This material is part of a Field Guide profile of The Worldwide Church of God (WCG) Under Founder Herbert Armstrong. Click here to go to the main page of the WCG profile.
There have been a variety of sources of information about the history of the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA) published in the past several decades. His own Autobiography, begun in serial version in his publication The Plain Truth in the 1950s, and toward the end of his life issued in two bound volumes, is useful for some purposes. However, quite a few of those who are familiar with some of the events described in that Autobiography from an independent perspective have documented many discrepancies between Armstrong's version of many of the facets of his life and ministry, and accounts provided by others.
The following material takes into consideration documentation from a variety of sources, some sympathetic, some neutral, some antagonistic to the man and the institutions he founded. Every effort has been made to be as objective as possible with facts in this account, but subjective evaluation of some of the controversial issues surrounding Armstrong's history is included.
A bibliography of sources is provided at the end for those who might wish to verify specific facts and make their own evaluation of the validity of the subjective commentary.
The following is a list of subheadings within this article. You may jump to any section by clicking on the subhead title.
Beginnings of the Radio Church of God
Explosive growth in the 50s and 60s
Life in the Worldwide Church of God circa 1969:
Herbert W. Armstrong was born in 1892.
Here he was at about 3 ½ with his sister Mabel.
Here he was at about age 23, shortly before he married his first wife, Loma.
Here is Loma, about the same time.
And here’s Loma, the day of their wedding in 1917.
Although Armstrong did not complete his high school education, he was an avid reader
and dedicated to self-
While the family was living in Salem, Oregon, in 1926, Loma became involved in personal Bible Study with a woman who was a member of the "Church of God, Seventh Day (CG7)," a Sabbatarian group with roots in the Millerite movement of the 1800s.
When Loma became convinced of the necessity of keeping the seventh-
At the end of this period of study, he was also convinced of the Saturday Sabbath issue, and of his need to be baptized by immersion. Not wanting to have his baptism indicate a specific commitment to any denominational group, he found a Baptist minister who would perform the ceremony but without any reference to denominational membership. This baptism took place in May or June of 1927.
He subsequently fellowshipped and cooperated extensively with members and leaders of the CG7 in Oregon. Within two years of his baptism, he was giving sermons and leading Bible studies among several small congregations. And he wrote a number of articles for the denomination's national evangelistic magazine The Bible Advocate.
A split in the headquarters leadership of the CG7 in Stanberry, Missouri, led to
formation of a rival CG7 denomination with headquarters in Salem, West Virginia,
in 1937. The new group created a leadership model which included a board of "Seventy
Ruling Elders." Herbert Armstrong accepted designation as one of the "Seventy," and
had ministerial credentials from this Salem CG7 group from 1934-
Although he denied later in life any "official" connection between himself and any national Church of God, Seventh Day denomination, documentation from the time and testimony from members and leaders in the CG7 movement paint a quite different picture. As part of his later claims to a special calling from God as a unique spokesman, it was important to Armstrong to imply to the members of his own organization that he was not a "product" of any existing denomination.
For detailed documentation refuting this claim, see Herbert W Armstrong’s Baptism and Ordination: Setting the Record Straight.
No matter how much he may have been initially involved in the CG7 denomination, he certainly did retain his own independence to branch out into personal evangelistic work, and eventually rejected any connection with the CG7 ministry entirely. He would later claim that this was because of their rejection of certain doctrinal approaches in which they differed from him, but testimony from a number of CG7 people from that time indicates perhaps this was not a totally accurate description of the circumstances. It is quite possible that Armstrong's inability to cooperate with others and his desire to be totally in charge of any activities may have been a greater factor than doctrinal issues.
See Research Resources on WCG and HWA for more information on this aspect of Armstrong's ministry.
Beginning his ministry among people already affiliated with the Church of God, Seventh Day, over the next several years Armstrong conducted a number of area "evangelistic campaigns" in Oregon which brought new members for the small congregations. And most of these folks were personally loyal to the ministry of Armstrong, and to his increasingly unique doctrinal teachings
Beginnings of the Radio Church of God
In early 1934, Armstrong launched a half-
In 1941, the name of the program was changed to The World Tomorrow, perhaps inspired
by the 1939-
For many years the program was introduced with the booming voice of an announcer noting that Herbert Armstrong (and later, Armstrong's son Garner Ted Armstrong) would be "bringing you the Plain Truth about today's world news, and the prophecies of The World Tomorrow."
