The Journal - 188th issue

Well, well, well...

Where does one begin in outlining the features in the latest Journal (September 30)?

Is it the surprise appearance of a front-page article by Dixon Cartwright (continued with photographs further in the issue) announcing new courses at Meredith/Weston "Living University"?

Or the full page ad on page 8 for the said institution?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a tectonic shift in policy for LCG which to the best of my knowledge, has never advertised in The Journal before but treated it with a sniffy disdain. A 'Westonly' breeze blowing in from Charlotte? Will any of the other major players now follow suit?

Is it Graeme McChesney's lighthearted letter to the editor, which is an excellent contrast to the usual earnest drivel? But hey, I'm biased, McChesney is a fellow Kiwi.

Is it the unexpected article by Gary Arvidson that focuses on former minister Howard Clark's "miraculous" healing from a spinal injury? This subject has been discussed (and researched) at length recently - though not in public mode. It could be that, now the Arvidson piece is out, you hear more on this subject.

Or is it Lonnie Hendrix's shock horror (to me at least - didn't see it coming) survey of correspondence between CGI Jamaica's Ian Boyne both here and on Gary Leonard's blog some time back. Dear sweet lord, an article about Ian in The Journal that Ian hasn't written himself! I'm not exactly sure how to respond, but give me time, give me time...

All in all it's a truly fascinating issue. Downloadable as always.

Quick update: just posted over at Kathleen's Dying for God's Sake; Howard Clark's Healing.

Oh how very impressive

A university! A center of inquiry, a place where young people are challenged to think for themselves, to develop their intellectual skills. To ask questions and think outside the square. That's the ideal.

Then there's Living University.

Here's this year's complete staff and student body.

This is a university? Kind of redefines the meaning of the word.

Gerry is the new president; surprise! Michael Germano - the big name brought in to secure accreditation (!?! - now that ain't gonna happen) sits secure in along with a selection of old white guys (and one woman) out in front. I guess it keeps that front row in employment. Nice work if you can get it.

They didn't bother to wheel in Rod for the photo op though. Times are a changin'...

Keep pouring in those tithe dollars brethren.

Spanky: worse than a murderer/molester

“causing church division is worse than murder or child molestation”
Roderick "Spanky" Meredith

Dear old Spanky. In depositions to the Scarborough case, the Presiding Evangelist (semi-retired) of the Living Church of God came out with the above wee gem (read Elizabeth Scarborough's account in full over at Gary's blog.)

Mrs Scarborough is restrained in her comment: "Ironic since he’s formed two churches through division himself ..."

Yes Spanky, tell us again how you simply had to cause division by incorporating the Global Church of God? How you actively encouraged WCG members to join up and transfer their tithes. How did that work? Did the angel Moroni appear to you perhaps? Where's the authorization for such a radical departure from your own "loyalty" teaching over long decades? And who placed you, other than you yourself - the self-crowned pretender - in charge?

To restate the problem, how did the necessary transfer of power, legitimacy, authority and tithes come about to make your inflated claims even slightly credible?

It all happened in your head.

How convenient.

Then again, when concerned office holders in your new GCG church - the one you thought should be your personal fiefdom - sought to reign your ego in and establish some much needed checks and balances, what did you do?

Cause division. Ruin reputations. Cause financial loss for many good, decent people. All because you were obsessed with your own delusions of entitlement and authority.

In fact, you scuppered the ship and established another more compliant entity to serve your needs, the Living Church of God, and stacked it with spineless yes-men. To hell with the collateral damage.

Spanky, your middle name could be "division".

God didn't raise up the Global Church of God - you did. You did it by deliberately, strategically, preying on confused and vulnerable brethren. You could have, if your conscience (do you have one of those Spanky?) so required fallen in with an already existing group like the UCG. But no, you were far too important to play second fiddle to anybody else.

God didn't raise up the Living Church of God - you did to satiate your own ego and sense of self importance and destiny as the "leading minister". Division? You're a past master.

And that makes you - according to none other than you yourself - worse than a murderer or child molester.

In this case I'm not going to argue with you.

The Fasting Strategy

Gary has a great post up about the LCG's recently announced "church-wide fast" for July 30. In LCG, when the going gets tough the Presiding Evangelist announces a fast and the chorus of yes-men shout amens and hosannas.

