Best of the Letters from 2011
Many Are Leaving PCG:
January 22, 2011
I have heard that many people are leaving PCG. It sounds like GF is producing an “exodus” of his own. Some have resigned but I don’t know their names yet. –Impacted by PCG
As PCG Dwindles:
January 28, 2011
It is great to hear the stories of dwindling membership in the PCG, but it is easy to see that GF could become even increasingly demanding as the numbers dwindle, and one person that I know who is in PCG is so convinced about its accuracy and the inspiration of GF that he may do anything GF would ask in support of his failing organization. Let’s pray for the Spirit of God to strengthen, comfort and guide members through the end of the PCG which we all seek. Also, let’s pray that GF becomes more and more limited in his ability to influence those who still think he is “that prophet.” –K.
Why GF is No Longer Welcome in Jordan:
January 29, 2011
I am so glad I was able to find your site. It has been a great help to me. My husband has been dabbling in Armstrongism since I’ve known him, through WCG, CGI, etc., finally ending up with PCG and Gerald Flurry. I’ve shown him your site and he has for the moment stopped looking at their material, although he still has it. I think it might have made an impression on him. Thank you for all the work you’ve put into the site, all the links and footnotes that give more info or tell where you got your info. It truly has been a great help.
I do have a question. In your article entitled Philadelphia Church of God and the Place of Safety, it is mentioned that “after a trip there, Flurry is no longer welcome in Jordan.” I wasn’t able to find the answer to as to why that is. I am hoping that you might put the answer in the footnotes at the bottom of that article. Thank you!! –[name withheld]
Reply: Several years ago we were forwarded the following from someone who took notes of GF’s February 5, 2000 sermon:
“Mr. Flurry said that we are pulling out of Jordan. Mark Saranga was having trouble with one woman there in Jordan. It got so bad she wanted him out of the country. Said he’s almost convinced that we won’t go back there unless we go in at the top–thru the King. And we probably won’t go back. Reason [is] God wants it done now, this way. God wants us to trust Him solely.”
Several exiters were contacted for more info on this and their replies are posted below:
First email:
As nearly as I can remember it: There was a woman in the government. She may have been in charge of the Special Needs schooling. GF was trying to get close to the government by offering help with the handicapped students. He was offering teachers. He got his idea from a tactic that HWA had used. For a short time, they were interested in the help. Then this woman got wind of what the PCG was teaching about going to Petra and actually taking it over. Evidently, the government there has had to deal with more than one other group that actually tried to move in already. At any rate, she called a swift halt to the program in the schools and made it clear that Petra belongs to Jordan and no one else. That is the best I can remember it. –PCG exiter
Second email:
That trip was about the time they (the PCG college) had a few students volunteering at a school for handicapped children in Jordan. The school was a pet project of one of the Jordanian princesses. Gerry was trying, at the time, to emulate HWA’s foundation efforts. Also, on each trip he was filming several Key of David episodes from the area. We were told that Gerry was frustrated at the progress and would try again later if they could work with someone a little higher up in the Jordanian government. Clearly, something went awry and we, as tithe payers, were not made aware of what that was. We were not told that Gerry had been expelled; we were made to think that the pullout was Gerry’s idea. –Vaughn Woodfield, PCG exiter
Third email:
I heard GF’s sermon when he returned from Jordan. He was angry that a “woman” in a high position wouldn’t do business with him. There was a dinner party where his plans got squashed pretty quick. He made rude comments about her in the sermon and said God would get PCG in with or without her. From my recollection, Petra seemed more of a priority than serving the handicapped. I also definitely remember the story told by GF that it was his idea to suspend the project. [Name withheld] was one of the students on that PCG Jordan project. He said his group was told to keep quiet about it when they returned. He waited a year, told everybody, then quit PCG. –PCG exiter
Fourth email:
GF wanted to get in good with the royal family to try and pave the way for the PCG to be able to go to Petra during the Great Tribulation. He also wanted to get the Jordan project going–just like the old WCG. They were going to take care of the disabled children involved with the rehab program. I do recall after they were removed from Jordan, Gerald Flurry announced that we were to rely on God to be given protection in the Place of Safety and not people. –J., PCG exiter
[End of section about why GF is no longer welcome in Jordan.]