Radio stations were added gradually over the coming decades, in America and other countries. In 1942, superpower 50,000 watt radio station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, allowed The World Tomorrow to be heard nationwide. Broadcasting to Europe was begun in 1953, and later French, German, and Spanish language versions of the program were launched.
Regular television broadcasts were added in 1967. During the heyday of the broadcast in the 1960s and early 1970s, Armstrong's ministry was said to be buying more radio and television time than any other organization on earth.
At the same time that Armstrong began his radio broadcast in 1934, he launched publication
of the Plain Truth magazine, to be sent to those who responded to the program. The
first issue was produced at home by Armstrong and his wife on a mimeograph-
By 1969, the Plain Truth was a full color magazine printed on huge presses at Armstrong's Ambassador College headquarters, and had a circulation of two million.
The expenses of the radio program and magazine were originally underwritten by the
small group of supporters Armstrong had gathered in Oregon. Armstrong never, from
the beginning of the ministry until his death, specifically solicited donations from
the public on his programs or in his magazine. But he regularly noted to listeners
and readers that those who were interested in the progress of his ministry could
ask to be put on a list of "co-
This group of co-
The very first issue of the Plain Truth magazine contained a hand-
Obviously, this chronology failed, in spite of the dogmatism with which Armstrong declared these things to be so in his magazine. But this did not seem to discourage him at all from continuing, over the next fifty years, to make similar dogmatic predictions over and over of coming events, many of them with specific time frames within which they were to take place … each of which failed when the time arrived.
He seldom made any explanation of these failures, and within weeks or months, his loyal supporters and followers seemed to have forgotten them … and were avidly taking in his latest new speculations.
Armstrong's renown as a prophet got its first impetus in early 1935 as war brewed in Europe, when he predicted that Mussolini would take Ethiopia. In October, Mussolini's forces did take Ethiopia, and Armstrong's supporters were no doubt amazed and excited by this confirmation of his calling as a prophetic figure. Of course, Mussolini eventually lost Ethiopia to the British in 1941, which negated Armstrong's predictive powers, but by then there were so many exciting world events taking place that this disconfirmation was ignored.
Throughout the decade between 1935 and 1945, Armstrong made one dogmatic prediction after another regarding how the War would progress. And one after the other, these predictions failed to come to pass.
In spite of the fact that World War II had failed to bring Armageddon and the Second Coming, as Armstrong had dogmatically predicted over and over, he did not abandon his pretense at the role of "prophecy expert." After the end of the war, the Plain Truth magazine even alleged for a time that Hitler's death had been a hoax, and the Dictator was in hiding somewhere in South America and would soon reappear to fulfill his role as the Biblical Beast of the Book of Revelation.
This prediction also failed, but Armstrong was still undaunted, and merely readjusted his "timing" slightly. By 1953, he was strongly implying that the Return of Christ would be in 1975.
When World War II failed to bring The End, Armstrong convinced his supporters that
one of the reasons was to give Armstrong and his ministry time to "reach the world"
with a "witness and warning" before the Return of Christ. Thus he embarked on more
and more expansive plans for media outreach, constantly badgering his "co-
And at the same time he realized that the growth this might cause in the ranks of the "Radio Church of God" would mean he would need loyal, trained men to represent the organization and serve as ministers for the scattered congregations beginning to spring up throughout the country.
Thus he began plans for an institution to be called Ambassador College (AC) in which to prepare these young men for service. Although he would later imply that the founding of Ambassador was primarily the result of a series of "miraculous interventions" by God and his own great faith, the reality was that he hounded his supporters mercilessly for over a year for more and more funds to meet the demands of his plans. For details on the circumstances surrounding the founding of the college, and samples of some of these incredibly harsh and threatening letters, see HWA—The Myth and the Man.
Ambassador College eventually had three campuses, the first in Pasadena, California—which became the headquarters of the Radio Church of God and later the Worldwide Church of God; the second in northeastern Texas at Big Sandy; the third in Bricket Wood in England.
