Best of the Letters for 2022
Note: Most of the PCG Sermon critiques for 2021 have been moved to a separate page to keep this page from being too long. Critiques include ESN comments and links to helpful material that tie in with the critique. To read them go to: PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022.
Everyone We Know Has Benefited From Your Site:
January 1, 2022
Your site has been a big help for us after we left PCG. We have been out for two years now and are still going through and absorbing everything on your site. Everyone we know who has left has said they have benefited from your site. –Former member of PCG
January 2, 2022
Jude Flurry, son of the infamous Stephen Flurry, and who attends Herbert W.Armstrong College, was baptized November 6, 2021 by his father and Joel Hilliker. Are we looking at another PCG evangelist in the making? –[name withheld]
Comment: Jude Flurry is involved with Riverdancing. Read: Edmond Elite Youth Being Taught How to Riverdance (Irish Dancing)
PCG’s Misleading Lies About Their Archaeology:
January 6 , 2022
The PCG’s watchJerusalem website, retweeted as well in the “churches” twitter feed, has a headline that says :
“Our Top 10 Biblical Archaeology Discoveries Of 2021”
I just want to draw attention to how shady and misleading they are. Despite what Andrew Locher said in a Bible study given during their summer camp last year, they don’t have any archaeologist employed by the PCG nor are they even remotely capable of graduating an archaeologist from their indoctrination college [Herbert W. Armstrong College]. And they most certainly have not made any archaeological discoveries or even participated in any digs this year. This subtle misinformation is what they do in every aspect of their religion.
Also while on the topic, notice how they refuse to release how much money they paid for Dr. Eilat Mazar’s book collection. Just as Herbert Armstrong bought his way into literally every head of state meeting he had and pawned it off as God’s doing. –Former PCG member
Heard Andrew Locher Lying to Campers:
January 6, 2022
I listened to that last Bible Study Andrew Locher gave at PCG Youth Camp [now known as Philadelphia Church of God Summer Educational Program or SEP]. It was awful. He was trying to convince the campers why they should go to H. W. Armstrong college and how it has “turned out so many successful people in all different careers” and went on to say they had “two archaeologists” in the PCG. He was referring to, but didn’t directly name, Chris Eames and Brent Naagtagal. It was a blatant lie! They are not archaeologists! Not even close! Andrew Locher is just a slimy little liar. –N. L.
Carlos Heyer Being Transferred to Latin America
January 7, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
The Tragic Death of Alicia Flory:
January 11, 2022
I was around when Alicia Flory died. (see January 18, 2014 letter “Little Girl Died from Lack of Medical Attention“) I worked as a part time contractor with Dale Flory and his sons in their construction business. I was told by a Flory family member that Dale Flory and his wife were trying natural remedies with their daughter [to help her get well]. The problem was that they waited too long to give her antibiotics.
I know Yvonne was into Reiki and all natural healing methods, some of which were New Age (Kinesiology and Reflexology, for instance). Yvonne did tell me about Reiki. I remember distinctly because I had never heard about this type of natural healing before. Just how she practiced it precisely [or if she used it on Alicia] I am not able to expertly relate. I know she showed me her room in her Greenville, OH house with candles, aroma therapy, and New Age music where she helped people with physical infirmities.
I am not a family member of the Florys. Perhaps I was not as intimately involved in the inner familial workings of those people but it was not as if I am an outsider making stuff up. They [the family] waited too long with that natural healing stuff until they finally went to a doctor. When you bring a kid into a doctor’s office with pus coming out of their ear in an advanced viral infection, any physician will realize that this did not happen overnight. The doctor had to file a report with the local authorities. If everything was on the up and up to begin with, why did the State/County even have to investigate? I have had children die in my family and amongst friends and coworkers. I have never had one time heard a report of the authorities investigating a child’s death. Something was rotten in Denmark as the saying goes.
Could it be the PCGs diabolical doctrine of no doctors that could have been a factor in Alicia’s tragic and untimely death? [Refer to: Use of the medical profession is strongly discouraged from “Philadelphia Church of God Information.”]
I remember attending Alicia’s funeral and helping shovel the dirt into her grave.
–Brett Streutker, former member of PCG and author of many articles on ESN.
Comments from ESN: Read: New Age Alternative Healing. which covers Kinesiology, Reflexology, Aromatherapy, and other alternative healing.
Husband of Vicky Barreiro Committed Suicide:
January 11, 2022
Did you know that Vicki Barreiro’s husband committed suicide?? Vicki moved to Ponca City, OK to be near HQs in Edmond, OK, leaving her parents, 80 or so years old, alone in CA. –[name withheld]
Comment: Read: Gerald Flurry Remarries–Hypocrisy From the Top. Footnote #1 at bottom tells how Vicki Sue Barreiro married Gerald Flurry on November 16, 2020 and then links to the letter with the special announcement, which says the marriage all started with “ministerial counseling.”
Went to AC With Husband of Vicki Barreiro:
(2nd email from person above)
January 12, 2022
It was around November 2017 when he [Vicki’s husband] committed suicide.
We’ve been suffering since at least 2017. My husband and I were put out at that same Feast after I’d spoken with Vicki about where was Lou. She said “They’re working with him.” He had been put out. I guess it didn’t go too well. I’d gone to AC with Lou and I thought it sounded a bit too cavalier. Then we were put out at the Feast, then let back in 12 weeks later; asked regional director about Lou and he admitted he’d killed himself. We were put out again in July 2021 for not coming back immediately after our building opened up for Covid. Still don’t know what to do. Have read your site several times and found it helpful. –Kind regards, –Ex PCG [name withheld]
Told Baptism Wasn’t Valid:
(3rd email from person above:)
January 12, 2022
There’s so much that I guess I’ve got stored away, and if you don’t mind I’ll get some of it off my chest. Gerald Flurry decided Lou Barreiro [Vicki Barreiro’s husband] hadn’t been baptized–his baptism hadn’t been valid–so that would mean he’d still have a chance at eternal life. That’s handy as a way out. It wasn’t that he’d been tormented in his mind by being kept from the Feast and probably told he’d have to be re-baptized. They tried to do that to me, too (the same minister)–that maybe my baptism hadn’t been valid simply because I’d been baptized at 18 at AC [Ambassador College]. But I quoted Herbert Armstrong’s booklet that if you have been truly baptized it would be wrong to redo it. So the regional director (Brian Davis) decided mine had been valid. But I know what it did to me. It was devastating. My whole life would mean nothing.
There was a woman in her early 50’s that they did re-baptize at this time. This time they said we “might be tares” even though the new regional director (Cal Culpepper) said, “You’re a delightful couple and have a lot to give.” I guess he changed his mind when we left it [PCG] too long to come back after Covid. This decision we found out later was just as GF was starting to date Vicki Barrerio exclusively, so I can’t help but wonder if his judgement might not have been quite on the mark (for our sake I hope that’s the case anyway). You can see the turmoil still in me. Anyway, thanks for listening. –Ex PCG [name withheld]
P.S. Just to clarify. It was July 2020 when they put us out (not 2021). The local guy, Roger Brandon, was on the warpath against us. Cal Culpepper was more amenable, but said GF kept reminding him it was 3 weeks in a row out [from not attending], then out. It was just too far for us in our circumstances but that wasn’t OK I guess. Bums [buttocks] on chairs isn’t the same as conversion. Hope God sees it that way. –Ex PCG [name withheld]
Comment: This person has received a personal reply. Also read: Examples of a Tightly Controlled System (Philadelphia Church of God) Copies of three documents faxed from PCG HQs. Covers rules for: Bible Studies; PCG picnics and socials and valid baptismal counseling. (Has Marvin Campbell’s signature on them.)
Continuing to Destroy People’s Lives By the Day:
January 13, 2022
Sometimes I can hardly wrap my head around what is transpiring in PCG. It seems like absolute madness. This cult is continuing to destroy people’s lives by the day while GF and the rest of his goons exhibit complete indifference as to what they are doing. I continue to pray against GF and his schemes and lies daily and that God would intervene for the suffering people. –A. R.
Andrew Hessong Moved to Ohio Where His Idol Brian Davis Is:
January 14, 2022
I found out that Andrew Hessong moved to Ohio to be right where his idol, Brian Davis is. [Note: Brian Davis is the brother-in-law of Andrew Hessong] I don’t think some people understand that everything Hessong did was actually done by Brian Davis, through him. These men under Brian Davis can’t wipe their noses without first running it by Brian. I think it’s funny that Hessong got fired when Cal Culpepper moved over the Western region.
Also, I thought you might be interested in knowing that when it comes to women, Brian Davis is a serial re-baptizer! That is his MO when he comes across a woman who either isn’t swooning over him or is giving him the slightest trouble in getting them completely under control. I personally know of 4 but know there have been more! It is a way of humiliating them thus gaining control and bringing them into submission to him. (His attitude towards women is text book narcissistic sociopath, which I am 100% sure he is one) –Former PCG member [name withheld]
Comment: Read: Brian Davis Is an Abusive Tyrant which will link to other letters him.
PCG Has Lost Several of Their Platforms:
January 14, 2022
I received notes from my source that pertained to a recent sermonette by Mark Hyde which was called “The Cancel Culture Front.” PCG has lost several of their platforms and it’s all due to “Satan” and the “cancel culture” which shows us “time is short” and now it is “up to the members to do something about it.” He said often the co-worker letters are descriptions of “our enemy’s campaign against us.” Ever notice how Satan is brought into everything in the PCG? Especially when there’s a problem?
He called it “strong headwinds” when he said PCG lost most of their ability to use YouTube and Facebook this year and “one of their most effective cable television networks ended their contract with them after 13 years.” Now they are having trouble finding “replacement outlets.” The reason for these problems? “The message is getting stronger and the world more hostile.”
So, they are to “pray for open doors” because Satan is using this cancel culture to “stifle this message.”
It was the same old verbiage of “We are quickly running out of time.” Didn’t we hear HWA say that over and over from the beginning of his ministry? Haven’t we heard GF say it over and over since 1989?
Hyde said, “God’s Work is going to get done but how fast may depend on us.” May? It always seems to “depend on the members.” They are to pray a door will open and that God’s Work will get done. But if it was truly was God’s Work, would they have to worry so much about it getting done? –[name withheld]
Comment: Mark Hyde is married to Rachel Leap, daughter of Dennis Leap.
Dennis Leap Once Got on a Table at the FOT and Started Shouting:
January 14, 2022
Speaking of abusive ministers, I want to relate how Dennis Leap got up on a table once and was shouting in these other members’ faces. He was disfellowshipping a couple of members at the Feast one year and he really made a big show of it.
I don’t think any of these ministers in PCG show any humility befitting a real servant of Jesus. –[name withheld]
Brian Davis Controlled and Morphed Many Men Into Dictators:
January 15, 2022
In regards to the letter you had posted about Andrew Hessong and Brian Davis [see January 14], I’d like to add my personal experience with Brian Davis. He always makes comments such as “If so and so can’t control his wife then God’s church will control her for him.” This allowed him to control and morph many men into dictators. No one wanted to be seen as not having control over their family. There are many sermons given about men controlling their wives and making sure they aren’t allowing the wife be the neck that turns the man’s head.
Looking back on the things that went on there I can see just how wrong it was. At the time I knew on some level that it wasn’t right and saw many men treat their wives and children badly. Blame would almost always be placed on the woman regardless of circumstance. I hope that people thinking of joining this organisation will read your site and realise what they are getting involved with. –Ex member of PCG
Dennis Leap’s Behavior Has Been Sickening:
January 17, 2022
Dennis Leap broke up many families and threw hundreds of people out when he was a minister. His behavior has been sickening. He was known by his friends to tell “great dirty jokes.” His poor wife hardly ever smiled. Today he is only a “senior writer” for PCG and he has no speaking role anymore. –Ex PCG
Leap Knows Too Much About Where Malachi’s Message Came From:
January 19, 2022
I think any position (“power”) Dennis Leap has comes from the fact that he knows too much about where Malachi’s Message came from, since he helped to rewrite it. Flurry has put him down, but cannot get rid of him. Leap’s wife never accompanied him on visits. Maybe she didn’t want to hear him be cruel. She only smiled in response to a friendly greeting, and even then she looked like she didn’t know how. He had the unhappiest family I ever saw in the PCG. Even though Leap used to be fat, he used to call another young minister “Bubble Butt.” Nobody liked him. –Former member of PCG
Comment: There is much on our site about Dennis Leap especially in regard to Malachi’s Message. One for instance is: “Dennis Leap, Malachi’s Message and Mark Nash.” Do a search on his name. Also be aware that more than two witnesses have testified to Leap’s unsavory behavior.