It's a long-standing strategy in LCG, the most fast-obsessed COG sect I know of. There was, for example, the March 2007 fast. Here's a comment from the AW archives:

Saturday March 28 is also, apparently, a designated fast for members of the Living Church of God. Exactly why isn't immediately apparent. Guru Rod Meredith calls these things with little reason, other than perhaps whether he's feeling a bit depressed. Rod is on the wane, mind and body are letting him down - alas, the fate of all who are fortunate and blessed enough to live a life to their three-score and ten and beyond. What to do? Let's call on the brethren to share the misery! That'll show God that we're good people and deserve a break!

The whole concept is infantile. What's more, it's introverted. It does nothing for anybody outside the ghetto. I suppose it does help shore up the sense of identity, specialness and separateness from the wicked world - and those in deviant Laodicean pseudo-COGs. But then, is that a good thing?

Then there was the August 2007 fast... hardly time to recover from March. Again, a comment from the archives:

Poor old Rod. Every time something goes wrong, guess whose fault it is? Yes, you brethren have been getting Laodicean! Notice that the Grand High Poobah doesn't include himself in the backsliding. My question would be whether the saintly Presiding Evangelist will himself be fasting on the 4th. Obviously he doesn't seem to think he needs to, and longtime observers will remember Herbert Armstrong's reputation for drinking coffee on the Day of Atonement, which he shrugged off with a "well, I always said there was no nutritional value in cup of coffee!"

How many fasts has Rod called since then? Most of us have given up counting. Is this one any different. Read Gary's piece and the answer is pretty apparent.

Rod however should fast. He's the one who rattled his tonsils irresponsibly on the Scarborough affair, pulling his church into the legal quicksand. He's the one who consistently ignores the sage advice in James 3:1-12. Somebody should frame that passage and place it in a prominent place in Rod's office where he can be constantly reminded of it.

Satan's Alternative Magazine

You've got to give the LCG credit for a catchy title. The July/August issue of Tomorrow's World is themed around the title Satan's Alternative Universe. The world, as LCG brethren know, is a scary, upsetting place full of gun control advocates, gays, liberals, people with swarthy skin tones and Bible scoffers. To quote the Richard Ames editorial: "Truly, for those who are not responsive to Jesus Christ, our present world is descending further and further into outright evil, with the widespread conscious rejection of all that was once held as sacred by those who profess Christ." Verily, verily. Bring back the 1940s!

And wouldn't you know it, Rod Meredith has written the feature article on this very problem.

Very few people understand the significance of the massive changes underway in our entire society. Not since the time of Sodom and Gomorrah have people generally been as confused in so many ways. This is especially so right now because of the massive misuse of technology. By gaining almost total control of the media, a very real Satan the Devil is able to “manipulate” the thinking, the attitudes and the actions of billions of human beings - especially the younger generation.

Poor old Rod, the devil is making 'em do it. The wicked liberal media, the "wet behind the ears" younger folk (for Rod that's probably anyone under fifty). The world is going to hell in a handcart. Things just ain't normal anymore.

Ames is back with an article entitled Seven Keys for Peace of Mind. Fancy that, what with seven being a "biblical number" and all. Key One? "Take Part in the Great Commission." Excellent, that's the trick, send in your tithes without delay!

In the London Calling column by one Simon R.D. Roberts you might expect something on the Brexit issue, but the LCG missed the bus on this as much as their UCG brethren. Simon writes about Dolly the sheep instead.

Rod McNair has a major article on Why Does God Heal? Perhaps a more appropriate question would be "why does God not heal?" given the LCG's obvious misrepresentation of this whole issue. Indeed, you could make an argument that, when it comes to divine blessings, the Eternal has massively underfunded his LCG operation. In fact, Rod the Lesser seems to be intent on building a wall of qualifications and - of course - it's the dullard members who are really to blame.

Do you need divine healing? If you do, be sure not to blame God. Instead, look to Him with gratitude for His whole plan, knowing that He can and does bring about His will in your life, as you look to Him with faith and obedience. 

Translation: suck it up.

Douglas Winnail has been skimming Karen Armstrong's writings on the Axial Age and he isn't happy. Thankfully Dougie is here to put a COGish spin on it.

In stark contrast to the spirit of the Axial Age that looked to human reason, the Bible warns us to “lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Scholars of comparative religion may speculate that God was revealing universal truths during the Axial Age to thinkers searching for answers within their own minds, but the Scriptures state that the Word of God is the source of truth (Psalm 119:142, 160; John 17:17).

There, so no need to worry about those silly scholars of comparative religion when you have handy, dandy proof texts to offer.

Wally Smith has an anatomical analogy to offer about The Tireless Human Heart. Quote: “Lub-dub... lub-dub... lub-dub...” Deep, Wally, deep.

