Grace Communion International
This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. (January 2023) |
Grace Communion International (GCI), formerly named the Radio Church of God and the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), is a Christian denomination based in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.[1]
According to the organization's website, the denomination has 30,000 members in 550 churches in 70 countries,[2] is structured in the episcopal model[2] and is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.[2]
Founding
In 1934,
In 1947, Armstrong incorporated his California ministry,
Under Herbert W. Armstrong (1934–1986)
The Worldwide Church of God adhered to the
Armstrong explained that those "called" by God, who believed the gospel of the Kingdom, and received God's Spirit upon full-immersion baptism, became part of the true, biblical, 'Church of God'. Ministers were obligated to "disfellowship" any in their congregations who caused trouble or division. Such "disfellowshipments" were announced at services before the assembled congregation.[citation needed]
In 1956, Armstrong published
By the mid-1950s, Armstrong had his son Garner Ted Armstrong take over as host of the radio and television versions of The World Tomorrow. By the late 1960s, Garner Ted was executive vice president of the church, vice-chancellor of Ambassador College (which by then had two more campuses in Texas and the United Kingdom), and executive editor of church publications including Tomorrow’s World, Good News, and The Plain Truth.[17]
Armstrong's first wife, Loma Dillon Armstrong, died on April 15, 1967, after almost 50 years of marriage.[citation needed]
1970s: Scandal and conflict
By the early 1970s, the church began to splinter. Members were disappointed that the events predicted by Herbert Armstrong had not occurred. Because church literature such as The Wonderful World Tomorrow, 1975 in Prophecy!, and many others had attempted to pinpoint the date of Christ's return, members continued to wait anxiously for the Second Coming. Some of Armstrong's evangelists, such as Gerald Waterhouse, had presented detailed, step-by-step accounts of the Second Coming in their sermons, which included Armstrong himself as one of two witnesses of the Book of Revelation.[18]
In an article in the May 15, 1972, edition of Time magazine, Herbert Armstrong was reported to have ousted Garner Ted from his leadership roles in the church, on the grounds that Garner Ted was "in the bonds of Satan."[17] When questioned about the specifics of his accusation, the elder Armstrong responded, "Look up I Timothy, Chapter 3, first five or six verses and Titus, Chapter 1, verse 6.". The article surmised:
Both passages make two points in common: that a bishop or church elder must be faithful to his wife and rule strictly over believing children. Had handsome Garner Ted succumbed to an old and common temptation? His father was cryptic: "The fault was spiritual, not moral."
In 1972, the elder Armstrong declared Garner Ted repentant and named him the divinely ordained successor in the church after the latter signed a letter stating "I have sinned against my wife, the children and the church", though neither specified what Garner Ted's transgression had been.[19] While some congregants speculated adultery, others guessed that father and son had disagreed on the format of their radio and television programs, or on some tenets of the church, such as the Elder Armstrong's vocal support for racial segregation.[20]
By March 1974, multiple ministers had quit or been ousted as dissidents, with several citing the church's unfairly lax response to Garner Ted's violations, denouncing elements of Armstrong's doctrine, and founding offshoot churches. Thirty-five ministers formed the Associated Church of God in Washington, D.C.[19] Texas Minister Barry Chase sent an open letter to church members signaling his departure, citing "monumental immorality in the highest echelons of this church."[21]
Alfred Carozzo, former WCG director of ministers in the western US, sent an open letter to WCG members denouncing the church's tithe system, the Armstrongs' lavish lifestyle and expenditures, Armstrong's positions on divorce and remarriage, and alleging that Armstrong had treated Garner Ted leniently compared to church members accused of similar trespasses. Carozzo incorporated his own offshoot, the 20th Century Church of God.[21] More departures followed, some retaining the Church of God component in their names based on Armstrong's assertion that this is the name God calls the Church in the Bible.[citation needed]
In 1977, Herbert Armstrong married Ramona Martin, a woman nearly fifty years his junior, and moved to Tucson, Arizona while recovering from a heart attack. During this time, Armstrong administered and guided church affairs through Stanley Rader, the church's general counsel, and the church administration. The church continued to be headquartered in Pasadena. That year, six former students of Ambassador College published a pamphlet alleging that the church misused funds and violated church members' civil rights. The pamphlet asserted that the church's tithing system reduced members to poverty, costing up to 40% of their income, to support the Armstrongs' lavish lifestyle, including multiple homes, expensive cars, and a gulf stream jet.[22]