Although women were never allowed in any positions of authority in Armstrong's organizations, and therefore were not trained for "the ministry," the colleges were nonetheless coeducational, and in the early years were particularly viewed as sources of wives for those who would be going into the ministry. As the church grew, the number of graduates of AC finally outgrew the number of men needed specifically for ministerial positions, so the colleges eventually took on a more general "Liberal Arts" approach, with the majority of graduates not expecting to be employed in the ministry after graduation.
Explosive growth in the 50s and 60s
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Armstrong and his associates that he had trained
through Ambassador College clarified and solidified the doctrinal system that was
at the core of what would later be called the Worldwide Church of God. And at the
same time, Armstrong preached dogmatically on the airwaves and in the pages of the
Plain Truth magazine about the urgency of his new prophetic timeline. The post-
The terrifying booklets 1975 in Prophecy and The Book of Revelation Unveiled At Last,
which included grotesque line drawings by noted horror and science fiction cartoonist
Basil Wolverton depicting the carnage of the Tribulation and Day of the Lord, was
no doubt a primary factor in the decision of many thousands to become co-
Basil Wolverton was a Radio Church of God minister whose artwork graced the pages of Mad Magazine during the same decade it illustrated an RCG Bible Story for Children series, and the two prophecy booklets. Colorized versions of some of Wolverton's artwork from the booklets (coloring done by Wolverton's son Monte Wolverton after Basil's death) can be seen on the Web at
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/wolverton01.htm
The contents of the 1975 booklet and the Revelation booklet, including Wolverton's illustrations, originally appeared as a series of articles in the Plain Truth magazine. Copies of the text of the 1975 booklet, first published separately in 1956, and the Revelation booklet first published separately in 1959 (revised in 1972), can be seen on the Internet at various sites, including
http://www.hoselton.net/religion/hwa/booklets/1975.htm
http://www.hoselton.net/religion/hwa/booklets/revelation.htm
An actual photoreproduction of the Revelation booklet can be seen at:
http://www.cogneo.org/literature/hwa/booklets/revelation.pdf
Life in the Worldwide Church of God circa 1969
The 1974 book The Armstrong Empire (pp 252-
The Plain Truth passes the 2,000,000 mark. [It had been c.50,000 in 1951.]
The World Tomorrow is now also seen on television, in full color
Church now has 125,000 "co-
Enrollment now 1400 on three campuses. [AC had begun in 1947 with four students, 8 instructors.]
Feast of Tabernacles held at 22 sites in 12 countries; attendance 54,000 in US and Canada, 9,000 abroad.
The daily "Radio Log" and weekly "TV Log" sections of the December 1969 issue of the Plain Truth magazine includes listings for the World Tomorrow broadcast on the following:
42 major regional U.S. radio stations heard over wide areas of the country (included such 50,000 watt stations as WRVA Richmond, WCKY Cincinnati, KXEL Waterloo, and WOAI San Antonio )
182 local US radio stations
42 Canadian radio stations, including four in the French language and two in Italian
4 European radio stations, including MANX radio in English and three Spanish language stations
1 radio station in Okinawa
1 radio station in Guam
21 radio stations in the Caribbean and Latin America, including 17 in English and 4 in French
17 US television stations
21 Canadian television stations
The coming decade would bring a number of shake-
With only 200 congregations of the Worldwide Church of God available, the average member did not live in a town or city where such a congregation met. Most were "commuters," traveling long distances at least once a week to meet with others of similar belief. "Long distances" might include 100 miles or more one way, since some states had only a handful of congregations.
The denomination, by deliberate choice of HWA, did not own any church buildings except
those at the campuses of Ambassador College. Therefore, congregations all met in
rented facilities. Common options were public school cafeterias and auditoriums,
union halls, and Masonic lodges. Weekly activities in most larger congregations included
a two-
All finances for the local congregations except for a small fund for emergencies and the like were handled from the central headquarters in Pasadena. No collections were ever taken up at weekly church services—all members sent their tithes and offerings directly to Pasadena. Almost all expenses for the local congregations, including ministerial salaries and hall rental, were doled out directly from Pasadena.
