The World Mission Society Church of God: Religious Freedom or Religious Fraud?

The United States Constitution affords all citizens the freedom to exercise the religion of their choosing.  But when does a controversial religious organization such as the World Mission Society Church of God, cross the line from exercising the freedom of religion to committing religious fraud?  Do potential members of the WMSCOG have enough information about the WMSCOG when they decide to join?  Are potential members truly making an informed decision to join the World Mission Society Church of God?  The World Mission Society Church of God’s recruitment efforts seem to raise some red flags.

What WMSCOG Recruiters Do Not Tell You

  • WMSCOG recruiters often represent themselves as a group of students from the “Elohim Academy (WMSCOG Bible study program) instead of disclosing that they are members of the World Mission Society Church of God when approaching potential recruits in shopping malls, on college campuses, and in other heavily populated areas like midtown Manhattan.  When questioned as to why WMSCOG members do not mention the name of their church when recruiting, a current WMSCOG member explained to me “We don’t want to turn the person off right away if they have already heard negative things about the church because they just won’t listen.”  Is it acceptable for  WMSCOG members to misrepresent themselves like this in an effort to deceive people into listening to them?
  • WMSCOG recruiters will not disclose how much time is required of its members.  Members are slowly pressured to spend more of their free time studying the Bible, recruiting new members, or working on various projects for the organization.  Recruiters also fail to mention that members are required to spend their entire Saturday observing the Sabbath, and that numerous other “feast days” will be celebrated when members are required to take off from work and attend 5 am and 7:30 pm prayer services.  I once asked a WMSCOG member why they do not explain this to new members and the response I got was, If we told new brothers and sisters how much time they should spend in the church they wouldn’t agree to join… they are too spiritually immature to understand… they need to be fed spiritual milk before solid food because as babies they will choke.”  Should WMSCOG members decide what information should be disclosed to a potential or new member based on the concern that the person may not join?  If information is withheld in this manner, the person is not making an informed decision as to whether or not to join the WMSCOG.
  • WMSCOG recruiters do not admit to the monetary requirements for membership in their organization.  WMSCOG members are required to give 10% of their gross income for their “tithe” in addition to other “freewill offerings”. New members study a number of lessons when they join.  The “tithes and offerings” lesson is one of the last lessons they will be taught.  Why is this requirement kept a secret until the member has spent a considerable amount of time studying approximately 10 other topics?  Where does all of the money go? Why doesn’t the WMSCOG distribute financial statements to its members like mainstream churches?

What do these WMSCOG members gain by purposely withholding information in order to recruit?  From the answers I received from WMSCOG members, I would say new recruits!

If a WMSCOG recruiter approached you and asked, “Would you like to join my church?  As members we give up most of our free time, spend countless hours in the church and give the church 10% of our money”.  Would you join? If someone was informed of the WMSCOG’s requirements and decided to join, that person would be absolutely within his or her right to do so.  However, I personally witnessed WMSCOG members, with intent, withhold information in order to recruit new unsuspecting members by disallowing them to make a real informed decision.  A religious organization should not, and does not have the authority to decide when a person can handle and can not handle the truth about its requirements for membership.  This is deceptive recruiting, and religious fraud, period.

*The photo above is licensed under the Creative Commons license, available here.
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20 Comments
  1. Anon says

    I was approached by these folks at my APARTMENT today (which was a little upsetting, seeing as how it’s a gated community and I have no idea how they got in). You are right, the entire time they proselytized they did not mention what church they belonged to, but repeatedly referred to “God the Mother.” I had to Google some of the stuff they said after they left to know who they were and know exactly why I don’t want to meet with them next week for the “appointment” they cornered me into. Thanks for this site, very educational.

    1. admin says

      Hello Anon,
      I am so happy to hear that you were able to find our site before you met with the WMSCOG recruiters for your “appointment”. Unfortunately, there are some people that have not been as lucky. Read more on our Former Member Testimony page. Thank you for reading our site and commenting.