By 1978, Armstrong had disfellowshipped Garner Ted and ousted him from the church permanently.[23][24] Garner Ted began his own church in 1978 in Tyler, Texas, called the Church of God International. Herbert and Garner Ted Armstrong remained estranged for the remainder of the elder Armstrong's life.[4]
Ambassador International Cultural Foundation
During the 1960s, "Armstrong had sought to put into stronger action what he later termed God's way of give",[25] which was said to include "the way of character, generosity, cultural enrichment, true education: of beautifying the environment and caring for fellow man." He began undertaking humanitarian projects in underprivileged locales around the world, which led to the creation of the church-run Ambassador International Cultural Foundation (AICF) in 1975. The Foundation worked in several countries, providing staffing and funds to fight illiteracy, create schools for disabled people, set up mobile schools, and conduct several archaeological digs at significant biblical sites. The church auditorium hosted, at highly subsidized ticket prices, hundreds of performances by noted artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Vladimir Horowitz, Bing Crosby, Marcel Marceau, and Bob Hope.[26]
Quest periodical was published monthly by AICF from July 1977 to September 1981. Originally named Human Potential, the project was directed by Stanley Rader as a secular outreach of the church-funded AICF. Quest publishers hired a professional staff unrelated to the church to create a high-quality publication devoted to the
Receivership crisis
Several members in good standing with the WCG prompted the State of California to investigate charges of
The matter gained the attention of
The California Second Court of Appeals overturned the decision on procedural grounds and added as dicta, "We are of the opinion that the underlying action [i.e., the state-imposed receivership] and its attendant provisional remedy of receivership were from the inception constitutionally infirm and predestined to failure."[29]
Stanley Rader left his positions within the church in 1981. While remaining a member, he left the public spotlight as an attorney, retired, but continued to receive payments from the WCG on his lifetime contract, $300,000 per year, until his death from acute pancreatic cancer on July 2, 2002.[citation needed]
Analysis of Armstrongism
Walter Martin, in his book The Kingdom of the Cults (1965), devoted 34 pages to the group, claiming that Armstrong borrowed freely from Seventh-day Adventist, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon doctrines.[30] Armstrong said that all Church doctrine could be proven simply and effectively through the Bible.
After Armstrong (1986–2009)
Armstrong's death and doctrinal changes
On January 16, 1986, Herbert Armstrong died in Pasadena, California. Shortly before his death, on January 7, Armstrong appointed Joseph W. Tkach Sr. to succeed him "... as pastor general, in the difficult times ahead". Joseph W. Tkach took on leadership of the denomination. Tkach and other ministers came to the conclusion that a great many of their doctrines were not biblical.
Changes under new leadership
As early as 1988,
Tkach Sr. directed the church theology towards mainstream evangelical Christian belief, against the wishes of some of the membership. This caused much disillusionment among the membership and another rise of splinter groups. While the church admitted that its changes had brought about "catastrophic results," they stood by their belief that the changes were for the best.[35] During the tenure of Joseph Tkach Sr., the church's membership declined by 80%.
All of Herbert Armstrong's writings were withdrawn from print by the WCG, though they are still made available by other denominations. In the 2004 video production Called To Be Free, former dean of WCG's Ambassador College Greg Albrecht, declared Herbert Armstrong to be both a false prophet and a heretic.[36]
In 1995, Tkach Sr died of cancer and his son, Joseph Tkach Jr., became the leader of the WCG. Tkach, Jr. affirmed his father's reforms within the church, and continued to make changes. As a result, many members and ministers left and formed other churches that conformed to many of the teachings of Armstrong.[citation needed]
In 2009, the WCG changed its name to Grace Communion International.[2] In October 2018, Joe Tkach Jr. retired and installed Greg Williams as the President of GCI.[37]
Contemporary beliefs and practices
Teachings
Much of GCI's current doctrine follows
Women's ordination
In 2007, the WCG decided to allow women to serve as pastors and elders. This decision was reached after several years of study.[39] In Pikeville, Kentucky that same year, Debby Bailey became the first female elder in the WCG.[40]
Name change to Grace Communion International
According to the organization's press release regarding their name change, the name Grace Communion International was chosen to "precisely describe" the denomination as "an international community, bound together by God's grace.”
