churches will be asked to name themselves “Grace Communion” followed by their city or town. Our denominational name speaks to our distinctive values of God’s extravagant grace experienced in loving community.

Some of the many names currently in use include Christian Fellowship Church International (LA), Abundant Grace Church (Rochester), Hands for Christ Community Church (Staten Is.) and Heartland Christian Fellowship (Chicago).

If knowledge is power...

If knowledge is power, Joe isn't sharing

Time for a quick quiz, brethren.

Section 1

(a) What is the name of GCI's outreach magazine?

(b) What is the name of GCI's member magazine?

Section 2

(a) Does GCI have a Facebook account for members to follow?

(b) Does GCI have a Twitter account for members to follow?

Section 3

How do GCI members stay current on church news and developments?

There, that wasn't so hard. Five simple questions, 20 points each to provide a nice percentage-like score out of 100.

Answers

Section 1: (a) there is none, Christian Odyssey no longer exists, not even as an "online only" publication. (b) there is none.

Section 2: (a) no. There is a GCI page - here - but it's "automatically generated based on what Facebook users are interested in and not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone associated with the topic." (b) no.

Section 3: apparently whatever the pastor decides to tell them at church services, plus whatever carefully curated items appear on the church's webpage under the heading 'GCI News'.

What's going on here?

If knowledge is power, Joe isn't sharing.

But wait, you cry, there's Joe's online Weekly Update! Not really. Joe uses the Weekly Update to ramble on in sermon mode. The March 2 version, for example, is entitled "Beware historical revisionism". Not a scrap of news about GCI in it anywhere.

So how do GCI members stay informed about developments in their church? Easy. They don't. UCG, COGWA and LCG do a much better job.

There are blogs; Ted Johnston, Tammy Tkach (last updated in August last year). But that's not news. Whatever "in-reach" GCI provides is woefully lacking in content or substance. It's true that some GCI congregations have their own local FB pages, but that hardly counts.

And outreach? What outreach?

It's all a bit gulag-like. Have Joe & Co.

(a) just given up?

(b) a Machiavellian (or Orwellian) method in their madness?

(c) both of the above

Sorry, I don't have an answer for that one, but I suspect 'c'.

So, how was your score?

From the original AW: Tkach's death grip on the church

Moves are afoot to make 2010 the year Joe Tkach can't ignore the call to accountability, with the initiative coming from the Purple Hymnal blog site. AW supports that unreservedly. Here - in condensed form - is an editorial from way-back-when (2004 actually), and a series of graphics, that appeared on the precursor to this blog. Nope, the call for Joe to finally get a conscience and surrender his sinecure is hardly new, but the old boy apparently has a hide as thick as a rhinoceros: the man apparently has no shame. This year, maybe, the hammering on the door will be loud enough, and insistent enough, to force some movement at last. If that amounts to GCI belatedly signing up to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, it would be a good start.

Americans elect their president every four years, and wisely limit any one incumbent to two terms. The same cautious approach is evident in the constitution of many churches. A church, like a nation, should not become the personal fiefdom of any individual, no matter how sincere or gifted they might be. Yet Pastor General Joe Tkach was appointed, not elected. Moreover he's already served a lengthy term as spiritual leader of the Worldwide Church of God, and apparently has "life tenure". Doesn't that sound more like a fringe cult than an evangelical denomination?

Almost all churches, including related movements like the Church of God (Seventh Day) and the United Church of God, have systems in place that hold their leaders accountable to the membership. Church presidents serve a limited term. Not so the WCG. Joe Jr. (he prefers to be addressed as Doctor Tkach) holds the very same title and office that Herbert W. Armstrong held. And while Joe is happy to trash any number of church traditions and doctrines from the past, he shows no enthusiasm for seeking endorsement for his position as the church's top dog. No General Conference exists to provide a counterbalance to the Pastor General's authority. The power of the ministry has been shown to be severely limited: stand up to Joe and Co. and you're likely to become a "pastor without portfolio".
The traditional argument that the Pastor General is accountable solely to Christ won't wash. The theology on which that particular bit of self-deception was based has long since been swept away in the flood waters of change. Has Joe heard about "the priesthood of all believers"? His friends in the wider evangelical community certainly have. In practice, "accountable to Christ" means not accountable at all.

But it gets worse. Legally it appears that the Worldwide Church of God is still "privately owned", and Pastor General Tkach is "sole proprietor". Caught off guard in a radio interview, he was asked what would stop him from just taking the money and leaving. The only reply he could come up with was that hisfamily would stop him.
While Tkach might deny that he "owns" the church, with the current legal structure of the organization the reality seems to be that he can hire and fire all board members at his personal discretion with absolutely no reason given. That's in writing. He can do whatever he wants with the corporation as long as it complies with government rules for a non-profit organization.

