UCG Crisis Continuing

Ancient Laodicea

This week I was forwarded a couple of emails related to the UCG crisis. As one was anonymous and the other was not, I decided to post something here that was at Abigail Cartwright’s site a few days ago as I have received confirmation from various sources (including often, UCG itself) for various parts of it:

All Regional Pastors removed to be replaced by Ministerial Team October 2010. These Regional Pastors were: Bruce Gore, Todd Carey, Greg Sargent, Jim Haeffle, Jim Servidio, Larry Grieder, Lyle Welty, Larry Neff and Mike Hanisko. Denny Luker was an RP when he was made president; he was not replaced.

Mr Hendren – August 2010 – removed from ministry

Mr. Mendez – August 2010 – removed from ministry

Mr. Garcia – July 2010 – removed as Deacon

Mr. Lovelady – July 2010 – resigned as Treasurer / HR Director

Mr. Walker – June 2010 removed as Director of Spanish Work, removed from the ministry

Mr. Roybal – June 2010 – removed from UCG ministry

Mr. S Langarica – June 2010 – removed from UCG ministry

The following ministers have been removed from the church website in June of 2010 but remain in limbo as an official announcement has not been made

Mr. Dimakis

Mr. Sanchez

Mr A. Lanarica

Mr. Gonzalez

Mr. Mundo Tello

Mr. Ortiz

Mr. Avila

Mr. Hernandez

Mr. Quijano

Mr. Nain

Mr. Gomez

Mr. Arboleas

The following individuals while removed/resigned or asked to resign continue to be employed as paid elders

Mr. Johnson – May 2010 – not reconfirmed as Corporate Secretary

Mr. Horchak – May 2010 – position on the Ministerial Services team was eliminated when Vic Kubik came in as interim operations manager.

Mr. Thompson – May 2010 – position on the Ministerial Services team was eliminated when Vic Kubik came in as interim operations manager.

Mr. Register – May 2010 – resigned as Director of Educational Services, his position on the Ministerial Services team was eliminated when Vic Kubik came in as interim operations manager.

Mr. Kilough – April 2010 – asked to resign as President

Mr. Franks – April 2010 – asked to resign as Operations Manger of Ministerial services

Mr. Salyer – April 2010 – resigned as Operations Manager of Media

Mr. Kilough – July 2009 – resigned from CoE

Mr. Thompson – July 2009 – resigned from CoE

Mr. Foster – July 2009 – removed as Council Reporter

There may be one or two others, if I recall correctly, who also left, but may have just prior to the current crisis (which may be why they are not listed above). UCG has always had some changes, but these are more than normal.

The elimination of Regional Pastors, in my view, is a major organizational change. We will see what those fruits are. Some suspect a collapse or at least some additional split will happen.

It is my understanding that UCG has seen its income drop, but how much is not yet clear. UCG should be releasing its income statement for the period of July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010 in the next two weeks if it keeps with prior practices. It is possible that some comment on the income from July 1, 2010 to a later date may also be mentioned.

UCG has been urging its members to no longer support having a telecast on public access stations in a cost-cutting move. The fact that this has been asked for twice within the last month seemed odd to me, but again I am not part of UCG.

The listed circulation of the Sep-Oct 2010 edition of its flagship Good News magazine is 362,2000. It once listed a circulation of over 500,000.

UCG has always had governance issues, but more since the Spring of 2010 than almost any other period since its formation in 1995. UCG was formed by WCG ministers who decided against continuing with the form of governance they had publicly advocated prior to forming UCG.

I disagreed with its chosen form of governance in 1995 (and still do), as I believed that it would doom public proclamation of the gospel to a lower priority than I believe that Jesus intended. And my review of all its published financial statements since then (and I am a former Certified Management Accountant and former Vice President of Finance) convinced me that my initial assessment was correct.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God This article provides quotes information from the two largest groups which had their origins in WCG as well as commentary.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from evangelists?
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG/GCI members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.