The name change was revealed in 2009 during a conference of over a thousand ministers and their spouses that had gathered from around the world. The theme of the conference was “Renewed in Christ” and reflected the importance of the changes that had occurred within the church. The new name for the church was seen to truly reflect the nature of the church as it had been transformed in past years. GCI felt that these changes had come about by pastors being led by the Holy Spirit with a close examination of scripture.[41]
Grace Communion Seminary
Grace Communion Seminary (GCS) originated from Ambassador College. Classes are delivered in an online format. Accredited graduate programs include courses on the Bible, theology, church history, and ministry.[42]
Structure
International
Grace Communion International has a
The Church maintains national offices and satellite offices in multiple countries. Membership and tithe income originate primarily from the eastern United States.
Regional and local
In the United States, denominational contact with local assemblies or local church home small group meetings, i.e., cell churches, is facilitated by district superintendents, each of which is responsible for a large number of churches in a geographical region (such as Florida or the Northeast) or in a specialized language group (such as Spanish-speaking congregations).
Local churches are led by a senior pastor, pastoral leadership team (with one person designated as a congregational pastoral leader), each of which is supervised by a district pastoral leader. Some senior pastors are responsible for a single local church, but many are responsible for working in two or more churches. Salary compensation for the paid local church pastor, if available, is determined by the local church.
Finances
The early WCG used a three-tithe system, under which members were expected to give a tithe or 10% "of their increase", usually interpreted as a family's income.
- The first tithe, 10% of a member's total income, was sent to church headquarters to finance "the work", which was all operations of the church, as well as broadcasting and publishing the church's message.
- The second tithe was saved by the individual member to fund the member's (and his family's) observance of the annual holy days, especially the 8-day-long Feast of Tabernacles. Unlike the first tithe, these funds were not sent into the church but retained by the member.
- A third tithe was required in the third and sixth years of a personal seven-year tithing cycle, and it was also sent to headquarters. The third tithe was used to support the indigent, widows, and orphans – distribution was decided privately at the discretion of the ministry.
In contrast to many other churches' religious services, the practice of the WCG was not to pass around offering plates during weekly church services but only during holy day church services (seven days each year). These funds were considered "freewill offerings" and regarded as entirely separate from regular tithes. The church also gathered funds in the form of donations from "co-workers," those who read the church's free literature or watched the weekly TV show but did not actually attend services.
Under Joseph W. Tkach Sr., the mandatory nature of the church's three-tithe system was abolished, and it was suggested that tithes could be calculated on net, rather than gross, income. GCI headquarters were subsequently downsized. The denomination sold much of its property, including sites used for festivals, camps built for teenagers, college campuses, and private aircraft.[citation needed] They discontinued publishing all the books, booklets and magazines published by Armstrong.
To further economize, the church sold its properties in Pasadena and purchased an office building in Glendora, California. That building was sold in 2018 and the home office was moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Formerly, the church's membership – meeting in rented halls on Saturdays such as public school buildings, dance halls, hotels and other venues – sent all tithe donations directly to the denomination. Under the new financial reporting system, local churches typically use the majority of funds locally for ministry, including buying or constructing local church buildings for use by the congregations with around 15% going to the denominational office; depending on how the congregation is affiliated with the denomination.[citation needed]
References
Citations
- ^ Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Brandon (May 9, 2013). "Grace Communion International Usa Hq – Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d "About Us". Grace Communion, International. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ Albright, Mary Ann (July 2, 2011), "Cartoonist drawn to sharp views", The Columbian, retrieved June 30, 2016
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ Tucker, Ruth (1996), "From the Fringe to the Fold", Christianity Today
- ^ McClain, Dylan Loeb (February 11, 2011). "Book Review – Endgame – Bobby Fischer – By Frank Brady". The New York Times.