GF Adds to Revelation 3:8 / Hints at January 16 “Miracle”:
January 21, 2022
GF, on January 15 said this day was “D-Day” and called it a “special weekend.” He gave some announcements before his sermon and the first thing I noticed was how he added to Revelation 3:8. He said that he thought of this Scripture while Dwight Falk was giving the sermonette about January 16. He said he remembered it very distinctly because he didn’t think he ever heard HWA say this. He told how HWA was being criticized about some things and that he (HWA) went to Revelation 3:7-8. Then GF read verse 8. However, GF added to that Scripture. He read it as saying, and I quote his words:
“Behold I have set before you an open door (that’s Mr. Armstrong) and no man can shut it for you have a little strength and have kept my word and have not denied my name or my government.” If you will read Revelation 3:8 you will find that it does not say “my government.” The verse ends with “and hast not denied my name.” I wonder if any members picked up on that? GF said HWA silenced his critics for quite awhile by reading that. I’m sure he did if he added the words “my government.”
Then he gave a few announcements and said “This really falls in the category of a miracle day” or “close to it.” He told how on January 11 PCG sent out their first issue of “Let the Stones Speak” to the printer and that the magazine should start arriving in the mailbox this weekend to the U.K. subscribers. [This will be the magazine of the new institute.] He said on January 16 and 17, the Armstrong-Mizar Institute of Biblical Archaeology [refer to November 13, 2021 letter to ESN and GF’s co-worker letter of November 1] will be launching its new website. ArmstrongMazar.com
Then he told how he (GF) “made a special request to enter Jerusalem without vaccination” but they denied his request. However, he said the dept. manager suggested he be in touch with him in a couple of weeks “when the Omicron wave will hopefully be over and he will reconsider our application.”
He told members that everything is opening up over there in Jerusalem and he is sure that God is going to get them over there “in a certain appointed time.” –Anonymous
GF Still Trying to Pull a January 16 Miracle Out of a Hat:
January 21, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
GF Says Get Rid of Your Smartphones or You Will End up in the Tribulation:
January 25, 2022
I just wanted to draw attention to the last sermon GF gave entitled, “Jeremiah’s Commission.”
Towards the end he began speaking about smartphones. He referenced one specific family who used them and though he didn’t specifically say, he alluded to them no longer being members. So whether they were kicked out or left I don’t know.
He then proceeded in an attempt to scare his followers by saying if people don’t get rid of their smartphone they will end up in the Tribulation and they’ll be eating their sons, daughters and friends and he then asked, “what good will those smart phones be then?”
This is only about control! Think about this. What is the difference between an iPad or a computer? They all access the same information. What is the difference between a man at work all day on his computer in his private office or a stay at home mom with access all day to her iPad?? There is literally no difference.
GF does this to control, and if the members secretly keep their smartphones then they feel guilty and will attribute any bad thing that happens to them to this little “act of rebellion.” And if the ministry finds out someone is “rebelling,” then that gives them leverage and control over them. Even by their own doctrine, if their members can’t control themselves and stay off the porn sites–which he seemed to indicate that was a problem–how then can they make it into their supposed kingdom? Clearly they don’t have the character, and can’t do it unless their life is controlled for them.
Last time I checked, God doesn’t want robots. If He did, He would have made us so. It makes no difference if they access porn via a smartphone, iPad, or computer. It’s not about that, it’s solely about control, just like the recent ruling on men only wearing white shirts to church. It is 100% cult behavior. –T. C.
Wicked Abominable Organization Only Interested in Taking People’s Money:
January 25, 2022
This cult has all the characteristics of a criminal organization posing as a “church.” It has been said before that Gerald Flurry “exaggerates like an accomplished maniacal liar.” You can see this over and over again if you pay careful attention to what he says and writes. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a true sociopath that needs to be exposed to the nth degree. GF, SF, and all their “carefully chosen” ones in this wicked, abominable organization are only interested in taking people’s money and they will do whatever it takes to accomplish that end, even if it means lying and taking Scripture out of context. One article on your site tells how they get the elderly to hand over their estates, wills and other assets. They also love it when someone is sick and dying and has money that they can coerce them out of leaving to them. This cult needs to be destroyed by God in Heaven and I know it will be someday! It has already destroyed enough innocent lives as it is. –T. S.
Also read: PCG Preying on the Old, Sick and Dying (and Not Leaving Any Paper Trail) (letter to ESN)
Not All PCG Members Will Give Up Their Smartphones:
January 30, 2022
On the subject of smartphones, I believe that PCG thinks the postings on your site with information about PCG sermons are coming from people recording those sermons on their smartphones. That is GF’s their biggest fear: losing members (which are his main cash source) and information from their sermons being made public so people are aware of what really is being said inside those closed-door services. My wife is in PCG and she certainly has not given up her smartphone. I doubt if others in PCG are doing so either. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
My Ex-Wife in PCG Died Due to Medical Neglect:
January 30, 2022
Reviewing these pages has helped me understand and strengthen my thoughts about the PCG and my ex-wife’s passing.
My wife joined the PCG in the early 1990s. I continued attending a traditional Christian denomination while she attended the PCG. I kept getting vibes that her “church” was a cult from the members I met and because of the control it had on her thoughts and actions. We eventually ended up divorcing [several] years later due to the strain it was causing on our children and marriage. She married a member of the PCG and ended up moving multiple times to different states and loosing contact with her children.
Her husband called us in the middle of the night [date removed] that she was dying, was incoherent, and couldn’t talk. Word quickly spread and my son called the town’s police to do a wellness check. They arrived and insisted the husband allow them to call an ambulance and he argued. One was finally called but the husband refused any medical treatment at the hospital because that was her wish. He produced a hand written note stating she didn’t want medical intervention and later he admitted signing the paper. We learned later she possibly wasn’t allowed transportation (by her choice or others) to medical help for a few weeks leading up to her death. PCG members would come over and sit with her to pray and use healing cloths. This was murder by neglect. We also suspected the husband may have had a hand in her demise. The police never did an autopsy or investigation. Later [date removed], he remarried a PCG member and had a child.
The PCG stole my wife, contributed to her death, and emotionally scarred me and my children. Your pages have given me knowledge that my experience was unfortunately shared by others. –[name withheld]
PCG Says They Are “Temporarily Unable” to Produce CDs for Visually-Impaired:
January 30, 2022
In PCG “Important Announcements” they posted this:
Audio Recordings
Unlike in the past, Audio Recording staff has not been able to produce CDs of our regular publications for the visually-impaired (or blind) since the summer. We’re temporarily unable to produce them and will resume the program as soon as it’s feasible. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to those who rely on the material. Projects may be completed intermittently; if so, a single CD set may arrive in mailboxes occasionally for those who are subscribed.
I don’t think PCG is worried so much about members recording the sermons on their smartphones as they are about a shut-in having one of these CDs accidentally getting to someone that isn’t a member. I remember only one letter you posted where someone passed on the Celtic Throne Performance (Read 2021 letter: “Someone Passed a Copy of the Celtic Throne Performance on to Me“) However, members have too much fear in them to be recording the sermons on their smartphones. That’s just my thoughts from knowing some who have left. The fear PCG places in them is diabolical. That said, perhaps it’s best that the “visually-impaired” don’t hear these sermons. Maybe it will give them time to think about leaving. I would think, though, that sending them a copy even “occasionally” is taking a risk of it getting into someone else’s hands. –[name withheld]
Brad Macdonald Makes Members and Singles Fear to be Unequally Yolked:
February 1, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
GF Switches Gears and Says God is Forming His “Gideon’s Army”:
February 5, 2022
GF used to quote HWA as stating something about “when the church pleased God, it grew,” but they no longer ever say that because it hasn’t had growth in many years. They’ve even stopped printing their circulation numbers in their magazines. Now they’ve switched gears and talk about how God is forming his little “Gideon’s Army” and that in these end times they should expect to lose members–the ones who never really believed. Well I call B.S. on that. I attended the WCG and PCG for many years. I believed! I believed it hook, line and sinker! Until one day I sat down and started trying to figure out why my family was on the brink of disintegrating. When I stepped back and looked at things objectively and without all of the lies, manipulation and fear mongering–well, let’s just say I was quite surprised to see the “church” was the culprit.
Thankfully I was able to think clearly and have been out for several years. It was quite an adjustment as my parents came in to WCG when I was a little child. I only knew that way of life. But God has deeply blessed me and my husband (he was out of PCG before me). And I’m so thankful!
I don’t believe God is in PCG in any way. I want it to be exposed for all of the negative ways it has impacted people.
Thank you again for all you do. –Former PCG member
Alex Harrison Was the Biggest Hypocrite of All:
February 6, 2022
Alex Harrison was always very, very controlling. He was a manipulator, a liar, and abuser and most of all the biggest hypocrite that has ever existed!!
There is hypocrisy within the PCG at the highest level and which proves PCG is not a Christian church but a cult that is self serving and not at all Bible based. –Ex member of PCG
Comment: Much has been posted on our site about Alex Harrison who died 11-29-20. Read: Concerns from Trinidad and Alex Harrison Destroyed Families and Spiritual Lives.
Hot Air Article:
February 7, 2022
To finish the end of 2021 off, Gerald Flurry wrote a hot air article entitled, “Following Elijah.” (December 10, 2021)
First of all, why does the title say “Following Elijah”? Didn’t Jesus say many times to follow Him? (use a Bible concordance and look up the words “follow me” in the N. T.
And what does GF offer at the end of this “Following Elijah” hot air article? You got that right–Malachi’s Message, which should really be entitled Gerald Flurry’s Message. Or more accurately, Jules Dervaes Message, co-authored by Dennis Leap. (Read: Malachi’s Message–How True Is It?”) –Anonymous
Comment: “Following Elijah” is also chapter four in the book Malachi’s Message.
Royal Vision Nothing But a Propaganda Machine:
February 12, 2022
The Royal Vision (free to outsiders) is nothing but a propaganda machine. The January-February 2022 issue with article by GF “Who Can But Prophecy? starts out imitating HWA’s autobiography style and methodology, except beginning from his boyhood, as HWA did, he starts from right before he was fired from WCG in 1989. This article showed GF was trying to be exactly like HWA in telling his “story.” He went over how he “stood alone”; how most of them didn’t believe him at the Bible study he gave, but God was giving him new revelation (even though he “didn’t fully realize it at the time”); that God was “conditioning” him for what lay ahead; he knew he had to speak about what God was showing him (Malachi’s Message) and how when you have “just one man in an enterprise with God” great things happen. It was all about how God works with people like him, and he bragged about what all he has accomplished since then. The clear signs of a narcissist/sociopath are there.
The leaders of the PCG have shown they can’t do anything but lie. Even where the 72 chapter Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong is published on the Trumpet website, they lie by saying HWA (1892-1986) “was one of the most prominent religious leaders of the 20th century, watched, read and followed by millions worldwide.” I have no way of knowing how many “followed” him, but he certainly was not one of the “most prominent religious leaders of the 20th century.” If you do a search for those words, you will come up with names like Swami Vivekananda, Billy Graham, Dalai Lama, Karl Barth, various Popes, Mother Theresa, John R. Mott, and others. Nothing is mentioned of Herbert W. Armstrong. He didn’t even make the top 10 religious leaders of the 20th century, nor the ten most influential Christians of the 20th century. I think we all know what the Scriptures say about liars. –AJW
Sickened to Find Out Where GF and HWA Modeled Their Organization After:
February 16, 2022
While listening to GF’s latest sermon given at HQ on February 5 (“The Antiochus / Obama Warfare”), I was just sickened when I realized where exactly HWA and subsequently GF modeled their organizations after.
In the sermon, GF said HWA wrote some powerful articles on communism in the early 50’s and 60’s. Please notice this quote–an exact quote–of GF quoting HWA describing communism:
“A ruthless totalitarian dictatorship. It is run with absolute power, a few men at the top, all of whom are completely subservient to one man who is dictator absolute. This one man dictatorship is supposed to be necessary because there may be different interpretations of the Marxist philosophy. Therefore, to prevent division they must have a supreme interpreter.”
The above quote came from an article by Herbert Armstrong in the 1962 Plain Truth:
“It is a ruthless, totalitarian dictatorship. It is run with absolute power by a few men at the top–all of whom are completely subservient to one man who is Dictator Absolute! This one-man dictatorship is supposed to be necessary because there may be different interpretations of the Marxist philosophy. Therefore, to prevent division, they must have a Supreme interpreter (“Communism, ‘Christianity’ and Double Talk” by Herbert W. Armstrong, February 1962 Plain Truth, p. 26)
If this doesn’t describes the PCG “church” government precisely, then nothing does! And just like communism, everyone is required to protect the government structure at all costs. Anyone who questions or stands up against that government and its injustices that the government inflicts, are immediately “dealt” with.
Upon further research from HWA’s own mouth. (Which I highly recommend everyone do). I came across a co-worker letter from February 1st, 1939. In this letter it shows HWA’s original form of governance–completely different from today. He later changed it when he realized he had to have complete control! [Note by ESN: You can also read it here: Did Christ Reorganize the Church? (February 1939 Good News article showing Herbert Armstrong condemned hierarchal church government in his early years.) [offsite article in PDF]
Then, notice a co-worker letter from November 24, 1967. In here, HWA describes in his own words how he began to study and research communism! Here’s a quote to get you started:
“I knew the Communist purpose and goal. I knew the Communists methods and tactics. I knew their philosophies and teachings. I knew how actual Party members are yielded completely to Communist Party discipline, obedient at any cost–willing to make any sacrifice for it.” (November 24, 1967 Brethren & Co-Worker Letter from Herbert W. Armstrong)
PCG members, did you know this?? Tell me you’re not living this? Prospective members do you know this??
