New X-UCG Churches Being Organized

This post will be periodically updated to keep the list of X-UCG Church of God organizations current. Last updated 2/4/11.

The UCG split has entered a phase where many of those who are leaving UCG have already left and are now in the process of getting organized into new Churches of God (or one new Church of God).

Before getting to that, I want to announce that I have set up two new websites.

Church of God Blogs is a listing of a variety of blogs published by members of various Churches of God that have come out of the old Worldwide Church of God and still retain most of Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings. The site is small, listing only about 11 blogs, but I hope to expand it. It is my hope that this can be a convenient place for Church of God members wanting news about events in the Churches of God, or just online fellowship, can find and link to blogs.

Church of God Doctrines is a list of most of Mr. Armstrong's teachings, and for each doctrine, there is a list of scriptures that relate to that doctrine, but without comment or explanation. The idea is that if you want to research a doctrine, you can look up the scriptures and see for yourself what the Bible says, and draw your own conclusions. Comments can be entered, and I hope to expand the list of scriptures for each doctrine. Also, I have included seemingly "contrary" or difficult scriptures so the reader can learn how to answer those and do an unbiased study of any doctrine, as much as possible. We should let the Bible speak for itself and not have the kind of bias in our Bible study that so many in the world have, only looking for scriptures that support what we already believe.

I have consistently taught that our faith for believing our doctrines must be in God and His word, the Bible, rather than in the ministry or in our traditions. This is what I teach in my online book Preaching the Gospel and in this blog. For that to be the case, we need to prove doctrine from the Bible. We should know why we believe what we believe, and our reasons should come from scripture.

This new blog about doctrines and the scriptures that support them primarily focuses on the doctrines taught by the Worldwide Church of God when Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was alive. Most of these doctrines are also taught by various Churches of God that have come out of Worldwide since Mr. Armstrong's death in January 1986.

Links to both of those sites are in the right-hand sidebar column of this blog.


There have been many more resignations of ministers from UCG, and many or most of them will be meeting in the next several days to make plans. Apparently there is an effort to organize as one large group rather than a collection of small fellowships. This is what many of these same ministers had done fifteen years in Indianapolis to organize United Church of God. There will probably be at least one large group, but I am sure not everyone leaving UCG will be a part of it. There is bound to be a few smaller independent groups also.

Church of God - America website has disappeared. That "organization", if you could call it that, was not much more than a website, and now even the website is gone. This does not inspire confidence in those who might consider contributing to International Ambassador Outreach (IAO), which was closely associated with COGA. There are other potential problems with IAO. Probably the biggest one is the ambiguity of who controls it and where the money goes. Originally it was set up to support the Latin American ministry and the poor in that area, and I am sure many have contributed to it intending to help the poor. But now funds can go to pay living expenses of ministers in the United States, some of which may be following different policies and doctrines than a contributor might want to support. It all seems too chancy.
UPDATE: According to Church of God, a Worldwide Association, this was intended to be temporary from the beginning, and is now replaced by COGWA.

I am going to keep a list in this particular post of X-UCG Church of God organizations as they form, and websites as available, just as I am maintaining a list of ministers in my post on "Where UCG Ministers Stand". So far I have:

Church of God - America - dissolved. This was a temporary organization, to be replaced by Church of God, a Worldwide Association. It listed as associated organizations: Church of God - South Texas, Church of God - Canada, Church of God - Latin America, Church of God - Louisiana, and International Ambassador Outreach. It was intended to be a focus for those concerned about events in UCG. See COGWA Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation about this, link here:
http://www.cogwa.org/faq.html

Church of God - West Palm Beach. According to Shining Light blog, participants include James Cannon, Dan Carriero, Robin Nicholls, David Jenkins, Debra Jenkins, and Michael Moore. Link to Shining Light post:
http://theshininglight.info/?p=1668

Church of God - South Texas - Jack Hendren. Website:
http://www.cogst.org/

Church of God - Canada - Graemme Marshall. I do not know if this is incorporated, but it was a listing in the "Relationships" page of the old Church of God - America website.

Church of God - Latin America - Leon Walker. Spanish language website:
http://www.iglesiadediosunida.org/

Church of God - Louisiana - Larry Salyer. I do not know if this is incorporated, but it was a listing in the "Relationships" page of the old Church of God - America website.