There's more in the minor features, but that's probably enough to give a feel for this issue.

Available now to download.

(Last) Days of Our Lives

Gary has been providing his usual excellent coverage of events in LCG, including the preliminaries to the upcoming Scarborough lawsuit which officially kicks off on July 11. This summary from the pro-COG COG News.

Gerald Weston and his wife plan to move into their new home in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 15, ready for him to take over the daily administration of the church on Monday the 18th.

Over 200 subpoenas have been issued to LCG members (including ministers) for their depositions by the attorney acting for Patrick and Elizabeth Scarborough, who are suing Rod Meredith and Rod McNair personally, and as officials of the Living Church of God, for Defamation of Character and ‘Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress’.

Lucky Gerry. And interesting timing. Has Gerry been handed a poisoned chalice?

If you're looking for a harlot, LCG, try a mirror

Life is tough in Iraq for Christians. No surprise that there's an increasing sense of common identity across old sectarian divides. Nothing unites people like a common threat. The 'prophecy team' who write for LCG's weekly update seem to have been smoking unverified substances, because they've leapt on this as an example of prophecy in action and a foretaste of a Roman Catholic takeover of other "professing" Christian churches.

LCG has a hard time understanding co-operation between churches. The idea of joining a local ministers' fraternal would probably appall them. Seeing ministers and lay people from different traditions participating together in community groups and charities must be deeply puzzling for these exclusivists who are reluctant to even tell us that they've been having nice little chats with cognate groups like COGWA. That they project this inanity on other denominations says more about them than the churches they're commenting on.

As for the Catholic Church, you'd have to be a moron in a hurry not to recognize the deep problems they face in coming to terms with a rapidly changing world. At least they're attempting to make a transition, which is more than you can say for the 'curia' in LCG's gerontocracy.

Number crunching and the 2016 FOT

One very effective way of judging growth and member satisfaction in the larger WCG spinoffs is attendance at the annual Feast of Tabernacles observance. Brethren are able to literally "vote with their feet" - the only kind of vote most of them are permitted.

Prestige comes with big feast sites. But just as important (perhaps more so) is money. Holy Day offerings are a huge boost to the sponsoring church's income stream. If people stay away, income will fall.

News is that LCG feast enrollment this year is sluggish, and the enforcer-ministry has been told to kick the sluggards into action quick-smart. There are growing indications, however, that LCG isn't an outlier in this trend. Other COGs may be facing an embarrassing decline in attendance this year too.

Herbert Armstrong created the Feast of Tabernacles traditions as we know them today. He ignored the Jewish precedents and largely made it up as he went. The proof texting basis for the way WCG did it - and now UCG. LCG, PCG, CGI and others - is shaky at best, and verging on dishonest. If you wanted to honor the Old Testament Holy Days, there are better alternatives.

How many brethren really, honestly save a full second tithe? How many can really afford the week away from work and school? How many despair when it comes to scraping up those additional Holy Day offerings?

And how many are heartily sick of the annual refrain "best feast ever" when clearly it wasn't.

This year's attendance figures may indicate the way of things to come.

RIP Karl Beyersdorfer

Since Gary broke the news online of Karl Beyersdorfer's suicide a number of other COG-related websites have posted follow-up comments including a commendably pastoral piece on Living Armstrongism. The following summary appeared on the COG-friendly COG News.

On the 28th of May a pastor’s suicide was reported: 

“Today it was announced in the Charlotte LCG congregation that LCG Joplin, Missouri pastor Karl Beyersdorfer has killed himself on 5/27/2016. Recall that his wife Gaylon fell and broke her hip two weeks prior on Saturday 5/14/2016 and had to have hip replacement surgery." [From Banned]

He was ordained in the Worldwide Church of God, joined Roderick Meredith in founding the Global Church of God, then continued with him in the LCG. His name in its list of congregations has been replaced by that of the area pastor, Gene Hilgenberg, but there is no announcement of his death on the website as yet. 

One LCG member has commented [on Gary's blog]: “I can tell you first hand that what is happening at LCG is heartbreaking. Especially for those of us who survived what happened in WCG. It can lead to feelings of depression, hopelessness and despair. Many of us love our church, despite what our critics think about it, and it is hard to watch it crumble like it is. I’m sure Karl had other reasons for what he did, but the current state of LCG didn’t help, I’m sure. It’s hard to see something you heartfelt believed in and gave your life in support of fall apart because of egos and bad decision. I could see where that would make your life feel like a total waste. In the months to come, especially after RCM’s death, it will be important for us to stick together and love one another through the turbulent LCG splits ahead which, at this point, seem inevitable.”

