Garner Ted Armstrong
Garner Ted Armstrong | |
---|---|
Ambassador University: BA (1956), MA (1960), Ph.D. (1964) | |
Occupation(s) | Minister, author, educator, radio and television commentator |
Known for | Voice of The World Tomorrow, President of Ambassador University (1975–1978) |
Spouse | Shirley Hammer Armstrong |
Parent | Herbert W. Armstrong |
Relatives | Dwight L. Armstrong (uncle) |
Website | garnertedarmstrong |
Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003) was an American
Armstrong initially became recognized when he succeeded his father as the voice of
Brief biography
Armstrong's genealogy is described in his father's autobiography. The elder Armstrong reported that the Armstrong ancestors arrived in America in the late 17th century with William Penn. The ancestry was traced to Edward I of England. Armstrong's grandmother was "something like a third cousin to former President Herbert Hoover".[1]
Armstrong was born in
Following service in the
Personality
Armstrong was described as "movie star handsome" and was noted for his broadcasting talents. In radio and TV programs he mixed political, economic, and social news of the day with religious commentary.[4] He was noted for adding "wry humor" into sermons that preached about the biblical prophesied return of Jesus Christ to the Earth.[3]
In 1975, Garner Ted Armstrong arranged for his friend, Hee Haw co-host Buck Owens, to entertain attendees on Family Night at the annual fall Feast of Tabernacles church convention. Buck Owens and his band the Buckaroos traveled to five U.S. Feast of Tabernacles sites and performed before about 15,000 people. The concerts were attended by festival attendees and were also open to the general public.[5][6]
To reciprocate, in 1976 Owens asked Armstrong to guest star on the Hee Haw show that starred Buck Owens and Roy Clark. He popped up out of the "corn patch" on the show to say "Sa-loot" to his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. He sang a country-western song he had written titled "Working Man's Hall of Fame" and joined "the whole Hee Haw gang" to sing the popular Ocean gospel song Put Your Hand in the Hand.[7]
Country music star
Ministry
Armstrong was ordained to the ministry by his father in 1955. G. T. Armstrong later reported in a sermon that he did not want to be a minister, to which his father answered something to the effect that his opposition to entering the ministry was a sign that he should. In 1957, he began to take over much of his father's broadcasting responsibilities. During that same year, he traveled extensively through South America. As a fluent Spanish speaker, he made several Spanish-language broadcasts of the World Tomorrow.[9]
The decade of the 1970s brought a series of reversals for Armstrong's career, however. An article in the Los Angeles Times reported that "The rift between the father and his heir apparent began in 1972 when Herbert Armstrong ousted his son from the church for four months, after an extra-marital affair, saying the son was "in the bonds of Satan."[10]
The year 1972 had been prominent in Herbert W. Armstrong's prophetic views, as elaborated in a booklet called
Nevertheless, by 1977 Armstrong's media exposure included a daily radio program broadcast on over 300 radio stations across the United States, 33 in Australia, and 11 in the Philippines, with other programs throughout the world rebroadcast in the German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian languages. With an annual television budget of six million dollars, his exposure also included television programs which appeared on up to 165 channels. For almost two years this included a daily television appearance. According to Armstrong, notables such as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Nelson Rockefeller, Cyrus Vance and Hubert Humphrey, as well as a number of U.S. senators, were frequent viewers of the broadcast. President Johnson personally told Armstrong during an afternoon lunch the two men had at Johnson's Texas ranch, "I watch your show (The World Tomorrow (radio and television)) all the time and I agree with most of what you have to say".[12] Senator Bob Dole requested all copies of Armstrong's 1970's World Tomorrow broadcasts be preserved into the national archives of the Library of Congress TV & Film division.[13][14]
His establishment of a "Systematic Theology Project" was eventually jettisoned by his father, but a form of it was later adopted by a separate church that Armstrong later established.[15]
Relationship with Stanley R. Rader
By the mid 1970s, Stanley Rader, an attorney and church accountant who had been a personal assistant to Herbert W. Armstrong since 1958, appeared to be stepping into the number two position of administration previously thought to be Armstrong's domain. Relations between the two became strained and a power struggle ensued.[16] One conflict was that Rader had set up privately owned affiliated corporations that were doing business with the church. Armstrong and others in the organization were skeptical of Rader's legal and financial dealings and suspected a bid to control the church's multimillion-dollar business. One objection to Rader's role was that, being Jewish, he had never been a baptized member of the church or a practicing Christian. That obstacle was removed in 1975 when Rader was baptized by the elder Armstrong.