January 30, 2011
Here is what I know about ordinations. They have several ranks starting with deacon, which does not count as a ministerial rank. First in ministerial rank is Local Elder, then Local Church Elder, then Preaching Elder, then Pastor, then Evangelist, then the guy at the top, whatever he wants to call himself.
HWA claims to have been ordained by the Church of God Seventh Day [Church of God (7th Day)], by the laying on of hands. HWA claims that the Church of God Seventh Day was the Sardis Era of the true church in a chain of ordinations, by the laying on of hands, in an unbroken chain that leads back to Peter and Jesus himself. I do not believe this anymore, but that is what I remember being taught. Thus endowed by the laying on of hands, HWA was then able to ordain ministers as he saw fit due to his being installed as the head of the Philadelphia Era of the true church (God moved the lamp, blah, blah, blah).
Graduating from Ambassador College with an unaccredited degree in Theology was not an ordination and did not guarantee ordination in the future. While some graduates were immediately ordained, most were instructed to return home and serve in their local church.
All ordinations of ministers in the WCG were either by HWA or ministers that he ordained and gave that authority to. As I understand it, all ordinations had to be approved by HWA or GTA personally, then the ordination took place locally, usually on a holy day. Gerald Flurry was ordained by HWA or someone directly under him by his permission. Thus when GF left to create his own church (God moved the lamp, blah, blah, blah) he, by this laying on of hands, had the authority to ordain others and raise them in rank as he saw fit. I think all ordinations in the PCG are handled in the same tradition.
Thus their spurious claim would be the authority to ordain from Gerald Flurry back through HWA, back to Jesus Christ. –Vaughn Woodfield
How the Cut-Off Policy Has Destroyed My Family:
February 2, 2011
Due to Philadelphia Church of God’s cut-off policy, I lost my wife who passed on in 2009. Two of my children had been cut off because they decided to marry outside the PCG. My other son was to be cut off by December 2009 if he didn’t make a baptismal commitment. This was too much to bear.
In June 2010, I was required to cut off important people outside the PCG (a group of 17 families in the neighbourhood who have been very supportive of my family for years). I gave reason why I didn’t think of cutting them off (we discussed ideas and supporting each other during happy and sad occasions). This didn’t go well with Max Rumler. He had all kinds of schemes to get me submissive. Max Rumler (Regional Director) gave a married lady US $300.00 to divorce her husband and she was told after the divorce went through that she should get married immediately. I wondered who else they expected her to get married to. When I eventually told Max there was no way I would marry this lady, I was accused of knowing nothing and not being close to God and that I allowed people who had not studied the formerly seven books (and in June increased by another two) to come into the PCG. I was suspended and told I was going to suffer for putting the PCG at risk. Strange enough, all these people have been pursued to come back to PCG and some have been calling me to tell me about it. This showed how dishonest the Regional Director has been.
Sure enough, I knew nothing as I came to discover. But what didn’t I know? It wasn’t what Max had in mind. My research through the Internet for the truth is what I didn’t know. Now I know the disappointment of Max and his boss [Gerald Flurry]. Max has been preaching that he had told me not to visit the website but I disobeyed the “government of God.” He says the website is a lie. My question to Max is if all the website is a lie, what makes you think PCG’s is not? On the contrary, it has proved to be the greatest lie.
What was intended to control me turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. I am out of PCG and never to go back–but at what cost? Loss of my wife and family.
The sad thing is no one of all those that I have tried to help see what PCG has been doing to people will believe me. They strongly believe I am in the bonds of Satan. –[name withheld]
Update: Max Rumler died suddenly on July 16, 2013.