HWA also stated in the above referenced co-worker letter that he had arranged to receive regular weekly bulletins, containing inside information in regard to communist’s activities in the USA.
Exact quote:
“In the early years of The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast, beginning 1934, I had an arrangement with a secret investigator, working in connection with a major city police department, to receive regular weekly bulletins, containing inside information in regard to Communist activities in this country.” (November 24, 1967 Brethren & Co-worker Letter from Herbert W. Armstrong)
You can find these co-worker letters all over the internet, but I like to use this site because I know they are legitimate [Note by ESN: Dates to the co-worker letters are on the left side in the box.] This site has all HWA’s original material) Please do your research. Look into the history!
PCG government was designed after communism. HWA and GF may claim that communism is the counterfeit of God’s government. Nowhere in the Bible is this form of government described or used.
–T. C.
Note by ESN: Our section on Herbert W. Armstrong/Questioning HWA’s background will have links to how HWA studied into communism and also his studying Mein Kampf.
Reading HWA’s Co-Worker Letters Was Eye-Opening:
February 18, 2022
Shortly after we were kicked out of PCG, we went back and read from the beginning the co-worker letters by HWA. We were mind blown at what we were reading: the desperate attempts to get money, telling people to take out loans. How HWA covered for Garner Ted over and over again. The house in Lake Tahoe; the planes, personal drivers, salaries, extravagant trips and all the while telling the people they need to give more! And sacrifice more! It was shocking! All the predictions and failed prophecies he made. It was all very eye opening to us. –Former PCG members
Fred Dattolo Perverts Ephesians 1 & 2:
February 27, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
GF Gives Another Boring Antiochus Sermon:
March 4, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Dwight Falk Uses Clever Way to Increase Holy Day Offerings:
March 7, 2022
Dwight Falk, in his authoritarian and non-empathetic voice, gave a Sermonette: “Help Through Offerings” where he used a clever way to manipulate members into giving more money for their holy day offerings. He started off reading an email that he said they received from a lady in Canada who is a subscriber but not a member and read her words which said, “We really need our Prophet to speak on the Russian issue. Help, pastor Flurry!” He based his entire sermonette on this two sentence email and said this is how members’ holy day offerings help people like her (who are “crying out for help”) and that they (PCG) only have a “short time” before there is a famine of the Word. He quoted Jesus’ words in John 9:4 about working “before the night cometh” to insinuate PCG only had a short time left.
He also quoted Ezekiel 33:33: “And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them” to associate the words “prophet” and “among them” with GF. Even though GF takes upon himself the name “Ezekiel” as one of his many titles, Falk conveniently didn’t mention that even though the people in Ezekiel’s day would sit and listen to Ezekiel when he was prophesying about the fall of Jerusalem (which happened), it had no effect whatsoever on the people, as they didn’t heed what he said.
So what is GF going to get out of all this if America is destroyed? Only a smug satisfaction that “he was right”? Hoping people will say, “Oh, GF was a true prophet?” And where will GF be at this time? Hiding in an underground bunker somewhere? Overseas at Edstone? For certain, he won’t be in the place of safety in Adullam. Most will not even remember GF except his followers who would no doubt be in a panic. I think of Psalms 118:8: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” This whole thing is a crock of nonsense from a power-mad leader and is only to keep the money flowing into their coffers. –Anonymous
Wayne Turgeon and GF’s Messed Up View of Bible Prophecy:
March 12, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Gerald Flurry Gallivanting to the Middle East in His Expensive Jet Plane:
March 15, 2022
Here are some math facts to consider about GF’s jet plane: (Gerry=GF; Steve=SF)
1. Gerry’s G450 holds 4,370 US gallons of fuel.
2. It gets 5000 miles per tank.
3. OKC to Jerusalem is 8,663 miles.
According to globalair.com, the average cost per gallon of jet fuel (in the central USA) is $5.18/gallon. To fill Gerry’s 4370 gallon tank for approximately 5000 miles costs $22,636.00. Jerusalem is approximately 8660 miles away. So a one-way trip, fuel only, no international fees, pilots costs, airport fees etc., is a cool $39,205.00. Round trip is $78,410.00 fuel only!
(These numbers are not exact but are definitely well in the ball park)
I was in the PCG for many decades and I can assure you there are very few people who even make $78,410.00 a year.
While Gerry is gallivanting to the Middle East on the members’ dime, most struggle to fill their tanks, put food on the table and put off dental care. And for what?? A library in Jerusalem. He’s going to educate the Jews on their history. He’s trying to hobnob with some archaeologist, following in HWA’s footsteps. This involves payoffs to insert a few students into a dig so he can fool the members into thinking they are a part of something significant in order to keep them chasing the ever-moving horizon, and lining his, Steve’s, and Laura’s pockets.
At the moment, a business class ticket from Oklahoma City to Jerusalem is $4,900.00 round trip. For under 5K, Gerry can fly comfortably, enjoying all the food he desires, and can get as drunk as he likes without having to worry about bribing any Oklahoma police officers. –Former PCG member [name withheld]
Comment: Read: Why “That Prophet” Really Needed a Corporate Jet (2019 letter to ESN)
GF in a Boring Sermon Gives Updates About His Jerusalem Trip:
March 19, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Why Didn’t SF Get Sick on the Same Food?
March 20, 2022
Regarding the previous letter about GF getting violently sick in a restaurant [when they went to Jerusalem] and thought he was going to die. I almost dropped on my knees and said “Hallelujah,” but then I realized his son would take the helm. I think this “getting sick” occurrence is so odd because if it was food poisoning he should have gone to a doctor. (On the other hand, I’m sure he has a doctor in the wings to come to his room). Also, why didn’t SF get sick on the same food?? Something is fishy in Denmark. I wouldn’t put it past SF to slip something into GF’s food (or a drink) to do away with his dad, so he could take over the reigns. I’m sure he’s itching for full control of the PCG empire. I wonder what path SF would take if GF did kick the bucket? Same as GF, or change things up a bit? Maybe I’m awful, but I think it was a shame GF lived to talk about this. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
Daryl Hope Tells What the Ten Directives for the End Times Are:
March 27, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
GF and His Babbling Co-worker/Dear Brethren Letter:
March 28, 2002
I heard that Bible Study by Deryl Hope. [see March 27 letter] He ended by going over, in boring detail, all the 7 churches in Revelation.
In his January 27, 2022 co-worker/dear brethren letter, GF, like a babbling madman, took 11 pages to cover lampstands, lamps, Laodiceans; how Jerusalem is important; how they are important, how they are royalty; how the church is royalty; how the church has a commission.
On page 10 he said, “It is getting very close to Christ’s return. We have a lot of work to do in a short time. An important part of that involves our work in Jerusalem.”
On page 11 he ended with, “We have to go the world and Israel especially, and the cities of Judah, and say Behold your God! That means Jesus Christ is about to return! That is the main message we deliver to them. What could be more exciting and wonderful? BEHOLD YOUR GOD!”
That’s all he can focus on right now. –S.
Feast Sites for US and Canada:
March 30, 2022
There will only be 5 Feast sites in the US this year instead of 6 and the only non US sites listed are Tweed Heads, AU and Baguio City, Philippines [added 5-12-22] [international sites not open for transfer].
This will be the last year for the Poconos and Phoenix, AZ. They won’t be going back to PA next year either.
Here are the Feast sites for this year for the US and Canada:
Edmond, OK
Panama City Beach, FL
Tannersville (Poconos), PA
Phoenix, AZ
Missoula, MT
Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
Edmonton, AB, Canada
–Anonymous
Many PCG Members Experiencing Health Problems:
April 1, 2022
It was announced at a Bible study in PCG recently that many members are experiencing “health trials” (i.e., health problems) right now. You can guarantee that they are not going to doctors since they are taught against it. I know of only a few that have seen a doctor, but that is without the minister’s knowledge. Many are choosing to suffer instead of getting help. I’m sure there will be an unknown number who will die needlessly, yet we won’t hear about it, except for the usual “they didn’t have enough faith.” GF and SF, and who know how many other hypocritical ministers, go to doctors since it is always “do as I say, but not as I do.” –[name withheld]
Brad Macdonald Lectures Singles on Serving Others in Place of Safety:
April 3, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Left PCG and Never Been Happier:
April 9, 2022
Thank you Exit Support Network™, creators of this site, for providing an avenue for real truth and leading people to Christ.
It is too many to mention how much we have been transformed in our thinking by the writers that you have here and others you so generously have given.
I am writing now so as to personally thank you all for this great benefit of finding truth. I would love to especially thank Kelly Marshall and William Hohmann.
I have left the PCG, and have never been happier.
Thank you all! –[name withheld]
My Life Became a Living Nightmare After GF’s Abuse:
April 12, 2022
I’m probably the reason GF left the Worldwide Church of God in Oklahoma City so fast. My husband (now my ex) and I had been trying to counsel for marriage issues. Then on a holy day, I was in the mother’s room with several other women, listening to Flurry’s sermon, and I told the whole bunch that he was not following headquarters. I was crying. Someone left the room and his wife came back. She never said a word.
Time passed. Until right before the Feast of Tabernacles when I had talked my husband into going to talk with GF about our problems. Flurry left my husband to judge my attitude to see if I needed to be out of the “church.” My husband came home and a fight proceeded with me calling my folks who came up in the middle of the night to get me and the kids. My parents lived [clipped] miles away. Several days passed and my husband called and talked to my mother. If I was not back at the house by a certain time to take Flurry’s phone call, I would be out “out of the church.” I went back and he let me know I was undermining his authority.
After the incident, Flurry had every deacon and elder and their wives sit in the mother’s room to make sure no one else talked. My life became a living nightmare. Not only at services but at my home. It was like a battlefield. I later was diagnosed with PTSD. –[name withheld]
Countless People Have Benefited:
April 22, 2022
There are countless people who have benefited from from your site in some way. –R. U.
HQ’s Lake Level is Way Down:
April 25, 2022
When I checked PCG headquarters’ webcam, it shows that their lake is way down.[Note: Read Oct 8, 2022 letter below where it says the lake is almost bone dry.] I can’t help but think that God is punishing them. They are experiencing some of that drought OK is having. Here is the link to go see the “shrinking lake”: Live Weather Camera located on top of HWAC Radio Tower. Keep in mind that this image is updated every 5 minutes so if it is viewed at night you won’t be able to see it. Even if they do get some light rain (which is forecast for next week), it isn’t going to fill their lake up anytime soon. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
Janet Dattolo, Wife of Fred Dattolo, Dies:
April 29, 2022
Janet Dattolo wife of Fred Dattolo died April 19 of cancer. She had been suffering a lot and probably received no pain medication. She died in her home with family around her. A memorial service is planned for May 1. –Anonymous
Comment: Read: Philadelphia Church of God is a Sick System! which lists several other wives that have died in PCG. Also read April 6, 2008 letter to ESN which tells how several wives of PCG ministers and deacons have died of several forms of cancer, or various illness and maladies.
Update: Fred Dattolo remarried Corinne Eagle (former wife of Aaron Eagle) on December 18, 2022.
Ryan Malone and His “Give and Get Way” Sermon:
May 2, 2022
Ryan Malone jabbered away in a April 23 sermon directed at singles entitled “Harmony” where he covered the “give and the get way” (coined by HWA) and the “principles of fundamentals of good relationships.” He said the subject was “a spiritual one.”
This sermon, as most PCG sermons, wasn’t worth giving the time of day to and even though he said it was “not about romantic relationships” it was definitely “philosophical” ramblings, throwing in a comparison to what he knew about music.
No sermon has ever been given without quoting HWA, so he had to quote from (drum roll) The Incredible Human Potential and mentioned HWA’s book on The Missing Dimension in Sex which, from my understanding, was only for married couples to read.
“Two can’t walk together unless one is in control.” –M. A.
Another Split That Thinks It Is the Philadelphia Church of Revelation:
May 3, 2022
All the WCG splits out there are overwhelming. When I wrote how I discovered one that called themselves “The Worldwide Church of God” [See April 28 letter above], I later came across another one that I thought at first was GF’s PCG, but then I realized they called themselves only “The Philadelphia Church” without the words “of God” on the end.
In Revelation we read that the messages John gave to those seven churches are addressed unto “the angel” of the church not “to such and such church” and the churches are either addressed as “the church of” (i.e., Ephesus; the Laodiceans) or “the church in” (Smyrna; Pergamos; Thyatira; Sardis; Philadelphia (NIV says in Laodicea). No words “of God” tacked on to the end.
If HWA hadn’t named his church the “Radio Church OF GOD” when he first started out, I seriously doubt if many of these Armstrong splits would have “of God” at the end of their name. You can usually recognize them by those words “of God” at the end or “Church of God” at the beginning. There are so many splits today–even those that cloak themselves as being “educational”–that it is no telling anymore what they have named themselves, plus many are now defunct.