By the mid 1970s two different and rival views were developing regarding the work and future of the church.
One plan was formulated by Armstrong, who wanted to take the church in a direction built around a larger publishing and broadcasting platform that would go out under his name. Armstrong was wary of prophecies built around specific dates, and he was reported to be against the idea of continuing to deliver messages that associated the U.S. and Britain with the
Meanwhile, Stanley Rader aided significantly in crafting a unique role for the senior Armstrong on the world stage: Herbert W. Armstrong was promoted to various governments as an "ambassador without portfolio for world peace." In that role he did not so much represent the Worldwide Church of God or Ambassador College as he did a completely new entity called the
Armstrong was known to disagree with this approach as well as the expenditure of funds on it and other foundation activities. It became an increasing point of division between father and son.
In 1977, he officiated at the wedding of his father to the former Ramona Martin. The two separated in 1982 and divorced in 1984.
Father and son part ways
As Rader's influence with the elder Armstrong grew, so did the gap between Armstrong and his father over operations and certain doctrinal positions of the church. In 1978 Herbert Armstrong excommunicated his son and fired him from all roles in the church and college on the night of Wednesday, June 28, 1978, by means of a phone call to Tyler, Texas. Armstrong moved to
Armstrong never again had the media outreach that he had enjoyed in his father's organization, nor did his new church ever rival his father's in membership statistics. The Church of God International did, however, become a haven for some former members of the Pasadena church who took exception to Rader's role and/or the elder Armstrong's autocratic style. As a result, members of the Worldwide Church of God were forbidden by Herbert Armstrong from having any contact with Armstrong, and his name was removed from a significant number of church publications. At the time of the separation, he was one of the Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God.[citation needed]
However, in his later years, Armstrong's relationship with the Worldwide Church of God was somewhat cordial. Armstrong and his family were invited to stay on the Ambassador campus in Pasadena during the time of his father's funeral. He returned to the Big Sandy campus in 1986 for the funeral of Norval Pyle, an early Worldwide Church of God pioneer. In the spring of 1997, shortly before the university closed, he was interviewed by a staff writer from the
Later ministry
He continued his ministry through the
He continued to conduct personal appearance campaigns throughout the United States, Australia, Jamaica, and Canada, but on a much smaller scale than during his heyday in the 1970s. The appearances also provided opportunities for unofficial reunions between those who had left and those who remained in the Worldwide Church of God.
In the fall of 1989, he travelled to Berlin to do on-the-spot radio broadcasts covering the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In 1997,[18] following accusations by a masseuse named Sue Rae Robertson,[19][20] Armstrong was asked to resign as leader of the CGI, but to remain a laymember, by the church's board of directors.[21] No charges were ever filed in relation to the alleged assault, and civil cases brought against Armstrong and the CGI were dismissed.[20] Instead, Armstrong chose to resign from CGI altogether and founded the Intercontinental Church of God.[22]
Until his death, he was the head of his Armstrong Evangelistic Association, which he had established in 1978, and the Intercontinental Church of God.[23]
Death and legacy
Armstrong died on September 15, 2003, owing to complications from pneumonia.
Rather than selecting a new media spokesman, the evangelistic association continues to broadcast old programs made by Armstrong on approximately 30 television stations and cable outlets
Writings
- — (1960). Your Marriage Can Be Happy.
- — (1963). The Plain Truth About Child Rearing. Based on doctoral dissertation
- — (1966). After Death...then What?.
- with Armstrong, Herbert W. (1966). The Wonderful World Tomorrow: What It Will Be Like.
- — (1968). A Whale of A Tale.
- — (1969). Modern Dating: Key to Success or Failure in Marriage.
- — (1969). Some Fishy Stories About Evolution.
- — (1971). A Theory For The Birds.
- — (1972). The Real Jesus.
- — (1977). The Real Jesus (Expanded ed.). Sheed, Andres, McMichael.