Members were expected to save a full tithe (ten percent) of their gross income (designated "first tithe") and send it in periodically to Pasadena. They were expected to save a full tithe (designated "second tithe") of their gross income to use to go to the annual Feast of Tabernacles conventions of the WCG in the fall. In addition, every third and sixth year of a seven year cycle, members were expected to send in an additional tithe (designated "third tithe") on their gross income for a fund that supposedly was dedicated to helping widows and orphans and the poor in the church. Unfortunately, documentation has shown that there were times in the history of the organization that a certain amount of this fund was not spent for the purposes stated. See the bibliography at the end of this section for documentation about this matter.
"Second tithe" money was to be used only for food and lodging and travel expenses during the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles, and for travel expenses there and back. (There were times when regional or national meetings were also held for the other annual observances of the Church, and it was assumed that second tithe could also be used for expenses for those gatherings also.) Using the tithe even for gifts for children or other family members during the Feast was frowned upon (although some members no doubt ignored this and bought such gifts anyway.) And any "excess" tithe, unused for the stated purposes, was to be turned in at the end of the Feast to Pasadena. In later years, members were even encouraged to "estimate" how much they might have extra and send it in ahead of time. Offerings were also taken up during worship services on the first and last days of the Feast, but members were strictly warned that money for these offerings should not come from the tithe they had brought for the Feast. They were expected to save up for an offering out of their income above and beyond the tithes.
In addition to the regular tithes which members were required to pay, they were encouraged
to donate amounts above and beyond that money to a variety of special projects. These
particularly included the never-
Long before emphasis on "natural" foods and "natural childbirth" and the like became popular parts of the modern American scene, the WCG incorporated these in its teachings. Women were encouraged to give birth at home if at all possible, to have a "natural childbirth" without anesthetics and with as little "medical intervention" as possible, and to nurse their infants for at least the first whole year of life. They were also encouraged to do homeschooling if at all possible, during an era when the laws of most states were very unfavorable to homeschooling.
The idea of "natural foods" was pushed so stringently by church literature and sermons
that the use of white sugar or white flour became, in the minds of many, almost a
"spiritual" issue of "sin" rather than a common-
Limited medical intervention wasn't confined to the issue of childbirth. Herbert Armstrong had become convinced that modern medical science had its roots in pagan religion, and that relying totally on God only for healing was the only proper choice for a true Christian with the Holy Spirit. Physicians were to be used only to set broken bones, sew up injuries, or deliver babies. All prescription medicine was condemned, as were blood transfusions and any kind of surgery, including even removal of external cancers from the surface of the skin. It was not uncommon to find members who would refuse even an aspirin.
Herbert Armstrong's first wife, Loma, died of what was said to be a bowel obstruction in 1967. Reports of her situation seem to indicate her plight might well have been alleviated by a simple surgical procedure. Instead, she died a slow, agonizing death at home over an extended period, reportedly without even any pain medication. (Armstrong changed this "doctrinal understanding" in time for his own declining health in the last decade of his life, and was reported to have been using a number of prescription medications, including morphine, toward the end.)
Although the church was careful to imply in any written material that the choice of avoiding professional medical care was not imposed upon the membership by the church, in actual practice members literally feared excommunication if they would choose to have an operation or a blood transfusion. These policies led over the years to a number of untimely deaths, including some children, that would quite likely have not occurred with adequate medical intervention. In order to avoid "persecution" of the church in such instances, the Pasadena leadership provided guidelines to its field ministry on how to handle deaths which occurred in the homes of members. The guidelines included explaining to grieving parents just how to answer questions from authorities about their choice not to have their child hospitalized—and the primary point was to not say anything that might implicate the church and its teachings in any way. For extensive documentation regarding the history of the church's teachings, policies and practices regarding medical care, see the article "Modern Moloch: Human Sacrifice in the Armstrong Church" from the 1977 Ambassador Report at:
Another extreme position of the WCG which caused much grief among many of Armstrong's followers at this time was the organization's doctrine on "divorce and remarriage," and the policies established by the church to deal with individuals whose family situation came in conflict with the doctrine.