But getting back to the church that calls themselves “The Philadelphia Church,” that would be a more accurate name. Nevertheless, it is still another splinter group of WCG and has very similar doctrines, some of which are quite heretical. The founder of the site is now dead although his wife has tried to maintain it.
It truly is sickening the twisted, dead-end path one man, Herbert Armstrong, has taken deceived people down. –A. R.
Gates Spreading Fear Porn Again:
May 3, 2022
B. Gates has come out with a warning that a “more deadly variant could emerge” that will be “more fatal than the other variants” and “we haven’t even seen the worst of it” because it might “mutate again” and it “would be even more transmissive and even more fatal.” Sorry, I’m not buying his bull anymore. More was let out of the bag when he told where we are headed: To tackle the situation in advance, he stressed the “need for increased global surveillance.” That smacks of the NWO which is coming. Instead of succumbing to fear porn from evil NWO globalists, we must maintain our hope in the imminent return of our Savior for His church. –T. S.
PCG’s Constantly Shrinking Membership:
May 6, 2022
The only PCG site they are allowing for international transfers this year is England. They have also reduced the number of American feast sites. With their constantly shrinking membership, they know that they can keep more money headed their direction in excess 2nd tithe, etc., if they keep the majority of the people close to home and not spending more on international travel. –T. C.
GF Talking About Curses:
May 7, 2022
GF in his sermon on Last Day of Unleavened Day (“God’s Archaeology Project”) told how “God” was behind this work in Jerusalem and how important it was. He was also reading from the curses in Deuteronomy and talking about the Law of Moses, which was ridiculous. Also how he said, “We are here because we have rejected the curses.” He said, “We are about ready to head into the promised land!” He is totally off his rocker. –Anonymous
PCG Brings Over Irish Dancer John Carey:
May 10, 2022
I think most members don’t realize this, and the ones who do are silenced due to the punishment that would come for even questioning it, let alone speaking up about it. But during spring break the “church” brought John Carey over from the UK to instruct the kids. John is an Oxford educated, Irish Dancer with his own school in Birmingham. He was Michael Flatley’s (Lord of the Dance lead) understudy.
I give you his background so people can fully understand where their hard earned money is going! This guy is expensive! But don’t forget to include not only his time, talent and instruction, but also his travel, accommodations and food!
While they will try to dupe their membership into thinking Amy’s and Jude’s little dance show is “the Work,” it simply is not.
Most of these members sacrifice dental care, basic needs and necessities etc.–for this! It’s so sad! –W. H.
Feast Site in Philippines:
May 12, 2022
PCG will have a feast site in Baguio City, Philippines. They have to have one In the Philippines as a good portion of the PCG membership is there. According to GF last week, the only one open for transfer is the UK. He didn’t say there are no international sites, just that they are just not allowing transfers. –Anonymous
PCG Paying Village Travel Company To Drop Off Bus Load of Seniors at Their HQs:
May 13, 2022
The PCG is now paying Village Travel company, to drop a bus load of senior citizens off at their PCG HQ, as part of a southern bus tour.
This is awful because:
1. They are specifically targeting seniors! It is well known that senior members in their organization are their main source of income. Mostly through the estates that they pressure them to leave the PCG. Many families have been left little to no inheritance because of this and, if you know the Bible, this is 100% contrary to what it teaches.
2. This manipulates the members into thinking they are a large, impactful, impressive organization. If you were to interview random members, the majority of them are unaware that their total world wide membership is less than 4000 people, and an extreme few, worldwide, have ever even heard of them.
If you would like to contact the tour company and share with them how this cult has impacted you and your family, or share some of their extreme beliefs and behaviors they have, and hopefully help to prevent other senior citizens from being targeted, they can be reached at:
Village Travel
3021 NE 50th
Oklahoma City, Ok
73121
1-800-283-3338
405-427-8688
An email contact form is available on:
Govillagetravel.com
–Former PCG member (name withheld)
“King Flurry” and “Prince Flurry” Show Their Ugly Mugs:
May 15, 2022
I was shown some pictures (from someone who recently distanced themselves from PCG) of “King Flurry” that was on PCG’s Peaceful Storms’ website and which were taken at the recent Senior Dinner and so wanted to forward to you. I was told by this person: “The only reason he is smiling/laughing is because everyone else is and he wouldn’t want to look different. He is getting bald! Sure doesn’t look like those younger pictures of himself on the PCG website.”
That is true because they want to hide his ugly mug from the public, but at least I got to see these pictures.
I also was sent a current picture (by the same person) of “Prince Flurry” at an AC Ladies Gala and a picture of some sad looking faces in the group. My contact said, “He looks horrid in that beard and with that scowly face!”
That is also true since SF is sporting a beard now. I know you can’t post these pictures but I wanted you to see them and to read my opinion. –[name withheld]
PCG Ministers Say Foolish Things in Their Sermons:
May 20, 2022
Those who have left PCG and studied law and grace, having their minds opened and are being freed from false teachings, will recognize the foolishness of some of the things PCG ministers say.
A sermon was given by Wik Heerma right after the Days of Unleavened Bread and was entitled, “Demystifying the Basic Mystery.” PCG continually quotes Herbert Armstrong. In it he told how HWA said: “The Holy Spirit in us is merely God’s law in action in our lives.” [False! The Holy Spirit in us will show us the things of Christ. (“All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.” –John16:15 AMP) A good article is: What does the Holy Spirit do? (from Got Questions) Christians are no longer under the Law which was given to the nation of Israel. Read our article: Are We Still Under the Law in Spite of Grace?
Heerma went on to declare: “The Bible is not something we pick our way through, guessing what applies to our lives and what doesn’t.” [Comment: But in PCG’s case it is picking one’s way through the Bible as Scriptures are taken out of context and twisted in order to say what GF wants them to say.] For more understanding see our section on Grace & Law. –sermon reviewed by AJW
Joel Hilliker and His “Jonah” Bible Study:
May 21, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
GF’s Presumptions About Abraham Lincoln:
May 22, 2022
Here are some things GF said in his recent sermon “Lincoln’s Self Education”:
GF presumptuously declared that Abraham Lincoln “did not have God’s Holy Spirit,” even though he “studied the Bible,” “knew the Bible,” and was “trying to bring God in the picture in his own way.” According to “King” Flurry, no one in history that hasn’t been in the “true church” (as defined by HWA) could have God’s Spirit. It is a historical fact that Lincoln looked to God many times and prayed to Him. One informative article is: “Lincoln’s Faith in God” by Gordon Leidner of “Great American History.”
He said Lincoln “loved the Bible in his own way.” With GF it’s always about how other Christians (not in PCG or the “true church”) do things, especially anything spiritual, “in their own way.”
While he talked about “freedom and equality,” those inside PCG have neither.
He said, “we can die spiritually” (which is untrue for those with God’s Spirit) and brought up the Sardis church and how they were “going to be blotted out of the book of life.” Where in the world do we find that about Sardis in the Bible? We don’t. –sermon critiqued by Anonymous
Church-Wide Fast Declared for July 3:
May 22, 2022
GF has declared a church-wide fast for July 3. He said they “have had some real sickness problems in the church and we need to beseech God for stronger faith and more healing.” He said an x-ray examination in March of his son (Stephen) “revealed severe damage in his right hip, joint, and also a significant degree of degeneration in his leg bone and he needs to be healed.” He also said that “Andrew Locher has type 2 diabetes with nephropathy which affects his feet and hands with numbness.” Then he mentioned a few other members with severe physical problems. Some of the AC students have had health problems also. –Anonymous
Trumpet Blows Their Own Horn Regarding Current Sorrow of Mass Murders:
May 26, 2022
The carrion sniffing jackal, SF could not restrain himself from asserting his typical pathetic “my father told you so” take on the Uvalde, Texas mass murder before the victims’ bodies went completely cold.
Not much difference between the Trumpet‘s “tomorrow’s news today” and the bloodthirsty mainstream media’s vultures, spiritually.
Where is there any sincere mourning for these new murders in America except for the Trumpet‘s usual dramatized outrage, which only serves to put the fake church on an imaginary “moral high ground” and “spiritual” pedestal? Oh, but all those “carnal” people killed at the Texas school were not getting “God’s education,” so the PC[g]’s ministry can only allow themselves to demonstrate a minimal bit of “natural affection” towards the innocent victims, lest they may possibly be seen participating in the observances of “the world.”
In regards to prayers for the victims’ families, will the PC[g] ministers be quoting one of their favorites this coming weekend, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.” Jeremiah 7:16. Although they may encourage prayer to God for the blessing of their religious infomercials like the Key of David, and the Trumpet Daily, and for more money to mysteriously flow into “HQ.” The greedy guts are rumbling there, as the Trumpet radio so falsely declares, “We said it first!” Meanwhile, they look down upon slaughtered children and teachers.
These kinds of “newscasters” are more despicable than the communist left wing’s political buzzards now pushing for more of their kind of “gun control.” (Meaning: using unlawful guns and overreaching government agency weaponization to control the people, but not allowing the lawful people to control themselves nor the guns they own.)
The very same values that PC[g] ministers believe set them above the rest of humanity, within their own delusional estimation of having the most insightful “biblical” perspective on some of the most horrible news on earth, including school massacres, actually reveals that their self-exalted ministry exists at an even lower level than those “unconverted” or “carnal” people who can only seem to stir up “natural affection” and “maudlin” human emotion towards murder victims.
Strange how the Trumpet‘s “special take” on the news, which news, by the way, comes from other world news sources first, must be regarded as naturally superior to news outlets of “the world.” The Trumpet only blows their own horn, saying, “You’ll hear this nowhere else.” Even though the Trumpet Daily spends most of the hour quoting and reading articles first written by “unconverted” and “worldly educated” authors, and playing clips recorded by real people who arrived at the scene first, while they lounge far away in the clean green acres of OK. Oh, but, “We said it first!” That is the greater issue of the day to be excited over, than any true outrage or agonizing lamentation for murdered children and teachers.
Not much more remorse for the “church’s” own dying members either, but only joy over receiving another “estate” into their coffers. But more “precious” is the death of “saints” to the PC[g] (read the often misrepresented verse, Psalm 116:15), especially more valuable to the PCG[g] than the murder of the precious innocent children of “the world,” whom God so loves, too, more than the PC[g]’s ministry loves dead people’s money.
And God sees straight through to their hearts by their own reactions to the deaths of children and teachers, and the deaths of saints. God sees. And if that shameless cult does not believe God and Jesus see them, then they neither believe in God or Jesus. –Q. W.
Deryl Hope’s Boring Bible Study on Families:
May 31, 2022
Deryl Hope recently gave a Bible Study on “God Works Through Families.” I never heard such a boring message in all my life (except for many of GF’s). Members probably had a hard time paying attention and not falling asleep as Deryl’s usual quick-paced and high and mighty voice droned on and on and on. He went through practically all the families and major names in the Bible, beginning with Genesis. Then he began with the usual PCG drivel about God’s Plan A and Plan B. [Note: Plan A and Plan B are covered in the testimony “Disfellowshipped After Voicing Concerns“] I ended up skipping through most of it. At the end he expounded on GF’s The God Family Vision booklet. For those who have studied into this doctrine, they know there is no such thing taught in the Bible. This idea of a “God family” came from Mormonism and is also covered in our two Mystery of the Ages critiques [opens as PDF]. –Bible study critiqued by Anonymous
Brad Macdonald Brags About What Celtic Throne Performances Will Accomplish With the Audience:
May 31, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Just Who Is In the Worst Kind of Captivity?
May 31, 2022
In looking from the outside of the phonydelphian “church” instead of from the psychological cage within, it becomes a strange irony to behold this last week’s title of GF’s infomercial, KOD, which was “A World Held Captive,” How about a “church” held captive?
Sure, it is true in large part that the world is held captive by many deceptions and truly we are all deceived to some extent. But less so is it “the world” which is held being captive, than it is a “church” made up of people which are being held captive and spiritually restrained by very deceptive cults.
And that is why the phonydelphian “church” must so frequently preach about the deceiver, Satan (rarely of Jesus’ true liberty), and how the whole world is deceived and in captivity to the mind of the devil. How self-describing of the “church” itself, and when the ministers speak of this, as if no one would dare to suspect the same who speak of such deception, that they are themselves among the greatest of deceivers. Just as Jesus said it, ” . . . When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own . . . ” John 8:44.
Just as the phonydelphian ministers always repeat the same verse about “the god of this world,” as quoted from II Corinthians 4:4, they truly speak of their own little world.
The real truth is that the phonydelphian “church” has hi-jacked a body of people whom the false “ministers of light” so flatteringly call “the very elect.”
This is not being said to accuse the people (which is what Satan and his ministers do: accuse), many of whom are sincere believers who want to know the truth about all things, some in whom [may] reside the grieved Spirit of God. But none of that Spirit is present in that “church” which more so quenches the Spirit and drains it out as in a slow bloodletting. No, that phony religious “.org” does not feed the flock, but rather feeds upon the people, its supposed “life-giving” churchlike organism more so resembling that of a collective of vampires than that of shepherds protecting and feeding the lambs and the sheep.