  2. EmIly says

    Yes, you are a spot on. Thank you so much for putting this website together and showing your information sources. I was baptiesed into this cult under the impression that it was a church that worshiped like the early Christians did before the catholic church was ever formed. I was looking for a sound Bible study group and so desperate to understand the bible. I thought wow God has heard my prayers! They have this way of making you feel so welcome and they are constantly saying god bless you. I truly felt full of joy like god had finally led me to my purpose in life,like all my suffering finally made sence. Little did I know that i was being baptized in the name of some dead Korean guy. Never thought of myself as gullible or easily swayed. I had known the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savour and can recall many times he had weaved miracals in my life so I was ready to make my life focused completely on the things of the Lord. Instead wound up committing the worst sin of my whole life. I am so sad and so ashamed. Thankfully I was able to find this information before spending any more time praying to false gods. The irony is that these people preach to warn you about people like them. I can see how some people that are so intelligent wind up in these cults, i wasn’t even particularly vonerable but the circumstances were just right to suck me in. Though I am emotionally drained for now, I do believe the true Lord Jesus Christ had a purpose for my brush with the wmcog. Though I don’t feel I can repent enough. My lesson is this: feelings no matter how intense can be wrong, someone elses intellect no matter how impressive can be wrong, people who use the bible out of it’s context wrong wrong wrong. I thank you for all the work you have put forth exposing the truth, it makes all the difference because you show the sources for your work. These people are working for the devil and they don’t even know it. May the one true Lord Almighty Jesus Christ be with us always.

    1. StubbornStacy says

      Seven years later and they’re still recruiting people the same way. It’s insane how we’ve had the same encounter! I to wouldn’t consider myself gullible, in fact I’m stubborn. Though, i was curious about the Bible and interested in growing a closer connection with Jesus NOT a random Korean man. When the opportunity presented itself i went along thinking everything happens for a reason.
      Well, I constantly questioned the “bible study sessions” only to be told to repeat the same highlighted verses for confirmation. The sad part is they 1000% believe in the lies they’re spreading, it’s the type of brainwashing only to be seen in movies.

  3. Lilly says

    I feel your pain. Keep on praying fro those who are under this trance because they don’t know Jesus Christ Jesus and God is divine no mere MAN CAN TAKE HIS PLACE. Happy to know that you saw the light and got out of the darkness. God Bless you always. Keep strong.

  4. KC says

    They usually don’t say about the tithing requirement also, every churches do practice tithing but for WMSCOG its the most important thing, basically the core of everything, quite ironic isn’t it behind all that bible thumpings. memorizing verses and prayings all that matter in the end is how much you willing to pay for your salvation.

    1. remco9519 says

      Pay for salvation? Well, if I know it’s a true salvation, I suppose to give everything, yet they’re offering a false salvation so why I give. One can turn all the pages of the Scriptures and nothing can be found that a dead false christ can be worship as god, nor a person alive posing as a fake mother god can be worship as gods. Their false gods, and all of mankind are all creations who will undergo questioning by the CREATOR on the day of judgement. WMSCOG and all members preferring to stay are already doomed to hell.

      1. Yahoo2345 says

        Didn’t Jesus physically came in the flesh and then passed away in the flesh with thorns on his head by mere man? Then he rose from the dead spiritually. Anyways, there are so many churches that are pretty darn crazy like Jehova Witnesses, King Ministries of Jesus, Catholic churches, and a bunch of religious cult/sect- churches.
        Many people are in these kind of churches and/or religion, and religion is a hard or harsh thing. Many of these people strongly believe they are in the true church and go about talking to other people about going to their churches in belief that a certain church or certain religion is the right one; what I’m trying to say is that religion is a touchy, delicate subject and these people preach in consideration of their beliefs, nothing more and nothing else.
        No matter what our beliefs are, I think it may sound rude of us to say that these people or that people are “doomed to hell” when only God should judge and we’re only human beings.

        -hope i made some sense, esp. since I’m super tired and my English isn’t superb.
        -Thank you everyone for these comments on this website.