Under Armstrong's teaching, all marriages except for those contracted under false pretenses at the time of the marriage were permanently binding until the death of one of the spouses. Even if a prospective church member, currently in a second marriage, had been divorced from a first spouse who had been totally promiscuous, or extremely physically abusive, or who had abandoned the prospective member decades before, the prospective member was considered still to be bound to that first spouse if he or she was still alive. The first marriage may have lasted only a few months, have produced no children, the first spouse may have been remarried for many years, and the current marriage might have several young children. This made no difference—the prospective member was considered to be "living in adultery" and was expected to separate from the current spouse and tear the family apart before being eligible for baptism and acceptance into fellowship with the WCG.
In order to even get one of the limited "dispensations" in this sort of situation,
prospective members were subjected to extremely intrusive interrogation by WCG ministers,
in which they were forced to reveal details of the most intimate parts of their lives.
Only if such interrogation established that "false pretenses" were involved in the
first marriage, might it be declared non-
As with the healing doctrine, once again Herbert Armstrong found himself able to
take advantage of circumstances he would have previously denied to all of his followers
… in 1977 he married a divorced woman with a living ex-
For documentation about the history of the divorce and remarriage issue in Armstrong's
ministry, see the article "Homebreaking -
Church Government in the Worldwide Church of God
The Worldwide Church of God (and the earlier Radio Church of God) throughout its
history under Herbert Armstrong was essentially established as a "theocracy" under
the one-
The pastor was in charge of a local congregation of the WCG. He would give most of the sermons in a local area, do most of the counseling, make most of the decisions affecting local church organization, and be the liaison between the congregation and WCG headquarters leadership. Most pastors had been trained at Ambassador College. They were seldom from the area in which they served, but rather sent out from the headquarters and moved from church area to church area every few years. Their loyalty was viewed as being to the Pasadena headquarters rather than to the local group they served.
There were no real local congregational "boards" with any authority of any kind.
The Pastor was the unquestioned authority in the local area. Depending on the character
of the man, his leadership style might vary from leadership by example and persuasion,
to "benign dictator," to totally harsh potentate. Unfortunately, the role-
Men in local areas who were viewed as having leadership potential, but who may never
have been to AC, might be ordained first as "deacons," charged with supervising "physical"
matters such as hall rental and upkeep. And if they proved faithful in those responsibilities,
they might some day find themselves "raised" to the "rank" of "Local Elder." Each
local congregation would usually have at least one Local Elder. The Local Elder was
authorized to give occasional sermons, counsel members, and take over the responsibilities
of the Pastor if he was on vacation or at Pasadena for brush-
It might be difficult to find any written guidelines which clarified exactly how
much the ministry and official and unofficial church policies should intervene in
the lives of local members. But it seemed typical in many areas circa 1969 for many
members to accept and even invite micro-
Herbert Armstrong had written a book about modern sexual morality, and in addition
to addressing illicit extra-
It was even typical for members to counsel with their pastor before making any decision
of consequence in their life, including purchase of a car or acceptance of a new
job or choosing a mate. It is not clear exactly why so many felt that the ministry
of the WCG had specialized knowledge or expertise in such matters, as their Ambassador
training had not really covered such matters. Many young men ordained as Pastors
had never even worked at a real job in their life before attending AC, had been married
only a short time, may have had no children of their own yet. In short, they had
no life experience or education which would give them any particular wisdom, knowledge,
or discernment beyond that of the members of their congregation in matters of family
relationships, financial decision-
Much of the growth of the WCG was based on the prophetic scenario preached by HWA in the 1950s and 1960s, including the predicted return of Christ to occur in 1975, preceded by a seven year Tribulation. The church membership was particularly primed to expect that the whole Church would be taken, perhaps miraculously, to a "Place of Safety" in 1972, before the final 3.5 years of the Tribulation, when conditions would be horrific. Although never established in writing, the strong speculation from HWA on down, based on some obscure Biblical passages, was that this Place would be the ancient, abandoned city of Petra in the Jordanian desert.
As 1972 approached, many members made decisions about a number of practical matters in their lives based on the expectation that they would soon not have to concern themselves about such mundane matters as finances and health. Some put off jobs or schooling, others put off dental work, many made extreme personal financial sacrifices, including mortgaging homes, in order to send money to WCG headquarters to pay for a "final gun lap" push to "preach the witness and warning" to the world before the Church was whisked off to safety.