May all the people who have been lured into the phonydelphian trap by “truth” used as bait, and the Bible as a hook, and who are truly led by the Spirit, soon see through this attempted systematic spiritual murder being committed against them and against God.
Have faith that God sees right through all this, and will not allow his own lost children to be cast into the lake of fire as just another wasted by-product of Satan’s deception factory. Remember, God is mightier than we can conceive of and will blow the extortionist cult leaders’ threats right back into their own faces. –K. D.
PCG Bans Gender Reveal Parties:
June 3, 2022
The PCG has now banned gender reveal parties for expectant families. While Herbert Armstrong “approved” baby showers. Gender reveal parties are not allowed as they put the attention on the parents. (Yes, you read that correctly) Also stated, was that they originated in the 2000’s by social media and Hollywood and by putting the emphasis on the parents it is too much like a birthday party. Hmmmm. I don’t think so, but that’s besides the point.
For those scratching their heads in bewilderment at the news of this recent stupidity, this is done because it is another means of control. They like to flex their control muscles, show people who’s boss and also they don’t like get-togethers. While they always preach that the brethren should fellowship often, they want it done in controlled, supervised environments. They actually require a minister or a deacon to be at get-togethers over a certain number. Most members are actually oblivious to this rule. This is because they don’t want people having a party where people can celebrate–possibly with family and friends in the world–the exciting event of finding out if you will be welcoming a baby boy or girl into your family. –Former PCG member [name withheld]
Comment: Read “Crazy Statements Made by PCG Ministers” #22 which tells about the “rule of 7” (i. e., if more than 7 meet together a minister has to be present).
Want to Share Some of My Story / ESN Has Been Very Impactful:
June 5, 2022
I’m very grateful for the work you all have done with this site. It’s been very impactful in my life and I’d like to share a bit about my story in hopes it will help others. It has been a long journey and I still struggle in many aspects in my life but it has gotten a lot better over the years. ESN has been a key part in reassuring me that my decision was right and most importantly, that I wasn’t alone in this struggle. –T. J. (former PCG member)
Comment: To read what this person submitted, go to: A Letter to Members and Survivors of Philadelphia Church of God.
SF Gives Sermon On Faith to Be Healed:
June 12, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
How Obsessed PCG is With Herbert Armstrong:
June 15, 2022
I wonder if people are aware of how obsessed the PCG is with Herbert Armstrong. Below is a list of everything they have assigned his name to:
-Armstrong College
-Armstrong Auditorium
-Armstrong international cultural foundation
-Armstrong Dance
-Armstrong institute of biblical archaeology
-Armstrong Club (This is Spokesman’s Club.)
-Armstrong Preforming Arts Conservatory
-Armstrong Youth Orchestra
-Armstrong Choir
-Armstrong Digs
–Armstrong Prayer Rock (They believe this replaces Jacob’s pillar stone that they have in a glass display case.)
-Gerald Flurry’s grandson named his daughter Loma
-January 16th – The anniversary of his death is a highly regarded day of which they expect some miracle or significant world event to occur.
-Many members have framed photos of Herbert Armstrong in their homes.
-Every decision made is based upon some ruling or precedent previously set, unless overturned or modified by the new “King.”
-Their entire doctrine and interpretation of scripture is defined and created by Herbert Armstrong.
If this isn’t worshiping a man, I don’t know what is. If you have the unfortunate experience of sitting through a sermon or Bible study, you will notice that Herbert W. Armstrong is quoted more often than not only Jesus Christ, but the Bible itself. –T. C.
PCG’s Obsession with HWA Only Scratches the Surface:
June 16, 2022
The previous letter about PCG’s obsession with HWA is spot on. In fact, it only scratches the surface in illustrating their worship of that man.
Spare a thought for Romans 1:25: “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the [created] creature more than the Creator.”
The PCG idolizes a man in place of God, and also shamelessly makes trinkets their idol. This is real prophecy being fulfilled.
To prominently set up a random stone, which HWA may or may not have kneeled next to, at the entrance of their auditorium for everyone to look to and in effect acknowledge as a homage of the man they worship, is one step away from a golden calf. Actually, its probably worse. Gerry Flurry fascinates the membership by saying it is a transference of the Stone of Scone, because it titillates men who “seek a sign.” Any sign that points them to a man.
[ESN letter entitled, “Gerald Flurry Finds Herbert Armstrong’s Prayer Rock!” adds some good background to this topic.]
The competition to be the staunchest supporter of HWA has always been fierce in the PCG. Who can quote him the most, and who is the most convincing when repeating his unbiblical dogma. This is also a badge of honor for many other splinters like David Pack’s group. Who loves HWA the most? As Brad Macdonald was quoted as saying, MOA should be studied annually. How proud he was to say how many times he has read MOA. Nothing like that is ever said about the Bible. Stephen Flurry had no qualms saying that he has never read the whole Bible. Why would he need to when its all been interpreted for him by men? Is the Spirit of Truth really limited to understanding the writings of HWA?
By worshiping that which is created, it is an easy transference to tell blind sheep to worship a man who claims to follow HWA the most. All the while, God becomes unnecessary. Many years ago, the only answer given at a Spokesman’s Club open night question, “what is truth?” was, “whatever Mr Flurry tells us!” (to thundering applause). That really says it all.
It is utterly shameful. –B. A.
SF’s Long, Drawn Out Bible Study to Keep Members Striving and Fearing:
June 18, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Dwight Falk Tries to Intimidate Members Into Supporting “the Work”:
June 24, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
GF is Holding a Lot of Bitterness Inside Him:
June 27, 2022
In regard to Fred Dattolo’s sermon “God’s Laodicean Policy,” I honestly believe that GF is holding a lot of bitterness inside him towards the WCG because of the way they disfellowshipped/fired him after they wouldn’t listen to his “Malachi’s Message” which he claimed was “delivered to him by a mighty angel.” This had to have been a great puncture in his already inflated ego. Ever since then (even though he insists he is “carrying on Herbert Armstrong’s legacy”) he has had it in for any Laodiceans and every so often we get these sermons about “cut them off,” “abandon them,” etc. I believed he is influenced by Satan and is so enraged that he is after not only those who were associated with WCG or PCG, but now those who were children that grew up inside. If anyone in PCG associates with these “Laodiceans,” their salvation is threatened by this arrogant, tyrannical mad man. –A. R.
PCG Members Fasting July 3 / So Many Serious Health Problems:
June 29, 2022
The PCG fast for July 3 mentioned in the May 22 letter above was announced in SF’s sermon that month.
They are fasting because there are so many with serious health problems in the PCG right now. Stephen Flurry’s hip/leg; Andrew Locher’s diabetes with neuropathy; Colin Hercus’ wife has severely debilitating back problems (he is a minister in the UK); and Michele Naagtegal, young wife of Brent in the Jerusalem office suffered a stroke and the blood clot in her brain has made her blind on both half’s of her eyes causing her to be constantly dizzy. Only the “elites” were mentioned. Unfortunately, the common member that is suffering due to lack of medical care doesn’t get to be mentioned–not that it would really matter anyway. No one gets miraculously healed in that organization. –S. I.
Celtic Throne Irish Dance Production Is Now the Warning Work to the Laodiceans:
June 29, 2022
Gerald Flurry says that the Celtic Throne Irish dance production is now the warning work to the Laodicians. –[name withheld]
GF Believes Celtic Throne Performance Is an Important Part of “The Work”:
June 29, 2022
In regard to the previous letter, Brad Macdonald definitely said the Celtic Throne performance was the “Work” and the way to warn the world and the Laodiceans. I remember specifically him speaking about that and thinking how in the world can these people swallow this?? I don’t remember what sermon or Bible study it was, or when it was given; I think it was summer 2021, around the time they went on the road with their product. But, yes, it was definitely said that this was an important part of the “Work”! So maybe it was missed as far as getting critiqued. I remember it specifically because I thought it was so far out to call Celtic Throne the “Work.”
I remember members always grumbling about the Irish dance and this was before, or just as they were getting started with, the Celtic Throne performances. But we repeatedly got lectured and reprimanded from the podium about the importance of the Irish dance and how if Gerald flurry is behind it then it’s from God and we need to support it. That was why he came down so hard in the last sermons Brad gave. I imagine the complaining has gotten worse.
This [Celtic Throne Performance] is literally all they have going on. The Public Appearance Campaigns failed badly and that’s why GF can’t do those anymore. They hit their largest Trumpet subscriber markets and it got few people to attend, let alone follow up with being invited to services.
Their “Work” is all about their stupid dance production right now. This is according to them “the truth” and “the message.”
They have gone off the deep end. –Former member of PCG [name withheld]
Gerald Flurry Doesn’t Smile:
July 1, 2022
I’d like to chime in about GF’s picture as others have done.
[Note by ESN: Some letters to ESN that talk about GF’s picture are: “New Photos of GF Look Like Death on a Cracker” (March 6, 2017); “Gerald Flurry Doing Unusual Stuff Lately” (April 1, 2019); “Gerald Flurry Looks Like a Shyster to Me” (July 19, 2021); “Gerald Flurry Trying to Give Himself a New Look” (February 25, 2021); “Many Leaders of the Armstrong Cults Are Narcissists” (September 5, 2021; “GF & SF’s Pictures” (February 22, 2022 (scroll up on this page to read)] and “’King Flurry’” and “’Prince Flurry’” Show Their Ugly Mugs”: (May 15, 2022) (scroll up on this page to read).]
I often wondered why GF doesn’t smile on his “church” site like I see most Christian pastors doing. (And I’m not talking about the toothy grin of phonies like Joel Osteen.) But you’re right. GF is trying to imitate HWA. I supposed if he could get a face lift he would do it. GF’s eyes are the eyes of a judgmental person. Look at his eyes alone (if you can stand to look at his picture) by covering over his mouth. They don’t look friendly and neither do HWA’s. I know we can’t go by looks alone but it’s been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.
And no matter how many “hundreds of thousands of lives” PCG may boast that they are reaching with their Trumpet and Key of David, how many lives have actually been changed for the good and who now have inner peace, as a result of knowing and receiving Christ as their personal Savior? I say very few, because they don’t teach the true Jesus and they don’t teach salvation through faith alone. –A. R.
False Prophet Flurry and His July 3 Fast:
July 1, 2022
I’m certain false prophet Flurry will be privately having his sips of water on the 3rd (or maybe something a little stronger) so he can appear to be “holding up” while all the other members are fasting. Another case of “do as I say, not as I do.” –[name withheld]
GF Hasn’t Been Giving Sermons as Often:
July 2, 2022
I’ve found it interesting that GF hasn’t been giving the sermons as often and some of the other ministers have had a note in quotes that the sermon must “be played in all churches.” I thought maybe GF finally croaked, until last week when he finally appeared on the scene again with his sermon “Three Pentecost Warnings” where he talked about HWA’s June 15, 1985 Pentecost sermon and said “we need to be holding on to these visions God is giving us,” and “the Laodiceans lost the Pentecost message” and “50% are going to go through the worst suffering ever and 50% are never going to rise again,” blah, blah, blah. –Trusted PCG source
PCG Is a Business Using God and Fear as a Way of Getting Money:
July 2, 2022
I was in the PCOG from way back in the early 1990’s. I came in and started working on the sound and video setup. In my years there I saw a lot of favoritism from the upper people. When the company, not church, start buying land and building their utopia in 1996, I stopped tithing. It seemed that they started building a business and everyone’s money was going for pianos and chandeliers worth millions.
Stephen Flurry was in a TV interview in 2008 and when he was asked if tithing was mandatory he said no. After helping the PCG save thousands doing the sound setup free–using my own money–I was put out by Cal Culpepper for not tithing. He is not a very nice man. And a hypocrite. This company is just that, a company using God and fear as a way of getting money. And now they have a plane. What do they really need it for? The PCOG is a business selling God and life for the change in your pocket. –[name withheld]
Members Told to Love the Law and the Government:
July 3, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Fred Dattolo Sermon Is Good Way to Mess up Your Mind:
July 8, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Micah Turgeon Has Left the PCG:
July 12, 2022
Micah Turgeon, GF’s grandson [and youngest son of Wayne Turgeon and brother of Grant Turgeon], has left the PCG after months of preparation to “escape.” He was an H. W. Armstrong College student. –G.
PCG Makes Decision Not to Post Anymore Sermons Online:
July 13, 2022
GF recently posted this announcement:
Announcement:
Headquarters has finished posting weekly sermons and Bible studies at pcg.church. Pastor General Gerald Flurry made this decision after considerable discussion with regional directors. The service was important during government lockdowns, but regular Sabbath services and Bible studies have now resumed. Mr. Flurry understands that there will be a very small number of exceptions who will still require this service. If you believe that your situation is an exception, please contact your regional director. If your exception is approved, you will be able to continue to access the recordings. (All members continue to have access to announcements.) But for the large majority of members and their families, we look forward to seeing you more at services and Bible studies.
But Micah Turgeon left, so that’s huge!!