  5. George says

    I have to say that this post is even… [moved by admin to the forum here for further discussion]

  6. Douglas says

    What do they say that is not in the bible? Tithe, study God’s word, meet together, live in peace?

    1. T.H. says

      It’s really not a matter of if its in the bible or not it’s how they use the Bible to justify what they’re teaching. You can make the Bible back up many different topics but is it being taken out of context? This is the main issue and problem with the WMSCOG and groups like it.

  7. Ljames says

    The main problem is that they are deceptive in their recruiting methods. They are committing an act of fraud. They will continue to get away with it if people don’t become more aggressive in exposing them.

  8. Kelli Morgando says

    I have no problem in exposing them. I know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Prevail, Thank God… I am Angry, I am Sad, I am Mad, I Cry and Then I get Stronger again. My Faith In Jesus Christ Will Guide Me. I Will Rescue My One and Only Daughter and Her Fiance, and My 1st Grandchild out of this Very Abusive Destructive Cult. My Faith is Only Getting Stronger and Deeper. My Daughter Was at a Vulnerable stage in Life, She will be able to one day Mourn and Grieve her Father who recently passed away. They May Have Got Her Inheritance and Her Car and Much Much More, I am One Determined Mother who Does not want her Grandchild raised in this Evil Cult. Please Pray I am Successful as I have my work cut out for me… Thank-You and God Bless…

    1. Mountainmom says

      Kelli, please post on the forum. Your story may help others, and you can receive support and good advice as well. Many are struggling in the same way you are.

      1. Kelli Morgando says

        I don’t how to post on the forum, sorry, I thought I was on the forum

  9. Mountainmom says

    Kelli, you have to go to the forum and make an account. Then you can hit PM on people’s names there and private message them. It is worth it to have someone help you make the account as you can talk to people privately as well as on the forum. You are someone many of us would like to talk to as we have/or still are experiencing what you are. I hope you will get someone to help you find your way to the forum.

    1. Kelli Morgando says

      I am willing to try again…

  10. Sofie says

    Thank you for the useful information!
    Please give me a piece of advice what is the best way to let them know that I don’t want to proceed on their meetings and lessons anymore? I have had about 10 or even more lessons, and last weekend they invited me to their “church”. I want to be kind and polite to them, at least for the time they spent with me giving their lessons. So, as I want to quit this, what should I do to be sure they won’t persist with proselytizing in future?
    Thanks you in advance!

    1. T.H. says

      Let them know very clearly that you don’t believe in what they have been sharing with you. Tell them that you don’t want them to contact you or come around you anymore. I know this seems harsh but it really is the way you need to be in order to get them to understand.

    2. UntouchableJ says

      T.H. is right..they are agressive and you MUST take an aggressive stance towards leaving. Tell then you don’t belive the doctrine and NOT to contact you anymore. Tell them also not to show up to your home or job.

  11. sherry borbon says

    I am the mother of our 18 year old son who was “Baptized” into this church about a month ago. I hardly recognize him anymore. He won’t listen to everyday music, no T.V., and when we discuss scripture and the Bible, he begins to tremble and shake. He has tried numerous times to get me. When I agreed to go to his church I was told I would first have to meet and be approved by “Leo” his Pastor. Big RED FLAG there. I refused to be screened so I haven’t gone. I am terribly worried about him. He is/was a very good, too kind, gullible young man who is usually very intelligent, but this church is running him ragged and for some reason he loves it. He is enrolled in college and is almost finishing a program in which he can attain his high school diploma and attain college credits at the same time. Now he is considering dropping school for the love of God and church. I am worried sick, and I mean that literally. I suffer with Fibromyalgia and Shingles. I’m sure that he must now think that I suffer for past and present sins. Both conditions are aggravated by stress and I am having a real hard time with them since my son became a member of this church. I don’t know where to turn for help. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where do I start to try and deprogram him. He fights snow storms and commutes on public transportation to and from his church, which is at least 30 miles from home. They take up all of his time. We really need advice, please help.

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