As a member of the WCG/PCG for 30+ years, I wanted to share with those just now becoming interested in the PCG what they will be taught to believe about healing.
First, you will be taught that all sickness is the result of sin. You will be taught that sin must be repented of and forgiven in order to be healed. You will be quoted many Scriptures to back this up. You will not be quoted the following verse:
“And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:2-3).
You will be quoted the following verse:
“Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15).
You will be taught that it is always God’s will to heal; that you must wait in faith no matter what happens to you or your loved one. It all depends on “your faith.” If you die, well, you died either in faith, or you died because of lack of faith. You will be told, “If you do not have the faith to be healed, you do not have the faith to be saved.” Yet, you are told you are allowed to go to a doctor if you do not have enough faith.1 You should know, however, that if you go to a doctor, the members are instructed not to pray for your healing, because you have committed a sin. On the other hand, you may go to a “natural” healer, as long as you depend on God to heal you. Medical doctors represent idolatry.
The result of this teaching is tragic. Every member knows (or knew) several others who died slow and horrible deaths, often in great agony. It has become the policy at Headquarters not to announce who has asked for prayer from the members unless that person is well known around the world. This has happened because they would have to make another announcement that the person had died. Honestly, if this were God’s one true church, wouldn’t we hear happy announcements of miraculous healings every week? Such announcements are extremely rare.
You will be taught that all other churches are false “churches of the world.” In fact, once a person becomes a member of PCG, he must stop watching all other church TV programs or reading their material. Perhaps the worst offense against God is the fact that the members are taught that the healings experienced in other churches are false miracles performed by Satan and they are to ignore all other miracles anywhere as works of the Devil! There are other churches whose members did not fall over backwards in a wild frenzy, but who were healed by God. They simply believed in the grace of God, and they were healed. Many have gone to doctors and were scheduled for surgery that did not have to be performed. Even the doctors had to admit it was a miracle. How could these all be “false healings”? The leadership of the PCG knows that the members will walk out and shake the dust off their feet, if they know about these healings. What they are doing to the members is pure evil.
By September 2006, the PCG no longer announced to their congregation to pray for sick members, but they still asked in announcements for prayers for the ministers or the ministers’ wives if they are sick. They used to have a bulletin board with the members names posted that needed prayers for sickness or disease, but they stopped that several years ago. They previously would announce that unless someone was known all over the world or country, they would not make an announcement on the tape about someone being sick. I now know that the reason for this was because they did not want to have to keep telling everyone in a follow up that the person had died. They even stopped the practice of signing get well cards in the lobbies of the Feast halls. They said it “took up too much room, too much time,” etc. I think they were afraid that the members would start wondering why so many were home sick. The amount of serious illness among the members is a dirty little secret. [Read: Philadelphia Church of God is a Sick System! to see the names known of wives of ministers who have died.]
Please, if you are thinking about calling for a visit from these ministers or reading the material, stop and think while you still can! They are extremely clever and can make you believe that you would be honored to die for their beliefs. They know it is a lie. Once, when I was extremely ill and ready to die, our minister told my husband that I was “too young to die” and to “get her to a doctor.” Believe me, they know. Don’t fall for it.
By K. J. (former member of PCG)
Comments by ESN: HWA stated in chapter 5 of his 1979 booklet, The Plain Truth About Healing, that if anyone said there was “no such thing as physical sin,” they were “not intellectual” and that it was “rank stupidity, ignorance or willful perversion of plain simple truth!” It was HWA who was ignorant and who willfully perverted the Scriptures. (See “Mystery of the Ages (a critical review)” and “Mystery of the Ages (a 2nd critical review)” (PDFs) Referring to the verse in Isaiah 53:5: “…and with his stripes we are healed,” the late J. Vernon McGee takes us to I Peter 2:24 which says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the cross, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” Then he asks the question, “Healed of what?” He goes on to answer, “Peter makes it quite clear that we are healed of our trespasses and sins.” Jesus came to be the Great Healer–but the Great Healer heals of sins. (Vol. 3, p. 314; Vol. 5, p. 695)
Related Letters Out of Many:
Death of Tim Thompson (June 9, 2004 letter to ESN by K.J.)
Garth Macdonald Dies Due to Lack of Medical Care (September 1, 2006 letter; Garth was the son of John Macdonald)
Members to Develop the Faith to Face Death (April 24, 2007 letter, which includes 2001 fax from PCG headquarters.)
People in PCG Are Dying Needlessly (January 30, 2010 letter)
Herbert Armstrong Received a Bag of Medicine and Had a Parade of Doctors (April 13, 2015 letter to ESN from an area sales manager who worked for a pharmaceutical company at the time)
Related Article:
How Did WCG Instruct Ministers to Deal With “Health and Medical Problems”?
While this article pertains to WCG, one must ask how much of this is PCG going by today? These policies were taught to the ministers to “avoid prosecution.” This was one of the main reasons Worldwide Church of God changed its healing doctrine.
Footnote by ESN:
1 In “certain” cases, some PCG ministers have not said anything to members who go to a doctor for certain ailments such as diabetes, hernia, high blood pressure, or even cancer treatments. But if a member dies, it is always because they “didn’t have enough faith.”
Back to Philadelphia Church of God Articles
Mike’s Enlightenment Page (PCG exposed)