Held Out on Attending PCG Due to Studying Your Site:
February 4, 2011
I wish to add my thanks to you and your site (along with so many others around the globe) and for all the help it contains. I was in the WCG in the 1980s and due to a very high position I held in the U.S. Government in the 1990s, I was frequently contacted by [nameless] leadership in the PCG. Though tempted to attend upon occasion, I held out, thanks in part to studying your site over and over again! Today I write to request the PDF versions of the following books: [lists the 3 books we offer in PDF]
I look forward to hearing from you very soon. With best wishes. Most sincerely, –L.
Family Suffered Damage Due to PCG:
March 9, 2011
I never knew this site existed. Without going into details I’ve seen the damage and felt some of the repercussions of the PCG. My uncle was a firm believer until his end a year ago. He and I were very close. His caregiver who was disfellowshipped went through nightmare after nightmare with current members, ministers, etc. My family was ripped off and used by the members. I’ve seen families ripped apart and people left in abusive relationships because of the dictatorship. Thank you for putting all of this out there. –Impacted by PCG
What is the Baptism Cut-Off Date for Laodiceans? / SF and Malachi’s Message:
March 10, 2011
Was there a certain cutoff date regarding baptism dates of persons considered by Gerald Flurry to be Laodicean and shunned? I did not see this in a quick perusal of the article about this.
Thanks. –M. S.
Reply: Following is what one of our contacts relayed:
Best of my recollection is that the baptismal-expiration-date was the summer of 1989 when the “latter rains” of revelation fell onto Stephen Flurry after he read Malachi’s Message while home on summer break from his Freshman year at Big Sandy. GF said Stephen was the first person to read it and that’s when God lifted the 3 1/2 year spiritual drought from “the church.” Herbert Armstrong died January 16, 1986. GF convinced a lot of people that the night HWA died, he asked God to stop all revelation to the church, and that Herbert Armstrong asked God to start the spiritual drought. No kidding, that’s what he taught!
Interesting that GF put so much stock in his 19 year old unbaptized son. After reading the manuscript [Malachi’s Message] that summer at Robbers Cave [See February 15, 2012 letter: “What Happened At Robber’s Cave?“] with a church outing, Stephen went back to Big Sandy that fall in 1989. When his dad and Laura [Laura is GF’s daughter and SF’s sister] were suspended in December 1989, Stephen dropped out of AC. He went back to Oklahoma and was baptized January 16th, of course. GF has used those dates to calculate prophecies.
However, read a testimony from a former member who met Stephen Flurry and who said Stephen’s initial thought was that his Dad “was crazy.”
I Do Not Want to Be Deceived:
March 20, 2011
I just saw your website and am interested in reading more. I have read many of PCG’s publications. I, however, do not want to be deceived. I look forward to listening to your views. Pray for me to discover truth and not be led into error. –S.
The Bible Shows How Not to Be Led Into Error:
March 23, 2011
A couple points pertaining to “not being led into error”:
#1. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” John 14:6 simply states that Jesus is truth. A comparison between the teachings of a man or a church, and the teachings of Jesus must be a critical first step is being led not into error. The Bible is our reference for the teachings of Jesus.
#2. I John 2:27 states that “you need not that any man teach you:” Read through I John 2 and see that there is an anointing that connects us to Jesus and the Father and that anointing is truth, and we will abide in that which was taught in the beginning. Again, that which is in the Scripture is what we have from the beginning.
The long and short of it is Jesus and the Bible. There is our truth. –E. K.
Flurry Ready to Take Advantage of any Disaster:
March 29, 2011
Just to prove that Gerald Flurry is always ready to take advantage of a disaster, he’s speaking on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan this morning on Key of David. He talked about how all these were signs of Christ’s Second Coming.
Later on that day, in thinking back on the broadcast, I did think of two things that were missing from GF’s speech: (1) offers of any kind of assistance from the PCG, and (2) offers of prayers for the victims.