Here's what Michael Feazell said back in 1996, speaking to a conference of regional pastors.

"The church needs to be a priesthood of believers... It needs to be doing ministry. Everybody in the church has a stake in that--whether it's women, men, teens or children."

Stakeholders must have a voice. They are not powerless, passive observers.
The simple truth may well be that Joe doesn't trust the church he presumably serves. He won't risk relaxing the reins lest people come up with ideas he doesn't endorse. Perhaps Joe considers himself indispensable. Perhaps he's a control freak. Could it be that he is unwilling to lose his comfortable sinecure?

Pastor General Joe has been chief shepherd of his dwindling flock for far longer than is decent without, at the very least, endorsement from the membership. How long will he remain on his pontifical throne? (even the pope is elected by a college of cardinals). Will he be Pastor General for life - a religious version of Fidel Castro?

Michael Feazell writes in the July 2001Worldwide News: "If your church is a spiritual detriment to you, then you should consider finding another one... When the leader of a church indicates that he is God’s unique messenger or special representative in comparison with other Christian ministers... then you have another example of a church that is spiritually detrimental to its members."
Wise words. But what about churches where the leaders have safely elevated themselves beyond the influence of the members? A church, for example, that permits only token involvement of it's members in governance at either local or denominational level? How can Feazell justify the office of Pastor General and the hierarchical structure of the church in light of his own statement?

Tkach is on record as saying: "This fellowship has always been Episcopal, which is hierarchical..." Perhaps so. But this fellowship had always been Sabbatarian too, but that wasn't allowed to stand in the way of change. Even if an "Episcopal" model is to be used, there would need to be a long hard look at the parliamentary procedures actually used by the groups like the Episcopal Church; procedures which do indeed involve representative bodies of lay members at all levels. The Worldwide Church of God is out on a limb when it claims "episcopacy" as some kind of precedent for leadership by a clique or self appointed oligarchy. It is no such thing.

Joe has been single-minded in his efforts to inveigle his way into the evangelical mainstream. But despite cuddling up to evangelical leaders, his leadership style arguably has more in common with Louis Farrakhan than Billy Graham.

They used to say in Pasadena that the only thing that would topple Herbert Armstrong from his throne would be the Second Coming.

Apparently some things don't change.

Accountability check

http://wp.me/paBQA-5H

Pastor Debby

The Worldwide Church of God finally has its first woman elder.

Debby [Bailey] was commissioned in 2002 as part of the pastoral team in the Pikeville congregation. She is active in the community, serving on the National Day of Prayer Committee in Pike County since 1997, where she has served as chairman for the last five years. She also has been involved in a jail ministry to female inmates for almost three years. Debby has been elected as the 2007 vice president of the Pike County/Pikeville Area Ministerial Association, in which she has been active for a number of years. She is also chairman of the July Jam committee, which is an outreach to the youth in the community through Christian rock music. Debby and her husband, Eddie, married since 1979, have an 11-year-old son, Max.
(From Joe's Weekly Update for Jan. 31)

While it certainly won't be a panacea for WCG's woes, it's probably a good move (all the better because Debby wasn't one of the names tossed around by the more cynical among us as the most likely to be ordained first.) Of course it will upset the more patriarchal in our midst, but what else is new. Fulmination alert! Batten down the hatches and secure the teapot, tempest ahead!

Congratulations Debby. Let's hope your groundbreaking ordination will lead to some cracking in the hierarchical mindset.

Random Epiphanies

Norman Shoaf is a former WCG minister and spokesman. These days, while the WCG still runs some of his material on its website, Norm has made a reputation for himself as a journalist and editor, and a very good one at that judging from the various awards he's received, over at Antelope Valley Press.

Last year Norm published a book on religion called Random Epiphanies. According to the PR:

Shoaf has written hundreds of articles on religion, ethics and moral behavior under his own byline, and ghosted articles for multiple high-ranking church officials.

Oh, please, details!

As Opinion and Religion Editor and, later, City Editor at the Antelope Valley Press in northern Los Angeles County, California, Shoaf earned awards for editorial writing from the California Newspaper Publishers Association and for music reviewing from the Suburban Newspaper Association. His weekly "Portfolio" column won him recognition in 2003 as a Blue Ribbon Finalist for Columns, Commentary and Criticism from the CNPA Better Newspaper Contest. In 2005 he received the Walter Everett Fellowship from the American Press Institute.

This collection of columns includes such titles as "10 Things I Hate About Religion," "10 Things I Love About Religion," and "Whatever Happened to Ancient Christianity?"

It's doubtful that Norm will have any specifically WCG content, but if anyone has read Epiphanies and would like to offer an opinion (or even a review) for AW, drop me an email.