Father and Son: Herbert and Garner Ted vs. Gerald and Stephen

Of all of the various splinters which have emerged from the wreckage of the old Worldwide Church of God, none has been so dedicated to trying to imitate the original than the Philadelphia Church of God. Of course, as with all of the others, they have fallen short of that mark. Gerald Flurry is NOT the dynamic speaker that Herbert Armstrong was, and Stephen Flurry is NOT a photogenic or very articulate second. However, unlike Garner Ted, Stephen has been completely loyal to his father and supports all of his craziness. Moreover, his devotion has been rewarded by his father by designating him as the clear heir apparent to the family business.

Also, like Herbert and Garner Ted, Gerald and Stephen are obsessed with news headlines and giving their opinions on all things political within the United States and Europe. This, while following the example of Herbert and Garner Ted by demanding that their members not actually participate in the political process. Nevertheless, unlike Herbert and GTA, Gerald and Steven make very clear which side of the political divide in the United States they support.

For example, Gerald has designated Donald Trump as God's candidate for president in the present day. Indeed, he believes and preaches that Trump is a modern-day type of King Jeroboam and will prevail against all of his enemies because of God's support. Flurry has even predicted that Biden would be booted out of office before his term expired, and that the Great Orange One would be restored to the Oval Office (like many of his other predictions, that didn't happen).

Yesterday (June 11, 2024), Stephen Flurry posted an article for theTrumpet titled Trump Convicted by Judge Merchan's Dark Divinations. The article reads like it was lifted from a Trump speech, Republican talking points about the verdict, or a Fox News report on it! Not even pretending to be impartial, the article opens with: "Joe Biden is gloating. Even his supporters would have to admit that. Why? It’s not because he is more popular with American voters than his rival. It’s because of a verdict handed down last week by a Manhattan jury—and a certain overactive Manhattan judge." Flurry continued: "Americans—and especially Donald Trump—can’t get a just verdict from our justice system, so we had better at least have a just understanding of what is really happening inside it."

Of course, Flurry doesn't offer any evidence that Trump was innocent of the charges for which he was convicted. Instead, he cites Trump's continued popularity with some segments of the voting public as evidence that the charges were bogus. Flurry goes on to say: "So much for innocent until proven guilty." As I have said before, these guys are amateur political hacks pretending to be the leaders of the "Philadelphia Era" of God's Church! I suspect that Stephen Flurry will inherit his father's mantle someday soon, but don't expect anything to change when that happens. Like the many other splinters which emerged from the old Worldwide COG, this one is destined to continue to decline in reach and scope and become even more irrelevant than it already is.