MCGI: Faith as a System of Materialism and Exploited Labor

For years, Members Church of God International presented sacrifice as devotion and work as worship. What is now emerging, according to internal accounts and testimonies from former members, is a system where religious language masks a labor regime that materially benefits the organization while those who sustain it remain unpaid.

After the decline of evangelization following the death of founder Eli Soriano, MCGI did not retreat from activity. It reorganized. The center of gravity shifted away from preaching and toward the maintenance of assets, enterprises, and revenue streams tied to the organization. What filled the gap was labor. Not hired labor. Member labor.

MCGI's underage labor force called GCOS

Evangelization was not merely reduced. It was effectively removed from the equation. The rigorous Bible exposition and public doctrinal engagement that once defined the group gave way to a different outward posture. In place of preaching came performative charity. Food distributions. “Lugaw” drives. Highly visible acts calibrated for optics rather than conversion.

These activities generated publicity, not theologically grounded membership. They produced images and goodwill, not adherents formed by doctrine or debate. Charity became a substitute for evangelization without its replenishing function. No durable growth followed. What charity provided was cover. It preserved moral legitimacy while avoiding theological risk. It allowed the organization to appear benevolent while redirecting internal energy toward operations rather than persuasion.

The institutions, meanwhile, remained. Broadcast stations continued to operate. Media platforms released content on fixed schedules. Educational ventures required staffing, facilities, and funding. These were not symbolic commitments. They were material obligations.

Accounts describe underage members assigned to construction and setup tasks for church facilities and projects. Others were deployed as ushers through the Guest Coordinators system, known as "GCOS". These roles were framed as service and training. In practice, they placed minors and young members into regular operational duties without wages, bound by moral obligation rather than employment contracts.

GCOS work extended beyond ushering. Former members describe coordinators tasked with selling products into a guaranteed internal market. Items included MCGI-branded hydrogenated water and packaged food products marketed directly to congregations. The customer base was captive. The labor force was unpaid. Revenue flowed upward.

Parallel systems operated alongside GCOS. Mothers’ Club members were organized to cook food packs in hot, labor-intensive kitchens during large events and regular distributions. The work was repetitive and physically-demanding. Participation was framed as spiritual service and maternal duty. The products were sold. The proceeds did not return to the laborers.

Other internal units played similar roles. DRRT and QUAT teams handled maintenance, logistics, and security. They guarded chapter premises, manage crowd control, repair equipment, and maintain properties. These functions mirror paid roles in comparable organizations. Within MCGI, they were filled by volunteers operating under religious obligation.

What unites these systems is structure. Labor is continuous. Output is monetized. Compensation is moral, not financial. Leadership and affiliated entities retain control over revenue and assets generated by this work.

The contrast becomes unavoidable when set against the public posture of the organization’s top leadership. While members are urged to embrace sacrifice, simplicity, and unpaid service, Kuya Daniel Razon, his wife Arlene Razon, and close family members have been repeatedly seen projecting a lifestyle of abundance. Luxury vehicles. High-end clothing. Lavish public appearances. A standard of living far removed from the austerity preached to the rank and file.

This is not incidental. Optics matter in high-control systems. When leadership displays comfort while the base absorbs cost, the message is clear even when unspoken. Sacrifice is for them. Reward is for us.

The disparity reinforces the material logic at work. Unpaid labor sustains enterprises. Internal markets absorb products. Charity supplies public legitimacy. Leadership enjoys the surplus. The language remains spiritual. The outcome is unmistakably material.

As evangelization disappeared, the labor exploitation intensified. Without doctrinal recruitment to replenish resources, the organization turned inward. Charity provided visibility but not sustainability. Lugaw drives fed optics, not membership. Fixed costs still demanded payment. Members paid with time, effort, and silence.

Former members describe a gradual realization. The work no longer pointed outward to conversion. It pointed upward to preservation. They were no longer building a religious movement. They were maintaining a system that enriched those at the top while sanctifying unpaid labor below.

Exit followed not from doctrinal disagreement but from calculation. Members began to ask what their labor produced and who benefited. As stories circulated, the stigma of leaving weakened. Departure became rational.

What remains is a question leadership has yet to confront publicly. When evangelization is replaced by spectacle, when charity substitutes for theology, when unpaid labor sustains businesses, and when leaders live in visible comfort, where does religion end and materialism begin?

The answer no longer lies in scripture.

It lies in the ledger.