Bruce Tyler's death has been marked with a fulsome tribute from Rod Meredith. The suicide of a prominent minister is a much more difficult event to address, and yet the impact is just as profound - probably more so. Hopefully, LCG will do the right thing and publicly acknowledge Karl Beyersdorfer's passing in a respectful way that not only mentions his contributions but also speaks to a difficult situation. To pass by in silence and ignore what has happened would merely compound the problem. They could do worse than by using the Living Armstrongism post as an exemplar.

Tribulation Ahead for LCG

Gary is reporting that tough realities are striking home for the Living Church of God. Leading minister Bruce Tyler recently suffered a major stroke and died. Rod King, a former Tomorrow's World presenter, is said to be afflicted with stage 4 cancer. Rod Meredith struggles on, at least part-time wheelchair bound. There are rumblings about the appointment of Gerry Weston as the heir apparent, a man not known either for pastoral skills or empathy. Not surprisingly there are rumours of defections.

The reality is that the old guard is passing on, men who thought (and loudly proclaimed) that we would all live over into "the world tomorrow". The tragedy is that this line is still being pushed in pulpits, broadcast and print media. Nobody has said, hey, push the pause button, we've obviously got something horribly wrong here.

Which leads me to ponder Melvin Rhodes' latest blog column. Mel is prominent among those who try to discern the "signs of the times". He manfully attempts to join the dots, trawling through news trends and consequently finding exactly what he expects to find. The fact that he is affiliated with UCG rather than LCG is no big issue; on this both groups sing the same tune.

And yet, Mel's latest post is well worth the read. I suspect he intended it as a lightweight piece, but in reality, it has far greater depth than most of his output. He observes his three-year-old grandson digging dirt in the driveway with the unmistakable affection of any grandfather and ties it together in a good-humoured fashion with the state of the roads in Michigan. He concludes:

Perhaps, 15 years from now, when he graduates from High School, Leeson can work for the Transportation Department and help fix the roads.   I’m convinced those potholes will still be there.

Even Mel, the doomsayer, suspects at some level that the end of the age isn't all that close and that his grandchildren will grow up in the world we have today. And yet, what are the chances that his next contribution will return to the usual watch-world-news prediction-addiction?

Meanwhile, LCG tumbles toward the abyss. It's tempting to give a cheer, but we're talking about the lives of real people, and most of us know the negative impact of such events first-hand. The danger is, if LCG crashes and burns, the vultures will swiftly arrive to pick over the remains.

Not Edstone... Redstone

Redstone Hall

Ah, what a life, what with good people on limited incomes throwing money at you. So how do you spend "God's tithes"? Well, maybe you could shovel them into a faux university.

The students at Living University are currently moving into plush new accommodations. LU, you'll recall, is the unaccredited (and likely never to be accredited) training school for LCG members with aspirations to ministry (if they're blokes) or perhaps a ministerial husband (if they're not).

The men's facility is called Redstone Hall. Not sure whether there's a library, but there's a very nice billiard table.

Putting in the all-important billiard table

The women's residence looks pretty classy too. Study facilities don't get a mention here either - you get the impression that "book learnin'" ain't a high priority at LU. But it does have "an exercise room equipped with two Sole E235 Elliptical trainers... music room, formal dining room, kitchen and breakfast nook, living room and five bedrooms."

Nice. But just five bedrooms? How many students does this "university" actually have? Divide the cost of running LU by the total number of students on campus and... throw another million in the furnace Rod!

Actually, the moving van with the big, bold Tomorrow's World logo is quite impressive too. Well, I mean, gotta burn up those surplus tithes somehow, right.

Remind you of somewhere (and somewhen) else?

Not quite up there with PCG's edifices maybe, but clearly LCG is trotting along in the same well-worn rut, scattering greenbacks as they go.

Makes you kinda wonder how much the president of LU is making... speaking of which, my thanks to President Germano who proudly posted the pics.

Women's accommodation plus branded van

Who? Lil' Ol' Me?

Not being an American, I try not to comment on US politics, I simply don't have a dog in that fight. So it seems a tad inexplicable that a certain Michael Germano should take a FB sideswipe at me in that particular context. I could be wrong, but I don't recollect posting anything about Doc Germano around the March 17 mark (though I did a piece on Living University - not being aware of the FB entry - in April). So maybe there's another Gavin R he's referring to, or maybe I should wear the reference as a badge of honour.

