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What you should know BEFORE becoming a COG minister
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Post What you should know BEFORE becoming a COG minister doyle
If someone you know is considering becoming a COG minister, what do you feel they should know BEFORE applying?.

We are told that over five thousand COG ministers have turned in their credentials either voluntairly or involuntairly, in the past 10 years. Those stats come from COG headquarters. The 5,000 number represents many thousands more when family members of the minister is included.

In all denominations there is a continuous flow of people in and out, but what can the COG in particular do to help stem those kinds of losses in ministers?

For an organization that wants to grow, this is a critical issue. COG officials do read posts here. They are dedicated and concerned for their church, so share your heart - use a pen name if needed.

This is not intended to be a hit job on the COG nor is it meant to be disrespectful of COG officials, but some officials live in the proverbial bubble. Where they reside, the money is good, the congregations are larger and there are plenty of accolades and expense accounts to go around, but the COG is primarily smaller churches.

When a large congregation or pastor of one pulls out, it makes headlines, but are we losing people because they lose heart for ministry, or do they feel they can accomplish more somewhere else?

Whachathink?
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8/2/16 3:44 pm


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Post Eddie Robbins
The first thing they should know is.....The Church of God is right, Hallelujah to the Lamb. All the rest is trivial. Laughing Acts-pert Poster
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8/2/16 7:10 pm


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Post Cojak
I am guessing, but a good many probably should not have been in the ministry to start with. I know I should not have 'enlisted'. We have many men and women listed as ministers who should be teaching a SS class or volunteering as a janitor. That was my case anyway. Embarassed

Note: Eddie and the OTCP finally agree!
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Post Why? Paul W. Nolan
The real question is, "Why did 5000 ministers turn in their credentials?"

That's a broad stroke of the brush to just give the numbers and not the reason why. I think then you can deal with the actuality of the number.

What if 2000 turned them in because of moral failure? Or, 1500 turned them in because they realized what the credentialing process didn't reveal, that they weren't called.

I don't want to speculate or hypothicate. Why did 5000 ministers turn their credentials in over the past 10 years?
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8/2/16 9:10 pm


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Post COG is Right R. Keith Whitt
Eddie Robbins wrote:
The first thing they should know is.....The Church of God is right, Hallelujah to the Lamb. All the rest is trivial. Laughing


Yes, but do you know who wrote it without looking it up?? That's the real test Smile

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8/3/16 7:42 am


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Post LonghornFan
A huge majority of these are those who went through the process of becoming an exhorter and were never active in ministry and never reported. This is why the CAMS process is so vital in affirming ministry calling prior to becoming credentialed. Friendly Face
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8/3/16 9:23 am


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Post good ole boy system-test are flawed wannabebishop
I know when I went through the process to get Ordained Bishop status that I studied hard for the exam along with the questioning that goes along with the process. Yet at the same time I also knew of several Licensed Ministers that were serving in Leadership positions in the state that shared the answers to the test - and shortcut the process. This is the same group of people that swap churches and hold vacancies for their buddies. And for the ministers that try to do the right thing get swept under the rug. While I agree that there are probably a lot of people that should not have been Ordained in the process there are a lot of young men and women of God that were never given a fair opportunity to succeed in the process. This is why there is a mass exodus of young people leaving & joining churches that are serving Senior Pastors that are comfortable in their own skins and that will invest and nurture their talents and calling. You have young people that are seeing great success with organizations like ARC that have systems and resources in place.

But what do I know? That's just my opinion.
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8/3/16 12:36 pm


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Post What you should know 4thgeneration
The COG is a great church, but not perfect. That's why you can be part of it!
The COG is a movement, but also a denomination, a family, a system, and a force.
The COG wasn't designed by you, for you, or to be about you, but it will include you.
The COG probably won't hand you everything you want, but it will give you the opportunity to involve. What you do with opportunity is yours to own and utilize to determine your direction and destiny.
The COG is big and yet small. At times you will feel the largeness of a worldwide movement, and at times the smallness of a family of faith. At times you will see big vision, and at others small mindedness.
The COG is unified and diversified. In many ways this makes us great, but at times is brings a challenge to setting a direction that we can all travel together.
The COG has its share of whiners who have a list of those to blame for what is wrong in their life, family, attitude, church and ministry. Don't get sucked into their whiny-ness.
The COG has a great system of transferring information. Not all of it is accurate, factual, checked out, verified, or even true. Some of it seems made up to try to stir up someone or something. So don't take everything you hear as gospel, except for the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ. The grapevine works, and no effort of leadership to uproot it, prune it, or kill it has seen any measure of success.
And lastly, (not because the list is complete, but because I need to do other things) you probably won't be elected General Overseer. And that is ok!
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8/3/16 3:21 pm


