Worldwide Church of God: Abuse in Duluth

(The Author is Anonymous, but I have
known her personally for about 29 years.
This is only part of this horror story but it is up to her to reveal what she wants. Ed)

I have been going over "stuff" in my mind all day. Life sure has given us some strange obstacles to overcome. As far as Duluth goes, what an ordeal! Following are a few of my personal thoughts, pass them on, delete, or what ever. I do know that sometimes the first step to healing is realizing you are not alone, then the tears can come and the body can start to unwind and heal. Guilt kills, cripples, stifles, and robs one of happiness. God wanted that abolished so he sent Christ. From Genesis to Revelation the theme I see over and over again is for people to take care of each other, not judge, and to always help those who are having a harder time than one's self. Gentleness, kindness, and outgoing love. Now that you know where I am now, I will go back.

I was in Worldwide Church of God for over 30 years, over half of my life at this point in time. In reflecting, I must admit I did not possess much wisdom. I will not give the names of my family members and I do not want my name used since I still have relatives within Worldwide Church of God and Gerald Flurries" ( kind of like a blizzard!) group.

I had several relatives and friends from Duluth. One relative died because of a guilt complex which Bill Gordon inflicted. Guilt because this person, "lacked faith", which, if I remember correctly, Bill Gordon told me personally. My relative sat by the phone every night waiting for the call to be "Disfellowshipped". During the time my relative was sick and confined to a wheelchair, he went back to school, graduated from college with a degree, received recognition for his engineering designs, and supported his family. This took place while some in the area could not find work. Bill Gordon told people to ask those who were working how they found their jobs, at the same time he told people to ignore my relatives.

Bill Gordon told my relative how vain and self-righteous he was. Notice within the word "self-righteous" is the word fright? My relative was thankful for the gifts God had given him in the midst of being crippled. The fright came from men who unjustly persecuted him. My relatives had car trouble in a rain storm on the way home from a "Church" function. Bill Gordon was flagged down by one of my relatives in the car and he was told what the problem was. He drove away offering no help what-so-ever. Bill Gordon would pit husband and wife against each other by telling one, "There is nothing wrong with you", and imply problems were all the fault of the other. No apology was ever given by Bill Gordon to my family, as far as I know.

I have more stories from more friends and family, and it all hurts. If one person could be helped, wonderful. But one would only be a tiny drop in the bucket compared to how many have suffered. Power is a terrible thing when Godly guidelines are not followed. I have seen so very many times within the Worldwide Church of God, "divide and conquer."

The ministers (those employed by Worldwide Church of God, for there were many "ministers" who truly cared and were hurt by the government of Worldwide Church of God), failed miserably when told how terribly and UNGODLY people were being treated. When I conveyed some of my family's problems to a Worldwide Church of God minister I was told to write down all I had experienced within the Worldwide Church of God. That is when I started to realize what an unhealthy organization the Worldwide Church of God is.

Is this what some people are looking for? How can I help? Keep up your good works Joanne, and share your burdens. At least now we can work together to help people heal. On a side note, I find it very easy to let people know they are not alone with their problems because I have to do that every day at work. The doctor I work for is a specialist for women who have terrible problems with their vaginal area. I never knew how many women suffer with glands so swollen in their vagina they can not even insert a tampon. It is a blessing to be able to say to everyone who calls with this kind of problem, You are not alone and you can heal. Being able to give people hope has helped them mentally adjust and start to physically heal.

Do not duplicate, copy or redistribute in any form without prior written consent.

Disclaimer