We all know Germano's politics are to the right of Attila the Hun. Why else post a Trump-sourced video clip of Hillary Clinton "barking like a dog"? But that's okay. Michael is entitled to be a self-opinionated boor. Kinda goes with the territory out there in LCG-land. Perhaps I should be flattered that he knows who I am. Heavens to Betsy, do you think he's a regular reader?

And yes, occasionally I feel the need to "get a life". Then I think about all the has-been know-it-alls who pontificate each Sabbath in hundreds of pulpits and realise that things are never going to be that bad. Count your blessings I say...

As for relaxing and enjoying the show, well, if I was paid what Germano is for his Living University sinecure, I guess I'd feel that way too. Must be a laugh a minute in Charlotte.

LCG's mind games

Redfox over at Living Armstrongism is reporting that the punkahwallahs at the Living Church of God have launched an exciting new website called The Bible Says That? The slogan: "What you have been taught... might not actually be in the Bible."

You mean, like, tithing?

Well, no. The site is a potpourri of COG distinctives. Rapture (nope), hell (not yet, but watch out backsliders!), crucifixion (not on Friday). You have to tunnel down into the site to discover it's operated by LCG.

The best part of the site is this page; "Do Not Donate." Uncle Roderick doesn't want your readies.

Yeah, right.

The Bible Says That? is a repackaging effort. Pick out the core teachings and give them the 'gee whiz' treatment. It probably seemed a brilliant idea to whichever superannuated adolescent first came up with it, but the whole thing is a yawn, the equivalent of asking patsy questions then answering them yourself. Fiendishly not clever.

According to Rod "it is intended to be a topical resource that asks and answers challenging questions facing professing Christianity." LCG asks, LCG answers. Where's the fun in that?

How about a topical resource that asks challenging questions facing LCG? Then imagine a diverse range of 'answers' which people submit, compare and then weigh up for themselves as independent, thinking adults. We all know that ain't about to happen. The very thought is probably enough to send Gerald Weston running for the cooking sherry.

One final grumble; the term "professing Christianity". It crops up in most of the Armstrong sects, shorthand for "not real Christians". It's an insider term placing a boundary marker against other forms of Christianity. In short, it's an insult. Perhaps it's time to turn the tables and talk about the "professing Christianity of the LCG" (or substitute any other COG acronym). It seems eminently fair.

Meantime, the advice "do not donate" is very sensible, not just for the newbie mugs the site is trolling for, but those sincere folk who regularly tithe to Charlotte, NC. Take a tithe holiday. Buy the kids some new clothes, pay off the hire purchase, treat the grandkids, give a little to your favorite non-religious charity. It's not what LCG means, but it'd be a great way to respond to some really duplicitous marketing.

Tomorrow's World - Nice cover, shame about the content

Next cab off the publications rank this month is Tomorrow's World.

Rod Meredith has an editorial entitled Are We Ready for God's Intervention?

Dear readers, when we read the constant reports in the news about how corrupt governments all over the earth are oppressing and impoverishing their peoples, it is obvious that Almighty God will soon intervene!

As if corrupt governments, oppression and poverty were uniquely characteristic of our times... does this guy know nothing of history?

...you will see that this issue’s circulation number has gone down a bit. As many of you know, we ask those who have not been in touch with us for quite a while to “renew” their subscriptions. We are also finding ways to spread this message as cost-effectively as possible, and in ways to reach new audiences. Many of our readers, especially the younger ones, are “digital natives” who do most of their reading on the Internet - on their computers, or even on their smartphones. So, we are reaching out to those readers with a wonderful new “digital flipbook” version of this magazine. 

Harrumpff. Circulation is down, but it's okay, there's this cool flipping book version. Even Douglas will probably be less than impressed.

The lead article, Are You Willing to Change? is also by Meredith. Strange really, in that Meredith is the last person who has shown any willingness to change over long decades. His version of Armstrongism is firmly mired in the past.

Jonathan Riley writes the Canadian column, and he has the CN Tower in Toronto in his sights. The election of Justin Trudeau's government has rattled the LCG, it's a sure sign that all goodness and light is rapidly gurgling down the plughole. The tower has been lit in "rainbow colours in celebration of homosexual pride", hence Riley is doing a very credible Chicken Little impression ("the sky is falling!") Next thing he'll be comparing it to the Tower of Babel.

Oh, wait, he is.