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Post Re: What you should know Brandon Bohannon
4thgeneration wrote:
The COG is a great church, but not perfect. That's why you can be part of it!
The COG is a movement, but also a denomination, a family, a system, and a force.
The COG wasn't designed by you, for you, or to be about you, but it will include you.
The COG probably won't hand you everything you want, but it will give you the opportunity to involve. What you do with opportunity is yours to own and utilize to determine your direction and destiny.
The COG is big and yet small. At times you will feel the largeness of a worldwide movement, and at times the smallness of a family of faith. At times you will see big vision, and at others small mindedness.
The COG is unified and diversified. In many ways this makes us great, but at times is brings a challenge to setting a direction that we can all travel together.
The COG has its share of whiners who have a list of those to blame for what is wrong in their life, family, attitude, church and ministry. Don't get sucked into their whiny-ness.
The COG has a great system of transferring information. Not all of it is accurate, factual, checked out, verified, or even true. Some of it seems made up to try to stir up someone or something. So don't take everything you hear as gospel, except for the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ. The grapevine works, and no effort of leadership to uproot it, prune it, or kill it has seen any measure of success.
And lastly, (not because the list is complete, but because I need to do other things) you probably won't be elected General Overseer. And that is ok!
Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Thumb Up Very Happy
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8/3/16 3:24 pm


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Post Re: What you should know famousflavius
4thgeneration wrote:

The COG wasn't designed by you, for you, or to be about you, but it will include you.

The COG has a great system of transferring information. Not all of it is accurate, factual, checked out, verified, or even true. Some of it seems made up to try to stir up someone or something. So don't take everything you hear as gospel, except for the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ. The grapevine works, and no effort of leadership to uproot it, prune it, or kill it has seen any measure of success.
And lastly, (not because the list is complete, but because I need to do other things) you probably won't be elected General Overseer. And that is ok!


Pay very close attention to these in particular.
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8/4/16 7:46 am


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Post bonnie knox
If you are a woman, you are limited right now as to the level of credentialing you may obtain. You will also be barred from certain offices and certain voting processes, and you will encounter plenty of people who believe such limitations are required by scripture.
You will encounter people who believe you must always have a man in authority over you.
You might encounter people who will compare your ability to obtain the highest level of credentialing to the sin of homosexuality and suggest that should we succumb to the cultural spirit of Jezebel and allow you to obtain the highest level of credentialing or vote on the General Council floor, we will plunge down a muddy, slippery slope of not conforming to scripture and God's ordained order and will fall into rebellion and apostasy with the most dire consequences imaginable (but that you should not be disturbed about any limitations because you are highly valued and may have new clothes when attending the General Assembly and, if you're married, your husband can dominate you lovingly rather than harshly).
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8/4/16 8:04 am


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Post Brandon Bohannon
bonnie knox wrote:
If you are a woman, you are limited right now as to the level of credentialing you may obtain. You will also be barred from certain offices and certain voting processes, and you will encounter plenty of people who believe such limitations are required by scripture.
You will encounter people who believe you must always have a man in authority over you.
You might encounter people who will compare your ability to obtain the highest level of credentialing to the sin of homosexuality and suggest that should we succumb to the cultural spirit of Jezebel and allow you to obtain the highest level of credentialing or vote on the General Council floor, we will plunge down a muddy, slippery slope of not conforming to scripture and God's ordained order and will fall into rebellion and apostasy with the most dire consequences imaginable (but that you should not be disturbed about any limitations because you are highly valued and may have new clothes when attending the General Assembly and, if you're married, your husband can dominate you lovingly rather than harshly).
Shocked Crying or Very sad Embarassed Very Happy
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8/4/16 8:14 am


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Post Nature Boy Florida
While I am in favor of ordaining women at the highest level in the COG - I do want to point out that those men against that taking place perhaps should not be called sexist for voting that way.