The disaster serves his need of providing fodder for fear induction to the members that are considering leaving the PCG and instilling further fear into the others. He is taking advantage of the disaster to its fullest. I knew that he just couldn’t resist. I prefer to put my faith in Christ rather than anything he says. –Impacted by PCG
You Prevented Me From Making a Huge Mistake:
April 1, 2011
Thank you for preventing me from making a huge mistake. I was on the verge of becoming a member with PCOG. I had been deceived before and I really thought this time I would be very careful about the “true church.” After reading several testimonies, I realized that I have had the same experiences. I just would like to know where do I go from here? Is it okay for me to just worship and study by myself at home or am I now considered a Laodicean? –E.
Reply: You are certainly not a “Laodicean” and yes it is OK to worship and study by yourself. Many Christians in the world (and even exiters of these high demand groups) are not able to fellowship with others. But Jesus said He will never forsake us. It is His Holy Spirit that teaches us. (I John 2:27) Also read: Where is the True Church?
A Pull to Be in the “One True Church”:
April 10, 2011
There remains in us a pull to be in the “one true church” so that we will be, what? Protected, in God’s favor, blessed, holy, justified, sanctified? The April 1 post stated how a person was trying to find this “true church” and was glad to find that PCG was clearly not it. I am glad for them. But will they keep looking to the organizations formed by men to find the “true church”? I know I had to change the way I thought about what is the “church.” I went back to the Bible and found out that where God’s church is, was not as important primarily as what God’s church is. For, how can a person find something, if they are unclear as to what that something is, and that was the dilemma in which I found myself back in the mid-`90s. Moreover, I didn’t even know that I was looking for the wrong thing. I thought I had it all figured out, having been raised from birth in the WCG, attended Ambassador College in Pasadena for 4 years, and served in the local congregation after that. All figured out, that is, until for most of us, our entire foundation was ripped out during the WCG transitions of the late `80s through mid `90s.
For me, the Bible is the final word, and this is what I found:
1) There was no word from the old covenant that was translated “church” in the KJV translation. The biblical concept of church is a predominantly New Covenant, perhaps entirely. Jesus said “…upon this rock I will build my church,…” (Matt. 16:18) If you are interested in the church built by Jesus, then it appears that it started at some point after this–not before this. By the time described in Acts 2:47, just after the first Pentecost after Jesus’ death, the church was fully in force and growing. It seems it would be prudent to define the church from this point forward–not from before this.
2) Jesus is the uncontested head of the church. (Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 5:23, and Colossians 3:18)
3) The church is analogized with a human body. Read I Corinthians 12 and see that no part of the body is greater than another, but created different by God for His purposes. And all parts submissive to both the Head and each other. If a church is found to be hammering in the idea of hierarchy, government, or the concept that God prefers one person over another, I would find that church to be in conflict with the Bible. But, if a church is found in which each member respects all others and all members are servants to one another, that would be a church, which, on those points, is consistent with Scripture.
My search for the “true church” has required a change in searching points as I visit different congregations, but my relationship with the Head of the church, and your relationship with the Head of the church, has not been severed. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will leave the “99” and come find you or me who may feel like “the 1.” He will finish the work He began in you, so look for Him to come into your life and lead the way. –E. K.
PCG Has Passed the Point of No Return:
May 16, 2011
In my opinion, Flurry’s group has passed the point of no return. When he began talking about a “Spirit of Seduction” overcoming the Laodiceans in May 2008, it scared me. My immediate thought was that PCG is the group he’s prophesying about. That’s when I knew I had to get my family out.