In Genesis 11 we read about the construction of another tower in the Middle East... A people of one mind or purpose, whose desire was contrary to God and whose language was confused, bears striking similarities to the corruption, pride, vanity and nonsensical sociopolitical dialogue we see permeating Canada and Western society as a whole.

"Nonsensical sociopolitical dialogue"? Deeply fascist sects don't like the idea that people with different views can sit down and have a respectful conversion. It's God's way (which is, naturally, their way) or nothing. Kind of like the Taliban.

Global utopia is coming according to Richard Ames in an article that reads a lot like a precis of Herb Armstrong's Wonderful World Tomorrow booklet.

Who will supervise the twelve apostles in God’s coming Kingdom? Remember God called ancient King David “a man after My own heart” in Acts 13:22. Bible prophecy reveals that King David will rule over the united houses of Israel and Judah: “David My servant shall be king over them..."

Everything is obviously sorted; roll on 1972.

John Meakin has the inside word on industrial relations. Employee and employer groups might as well disband now.

But, if an employer is harsh, that is still no excuse to rebel. We read: “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh” (1 Peter 2:18). We are also told to “count [our] own masters worthy of all honor” (1 Timothy 6:1).

John apparently feels that the relationship between employers and employees is a master/servant one. I guess that's how they run things in the LCG.

But wait, we've still got the cover article to come: Rod McNair, no less, has written The Great Unraveling. If you thought this might be a prophetic piece about what will happen in the LCG when Meredith goes to Sheol shortly, you'd be wrong. Read this and weep, fellow scoffers...

Scoffers—even some professing Christians—contend that the book of Genesis is myth and fable. But Genesis is Scripture, and all Scripture is given “by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Genesis includes the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden — and Jesus quoted from Genesis 1 and 2 (Matthew 19:4–6). Adam and Eve were real, and the choices they made produced consequences for the whole human family. They set in motion the social ills and societal decay we face today.

 So the way of salvation is through stupidity and ignorance of literary genres?

Jonathan McNair dishes up some gratuitous advice on boundaries for the younger readers - if there are any. Douglas Winnail gives a history lesson concerning "the post-Flood years of the Bronze Age". Post-Flood? You get the impression that LCG is staggering even further back into the mirror-arcade of Genesis mythology. How many other impossible things can LCG put on the early breakfast buffet? As if to confirm that TW has gone down the rabbit-hole, J. Davy Crockett, III (no, really, that's his chosen byline) has an article following called Chasing Two Rabbits?

To lend a veneer of scientific competence, Wally Smith has contributed an article called Einstein, God and Gravitational Waves. General relativity meets Armstrongism. Kids, a word to the wise, try not to quote Wally in your science assignments.

The PDF is available to download.

(Next time, The Bible Advocate)

LCG and World Vision

As Bereans Did is reporting that Spanky Meredith's LCG sect is still on schedule to present their public meeting at World Vision Canada's HQ; only the date has changed. Perhaps they were obliged to carry through on the agreement. Perhaps lawyers' letters were exchanged. Who knows? In any case, Martha's report is carefully written and fair-minded. Other than turning up with placards, there doesn't seem to be a way forward from this point.

Two Gerrys carry the baton

Squished planet, squished beliefs... like sheep to the slaughter indeed!

UPDATED. If you enjoy BBC comedy, you'll know about "the two Ronnies". If you enjoy COG soap operas you'll be delighted to learn that there are now "two Gerrys".

Gary Leonard is the first off the block to release the contents of a member letter announcing Gerry Weston's ascendancy to the status of leader in the Living Church of God. This April 6 member-only letter went forth over the signature of the current Presiding Evangelist, Roderick Meredith. Once again, Gary's sources have proved invaluable. Excepts:

One of the main reasons I wanted to write all of you members directly is that I want all of you to be fully aware and “on board” about the coming transfer of Mr. Gerald Weston here to Headquarters to become President and COO of this Work. I will remain as the Presiding Evangelist and human “head” of the Church as long as God gives me strength. But Mr. Weston will be in charge of running the physical day to day operations... Mr. Weston has pastored churches all over the United States, pastored and served as Regional Pastor of the Kansas City area for 13 years, pastored the churches and directed the whole Work in Canada for 13 years, and is now effectively running the churches and Work in Britain, Europe and the Middle East.

In all these years, he has been tried and tested and has been constantly loyal to the Truth, to God’s leadership in this Work and to all the things that matter. I have talked to literally scores of ministers and brethren from all over and not one has ever raised a big “issue” with Mr. Weston!