- — (1973). What Is A Real Christian?.
- — (1973). "Satan's Fate". In Armstrong, Herbert W. (ed.). Did God Create a Devil.
- — (1975). Do You Have An Immortal Soul?.
- — (1979). How To Get Rid of Guilt.
- — (1980). Why Should You Repent?.
- — (1980). Oh God, Where Were You When I Needed You?.
- — (1981). Peter's Story.
- — (1981). Facts You Should Know About Christmas.
- — (1981). The Ten Commandments.
- — (1982). Saturday-Sunday, Which?.
- — (1982). What Is The Real Gospel?.
- — (1984). Europe and America in Prophecy.
- — (1984). Can You Understand Bible Prophecy?.
- — (1985). Believe It Or Not - The Bible Does Not Promise Heaven!.
- — (1986). The Passover - Is It For Christians?.
- — (1987). What Is The Mark of the Beast?.
- — (1988). Churchill's Gold. Published under the pseudonym William Talboy Wright.
- — (1989). The Answer to Unanswered Prayer.
- — (1989). The Shocking Truth About Satanism.
- — (1992). Violent Crime Can Be Stopped - Here's How!.
- — (1992). The Origin and History of the Church of God, International.
- — (1993). Betrayal and Forgiveness.
- — (1995). The Real Reasons Why Christ Came to This Earth.
- — (1995). God's Armor.
- — (1996). The Great Tribulation: Is It About to Happen?.
- — (1996). Life on Mars? Or Did God Create the Universe?.
- — (1997). The Beast of the Apocalypse: What Is It?.
- — (1998). Saved By Grace?.
- — (1999). Coming Soon...An Invasion From Outer Space!.
References
- ^ Armstrong, Herbert (1967). Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Vol. I. Worldwide Church of God. pp. 25–26.
- ^ "Ancestry of Garner Ted Armstrong". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ a b Martin, Douglas (September 17, 2003). "Garner Ted Armstrong, Evangelist, 73, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- ^ Oliver, Myrna (September 16, 2003). "Garner Ted Armstrong, 73; TV Evangelist Formed Own Church After Break With Father". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- ^ "Stroudsburg Pocono Record Newspaper Archives". September 19, 1975. p. 43.
- ^ "The Worldwide News" (PDF). herbert-w-armstrong.com. September 1, 1975.
- ^ "Hee-Haw: Dottie West / Garner Ted Armstrong / Charles Ginnsberg". TV.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ISBN 9780520248892.
- ^ Armstrong, Garner Ted. "The Plain Truth About Child Rearing". Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Oliver, Myrna (September 16, 2003). "Garner Ted Armstrong, 73; TV Evangelist Formed Own Church After Break With Father". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ "Contents- US & BC in Prophecy". Archived from the original on May 20, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
- ^ Armstrong, Garner Ted, "Are We Relevant?" sermon delivered on November 19, 1988 (Church of God International).
- ^ "U.S. Congress Preserving Herbert W. Armstrong Video Archive". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ "Library of Congress Motion Picture and Television Reading Room: Religion Collections in Libraries and Archives (Main Reading Room, Library of Congress)". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ "Church Doctrines (Systematic Theology Project)". intercontinentalcog.org. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ John Trechak, "Power Struggle", Ambassador Report, Issue 5, April 1978.
- ^ "Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association".
- ISBN 978-1598842036. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ Hadden, J. "ROBERTSON v. CHURCH OF GOD INTERNATIONAL". FindLaw. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ a b Mullen, Holly (May 9, 1996). "How Low Can You Go?". Dallas Observer. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (September 17, 2003). "Garner Ted Armstrong, Evangelist, 73, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "Intercontinental Church of God". cogwriter.com.
- ^ "Intercontinental Church of God". intercontinentalcog.org. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ New York Times: Garner Ted Armstrong, Evangelist, Dies at 73. September 17, 2003.
- ^ "Garner Ted Armstrong TV/Radio Page". Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
Sources
- Eric Gilder and Mervyn Hagger. Prophecies of Dystopic “Old World, New World” Transitions Told: “The World Tomorrow” Radio Broadcasts to the United Kingdom: 1965-1967. Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest, pp. 205-222. ISBN 978-973-637-159-2.