Social Media Pays: COGWA Calculated Split with "Likes" and Tithes

Abigail Cartwright. Gideon's 300. William T. Sackett. If these names are familiar to you, you just might have gone through the 2010 split between the United Church of God (UCG) and the Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA).

During the split, it was easy to see how hard UCG was working to spin its membership against the ministers who would later form COGWA. The late Dennis Luker called for a split during his first public address as the head of UCG. Later letters to the membership referred to the would-be COGWA leaders as "spiritual wolves." This kind of attitude turned many members against UCG before they even knew what hit them. I was one of them.

Now, almost five years later, we learn the COGWA leaders may have been spinning just as hard, possibly going to even greater lengths to manipulate the membership.

This week, James Malm posted inside information he was given by John Kilough and other COGWA leaders. John Kilough is the father of Clyde Kilough, the embattled former UCG president who currently serves as COGWA's Media Operations Manager. Malm has previously written about the senior Kilough's attempts to recruit him to support the dissenters during the 2010 split. While we at As Bereans Did do not endorse the doctrinal positions Malm advocates, he is usually "in-the-know" about drama within the Churches of God.

Many have claimed that social media was used as a tool to foment the 2010 UCG/COGWA split so that the junior Kilough and Jim Franks wouldn't have to get their hands dirty. Malm's allegations seem to support that conclusion.

To gauge support for a potential split, would-be COGWA leaders created a Facebook site named "UCG United We Stand" in May 2010, Malm says. Cecil Maranville, a long-time WCG/UCG higher-up who manages COGWA's Personal Correspondence Department, created the site, according to Malm.

The purpose of the UCG United We Stand page was to feel out how many brethren were unhappy with UCG and would support a split, Malm says. People were "carefully tracked" according to their "likes" on posts and the comments. Later, the UCG dissenters used these figures to determine when a split was financially feasible for them, according to Malm.

"The average income that could be expected from the brethren was calculated according to the numbers expected to support the action; and when a sufficient income was calculated as achievable for their expected needs; the split become a sure thing," he said.

Maranville was simultaneously trying to gauge support for a split among the UCG elders, Malm claims. He created a secret Facebook group called "Gideon's 300," then asked trusted elders to report other elders, wives and other significant members to the group. Once Maranville vetted them, they were invited to join.

To spur discussion on these forums, the soon-to-be COGWA leadership created a fictitious profile of a woman named Abigail Cartwright to disseminate anti-UCG information and official statements. During that time period, Maranville had access to internal UCG information and letters, which regularly appeared on the Abigail Cartwright page. Malm says that the information was written by a number of people, then compiled by Doug Horchak, so that no one could be pinned down on who wrote the articles. Abigail Cartwright was operated by Gloria Dilberto, the wife of Cecil Maranville's step son, Frank Diliberto. Frank played a role in the other Facebook groups.

And in the event that even more pot-stirring was needed, Maranville would comment on the UCG United We Stand forum under the pseudonym William T. Sackett, a character from a series of Louis L'Amour novels, according to Malm. Once it had served its purpose, the forum name was changed to COGWA United We Stand, and later abandoned.

Just in case anyone thinks I'm picking on COGWA, I know that UCG's political machine was working overtime in social media during the same time period. They just weren't as good at it. And now we hear reports that the Living Church of God is cracking down on its membership over Facebook likes and comments. The sister splinters of the Worldwide Church of God all learned their tactics from the same place.


It saddens me to realize I was probably used as a pawn in a chess match between ambitious men. It's sobering to realize that my "likes" and my words of support were probably not used to encourage, but instead to calculate whether a political faction would have enough money to survive.

Still, it doesn't shock me. I recall reading an email Malm posted, the December 17, 2010 message Jim Franks sent to his "supporters" just before the split was made official. It found its way into my inbox a handful of days after Franks sent it. Even then, as a COGWA supporter, I was taken aback by its flippant tone.

"Hello, I simply can't imagine how things could get any more interesting! Each day now brings a new twist."

Families and lifelong friends being torn apart is interesting? A new twist? No remorse that a fellowship was being ripped apart? No gauging and probing whether or not Jesus was being magnified? In that moment, I knew what my gut had told me all along was true. Something was wrong. These were words I would expect from a politician, not a pastor. This was not a shepherd who lamented the division of his flock. But that was the answer then, wasn't it? Oh, I was a sheep, all right. A tithe-sheep. And you are, too. Perhaps you will come to realize this before COG history repeats itself, as it always does. You are a beloved child of God; a human being for whom your Savior willingly died a brutal death. You, your loved ones, your friends and your children deserve better than to be treated like chattel.

"'Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture,' says the Lord. Therefore this says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: 'You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the Lord'." - Jeremiah 23:1-2

The UCG/COGWA split and the months that followed were some of the darkest, most depressing times of my life. But I'm glad it happened, because it helped me see the cracks in the foundation of the Churches of God and question why things were as they were. It helped me to surrender to Jesus Christ because I had reached the end of myself. He in turn helped me to see that the end of myself is the beginning of Himself. That's not something to fear. Jesus isn't like the example I got from the ministry. He is the True Shepherd who gives Himself for His flock. God is working all things out for His good, for His purpose, to His glory. In looking back what was once darkness is now joy. I write this in thankfulness that a system being torn apart has led some, including me, to the New Covenant. And in hopes that you, too, will escape this dysfunctional Armstrongist system and step into the blessings of an abundant life in a truly Christ-centered, New Covenant community.

************
It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
************