So it is after much prayer and Bible study and “multitude of counsel” that I have decided to select him and appoint him—in the name of Jesus Christ—as the next administrative leader over the Work here. I hope all of you will join me in being totally loyal to Mr. Weston in helping him, in supporting him and praying for him that God will guide and use him in every way.

For more, click across to Gary's Banned blog at the link above.

Some thoughts. This was certainly not unexpected. Now it's out in the open, though, we can expect a good deal of realignment behind the scenes.

Meredith has not appointed Weston as a new Presiding Evangelist, he's determined to hang on as spiritual leader as long as he can. Technically this is then an administrative appointment, whatever that means in practical terms. It could be an uncomfortable marriage with Meredith still capable of pulling rank (remember the Global fiasco?) though his capacity for this is unclear. Potential for friction at the very least.

In a separate post, Gary indicates that Meredith's health is poor. He has apparently been hospitalized recently and now uses a wheelchair.

The two Gerrys. Flurry and Weston. Let the soap opera continue.

Was World Vision conned?

There's been a bit of a flap about the use of World Vision Canada's headquarters facilities in Mississauga, Ontario by Roderick Meredith's Living Church of God. The LCG has hired the location for one of its proselytizing seminars in May: "Has God Abandoned Mankind?" 

So what's the problem? Organisations hire out their facilities all the time. World Vision, however, is more selective than most. A great backgrounder comes from Martha over at As Bereans Did. It seems World Vision may have been under some misapprehensions when it hired out the rooms.

The Bereans website decided to ask a few questions - and possibly point out a few germane facts. Here's the reply they got from World Vision Canada.

In fact, the Worldwide Church of Tomorrow [sic] (founded by H W Armstrong) had a radical shift after Armstrong’s death and has become thoroughly evangelical and renamed their movement as Grace Communion International. This denomination is a member in good standing both with the National Association of Evangelicals (USA) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada... Given this outcome, we do not have any concerns with their use of our facility.

You've got to hope the office staff are, in general, a lot more competent than whoever emailed that masterpiece.

Given the outright contempt LCG shows for evangelical organisations such as World Vision, you've also got to wonder what kind of assurances the LCG representative gave when hiring their facilities. As others have pointed out, using World Vision may lend LCG an air of false legitimacy in the eyes of the evangelically-minded community.

Would World Vision hire out their facilities for recruitment purposes by the Jehovah's Witnesses? The Moonies? If so, no problem. If not, then they do indeed have a problem.

French connections

Gary Leonard on the Banned blog has breaking news of upheavals in the French-speaking LCG. Gary quotes an announcement from leader-in-waiting Gerry Weston.

Mr. Roland Lecocq, our minister in Switzerland, and his family have made the decision to move to another Church of God fellowship. We are saddened by their decision, but wish them well. They have served the Church faithfully for many years and we appreciate that service. Since he served as Secretary and Treasurer for the French association, he is continuing with those duties until they can be transferred to another individual in the next few weeks and he is being most helpful and faithful in the transition. Please show the upmost respect and love toward the Lecocqs as each of us must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

These comments from Gary's source in LCG.

LCG suffered a major loss a few weeks ago when a popular European minister, Mr. Roland Lecocq, decided to resign from serving LCG and aligned himself with COGWA. Although Mr. Lecocq has been careful not to sway any of the LCG brethren to blindly follow in his decision to leave LCG, it is anticipated that a large majority of the brethren in the areas he served will go with him to COGWA. There are also concerns that LCG will not be able to continue with their planned Feast site in Carry-le-Rouet, France as a direct result of Lecocq's departure. 

This news hasn't been aired among LCG's membership outside the affected areas (or wasn't until Gary blew the cover off). One wonders whether the recent chat between COGWA and LCG leaders was a factor in some way (or an agenda item). Nothing yet from COGWA itself. The peripatetic Joel Meeker is listed as COGWA's man on the ground in Switzerland (along with Belgium and France).

Lecocq was ordained an elder in LCG in 2008.

Read the full account over at Banned by HWA.

Easter and the fertility goddess

We have been warning all our Western nations — and countries all around the world — that God will judge them for their lawlessness and evils (Joel 3:12-13). By the time you receive this letter, hundreds of millions of professing Christians will have celebrated one such evil — a pagan Easter Sunday — on March 27. Millions of Eastern Orthodox will observe Easter a month later, on May 1... Why do nearly all of our world’s 2.2 billion professing Christians participate in a non-biblical religious tradition named after a pagan fertility goddess? As I told our Atlanta audience, if any of you are observing that festival, you need to repent!