Throughout 2008 GF preached about the point to no return and the spirit of seduction. It reminded me of Romans 1 where God turns people over to a reprobate mind and in Titus where they claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. When people come to be known by their obedience to a man rather than having love for one another and their obedience to God, then in my opinion, they are deceived and are given over to a seductive spirit. God is not a controller, He wants us to choose between following the Good Book, or following a man. Freewill is central in character building. GF doesn’t allow free thinking. He literally demands his people to be followers. When a person follows too deeply into spiritual darkness, it’s best to let God go in after them. Basic help is understandable, but we have to know when to stop. It takes focus on God and faith to not get caught up in quicksand with the cult member. –Former PCG member
Comment: Read: Is the Philadelphia Church of God Now the Laodicean Church?
No Good Fruit in the Splinter Groups:
May 18, 2011
I’ve had a thought floating around in my mind for awhile. It has probably been stated before, but perhaps it should be said again. Christ said that a good tree can only produce good fruit, and that by the fruits we could tell the good from the bad. (Matthew 7:17-20)
If HWA and the WCG together was the good tree, how then can all these hateful splinter groups exist? They snipe at each other, even hate each other. They condemn each other to the Lake of Fire. The leaders claim titles and ranks that they have no right to claim. The members give to the point of poverty and still are asked for more. There is no charity nor true love. Help cannot be given to a member without permission from the hierarchy. What about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing? Love in families is turned to hate. There is no good fruit here, only bitter, poisonous fruit that brings death and misery.
My other thought. Assume for the sake of argument that Jesus Christ returns to gather up His followers before the Tribulation. No matter how sincere the members of these WCG splinter groups are, would they refuse to rise up and go with Christ? Would their leaders call Him the Devil and order their followers to refuse the call? Would they be so sure that they were to physically flee to Petra that they would actually try to get there somehow? If any actually make it there and found other groups arriving, what would they do, start their own war?
There is no good end to these groups. Their hopes are false. They have no real relationship with Jesus Christ, their Savior. He has, in fact, been demoted and is mentioned less and with less respect than Herbert Armstrong. –Former member of WCG and PCG
For Years I Felt Something Wasn’t Right:
July 1, 2011
After believing in what Herbert Armstrong said for so long, what you said [about the Scriptures] brings my mind so much peace. I spent half my life living this way and yet not feeling worthy and feeling secretly that you would never make it–a rather hopeless feeling that I could never understand how anyone else could thrive in. They make you feel as your life isn’t your own, that just living upright as you can just isn’t enough. You must pray for hours and beg God to accept you. It is a unspoken fear we all had in PCG–that probably only the ministers would make it and a few of the members, some who fast and live so-called righteous lives, who are held up in high esteem. I have personally never seen anyone that I felt fit the definition. Most of them would turn you in a moment’s notice, hoping for praise or some office of appreciation in doing so. I have lived in fear for years. People told me for years I was being deceived. I would never believe it. I have been in Gerald Flurry’s PCG for years now and for some time I have felt something just wasn’t right. Thank you so much for all of this information. –[name withheld]
Comment: This person wrote later to tell us they were leaving PCG and felt much better and so much more at peace.
Update: Read related letter: “Many Times I Felt Something Wasn’t Right” (July 28, 2022)
Forever Grateful I Found Your Website:
July 13, 2011
Hi, could you please send the following PDFs to my email? [lists the 3 PDF books we have]
I would just like to say how much I appreciate your website. As God is my witness, I came in touch with PCG literature a few months back. I think it was 2-3months. After reading a few literature, I thought to ask them how I would be able to join the church, they emailed me stating that I had to read Malachi’s Message, Mystery of the Ages and a few others, before a minister of God would come visit after I furnish them with contact details.