Many of them grew up in the 50s 60s and 70s and saw other denomination ordain women but continued ordaining others until openly homosexual are now ordained and gay marriage is celebrated.

I don't think it is sexist of them to say---look what happened to the Episcopalians - I don't want that to happen to us. It seems human nature to compare it that way.

Sure some of those guys are probably sexist.

But I will bet a majority of those voting against it saw what happened to the Episcopal church - and don't want the COG to follow suit.

The question that needs to be answered to convince them would be: If you do one - does the other follow 30 years later? They are convinced that it does experientially.

Epicopal history:
Quote:
In 1976 the General Convention approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate in the Episcopal Church and stated that such ordinations might begin on Jan. 1, 1977. Similar resolutions had been narrowly defeated at the 1970 and 1973 General Conventions. A 1967 General Convention resolution had opened the diaconate to women and recognized that women currently serving as deaconesses were members of the diaconate. On July 29, 1974, three bishops, claiming that "obedience to the Spirit" justified their action, ordained eleven women deacons to the priesthood. The ensuing controversy surrounding these irregular ordinations highlighted divisions evident in the church over this issue. After the 1976 vote, most dioceses accepted the ordination of women, and ordinations of women proceeded at a rapid rate. The 1997 General Convention revised the canons to prevent any diocese from denying access to the ordination process, or refusing to license a member of the clergy to officiate, solely on the grounds of gender.

In 2003, the first openly gay bishop was consecrated; in 2009, General Convention resolved that God’s call is open to all; in 2012, a provisional rite of blessing for same-gender relationships was authorized, and discrimination against transgender persons in the ordination process was officially prohibited; and in 2015, the canons of the church were changed to make the rite of marriage available to all people, regardless of gender.

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8/4/16 4:52 pm


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Post Quiet Wyatt
Women have been ordained equally to men since early on within the Pentecostal and Holiness movements, and it has not led to ordaining homosexuals in those organizations at all. [Insert Acts Pun Here]
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Post A link you might find interesting, NBF (L) bonnie knox
In light of NBF's post, I'd like to post this link. Enjoy.
http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations
[Insert Acts Pun Here]
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8/4/16 8:11 pm


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Post Old Time Country Preacher
Cojak wrote:
Eddie and the OTCP finally agree!


How do ya know at ole Eddie an OTCP aint one in the same?
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8/4/16 8:47 pm


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Post Re: A link you might find interesting, NBF (L) Nature Boy Florida
bonnie knox wrote:
In light of NBF's post, I'd like to post this link. Enjoy.
http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations


Add one more to your spurious correlations:
Most COG OBs are sexist.
Most COG OBs vote to not ordain women.

I'm just stating the reason why most OBs feel correct in not voting to ordain women.

I didn't say they were right.

But I don't think they vote that way because they are sexist - which I see them labeled as such often by those saying "Why am I still in a sexist denomination, etc...".

If you could focus your attention at addressing their real concern - you would be much more successful in advancing your agenda.

Calling them sexist - which they aren't - does not advance your agenda - because that is not what is motivating most of them.
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Post bonnie knox
NBF, I don't want to further derail this thread, so I will simply conclude that of the things you should know before becoming a church of God minister, if you are a female, yes, you should know that, as of right now, you are restricted.

Some other things might be that money is still owed on headquarters, the AB can put you out of a job, the salaries in Cleveland might discourage you if you are in a small church that struggles to pay the electricity.
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8/5/16 6:56 am


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Post Re: A link you might find interesting, NBF (L) Cojak
bonnie knox wrote:
In light of NBF's post, I'd like to post this link. Enjoy.
http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations


I liked the comparison of Men drowned falling out of a boat to Marriage in Kentucky (or something like that). Shocked
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Post Cojak
Old Time Country Preacher wrote:
Cojak wrote:
Eddie and the OTCP finally agree!


How do ya know at ole Eddie an OTCP aint one in the same?


I wuddn't about to OUT anybody and get a whooping! Shocked
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