When 1972 came and went without incident, no Tribulation was in sight, and no satisfactory explanation was forthcoming from HWA regarding his earlier dogmatic predictions, a period of unrest throughout the leadership and membership of the organization developed. A number of issues that had been festering under the surface, including the church doctrines and policies about healing and divorce and remarriage, emerged in heated ministerial meetings, which ultimately challenged the authority of Herbert Armstrong to set doctrine and policy for the Church.
After the death of his wife Loma in 1967, Herbert Armstrong had embarked on a regular series of overseas trips, hobnobbing with heads of states of a number of foreign countries. He presented these trips to the membership as important to "spread the gospel," but he seldom spoke openly about the Bible and the Gospel in any of his meetings. He would, rather, make vague, general statements about "a Strong Hand From Somewhere" that would solve the world's problems and bring peace some day.
There was considerable criticism behind the scenes about these trips, which some
labeled as just "glorified autograph outings." Armstrong would present the head of
state-
This made it appear to many of his supporters that he had unique, God-
Because HWA was absent more and more frequently from Pasadena on such trips, his
son Garner Ted Armstrong (GTA) had been assuming a more and more influential role
within the organization for over a decade. By 1972, he had been for many years the
sole spokesman on the World Tomorrow program on both TV and radio. And he was second
in command to HWA in the leadership of the Church and Ambassador College. In 1972,
with unrest about doctrinal and church governmental issues reaching a peak among
the ministry, rumors of sexual improprieties involving GTA added fuel to the fire.
HWA was eventually forced by pressure from many in the HQ ministry to put GTA on a "leave of absence" from all responsibilities including making new broadcasts. Audio tapes of old Herbert Armstrong programs were aired on the radio program. Very little information was available to either the public or the church membership regarding what the problems were that led to the leave of absence of GTA. Members were led to believe that it was for "exhaustion" because of GTA's hectic schedule of responsibilities.
GTA had become an extremely popular TV and radio figure throughout the nation. By
this time the broadcasts had very little specific religious doctrinal content, but
emphasized commentary on world events and troubling conditions in society such as
divorce and juvenile delinquency. The program content was primarily "bait" to get
listeners to send for the Plain Truth and for booklets and articles which would introduce
the heavier doctrinal issues. Thus even those listeners who had their own strong
religious beliefs found Garner Ted's commentary very fascinating and even entertaining,
and non-
GTA was considered by many secular commentators to be one of the most effective broadcasters on the air, often compared to Paul Harvey. When his voice was stilled from the airwaves, the church's income took a drastic drop. Even though neither Armstrong had ever solicited funds on the program, large numbers of listeners voluntarily sent regular contributions to support the broadcast in their own areas. Without new programs, and with GTA's reputation called into question through rumors within the church, even some Church members were no doubt so puzzled that they held back from sending their customary offerings.
In spite of vehement protests from many in the ministry, Herbert Armstrong insisted on returning GTA to his positions of service and authority within the Church and to his broadcasting duties, within months. It was obvious that HWA felt that the very financial survival of the organization depended on GTA's participation. It was equally obvious to many in the ministry that Garner Ted Armstrong's hidden escapades had totally disqualified him from Christian ministry. From this point on until the 1980s, the leadership of the organization was in turmoil.
All through 1973 there were rumblings of unrest among the WCG ministry, and when
HWA announced in early 1974 that he was appointing GTA as his "heir apparent" to
future leadership of the WCG, outright rebellion broke out. Efforts at negotiations
with those ministers and members who were in protest failed, and by the end of 1974,
dozens of ministers and over 2000 members had left the organization. Thirty five
ministers and up to 2000 members had cooperated to form the largest independent split-
After these major defections, a number of changes to doctrines and policies were quickly instituted in what was evidently an attempt to head off further disintegration. Many of those who were most disgusted at the pace of change had already left, so problems within the church dropped back down below the surface, to simmer there for the next two years. Then in 1976, a group of current and former Ambassador College students published a magazine called Ambassador Review dedicated to reporting and exposing many of the controversial issues and activities of the leadership of Ambassador College and the WCG. These included accusations that the Armstrongs and others in top positions in the Church lived lavish lifestyles, at the same time Herbert Armstrong was badgering his supporters to sacrifice personally to send in larger and larger offerings above their tithes. His explanation for the need for such financial sacrifice was that "The End" was so near and the Gospel needed to be "preached to the world" quickly. He implied strongly that his supporters need take no thought for their family's financial future since they would be in "a place of safety" soon, awaiting the Return of Christ. And thus their best investment of their money would be to "put it in The Work." But the Ambassador Report clearly documented that Armstrong and his associates were not "practicing what they preached."