They can wallow in that for awhile! –[name withheld]
Typical Narcissistic Rage:
July 13, 2022
I think it was an angry, emotional, impulsive decision to stop the online sermons and I believe it was the exposing of the UK financial reports and Micah Turgeon leaving that caused it. Close family like Micah leaving has to be a blow to their ego. Typical narcissistic rage. –Former PCG member
July 14, 2022
It is no happenstance that GF removed access to his secretive online sermons after ESN posted and analyzed their UK Financial Report [see July 9 letter above]. First, they shut down the tape libraries where even shut-ins couldn’t receive them; then the CD sermon tapes were ordered to be destroyed, then members weren’t to share their recorded sermons, next no smartphones were to be used, and now this. How many other tyrannical rules they’ve imposed on members is anyone’s guess. If this purported “one true church of God” is really “God’s Church,” then why are they hiding their sermons from outsiders, unlike what any genuine Christian church would do? The answer is because they reveal the sick control going on inside, including their Satanic no-contact ruling that causes untoward suffering. Yet, PCG will scream “Satan is persecuting God’s Church!” at any exposure of their evil deeds. I agree they will be unable to stop all info from getting out no matter how tight they try to control it. –A. R.
Andrew Locher Sermon Was Recent Money Grab:
July 18, 2022
In a recent sermon by Andrew Locher entitled “Keep the Father First” he rabbited on about tithing and how Sri Lanka is in the midst of turmoil and that brethren there are struggling financially to just put food on the table but how important it is to pay your tithes (especially those that are struggling–because you know God doesn’t need the money, the “Government” [in PCG] does).
He made a special point that, as far as he knows, the PCG doesn’t have a tithing problem, only God knows. (Yes, the actual CFO apparently doesn’t understand basic accounting forecasting. But funnily enough, when they find that someone isn’t paying tithes, they suspend them immediately from stealing from them…oops, I mean stealing from God). However, even looking at only the UK Financial Accounts [see July 9 letter above] we can see there is an issue as the Tithe of the Tithe is definitely not 10% of 2nd Tithes (it was only 8k but should have been closer to 37k).
Also, on a side note, I would love to know who the “other creditors” are that are owed 3.17m–but I digress.
We had sermons/Bible studies on “sacrifice” and “financially doing our part,” etc., and all the normal dribble, just to find out the new Archeology building that is in Jerusalem is in the most affluent part of the city; i.e., near the PM and president’s abode and that they are committing to a 3 year lease. (what about the Tribulation?) The property has not been used in 6 years so they are sending over slaves…erm I mean students to do all the manual work but it will still need builders, etc., to do the majority of the work. This dig isn’t about God’s Work at all as the era that they are digging is only from 400 AD to 1400 AD. It is all a sham to bolster their HWA idol worshipping! I am so over it!!! –[name withheld]
PCG and Their Heat Wave Woes:
July 21, 2022
Looks like PCG doesn’t have as many campers in their SEP this summer. They only have 120 campers from the United States, Canada, England and South Africa. One thing they are worried about is how temperatures have been above 100° and are forecasted to remain high. Those poor kids! They will have 50 sports and activities for them to participate in. GF plans to “brainwash” these youth with a two-part message” when he visits camp on the Sabbath. Right now they are telling members to “beseech God” that He will send rain and cooler temperatures because the hot, dry weather in central Oklahoma is not only affecting the campers, but PCG’s land and livestock. The last significant rain was on Pentecost, June 5. –[name withheld]
Comment: Be sure and read: “Brad Macdonald Writes Propaganda Article About Philadelphia Youth Camp” (shows what the youth have to endure) [August 23, 2020] and “PCG’s Strict Rules for Those Attending SEP” which explains PCG’s waiver that parents had to sign so they can’t sue PCG.]
Had Greatly Underestimated the Extent of the Damage These Groups Do:
July 22, 2022
Hello, I took the time to read the section of your site that you provided to me. (“What is the Spiritual Status of People in the WCG Offshoots?” (Were They Ever Converted?)
I must admit that I had greatly underestimated the extent of the damage that these groups do and the complexity that this creates.
It is sad that such a simple truth is hidden from them and that so many years of their life are stolen from them and perhaps even their salvation.
I agree with you that we must leave this situation in the hands of God and that we can pray for these people. I understand that’s the best we can do, unfortunately.
Keep up the excellent work (or rather God’s work through you and your site).
Thank you for the information that serves me as a rampart and prevents me from sometimes switching to ”religion” and keeping a balance as much as possible.
I found an interesting section on your site talking about the symptoms of religious addiction and it helps me to put some safety tags. (“Symptoms of Religious Addiction“)
I pray that God protects you and continues to guide you until the day God brings us “home.”
According to many, that day is fast approaching. It is really encouraging!
Thank you and best regards! –M. L.
Digging Up Old Addresses / Members in India Used the Plain Truth to Wallpaper Their Walls:
July 25, 2022
I wouldn’t be surprised if PCG started digging up old addresses so they can give stats like they always do (all of it fudged) at the Feast and deceive the members into thinking they have so many Trumpet subscribers.
I had a minister tell me that when he attended Ambassador College in Bricket Wood, England (WCG) that the people of India would subscribe to the Plain Truth and would literally wallpaper their walls with it. Apparently it was quit a common thing to do and the only reason they were subscribing. –Former PCG member
Winston Davis Dies:
July 25, 2022
Winston Davis has just died. He was a minister from South Carolina and the father of Brian Davis. –[name withheld]
SEP Campers to Suffer Through Heat Wave:
July 25, 2022
The latest news is that the staff at SEP camp are going to keep the campers cool with “water breaks and cooling towels.” I wonder how long they think that is going to help? Notice how temperatures dropping from above 100 to high 90’s it to “help keep them safer and healthier.” It would be revealing to know how many have already suffered heat exhaustion, or other health problems. But we will never know as they won’t let that out. Staff will no doubt push them to their limits and beyond. This is outrageous as these kids shouldn’t even be out in this kind of heat playing sports. This is from Edmond: [bolding mine]
“Weather forecasts predicted temperatures well above 100 degrees all week, but for the last three days have brought clouds and temperatures in the high 90s. This has helped keep Summer Educational Program campers safer and healthier, and staff have also made adjustments to limit exposure to direct sun and keep the teens cool with water breaks and cooling towels.” (The Friday Philadelphian, July 22, 2022)
How much can they “limit exposure to direct sun when they are expected to play these sports? Read: “Brad Macdonald Writes Propaganda Article About Philadelphia Youth Camp” (August 23, 2020) (this shows what the youth have to endure) –OK
Andrew Locher Continues to Manipulate Members Into Giving More Money
July 27, 2022
(Moved to PCG Sermons & Bible Study Critiques for 2022. Search for title)
Many Times I Felt Something Wasn’t Right:
July 28, 2022
I believe that God is not in this “church.” But Satan’s lies are very binding. You have the fear of leaving and feeling you will be cursed if you do. That’s what held me back from leaving for a long time. I can’t count the times where I almost left. There have been many times where I have known something isn’t right, but here are some of the prominent ones: the idolized stone and spiritual throne, the cut-off policy, the Jeroboam failed prophecies, the numerous titles GF gives to himself, the material items (piano, chandeliers etc.), the idolization of HWA and GF, not being able to question the ministry, constant small changes in policies and, of course, the never ending pan-handling for money. It makes me sick just to think about it. –[name withheld]
Recommended related letter: “For Years I Felt Something Wasn’t Right” (July 1, 2011)
Very Grateful For All You Do:
August 1, 2022
For what it’s worth my husband and I are very grateful to you and all you do!! I don’t know where we’d be without your site! –Former PCG members
GF’s Inane Ramblings on His Key of David:
August 11, 2022
I listened to as much as I could stomach of GF’s inane ramblings on his Key of David program, “Why God Hides Himself” (August 5, 2022). He is like a broken record as are most of his goon-faced, abusive ministers. However, they are more than aware that mind control needs repetition in order to be most effective. This KOD was a continual repeating of what HWA has said before, plus tossing in about his own books and his own “revelation.”
Along with how I saw he had a lot of pancake make-up on (for the TV cameras no doubt), I noticed the thick gold ring on his finger and what looked like an expensive gold watch.
He started off asking, “Where do you find true happiness?” Wouldn’t it be in Christ Jesus where all our needs are met? Not for GF it isn’t. The answer for him is “God’s church” (PCG).
He read Isaiah 45:15 about how God hides himself and said, “He won’t be hiding himself much longer.”
GF relishes extracting random verses from the O.T. that have nothing to do with the New Covenant of Grace but were God’s dealings with the nation of Israel and then he attempts to make them fit for Christians today.
Another thing he loves to repeat is “God has a plan for saving Israel and everyone is going to become Israel.” This is another of his big fat lies since the church is not, and never will be, Israel, whether spiritual or not. [Read about how the church is not spiritual Israel] Why hammer continually about Israel? The answer is because most Bible cult leaders use this theme, along with talking incessantly about tithing, and the “Kingdom of God,” and how we “have to prepare for it,” “build character in order to rule,” or whatever other asinine words they use.
He continues by asking, “Why is God hiding himself?” Then he shows his booklet, Mystery of the Ages and all the bull crap about God recreating (reproducing) Himself and about “government” and “ruling with Christ” because it’s “God plan.”
And identical to HWA, he had to go over the trees in the Garden of Eden (how many of us remember sitting through and enduring long sermons by HWA on those two trees for the evening message at the Feast?), and he showed more than once a drawing from Basil Wolverton from WCG’s The Bible Story books where Adam and Eve are beating a fast retreat from the Garden of Eden, looking like they are scared to death, after they hid from God.
GF can’t write an article or give one program without creating fear. He says, “Satan has power in this world and he rules this world. People underestimate the power of Satan.” The Bible may tell us that Satan is “the god of this world,” but those who belong to Christ do not need to underestimate his power, nor fear him, as they, because of Christ, have overcome the evil one. (I John 2:13, 14; I John 4:4 and Ephesians 6:11)
He said, “Christ is to come in “a tiny few years.” How long has GF been predicting when Christ will return? For as long as most of us can remember as it helps him to keep bamboozling people. This time he changed it to “a tiny few” years instead of saying it will be in so many years. He didn’t want to get his nose rubbed in his false prophecies again.
He pulled out a lot of quotes from the O.T. (the old covenant) and said “Sin causes God to turn His face from man.” He knows nothing about how Christ forgave all our sins when He cried out on the cross, “It is finished” and how, when we are in Christ, we are clothed in His righteousness. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (I Corinthians 5:21) [Also see My Position in Christ]
He spewed out, “There are Two Gods.” That is beyond ludicrous. The Bible is clear that God is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; I Corinthians 8:4,6)
There is never a KOD that doesn’t have him offering FREE his “demon inspired” books. This time it was MOA (at the start) and at the end it was The New Throne of David” as he declared, “Today there is a new throne” and it is “One of the most powerful books I have written.” This phony “prophet” says that about all his booklets.
When he insists “God came to reveal the Father,” he is talking like an ignoramus. There are many reasons Jesus came, one of which was to destroy the works of the Devil. (I John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14-15). He also came to fulfill the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17); He came to save us and give us eternal life through His resurrected life (John 3:17, etc.) Why does GF rarely, if ever, talk about the hope we have through Christ’s resurrection (which is central to one’s salvation)? Because he can’t pull in as many gullible people as he can with his exciting, fearful prophecies and his mysteries and “new revelations,” which are paramount to all Bible cults.
“God is a family” he asserts. GF continues to beat the drum that God is a family because of the word “Elohim” in Genesis, he says. Mike covered this in the past in his Final Exit Letter to Craig Winters of PCG where he said: “God is immutable and CANNOT change!!! If I were to become GOD that means HE would have to change!!! How contradictory” and there is a footnote #2 beside those words which is explained more in the footnote.
This KOD was not only boring, it was repugnant. It was mainly a repeat of what HWA would ramble on about. I finally skipped most of it. I don’t know how anyone can sit there and listen to this pasty-faced cult leader whose goal is to drain people financially while he sadistically enjoys controlling and even torturing innocent lives. But I supposed that is what deceived people love.
GF needs to shut up and start living a humble life. God never intended us to be burdened and oppressed with the pure, unadulterated garbage and lies coming from GF’s rattling mouth that bludgeons the membership into submission.
–KOD critiqued by S. O.
Why Wasn’t God Powerful Enough to Stop Satan?
August 20, 2022
In GF’s August 19, 2022 article, “How God Educates” he says the following: [all bolding and words in brackets mine]
Referring to I Samuel 3 about Samuel and Eli, he says, “The lamp was going out. The same thing happened in the Worldwide Church of God after Mr. Armstrong died. The open vision—the new revelation to add and build on to what Mr. Armstrong taught—faded away.” [How can something “fade away” if God is in it?]
The following will not be about analyzing GF’s article, but instead are some excerpts I gleaned from HWA’s co-worker letters (with some of my comments) in order for us to think logically about everything. My final conclusion will be at the end. Date of co-worker letter will be before the excerpt. [all caps HWA’s; bolding mine]
February 14, 1943: “God Himself is WORKING in this work.” [Notice, he says it is God who is working.]