Anyway, I was reading the Mystery of the Ages and stumbled upon the part where HWA said God chose Abraham, Noah, etc., because they were of the pure white strain. I am a Pacific islander, black skinned. I was so hurt. But I pressed on nonetheless. This week (Monday) I decided to search the net for answers, and came upon your website. Thanks. –Forever Grateful
You Saved My Sanity and Faith:
August 27, 2011
I thank you again for all you do and have done for many years. You certainly saved my sanity, and maybe my faith. –Impacted by WCG and PCG
Gerald Flurry Preying on Members’ Fears:
September 7, 2011
In the May 2011 Philadelphia News, Gerald Flurry continues to instill fear into the minds of the members to stem the flow of his cash sources (members). In his front-page article, “1150 days: God’s warning to the PCG!”, he begins the guilt-trip with “We are all being judged right now by whether or not we live by every word of God. We are being judged every Sabbath, and every day of your life! And if we don’t get these words in our minds—if we don’t just SACRIFICE OUR LIVES (emphasis his) for this—the judgment won’t be good!”
What is really disturbing is when Flurry states, “Someday the terrorists who slit the throats of that Jewish family (a reference to PCG members) will have their sick thinking replaced by the love of God, if they yield themselves to God!”
I think it is GF here who is stricken with “sick thinking” as he first tries to place fear into the minds of the members who read this and then replaces the love of a God who gave His Son as a sacrifice for those who believe in Him to be changed to a condescending and cruel god that requires submission and doles out fierce punishment to those who refuse to submit to GF’s and HWA’s “laws.”
In my opinion, GF’s own words in this article prove he is a sick, demented man (maybe even a sociopath according to the definition on your site) who preys on the members’ fears to control them and to provide a cash source for his and the ministers’ income, and for the outlandish building programs, which are nothing more than thinly-veiled idols to Herbert Armstrong. –Anonymous
Burnt All of Gerald Flurry’s Literature:
October 7, 2011
I have been reading your site for the last one and a half weeks. I wish that I saw this before I started getting sucked in to GF’s fishing via the Trumpet site.
I started to tithe, but I recently burnt all the Bible study books I had including Raising the Ruins. I raised some smoke and flames.
They got about $2,000 off me over about 16 months or so and probably loved the exchange rate that worked in their favour. As I only get $17,500 per year after tax, it was a bad move on my part. I do know how this cult stuff can work now.
You mention that the members of the PCG had been given an article about managing personal financial matters. One of the booklets I had read also went into estate planning, etc., to get your money on your passing away. Think it was called “Managing Your Finances.” That stuff should have rung alarms, but I passively read it anyway.
It took me a good 90 minutes to burn the books at a BBQ in a park, so glad I did. I felt quite a weight coming off me, as I cannot grab one of them and use them to get to sleep like I used to. (Probably an even better way to get mind-controlled)
Thank you, –Australia
Members Leaving, Being Suspended, or Kicked Out:
November 8, 2011
I know the PCG tells members not to go on your site, yet the ministry trolls your pages frequently. Since [changes in PCG in certain areas], many members have left, been suspended, or kicked out. I really hope there is some closure in my life and that I can find peace. –Recent PCG exiter
These People Are Extremely Powerful and Evil:
November 8, 2011
I just found this website and wanted to share my experience. My youngest sister, whom I believe to be an easy target for sick people like Gerald Flurry, has been, in my opinion (as well as the rest of my family) totally mind-controlled. My father was a member of the Worldwide Church of God since I was 7 and is now attending United Church of God. My sister no longer communicates with our father because of the ex-communication ordered by Gerald Flurry. Does not one of the 10 commandments state: honour thy parents? How can one do this if they are ex-communicated? It seems logical to anyone who is not mind-controlled that this is ludicrous but these people who control large groups of people for personal gain and ego are extremely powerful and evil. I am at a loss at what to do but I would love to help her see the truth. I will be reading this site for further understanding of what is going on and how I might be able to help my sister to get out of this cult. –K.
A Satellite View of Flurry’s Developing Empire Proves Eye-opening:
November 11, 2011
I suggest that readers google a satellite view of Gerald Flurry’s developing empire. It’s a quick and easy revelation of members’ tithes at work. The large, spacious homes of the ministry are sure to be an eye-opener with the members as they scrimp and save to give generous offerings to the “Work.” –R. C.