The Church administration accused the magazine of mere muckraking and sensationalism—but had very little in the way of substantive answers to the accusations put forth in the magazine. In 1977 another issue, with a name change to Ambassador Report, was published, with even more controversial material and troubling accusations. Again, the administration denounced the publication but offered almost no clear rebuttal of any of the issues.
The revelations in this publication and the further failure of Herbert and Garner Ted Armstrong and the rest of the leadership of the WCG to make any meaningful changes to their policies and activities led to many more waves of defection from the organization, which continued right up to the early 1980s. The Ambassador Report continued publication of inside reports on the WCG and Ambassador College until the death of its editor in 1999. See the bibliography at the end of this article for more details on the Ambassador Report, and links to the complete collection of all issues from 1976 through 1999 on the Internet.
In early 1977, Herbert Armstrong married his second wife, Ramona. He was 85 at the time, she was 39. By fall that year, he had suffered a heart attack, and was not expected to recover enough to fulfill his leadership role in the Church. It was assumed by most members that Garner Ted Armstrong would soon take over full control of the organization.
But after an amazing recovery, HWA returned to the Pasadena Headquarters in early
1978 and became engaged in a full-
The general membership of the Church was totally mystified by all of these developments, as most of the warring was carried on behind the scenes. Garner Ted soon formed his own rival organization, the Church of God, International. He had no doubt expected the doctrinal and policy changes instituted by his father after his ouster to infuriate so many members and ministers that many would defect to his group. His expectations were disappointed, however, for his spiritual qualifications, after years of rumors and scandal and a reputation for a harsh leadership style, were questioned by many. Only a few dozen ordained ministers, and perhaps 1000 members or so became part of his organization in the first year. Many more ministers and members left the Worldwide Church of God during these tumultuous times. Some left voluntarily, but a large number were disfellowshipped, often for "disloyalty"—having doubts about the leadership of the church, and voicing those doubts to others. Rather than affiliate with Garner Ted's new organization, or one of the few smaller exWCG corporate groups that had sprouted up in previous years, many formed small independent congregations, or found other Sabbatarian groups with which to affiliate, or just stayed home by themselves.
Herbert Armstrong's closest confidante and travelling companion since the death of
his wife Loma in 1967 had been WCG attorney Stanley R. Rader. Rader, who was Jewish,
had begun working as an accountant for Armstrong's organization in the 1950s. He
didn't seem to have much interest in the religious aspect of Armstrong's work until
the mid-
In late 1978, a small group of former WCG members joined together to file a class-
The Church's administration, led by the efforts of Stan Rader, battled the California government clear up to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Church lost those appeals. But in November 1980, a new state law was approved in California which limited the ability of the state Attorney General's office to investigate religious corporations. And this made the issue moot—the state was forced to drop the case against the WCG. See the bibliography at the end of this article for resource material describing the details of this period in WCG history.
Turmoil continued in the WCG from 1978 through the end of the Receivership period. But by 1981, most of those ministers and members with serious concerns about the WCG had either left voluntarily, or been disfellowshipped from the organization. New converts coming along from the outreach of the television program or Plain Truth magazine knew little about the chaos of the previous decade. So there was a short period of relative stability in the leadership. However, this stability was not to be for Herbert Armstrong in his home life. In April 1982, he filed for divorce from his wife Ramona. After an ugly period of almost two years of depositions, charges and countercharges, the parties came to an out of court settlement in May 1984 shortly before the case was to go to trial. See the bibliography at the end of this article for resource material documenting the legal wranglings involved in this divorce matter.
For years, Gerald Waterhouse, roving "evangelist" for the WCG, had dogmatically declared in sermons to WCG congregations around the world that Herbert W. Armstrong would remain alive until the Second Coming of Christ. In fact, he was known to thunder from the pulpit, "If Herbert Armstrong would die, God is a LIAR, Brethren!" Waterhouse's dogmatic prophecies notwithstanding, Herbert Armstrong did die before the Second Coming, on January 16, 1986, at the age of 93.
