COGWA Board Seemingly Lists Priorities

In COGWA’s latest letter (8/19/11), its Board stated the following:

Of the three major steps needed to establish a permanent governance and administrative system, two are now complete—we have selected our form of governance, and the Ministerial Board of Directors has now been named. A remaining major step is for the MBOD to name a president and to approve the management team he selects…If we are right in God’s sight, then He will bless us in what we do. If we are not right then we will struggle and eventually fail…

We commit to you that our greatest priority will be the spiritual strength and spiritual growth of the Church…

We are committed to preaching that gospel to this world and teaching God’s way of life. We may be small, but there are ways to harness the powers of technology to proclaim a witness to the truth of God with a bigger and more effective voice. We are committed to getting this done!

We are committed to preserving and defending the doctrinal integrity of the Church of God and to helping the Church become stronger through being grounded in the true doctrines of Christ.

The above appears to be COGWA’s four priorities and in the order of importance to the Board. It has spent its first 8 months of official existence mainly on trying to work out its governance (COGWA is a split from the United Church of God and all of its board members were once affiliated with Herbert W. Armstrong). This amount of time and focus suggests that COGWA still is likely to have problems with governance/administration and perhaps will have future splits.

As far as “feeding the flock” this seems to be the second listed priority, followed by its hope to do public proclamation, followed by its commitment to doctrinal integrity. These priorities seem neither hot nor cold (cf. Revelation 3). Jesus seemed to list priorities in a different order than COGWA in Matthew 28:19-20.

FWIW, at least four times in the Mystery of the Ages chapter titled, Mystery of the Church, the late Herbert W. Armstrong quotes or alludes to portions of Matthew 28:19-20. He never says that dual responsibility is finished or that he finished either part. . In his autobiography, he wrote,

In Matthew 28:19-20, God’s order is 1) go and preach the Gospel (compare with Mark’s version, same words of Jesus, Mark 16:15); 2) baptize those who repent and believe; then after that, 3) teach them to observe the commandments (Autobiography, p. 523).

Perhaps some in COGWA may wish to think about that.

To take this a step further, COGWA has in the past said that it would use the internet as its primary means of preaching the gospel to the world.

Many groups have claimed that they would utilize the internet as their main form of media to have an impact on the world. FWIW, as of 8/20/2011, the Alexa (an independent ranking source) popularity rank of COGWA’s website was 462,424, while the rank for COGwriter.com was 150,515. Essentially what this means is that even though COGWA has claimed about 8,000 members and 170+ ministers/elders, its now preferred gospel proclamation vehicle is considerably less popular than the website of a member of the Living Church of God (let alone LCG’s websites, telecasts, magazines, etc.). Actually, COGwriter seems to have 3-10 times the effectiveness of COGWA in public proclamation.

Those who differ in their opinions about COGWA’s actual priorities should consider what COGWA has really accomplished in regards to public proclamation.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Attending the Church of Choice This article discusses whose choice is important to worship God; should you attend the church of your choice or the church of God’s choice?
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?
Should a Christian Vote? This article gives some of the Biblical rationale on this subject. Would Jesus vote for president/prime minister? Is voting in the Bible? This is a subject Christians need to understand.
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.
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.
Concerns about Church of God, a Worldwide Association This seems to be the largest group that came out of the United Church of God. Here is some history and concerns about it.
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?
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. These are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.