Philadelphia Church of God in Edmond, Oklahoma, disputes TV report linking it to Waco siege

An Edmond church responded Monday to a recent report by a local television station, saying it was particularly offended by an effort to connect it to the fiery 1993 Branch Davidian standoff in Texas. The Philadelphia Church of God held a press conference on its campus in far north Edmond, at its administrative building on its world headquarters.

Oklahoma City’s FOX25 aired a two-part series about the Philadelphia Church of God, which sits on a 170-acre campus in far south Logan County. The report, aired the previous week during a ratings period for television stations, described the church’s mission as warning people that the world will soon come to a violent end, and said followers believe only the faithful will survive. In the report, Stephen Flurry, vice president of the church and son of Pastor General Gerald Flurry, said the church believes the end of the world is near. Reporter Nick Winkler said the campus is a model for how Christians should behave and help Jesus, after his return, set up his new government in Jerusalem.

Winkler also described facilities on the Edmond campus, including a new school and a $15 million performing arts center due to be finished next year, and reported that the church raised about $15 million from members the previous year. Former member Dennis Fisher said in the report that Gerald Flurry tried to scare people out of their money and that Flurry is characterized as a prophet. Unnamed former members reportedly said they were asked to tithe multiple times to remain in the church.

At the press conference, Stephen Flurry responded to what he called an attempt to connect the church with the 51-day Waco siege, which ended on April 19, 1993, when dozens of people, including Davidian leader David Koresh, died in a fire. “The one we took the greatest offense to was the connection that they tried to make between our church and what happened down in Waco, Texas, in 1993,” he said. He said FOX25 had cited a letter by an anonymous former member who noticed a change in Gerald Flurry’s thinking in 1993, when he allegedly became more paranoid. Flurry called the connection “dishonest and really illogical” and “yellow journalism at its worst.” Truthful reporting and fair hearing of all sides are a matter of honest speech (Proverbs 18:17).

Joe Spadea, FOX25 news director, said the station stands by Winkler’s work, which he said was based on “exhaustive” and objective investigative reporting. He said the station would have attended the press conference had it been notified in advance and was not “shying away” from the event. Flurry said the report, which he described as based on innuendo, was aired during a ratings period and was geared toward increasing ratings and station revenue. He said it aimed to scare Oklahoma City and Edmond residents about what the church is or is not doing. “To me, they’re the ones scaring people to get money,” he said. “We don’t scare people to get money. Our people give voluntarily, and they give because they believe in this work.”

Stephen Flurry said church members obey the “tithe command as we see it.” Shane Granger, the church’s marketing director, said the second tithe is not brought to the church but is saved by members for their own expenses and for attending biblical annual festivals. The third tithe, he said, is contributed every third year and is used not for church operations but to support widows, orphans and the poor, which he said takes that burden off public tax rolls. Granger said the Bible is clear that many people, not only church members, will survive the coming time of trouble. “We have never said otherwise,” he said. He also said the church took issue with the statement that police and the FBI had investigated the church, noting that prosecutors have not charged it with a crime.

The Edmond Sun did not receive a comment from the Oklahoma City FBI office by press time. Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said the OSBI has not conducted a past or current investigation into the church. Kevin Woodward, undersheriff of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, which has legal jurisdiction over the area, said his office has received no recent complaints about the church. He said that about a year ago his office conducted a “flyover” of the campus as a preventive measure, to see whether everything was “on the up and up” and to ensure there would be no Waco-like incident.

Stephen Flurry said the church has distributed nearly 50 million pieces of literature over the past two decades, all free of charge. He said that during the 15-year run of its program “Key of David,” the church has never asked viewers for money on the air. He also said the church has brought students from across the world to its liberal arts college, which is also located on the world headquarters campus in Edmond.

Source: Read the original report