Richard Ames
Co-worker letter, March 18


Easter is evil. It's named after a pagan fertility goddess. Richard Ames thinks so, but is that really true?

Word derivations can be complicated, and false trails abound. There is a line of logic that connects Easter with an Anglo-Saxon goddess who rejoiced in the name Eostre. But there's a problem. The only source we have for this connection is the Venerable Bede, a monk in the 7th century. Everything we know about Eostre comes from Bede, and it's precious little. There's a very good chance that this name died out, and that the modern English term Easter has a quite different derivation.

All major languages except two refer to this festival by a term related to the Greek Pascha  (from Pesach - Passover). In Spanish it's Pascua, in Dutch Pasen, in Latin Pascha, in Italian Pasqua. The two exceptions are German and, obviously, English.

The modern English usage seems to come from the German Oster. Blame Martin Luther. When he translated the New Testament he chose Oster, a German word for resurrection, alluding to the metaphor of sunrise.

Up till Luther's time, the only English translation of the Bible, John Wycliffe's, used the word Pask. No mention of Eostre. Later, William Tyndale, who was greatly influenced by the Luther Bible, adopted the Reformer's preference and coined a new term, Ester. The King James translators, with the sole exception of Acts 12:4, went back to the earlier usage, Passover. The name Easter, however, stuck.

So, other than the German Oster, major languages other than English use a version of Passover. The English term Easter came into usage via the German and Tyndale's Bible. The whole Easter/Eostre issue is meaningless in most other languages. Even in English, the identification with Eostre is dubious.

Any questions? Probably best not to ask Ames.

There's a nice discussion of these issues here.

Learning to be ruled

Deference to the ministry is one of the unofficial doctrines of most Church of God groups. Do you, humble layperson that you are, have a question? Fear not, your minister can make a ruling. If he does, it would be a very bad idea to ignore it. Stories were told, apparently quite true, of members consulting the great man on what colour their new car should (or shouldn't) be. This must have been frustrating for WCG clergy too, often being sidelined after services by an insecure member trying to get advice when the minister just wanted to get some personal distance from the herd.

Some of us were worldly-wise enough to know that what the minister didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Or more to the point, us. It was one thing to listen respectfully (I'm not sure we even thought about listening critically) to a sermon and take the message on board, quite another to give the gentleman in the expensive suit carte blanche to micro-manage our lives.

Behind all this was another message. We were being trained. Training in obedience was conceived in terms not greatly different from dog training. In turn, parents were expected to train their kids in the same way, following the principles enunciated by that genius in child psychology, Garner Ted Armstrong. ("Any and every child needs spankings. It is a vital, integral part of his positive teaching and training.")

But isn't this all something long left behind in the 1970s? Well, apparently not in Rod Meredith's LCG. Faye League, wife of the late LCG pastor Bob ("the enforcer") League, shares some grandmotherly wisdom in the current issue of Living Church News. Alas, the experience many of us have had indicates that "true ministers of God" (Faye means LCG elders) do not always "have the best interests of each Church member at heart". Some of them may wish to, but at best that's just a good intention. Others certainly don't. Think David C. Pack who joined Rod before setting up his own franchise. When Big Dave was still holding hands with his best buddy Rod did he have the best interests of each Church member at heart? Does he now? Not exactly rocket science is it.

Then there's the undeniable reality that ministerial advice over the years has often been woeful. In many cases, you'd be better served by flipping a coin.

Being an autonomous human being means taking responsibility for your own decisions. Autonomy was almost always discouraged in the Churches of God. What the pastor said from the pulpit was not to be questioned. Even if you raised your eyes to the great one to express agreement with something he'd said, you could be pulled up for having the temerity to express an opinion - even a positive one - on his gracious words. That was simply not your place. That's how authoritarian structures work.

What about those texts Faye quotes in Hebrews? Notice the words "considering the outcome of their conduct." The writer of Hebrews presumes that a minister's conduct will have a positive outcome, but we know better when it comes to many COG ministers, beginning with Herbert Armstrong and stretching all the way down the line, past Bob League and into to the present. 'Consider' implies weighing up, judging, evaluating, a concept that should send a shiver up the spine of many a COG minister.

It's worth noting that the League article is particularly addressed to women in the church. A stroppy man is bad enough in authoritarian sects, but a stroppy woman is apparently much worse. Perhaps the 'little ladies' of LCG needed a particular reminder.

Sorry Faye. Not buying.