February 25, 1974: “I have said before that Satan was attacking the Work of the living GOD, and that he would attack again. Now suddenly he is pulling out ALL STOPS in an effort to DESTROY God’s Work. … these deceived ministers allowing Satan to use them to try to DESTROY GOD’S CHURCH AND GOD’S WORK! … God is ABLE to SAVE HIS GREAT WORK! [Realize this was written back in 1974. The same thing was to have happened in 1995 during the “new changes” when the “lamp” was going out and faded. So why was God unable to save his Work during that time?]
June 13, 1978: “Satan has been doing his utmost to deceive and mislead God’s Church into SECULARISM… But in the past four to six weeks JESUS CHRIST has been moving dynamically to thwart Satan’s subtle deception WITHIN GOD’S CHURCH.” [Where, pray tell, was Jesus Christ in 1995 during the big “changes.”? Wasn’t He able to move dynamically again? Why were others, even Satan, more powerful than God?]
January 3, 1980: “I want to tell you the real significance of that massive attack by the attorney-general’s office of the State of California–and how God has spared this Work and kept it going–AND GROWING! …” [Why wasn’t God able to spare the Work when all the upheaval came in 1995?]
January 3, 1980: “The actual movement of world events as prophesied WARNS US that all this MAY now occur in the decade we entered day before yesterday–and, if delayed past 1990, most certainly during the decade of the 90s.” [Most of us know that these world events did not happen in the decade of the 90’s.]
April 24, 1983: “But GOD is also moving swiftly right now, through his Church. [Why didn’t God move swiftly in 1995?] As I wrote you last month God has now opened the door for the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40:9-10. That message now will go in power to the cities of Judah.” [We all know that failed to transpire and isn’t happening today under GF.]
October 25, 1985: “GOD ALMIGHTY WILL KEEP HIS WORK GOING FORWARD, and growing and multiplying in power and scope!” [Did God really keep “His Work” going forward and multiplying in power and scope?]
November 25, 1985: “GOD’S TIME HAS COME TO SPEED UP HIS WORK WITH DYNAMIC AND TREMENDOUS POWER! Time for completing the GREAT MISSION OF GOD in this dying world is fast running out on us! [Did God “speed up His Great Mission” after the big changes?] … Almost seven years ago, Satan struck what he thought would be the fatal blow to DESTROY God’s Church and Work. [talking about 1978] … But we must now LUNGE FORWARD in the FINAL LAP, coming in on the home stretch of the great Work God gave us to do.” [So Satan struck what was to be a fatal blow in 1978 and failed, but then in 1995 he struck a blow which ended up being successful into fracturing “God’s Work” into many pieces [offshoots]. Who is more powerful in this picture. God or Satan?]
January 1986 co worker letter (day not listed): “It is now true that this Gospel has been proclaimed within EVERY NATION ON EARTH BY THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD.” [So it says right in this 1986 letter that the gospel had been proclaimed. What is GF doing then? Some last minute “prophecy again” to the so-called Laodiceans? Is that in the Word of God?]
My concluding comments:
If the WCG was “the Work of the Living Creator, God” as HWA so often said and God was “opening new doors in television and in the PLAIN TRUTH distribution,” why was Satan seemingly more powerful than God? Why was Satan able to overthrow everything after HWA died? If we’re honest, we have to admit that GF is not doing a work like HWA did.
How could the “lamp start to go out” if God was behind His “Work”? Wasn’t God powerful enough to stop it? Isn’t God more powerful than Satan?
We can see how decades after HWA first started writing these co-worker letters that GF’s words attempt to pattern HWA’s words in many places. Every co-worker letter of HWA’s was a begging for money and for readers to “send the largest offering possible” because “time was short” or “time was running out.”
The only thing GF can’t do is copy HWA’s charisma and style of writing. GF will never measure up to HWA. He will never be a second Herbert Armstrong, no matter how much he yearns to be. This does not mean that HWA was not a con artist, or was not a compulsive, psychological liar. He was, and a very good one at that. But GF is no more carrying on “God’s work” than other splinters who came along and say they are doing the same thing.
Let’s face it. GF is an abysmal failure. He is carrying on a con, but not quite as effective of a con as HWA had going. He is losing members more as time goes on and he is not able to draw in the numbers HWA did due no doubt to the extensive exposure on the Internet today. All he can do is limp along, holding the few deceived members he has under his spell by claiming to be a Prophet, and appropriating many other titles, plus throwing out new revelations every so often like a carrot on a stick. That and his “important” work in Jerusalem.
It’s time to realize how we have been taken for a long bumpy ride and it’s time to get off this gravy train and see things for what they truly are. GF’s downfall may be delayed but it is certain to come. –S. O.
Would Love to Slap All of Them:
August 22, 2022
GF is gloating again about himself and his stupid college. I’d love to go visit the goons someday and slap all of them in the face for doing what they have done to way too many people. GF would be the last one I’d slap and it would be the biggest slap of all. –V. G.
Gerald Flurry and Stephen Flurry Know Exactly What They’re Doing:
August 24, 2022
GF and SF are not dumb. They have got to know exactly what they’re doing and what kind of evil racket they are running because they can see it clearly spelled out in your article, “Identifying Marks of an Abusive Group.” How sick can someone be to continue to carry on this kind of abuse day in and day out! I’ve never been able to wrap my head around the insatiable greed for power and money these sociopaths have!! –A. R.
PCG Refuses to Cancel Bible Study In Spite of Member’s Pulmonary Embolism at Services:
September 5, 2022
My dad was the only one in our family in PCG. The rest of wanted nothing to do with it. We still had a great relationship. My mom and my dad got along great, married for 46 years and loved each other dearly. She wasn’t happy about the “church,” but what can you do?
A week ago he was at services, said the final prayer before lunch (Bible study is afterwards). He was in line getting some food when he fell to the ground. CPR was started and 911 called. Can you please help me understand why they still had their Bible study? No one followed the ambulance to the hospital!! He was alone when he passed (pulmonary embolism). My mom was 2 hours away at home (yes, he drove 2 hours each way to go to services). The rest of us came in out of state right away. I’m so angry about that. They all witnessed it, yet the decision was made to have Bible study. Out of respect for my dad it should’ve been cancelled. Maybe something you’ll say will make the anger go away. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
Comment: This person has received a personal reply.
In Spite of PCG’s Insensitive Behavior, They Didn’t Pull Us Apart as a Family:
(2nd email from person above)
September 6, 2022
Thank you for responding. We were still a family, the PCG didn’t pull as apart at all. My mom and dad always came to TX to visit. He’d even sit with us while we opened Christmas presents and had an 80th birthday party for him. My dad was healthy and this is just such a shock…..he was 82. I just keep thinking about the people he called friends (and the thousands and thousands of $$ he gave to them) didn’t give 2 shits about being at the hospital with my dad when they rushed him away. I also keep thinking about how my dad would’ve felt that no one was there. It happened last Saturday, the 27th. All I do is cry.
My sister and I had to go pick up his car. It was parked at a “church” friend’s house and we sat down and talked to him. He was crying and said he really thought Bible study would’ve been cancelled. I know who made the call to still have Bible study and I may text him and let him know exactly how I feel, not that it would make a difference. My dad was so smart and I just can’t understand how he got sucked into this awful place!
I will say that 2 couples that my dad always talked to and knew my mom waited for her to get to the hospital, took her to the hotel, out to eat and waited with her until I got there from [Texas]. That made me feel better. Sorry for all the rambling and like you said, we’re lucky our family wasn’t torn apart like some I’ve read about. Thank for listening. ❤️ –H. C. (Impacted by loved one in PCG)
Ross Macdonald Ordained Local Church Elder:
September 6, 2022
Ross Macdonald was ordained a local church elder by Aaron Hudson on July 30 and serves the Sydney congregation. He is John Macdonald‘s youngest son who was a deacon in Sydney, Australia. If he turns out anything like his Dad, John, God save us, but most likely he will be more like Brad and Kirk [deceased; read: Kirk Macdonald Dies Without Medical Care] who are, and were, acolytes to the PCOG god king Gerald Flurry! –[name withheld]
Can’t Find Inner Rest After Listening to These Groups:
September 10, 2022
I am happy I found your site as I struggle with myself. Since 2016 I have been watching the preaching of Norbert Link (Church of the Eternal God) and since 2 years ago follow as well the preaching, news and updates of the Philadelphia Church of God and the Living Church. To some degree their teaching appears right to me, but at several points I feel they don’t even live up to what they’ve said; for example, they talk about not judging or being merciful but on the other hand call people bad names within their preaching or get really aggressive (at least with Norbert Link it seems to be the case)
I was corresponding with him [Norbert Link] since I first listened to his preaching 6 years ago but then I didn’t get any response anymore and it seems he blocked me as he didn’t liked my critical email I sent him this year after disagreeing on a preaching regarding Putin and Ukraine. It seems any criticism is forbidden and no one is willing to have a fair argument.
I received a few weeks ago the Mystery of the Ages from Gerald Flurry and the Trumpet people and was already contacting them in regards to meeting them to join their group but what I read here [on ESN] about their “church” and the preaching was really hitting me as I can’t imagine someone just making that up.
However, I can’t find inner rest as I feel unworthy of Christ and His blood, in particular after leaving my church that I was a member in for almost 5 years. After a heavy disappointment, I feel like I am not close to Christ at all, hardly read the Bible, increase again in sins (which I had overcome some years ago at least to a certain level) and I often feel I won’t ever receive eternal life anyway as I can’t fulfill the Law though I partly tried and try to keep it.
I think your site among others was partly mentioned in recent preaching by Norbert Link, who said in slightly other words that you and some other people (who were made for an example in a series of Herbert Armstrong’s life on Netflix) are cursed beings used by Satan to bring true Christians off the way to eternal life.
I just watched a preaching today [about the 3rd Resurrection] and am afraid to possibly be in it. What can I do to get rid of my fears and find assurance/confidence again?
Kinds regards, –D. K.
Comment: This man has received a personal reply. He first wrote ESN on September 8, 2017: “Influenced by Church of the Eternal God.”
Something Keeps Forcing Me to Read and Listen to Them:
(2nd email from person above:)
September 10, 2022
Yes, I know that deep down, but somehow I am yet attached to it as something keeps forcing me to go and keep reading their news, booklets or listening their preaching. I will pray and put all my strength in that I stop listening to all that and lose that fear inside me. I am sorry if I am a burden to you, I just want my confidence back and stop being scared.
I found Christ personally in 2015 by the influence of a friend and sadly got about a year later in contact with the Armstrongism offshoots by accident. It seems as a young believer you are in particular prone to wrong teachings.
I am grateful to all your help and support.I wish I could meet someone of you in real life at some point (a member who lives in Germany as well maybe) and get more information to break free again from that influence and reassure myself in Christ again.
Much Regards from Düsseldorf, Germany –D. K.
I Would Like to Reply to D. K.
September 13, 2022
I would like to respond to D.K.’s letters from September 10, 2022 in this testimony of mine “PCG Can Ruin Your Life” because I used to feel the same. –former PCG member
Watching and Reading Their Material Has Over Time Affected My Life:
September 15, 2022
Hello, I have only been a casual follower of all these Armstrong “churches” but I think somehow over time watching and reading their materials has affected my life. I’ve always been attracted to prophecy which is likely the reason I keep following them. All changed with GFs relentlessly Trump prophecy and electronic fraud which really made me sick. Obviously they aren’t really a “church” but rather an extreme right wing group. –D. F.
PCG Members Naming Their Baby Boys Less Common Biblical Names:
September 21, 2022
Ever notice how the “ministers/leaders” in PCG have been hung up on naming their boys “Bible names?” (I won’t mention the Bible names they’ve given their girls.) And realize when I say this I am not against Bible names since we “in the world” have heard of, or named our own children, good Bible names such as “David,” “Joshua,” “Philip” “Daniel” or “Jonathan” but these PCG members seem to choosing less common “biblical” names like: Jude, Ezekiel, Micah, Benjamin, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jordan, or Jonah. Next thing you know one of them will be naming their baby boy Adaiah, Hosea, Obadiah, Azariah, Habakkuk, Elijah (no I don’t think they will choose that one), or how about Jaasiel (that one means “God’s Work”)–and who knows, maybe some PCG parents already have. I wonder if they think that if they give their boy a “biblical name” he will grow up to be just like his name and be a strong committed PCG member. To the contrary, many of these “biblically named children” have ended up washing their hands of PCG and leaving. –J. J.
Cannot Believe How Much My Life Has Changed:
September 27, 2022
I’ve been out now for a little over 2 years and I cannot believe how much my life has changed. I finally feel myself, I finally see my life catapult forward and finally feel happy with no fear of going into the Tribulation or losing my eternal life hanging over me.
I just can’t believe I didn’t wake up earlier! And I can’t believe the drivel I used to believe. When I look back, I can see it was mind control and brainwashing that kept me there. Never again. –Former PCG member [name withheld]
Edmond’s HQ’s Lake Almost Bone Dry Now:
October 8, 2022
Have you seen how low Edmond’s HQ’s lake is now? It’s almost bone dry. Down at least 6 feet or so. You can almost walk from one side to the other. This is the page I use: https://www.okcweather.com/station/edmond_north/liveview.htm
They have rain finally in their forecast for the next few days, but it’s gonna take a lot to fill that back up. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
Comment: It is viewable, just not until 7 or 8 am their time.
