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Called to be free

A response to the DVD

In 2004 a group of bright-eyed, born-again ex-Mormons discovered the Worldwide Church of God. Wrestling with the demons of their own past, an autocratic, controlling sect, they did what many of us have done, projected their own hopes and aspirations on another, more ideal community. They chose the WCG.

Arriving in Pasadena armed with video cameras, they set about filming the story of the WCG’s “miraculous transformation”. The result is the DVD “Called to be free”, currently being heavily promoted by the church.

A procession of graying heads is captured in the 70 minute program, giving their testimony to the bold, spirit-led decisions that brought WCG “from cultism to Christ”: Joe Tkach, Bernie Schnippert, Greg Albrecht, Ron Kelly, Ron Stoddart, Mike Feazell, Michael Morrison, Monte Wolverton, Paul Kroll, Dan Rogers and others.

It’s not hard to understand the appeal the reformed WCG has for those who’ve left the embrace of the Latter-day Saint community. We shared much in common. WCG for these people represents a hope, however distant, that the church that has been such a large part of their lives might also leave behind its own sectarian, legalistic past and, like Worldwide, embrace true Christianity (“true” meaning the conservative, evangelical American mainstream).

Through the kind thoughtfulness of AW's correspondent "Dateline Pasadena", I've recently viewed “Called to be free”. WCG members might be surprised to hear that I highly recommend it. It’s professionally presented, quite powerful in delivering its core message, and puts a human face on some of the personalities.

The use of archival tape of Herbert Armstrong lent added force to the first part of the program. This “walk down memory lane” made it worthwhile in itself. Church leaders told the painful story of the church’s transformation as they saw it. I can only say they seemed sincere and convicted.

But I don’t believe that a fair response to “Called to be free” stops there. Noticeable throughout the presentation was the “leadership” component. While a few lay members were featured, it seemed clear they were hand-picked. This was very much a story being told by those at the top. Listening to the church’s spokesmen, I was struck again and again at how they spoke of “the membership”. Christ, as they tell it, led the church out of error. By the church they meant the leadership. The members were simply an afterthought, a problem, almost incidental to the process. The “them and us” mentality is as real in 2005 as it was in Herbert Armstrong’s heyday.

Here lies the Achilles heel of the reforms; the reason why they were always fated to fail. Reformation may be inspired by the vision and courage of one or two remarkable individuals, but it is always powered from below. Reformation is not possible on a top-down model. That inevitably leads to tyranny and oppression, a torn and bleeding community. Reformation proceeds from the grassroots, a bottom-up model. 

That particular “veil” is still firmly covering the eyes of WCG’s leadership. According to the program, a church of 150,000 has been downsized to 60,000. These leaders blamed the victims, attributing the loss to those who placed the words of Herbert Armstrong above the Bible. That is a scandalous misrepresentation. Many of those who “bailed out” have gone on to find membership in a variety of non-legalistic Christian communities. Nor is the sincerity and intent of those who have pitched their tents among the splinters to be so easily dismissed.

Freedom means something more than ditching Sabbaths and food laws. Worldwide Church of God members are indeed called to be free, but that goal will always elude them while a patronizing and unaccountable hierarchy endures. 

“Called to be free” is worth investing an hour of your time in. But that doesn’t mean viewers should be uncritical of the agenda that underlies it. For the producers it is to set a beacon of hope for the future transformation of the Mormon church. For the much-flattered leaders of the WCG, it was a chance to bask in the attention, and rehearse their sanitized self justifications.