Comment: If you enter 14400 South Bryant Ave., Edmond, OK 73034 into Googlemaps.com, you will see PCG’s buildings and a private drive leading around the top right to three houses, which we believe belongs to the two Flurrys and Wayne Turgeon.
More Info About “the Land” and How Jesus Wasn’t an Isolationist:
November 16, 2011
Just an additional note to the postings on your site about “the land” (as they call it) that the PCG owns and the Hall of Administration. If you notice on the right side of the building is a private, gated driveway for Gerald Flurry himself that leads to his very own private entrance to his office. His car is even sitting in his private parking space in the Google Maps photo. I guess, God forbid, “that prophet” has to interact with some of his own employees while walking to his office everyday lest it interrupt the download of the newest revelation God was giving him.
Jesus wasn’t an isolationist; but exactly the opposite. He held open meetings, talked openly to crowds and was consistently accessible to everyone, even little children. It was the Pharisees that didn’t want to associate with commoners or other groups of people and had issues with anyone who did. I remember touring the Hall of Administration and other buildings on “the land” when I was a member. I considered it an honor to even sit and have my photo taken in the chair Gerald Flurry does his Key of David broadcasts from, and I was not the only one. How ridiculous!! How wrong I was, and how much I was following a man. While I am thankful for the freedom from the cult, it’s still hard to shake the effects of being raised in such an organization, and I pray constantly for my friends and family still in the grasps of the PCG. Thank you for all that you do. –Former PCG member
Made Miserable Enough to Start Digging Into My Bible:
November 22, 2011
A lot has happened since we left all of the churches but our lives have been so blessed. I wanted to write and just tell you about what is going on with my family now. My brother kept the Feast with the PCG in Tucson, Arizona. I didn’t hear anything big except that a minister approached his young teenage daughter to tell her to go home and change her clothes because the new ripped up jean look was unacceptable to him. Also, recently my mother told me that she would not attend a Feast with United Church of God because they do not openly state that Herbert Armstrong was the “End-Time Elijah.” This, she said, was an important issue. I almost fell over. If I have learned nothing else about God in the last ten years, it’s that He doesn’t need a church to do His job for him. I have learned that to be a seeker and go after God on your own is what works for me.
It is very hard to combat the mind control that goes on these groups. And it is sad how many of them are afraid to dig into their own Bibles and be separate in their thinking. I know because I was one of them and I thought I would be in trouble with God for doing so. Simple studying and looking into their Bible with their own eyes is what the people who are suffering need. The seekers are the ones who shall find. I was fortunate enough to be made miserable enough to start truly digging into my Bible with Christ only by my side. It’s not as hard as it looks.
I am so happy you are still up and running and helping so many people out there as they exit these groups. You offer support and refuge and it is a much needed service. May God be with you every step of the way. –WCG child survivor and Former PCG member [name withheld]
Deaths and Abuses in PCG:
November 29, 2011
I can fully back up the stories about Craig Winters as I was in his congregation. Winters really lived up to his last name–cold and harsh. I think that if it weren’t for him Georgina Sanders would still be alive. [Georgina’s alleged suicide was in 2003] I miss her; she was like my mother and her death is just so wrong. It was everything she wasn’t. Her death was hard on my family. One week she was happy and there, the next they were reading her death announcement; then a sermon about how she probably won’t be in the Kingdom because she killed herself instead of seeking help. She did seek help and was told she had “government issues.” She would tell my mom how verbally abusive Greg was. [Gregory Sanders] Where do you go when you have “no way out?”
Mrs. Lujan died from cancer without medical help. Jake Winters [Craig Winters’ son] was like my big brother. I loved him. Garth Macdonald helped me so much my first year at PY camp because I was treated like crap; he also died. [Read: Garth Macdonald Dies Due to Lack of Medical Care] Now Mrs. Concetta Petrillo is dying of breast cancer. [Read: Another Death in PCG (Concella Petrillo)] All of these deaths might have been avoidable but instead they are “examples of God’s will.” These are just some more accounts I have thought about. All of this for what? For an “example.” Its really sickening.