Armstrong's ministry had spanned six decades of the Twentieth Century. His voice
had been heard by many millions, his Plain Truth magazine had been read by many millions
more. (By the early 1980s, monthly circulation had topped 6 million.) His name was
at one time well-
But fifteen years after his death, the colleges he founded are gone. The TV and radio programs that spread his message have ceased. The Plain Truth magazine, once sent free of charge to millions in order to spread Armstrong's unique doctrinal perspectives, is now a small publication with a subscription fee that contains articles based on standard Protestant evangelical doctrines. The denomination he founded, still carrying the name Worldwide Church of God, has a membership and ministry that is a tiny fraction of the WCG in its heyday. And the leadership of that organization has so totally changed its doctrinal basis that its founder would no longer recognize it at all. His name is seldom mentioned in that organization. And, except for those people who were former members of his organizations, and folks who are interested in religious history, few people "on the street" would even recognize the name Herbert W. Armstrong.
Why then include the Armstrong movement on this website? Because there are tens of thousands of people around the world who were affected by his ministry while he was alive. Many of those who were actually harmed by their affiliation with the WCG are still searching for information to help them understand what happened to them. Many others who were not disillusioned by Armstrong before his death are drifting from group to group and teacher to teacher trying to find a substitute for him to fulfill their need for a personal spiritual leader and guide.
Into this void are stepping a wide variety of teachers and groups, ready to fulfill that need. And it is the perspective of this website that many of these teachers and groups have characteristics which will take these seekers further away from the Simplicity that is in Christ. And a certain portion of those characteristics have developed specifically because these teachers and groups are modeling themselves, in whole or in part, on the ministry of Herbert Armstrong.
For profiles of some of these teachers and groups, and clarification of the areas of concern which this website has with these ministries, see the WCG Family Tree section of this Field Guide.
For the convenience of those who may want to delve more deeply into the history of
the ministry of Herbert Armstrong, a section of the Field Guide is available on Researching
the Worldwide Church of God under
Founder Herbert Armstrong: Print and Online Resources
.
Personal from the webauthor
Memoir of the Tribulation:
A personal perspective by the Field Guide Webauthor of
the "Tribulation Period of
the Worldwide Church of God: 1972-
Herbert W. Armstrong began dogmatically predicting in 1953 that the "Great Tribulation"
prophesied in Matthew 24 would begin in 1972, and that Jesus Christ would return
to the earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom in 1975. This Tribulation was particularly
to come upon the nations of the United States, Great Britain, and the nations of
the British Commonwealth. Those who were faithful members of Armstrong's organization
were promised protection during this terrible time-
Armstrong frequently used this threat of coming trouble to rally support and income for his ministry during the next decade and more. As the 1972 date approached closer and closer, however, the dogmatism regarding the date turned to a more tentative "suggestion" of the "possibility" that the prophecies would occur in the proposed time frame. But the average member of Armstrong's church didn't pay much attention to the hedging of bets creeping into Armstrong's articles and sermons. Many still expected to be on their way to that promised Place of Safety in late 1971 or early 1972.
Obviously Armstrong had to change his strategy when 1972 came and went without the expected Tribulation. What he didn't realize at the time, however, is that a Great Tribulation really did begin in 1972. But rather than coming upon the nations, it poignantly and ironically came upon Armstrong's organization.
I was a zealous, dedicated member of the WCG from 1968-
The story also provides an interesting "case history" that illustrates many of the issues of what makes some religious movements particularly unhealthy to the spiritual, mental, emotional and some times even physical lives of those involved. So it may well be of interest to some folks without a Worldwide Church of God background, as a sample view of a sociological phenomenon.
Click on the link below to go to the Introduction of the Memoir. That page will provide links to the installments as they are completed.
Unless otherwise noted, all original material on this Field Guide website
is © 2001-
Careful effort has been made to give credit as clearly as possible to any specific material quoted or ideas extensively adapted from any one resource. Corrections and clarifications regarding citations for any source material are welcome, and will be promptly added to any sections which are found to be inadequately documented as to source.
Return to Top of Page and the Navigation Bar
History and Overview of the Ministry of
Herbert W Armstrong