Son in PCG Will Not Visit His Grandpa on Deathbed:
October 10, 2022
I have family members in PCG. They have been involved since 2000. My grandpa is currently on his deathbed and his son will not come and say his final goodbyes because there is some sort of PCG feast going on in another state at the moment. I am at a loss of what to do. Our family is devastated. Is there anyway I can help them break free of this cult or is the reality that they will not leave unless it’s initiated by themselves? Thank you, –K.
Comment: This person has received a personal reply.
Thanks for All Your Work:
(2nd email from above person)
October 10, 2022
Thanks so much for your prompt reply. I suspected this was the case. Thanks for all the work you’re doing to educate people and assist people trying to leave this cult.
Kind regards, –K.
A Badge of Honor for Members Not to Leave the Feast for any Reason:
October 10, 2022
That’s horrible about the son in PCG refusing to visit his dying grandfather during the Feast, but not surprising. Some PCG members actually look at a situation like this as a “badge of honor” for not leaving the FOT for any purpose, even a death in the (non-member) family. My mate in PCG has told me about PCG members’ non-member spouses dying, or being critically ill, yet they brag about still attending. If that’s not sick and twisted, I don’t know what is. I remember being told about a PCG member whose spouse (also a member) who died right before the FOT. The member had his spouse’s body stored frozen in the funeral home’s freezers until he could return home and take care of the arrangements. –Impacted by loved one in PCG
Gerald Flurry Falls Down from Bathtub in the Midst of Feast of Tabernacles
October 25, 2022
The PCG is making every effort so as not to allow the spillover of this embarrassing news which happened during their Feast of Tabernacles this year. It was reported that, in the midst of their Feast, Gerald Flurry accidentally fell from a bathtub which made him incapable of delivering his Last Great Day message. The ministry had requested to pray for his healing and the members were expecting for a “group fast” very soon.
When are they going to wake up? Their God is not answering their prayers. There is no healing and people are dying. It’s like the words of Job, “When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.” (Job 30:26) –D. S.
GF Will Be Elevated to the Highest Pedestal:
October 26, 2022
“That Prophet” (GF) is definitely drawing closer to the end of his luxury-filled days when he (if he doesn’t repent) will have to give account to God for all the evil he has carried out which has ruined and destroyed lives. After he “kicks the bucket,” he will be elevated to the highest pedestal and given no end of accolades along with justifications as to why he was “taken out of the way.” It remains to be seen as to what biblical title or titles will be given to “2nd in command” lofty and proud instigator of evil” Stephen Flurry as he attempts to fill GF’s large shoes. I’m sure GF and his so-called top ministers have been planning all along what they will do and say when that time comes. –A. R.
PCG Slowly Dying as an Organization:
October 30, 2022
PCG posted a fairly long list of baptisms (15 of them) in their October 22 Announcements. Only 3 were in the United States, 2 were in Australia, 1 in Canada, the rest were overseas. While there were more than normal baptisms, it’s has certainly not been the normal trend. Typically, there are more deaths than baptisms, and not all the deaths are being reported. I personally know of several that haven’t been reported so no doubt there are more that I don’t know of. I also keep hearing of more people leaving. They can push through as many baptisms as they want but they are slowly dying as an organisation. –Former member of PCG
Grant Turgeon Ordained Local Elder:
October 30, 2022
Grant Turgeon [oldest son of Wayne Turgeon and brother of Micah Turgeon] of the Edmond congregation was ordained a local elder on October 11 by Gerald Flurry and Andrew Locher. He will serve in the Edmond congregation. –[name withheld]
Comment: One can do a Search on our site for the name “Grant Turgeon” to see the unfavorable information on him. Be aware that Grant Turgeon is the oldest child of 4 children and Micah Turgeon, (who recently left PCG), is the youngest child.
Is GF a Father to the Inhabitants of Judah, or a Father of Lies?
November 7, 2022
The K.O.D. program on September 30, 2022 titled “Queen Elizabeth II Made a Fatal Mistake” centered around the subject of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Could GF be the one making a fatal mistake in overstepping royal boundaries and by suggesting he sits higher up in royal authority than the Queen of England?
GF in his secret sermons has implied that he is to be as a “father” to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. How is it that he is able to make himself out to be a “father to the inhabitants of Judah” just by setting foot in Israel in the footprints of HWA, and then by means of taking the members’ extorted money and pressured donations to his Jerusalem Fund, and giving that money over to the cause of “biblical” archaeology? Does he think to purchase Jerusalem archaeology for himself and also gain an imaginary status of “fatherhood?” from it?
Many times, GF has in his sermons quoted the verse Isaiah 22:21 while subtlety applying it towards himself, in identifying himself as a “father to the inhabitants of Judah…” Does he truly believe that only he, GF, will be the one to tell them, saying, “unto the cities of Judah,” as he has quoted countless times now, in referring to the commission he supposes to have, “Behold your God!” quoting Isaiah 40:9? (Is this to command the Jewish people to behold God, or to behold a man who acts like a god?)
How dare GF imply that the people of Israel and Jerusalem are so ignorant of their own history that the Jewish people need a con-artist and megalomaniac such as him to deliver “the truth” about Jerusalem and Israel to them, acting as if he, GF, and not the Jewish people, practically owns Jerusalem already? That “church” in its lofty imagination does practically pretend to own Jerusalem archaeology like some poster child of their own.
Does being able to distort the Bible verses which contain “the key of David” (in Isaiah 22 and Revelation 3) and by placing them into his own context in order to support his personal biblical fantasy somehow make him a father to the Jews of Israel, or even as a new “king” of Judah? Does GF in his own mind, now believe he is the de facto “king of Judah” as well as of England?
It is the Lamb of God, the real Lamb of God, not an imaginary “christ come in the flesh” figurehead, who now sits on the throne on the right hand of our Father in heaven? The Bible does not tell of some man acting as a throne warmer and tithe collector, sitting in the place of Jesus till He returns.
How can some money grubbing man lay claim to being as a “father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah” who has done nothing at all to assist the oppressed, including the Jewish refugees fleeing from Ukraine?
Who is more “worldly” in withholding their money from helping anyone, including disaster victims, and even their own poor, than the PCG? And yet somehow GF would convince people that Jews and the people of Jerusalem will look up to him as their “father” and worship at his feet? Who could be more delusional? –Ex PCG [name withheld]
PCG Disregards Jesus:
November 8, 2022
Thank God for ESN being a safe platform not only for sharing the negative side of our experiences, but also for offering positive and helpful solutions. Healing is the objective here over all, and Jesus is the ultimate cure. Sometimes when immersed in the issues of religious abuse and fraud, people forget Jesus is there, and I have been guilty of that. We must remember Him. I know that the PCG effectually trains people to disregard Jesus, and that fact does not help any struggling traumatized ex-member who has been so brainwashed. –[name withheld]
PCG Not Really Keeping the Feast:
November 21, 2022
I have a lot of family in [these groups]. Especially in PCG they have made an idol of HWA. They insist they’re keeping Feasts, but none have ever made an “offering by fire.” At the tabernacle was where the only place an altar with fire was located. As I read Hebrews 9, Christ would’ve suffered often since creation. [“not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:25-26 NKJV]
Also, Numbers 28-29 helps in knowing what an offering by fire was. The two daily offerings are “continual burnt offerings.” The daily two offerings were followed by all the other offerings.
Neither have they recognized that Christ made the Atonement in the Tabernacle not made by hands in the Heavenly Tabernacle, fulfilling the Day of Atonement. [Note by ESN: Jesus brought in His own blood in the presence of God on our behalf.]
–J. G.
Wondering How We Became Sucked Into Such Abuse:
November 21, 2022
I am grateful to be able to read what other ex-members and currently oppressed members have to relate. As you well know, our freedom of speech was severely suppressed in and by that “church” and that makes their comments all the more important.
Reading more and more testimonies of ex-members, and those older comments in the ESN letter archives, alleviates the guilt of becoming a “dissident.” But then in wondering just how we all became sucked into such abuse, it leaves behind another kind of shame for having been involved in it and for cooperating with it.
I feel sad for people whom I know and have cared for that are still being abused. I hope they, too, would be led to break out of the PCG.
I am sending something I wrote for you to post. –Former member of PCG
Comment: Read this man’s testimony: Philadelphia Church of God Is Guilty of Much Evil!
GF Suffered Contusion in Lower Back After His Fall and Condition Has Worsened:
November 23, 2022
Hello ESN,
I just heard from my friend who spoke with a PCG member that Gerald Flurry suffered contusion in one side of his lower back when he fell in the toilet during their FOT this year. [See October 25 letter above about this fall.] His inability to produce a new episode for his Key of David (KOD) program proved that his condition has further worsened after the Feast.
It is interesting to note that Gerald Flurry’s recent fall was his second. His first fall happened on January 4th, 2014 while delivering a sermon in Edmond.
His continuing absence from his KOD program and his deteriorating health condition are now causes of major concern to the whole PCG.
For the past four weeks after FOT, they have aired repeat episodes of the KOD. The latest one, which they labeled as “new,” was just a recording of GRF’s address from the September 4th opening of the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology. Last week they had to call in Brad Macdonald as a new presenter of KOD.
But why employ a new presenter if GRF is coming back? Are they trying to condition the mind of their members and the public that GRF’s time is almost up? –D. S.
GF Said God Would Allow Him to Be Alive During Christ’s Return:
November 23, 2022
While we were still attending, I specifically remember GF saying God would allow him to be alive during Christ”s return. He said it dogmatically and I remember thinking that was a crazy thing to say! It was said under the context of him having the ability to bind and lose, and open and close doors. And it was as if he was binding the fact that he’d be alive. Hopefully, that arrogant comment stuck with others, too, and when he dies, maybe they’ll wake up. –Former PCG member
Members Being Conditioned For When GF Dies
November 30, 2022
I’ve known for some time that GF was demon-possessed. I believe that the PCG members may be being conditioned for someone else to take the helm of the PCG. The evidence seems to certainly point that way. When GF’s reign ends, it probably will spell the end of the PCG as the prominent splinter group of WCG. –G. C.
Stephen Flurry Will Be the Leader After GF Dies:
December 2, 2022
I was told emphatically back in the late 90s that it is all set up for Stephen to become the “Pastor General” after Gerald assumes room temperature. It’s official and in writing.
The person who told me this was a close friend of Stephen’s who partially grew up with him in Washington state, and also worked at HQ at the time. I do not remember his name. He was never a minister, so not a prominent name that most would recognize anyway. May not be at HQ now. He was actually a decent fella and never seemed to be the HQ type. He may have made something of himself away from the Edmond trap. –M. Daniel [real name used with permission]
John Krueger Dies:
December 3, 2022
John Krueger, minister at HQ, died Aug 24th. Someone who recently left PCG said his kidneys were failing. –Former member of PCG
Mark Saranga Dies:
December 4, 2022
Mark Saranga died on Sept. 27. –[name withheld]
Mark Saranga Was Fired by PCG:
December 5, 2022
Mark Saranga hadn’t worked for PCG in a long time. They fired him, probably a “government problem.” That all happened around the time they made him kick his daughter out, and then his wife left (his wife later came back). It was a sad, dysfunctional, situation and the PCG was 100% controlling. His obituary (in the PCG News Announcements for November) was awful! Particularly the last part where they made it all about Gerald and HWA, and not a word about the fact that Saranga is survived by his wife and 5 children. –T. C.
Headspin & Tailspin on Flurry’s Future Demise:
December 6, 2022
We know that the PCG idolizes HWA and Flurry equally, and that they would think and do anything and everything to further the belief that these two were specially called by God.
And with all this talk about Flurry’s injury, deteriorating health, and eventual demise, I can’t help but think of what may be happening within the ministry.
For sure, if Flurry is ever going to die soon, they would all hope that it’s close to the January 16 “miracle date” that they’ve always believed in, if not on the date itself. Not only will this strengthen their belief on this date but it would give them reason to equate Flurry to HWA all the more, and that the former is the Elisha to the latter’s Elijah.
But what sweet irony of all ironies if Flurry dies on a day that they most hate–Christmas Day! Not only would that cause the ministry to go into a headspin in conjuring up some reason as to why that happened, but most likely take the whole PCG in a tailspin and crash.
Wishful thinking. But wouldn’t that be something? –Scott Tered (real name used with permission)
Your Website Has Given Me Closure After Leaving PCG:
December 15, 2022
I would like to let you know that I appreciate your website and what you do. It has given me closure since leaving the PCG and what I went through there. I was a student for 2 years at their college. I left due to cult tactics I saw. Thank you for putting yourself on the line to help people. You’ve done a great job. Please keep up the good work and know you have many supporters out here. Thank you for your bravery and empathy. I wish you and the site all the best. –Child survivor of PCG [name withheld]