My sibling [still in PCG] was so upset about how the PCG ministry gets a full time paycheck when there are families (like my parents) who are struggling financially while the ministers sit pretty at HQ in their huge elaborate homes all paid in full.
I’m so happy to have found your site, it’s really helped me in my everyday life. I’m becoming less afraid. –Recent PCG Exiter
Flurry Getting Desperate For Money:
December 1, 2011
Flurry is getting more desperate for money since PCG still owes over $7 million on his latest folly.
In his last co-worker letter (November 21) he was so callous about the members who are in a financial bind because of the economy, blaming them for the building fund being down, and telling them: “It is a strong spiritual indicator that something is not right with too many people in this Church. Let’s be honest! Isn’t that what Laodecianism and lukewarmness is like?” … “if our ways are pleasing God, no recession or depression could make a bit of difference” and “God loves to see us putting the needs of His Work above our own desires.” (emp. mine)
My stomach is still lurching from reading what he wrote. –Sickened
Comment: This co-worker letter is a prime example of Scripture twisting with Flurry implementing the same tactics as HWA. God tells us to take care of the needs of our own family first (I Timothy 5:8) and that we are already blessed in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
No Proof of What Gerald Flurry Says:
December 8, 2011
I wonder if the PCG really still owes over $7 million on the Auditorium, or if he’s just telling the members that to get even more money over and above the cost of the building? Flurry could tell them anything, and they’d believe it, and as far as I know the PCG doesn’t give out a financial statement so there’s no proof of what he says. He could tell the members anything and they’d have to believe him; they have only his word on anything. I’d say it’s highly likely that he is using the same methods of deception that HWA used. In reading HWA’s co-worker letters (1972 to 1980)about the Ambassador Auditorium and the Building Fund what I picked up was how he kept repeating the same thing, whether it was the “unheard of financing” or how the Building Fund was “way down.” Pathological liars keep repeating lies to make themselves believe them. –S. L.
Cash in Accounts and Investments to Pay off the Auditorium:
December 17, 2011
I just talked to my father this morning. Earlier this week, my mother [in PCG] exclaimed that “everyone needs to cash in their accounts and investments and pay off the Auditorium so the end can come.” I guess this is Flurry’s newest ploy to retire that $7 million debt. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
Members Recoil Back Into the Lies:
December 17, 2011
It’s sad that only a few escape. But they (GF, HWA, etc.) have such control over their mind. It’s almost impossible to help those who still hold to HWA. They won’t accept that Herbert Armstrong messed around with his daughter, even after he started the Radio Church of God, or any other thing that has been proven, no matter how much truth they are confronted with. They re-coil back into the lies. Sometimes it is hard to care about people that are so deceived yet want to stay that way. I am going through a bitterness of being part of such deceit and wasting my life. People in my life died–while I was obeying the Tyrant–and I can’t make the hurt up to them. Keeping myself from holidays that they wanted me to be part of. Instead, being part of such a self-righteousness cult just angers me. I don’t seem to have patience with anyone else now when caring people are trying to free them out of their misery and instead they just turn a deaf ear. Sometimes it is really hard to care about them. I really admire you for trying. –Ex WCG member/recent exiter of PCG
I Decided it Was Better to Stand Up For Jesus:
December 28, 2011
I would just like to thank you for all the assistance that you have given me these past few months. We had our talk, my girlfriend and I, regarding her beliefs. The end result has been what you had predicted, she chose her “church” over the Scriptures. … When I gave her Scripture references [that disproved certain PCG teachings], she stopped me and said she couldn’t be with me anymore. I had gone through other areas–she just ignored it. In the beginning, I had wanted to gloss over things to please her but then decided it was better to standup for JESUS despite my feelings for her. Anyway, thanks for everything. –[name withheld]