International Ambassador Outreach. The "Directors" page in their website lists the following: Matthew R. Gus, Chairman; Cliff Demarest, Director; Arnold Cisco Mendez, Sr., Director; Robert L. Paine, II, Director; Larry Salyer, Director: Advisory Board; Ken Geise, Director: Advisory Board; Leon Walker, Latin America Advisor.
Website:
http://www.internationalambassadoroutreach.org/


Church of God, a Worldwide Association. Temporary board of directors includes Michael Hanisko, Ken Giese, Greg Sargent, Roger West, and George Evans. A temporary leadership team includes Jim Franks, Doug Horchak, Clyde Kilough, David Register, Richard Thompson. This group is hosting a conference in Louisville, KY January 9 through 11 to make more permanent arrangements. The website has news, a list of congregations and contact ministers with phone numbers, a blog, and sermons. Website:
http://www.cogwa.org/

COGWA mailing address is in Orlando, Florida.

Here is some information from the COGWA News page
http://www.cogwa.org/news.html

January 10, 2011:
Summary: 60 papers with suggestions on governance were received from members and ministers. Two proposals for governance were voted on by ministers gathered in Louisville for the January 9-11 conference, one, to have all ministers submit 5 names and the top 14 names would be tallied, then 7 would be randomly drawn from a box to form the interim governance team. Two, the existing temporary leadership team would continue as the interim leadership. The second proposal was approved by a vote of 84 to 37. A commitment was made to the 20 fundamental beliefs approved in 1995. Preaching the gospel to the public will rely heavily on the Internet, and there will also be printed literature. Local congregations are encouraged to have local bank accounts, and members may contribute their tithes and offerings locally or to the central organization, although the latter is encouraged. Old UCG policies are in force unless changed.

January 11, 2011:
Ministers gathered in Louisville, Kentucky January 9 through 11 voted 78 out of 118 votes cast to retain "Church of God, a Worldwide Association" as the name of the Church out of a list of five possible names. They are considering about 4-6 Feast sites in the United States. Literature production will start with first-contact literature, which will be put up on the Internet.

January 14, 2011:
Interim Governance Team is made up of Jim Franks, Doug Horchak, Clyde Kilough, David Register, and Richard Thompson. Board of Directors is made up of George Evans, Ken Giese, Mike Hanisko, Greg Sargent, Roger West. Mike Hanisko is board chairman. Clyde Kilough is president.

Jim Franks will supervise pastors and congregations. Richard Thompson will manage finances and the Feast. Doug Horchak will supervise international areas. David Register will handle communications and youth camps. Clyde Kilough will manage preaching the gospel to the public.

There is a member letter dated January 20, 2011 in the members page that goes into detail about guidelines and instructions for local congregations in the handling of finances and contributions. Link:
http://www.cogwa.org/members.html


I will update this list with ministers, websites, and new churches as the situation develops.


There have been a number of resignations. According to Shining Light blog, the following ministers have resigned or been removed from the ministry (or fired) in this past week:

Jeff Caudle
Art Verschoor
Andre van Belkum
Paul Suckling
Ed Jacobs
John Lusk
Harold Rhodes
Melton McNeely
Ed Oliver
Don Thomas
Dempsey B. Bruton III
Martin Cole
Leroy Neff
Ken Treybig
Dan Anderson
Dave Baker
Bill Jahns
Alan Pachinger
Gary McConnaughey
Jack Willoughby
Ed Oliver
Fred Davidson
Mark Hampton
Jim McTiernan
David Treybig
Glenn O. Harmon
Flavious Adkins
Don Henson
Tom Diaz
Donald Erickson
King Finley
Steve Ferenchiak
Alonzo Gjesvold
Todd Carey
James W. Hudson
Michael Machin
Tom Kirkpatrick
Mark Winner
Alton Head
Greg Swartz
Lyle Welty
Mike Blackwell
Thomas Seltzer
Britt Taylor
John Pentlin
Joel Meeker
David Smith
Don Shaw
John Foster
Dick King
David Jackson
Alton Head
Don Waterhouse
Larry Greider
Kingsley Mather
Bob Peoples

Link:
http://theshininglight.info/?p=1844


UPDATES 1/7/11:

I have added details about a number of organizations forming from those leaving UCG, including names of ministers or directors associated with those groups. Church of God - America is dissolved, to be replaced by Church of God, a Worldwide Association. I have added that organization to my list, and I have also listed websites for each group when available.


UPDATES 2/4/11:

I have added more information about COGWA from their website.


More to come...


Here are links to related sections in Preaching the Gospel:

A Brief History of the Scattering of the Church, Chapter 5

Government in the Church, Chapter 5

Following the Bible -- Pattern of Government, Chapter 6

Church Government, Chapter 7

How Is the Church Organized?, Chapter 7