- ^ Prytz, Anna (May 22, 2011), "Former Neighbours actor pens cult book", Manningham Leader
- ^ "Doctrinal Aftershocks". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ "A Short History of Grace Communion International – Grace Communion International". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ Kellner, Mark A. (June 16, 1997). "Worldwide Church of God Joins NAE". Christianity Today.
- ^ Armstrong, Herbert W. (1970). The Plain Truth About Christmas (2nd ed.). USA: Ambassador College.
- ^ Armstrong, Herbert W. (April 1950). "Easter is Pagan!". The Plain Truth. XV (3).
- ^ Armstrong, Herbert W. (May 21, 1979). "How You Dress For Church – Could it keep you out of the Kingdom?". The Worldwide News. VII (10): 1.
- ^ Armstrong, Herbert W. (1973). Marriage and Divorce. Pasadena, CA: Ambassador College. pp. 17, 91–92.
- ^ a b Armstrong, Herbert W. (1956). 1975 in Prophecy!. Pasadena, CA: Radio Church of God. pp. 7, 10, 14–20, 27–31. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ "1968 Certificate Of Amendment Of Articles Of Incorporation Of Radio Church Of God". The Radio Church of God. The Painful Truth. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "Religion: Garner Ted Armstrong, Where Are You?". Time. May 15, 1972. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ God, In dedication to Herbert W. Armstrong by Mark J. Mincy, former member of the Worldwide Church of. "Was Herbert W. Armstrong the Final Elijah?". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ^ ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-9745507-1-8.
- ^ Flurry, pp. 25–26
- ^ "First Amendment Center | Freedom Forum Institute" (PDF).
- ^ "Stanley Rader on "Sixty Minutes" with Mike Wallace". 60 Minutes. The Painful Truth. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ People ex rel. Deukmejian v. Worldwide Church of God, 127 CA3d 547 (Court of Appeals of California, Second Appellate District, Division Two December 9, 1981b).
- ^ Tucker, Ruth. "From the Fringe to the Fold". The Kingdom of the Cults. Christianity Today. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "A Call for Tolerance on Christmas and Easter". Grace Communion International. Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Who Is "Babylon"?". Grace Communion International. Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Anglo-Israelism and the United States & Britain in Prophecy". Grace Communion International. Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Is Leviticus 23:3 a Command to Have Worship Services on the Weekly Sabbath?". Grace Communion International. Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Armstrongism". Apologetics. Ankerberg Theological Research Institute. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ^ "Called To Be Free". YouTube. (video, point 61:57) by Living Hope Video Ministries
- ^ "Our Leadership". Grace Communion International. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ "The GCI Statement of Beliefs". Grace Communion International. Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "When churches started to ordain women". Religioustolerance.org. Archived from the original on December 15, 2006. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
- ^ "News of The Churches of God". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ "What's in a Name?". Grace Communion International. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ "Mission – Grace Communion Seminary". Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ "U.S. Church Administration Manuals". Grace Communion International. Worldwide Church of God. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
Sources
- Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood, Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Abingdon Press, 2001. ISBN 0-687-06983-1.
- J. Michael Feazell, The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God. Zondervan, 2003. ISBN 0-310-25011-0.
- Gerald Flurry, Malachi's Message to God's Church Today. "A thorough explanation of how and why the Worldwide Church of God rejected Herbert Armstrong's teachings, and how to hold fast to Herbert Armstrong's teachings."
- Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults. Revised and Updated Edition, Bethany House, 2003. ISBN 0-7642-2821-8. See Appendix A, pp. 471–494.
- Larry Nichols and George Mather, Discovering the Plain Truth: How the Worldwide Church of God Encountered the Gospel of Grace. InterVarsity Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8308-1969-X
- Joseph Tkach, Transformed by Truth. Multnomah Publishers, 1997. ISBN 1-57673-181-2
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080411223415/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/relmove/nrms/philcog.html
- Tarling, Lowell R. (1981). "The Armstrong Churches". The Edges of Seventh-day Adventism: A Study of Separatist Groups Emerging from the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1844–1980). Barragga Bay, New South Wales, ISBN 0-9593457-0-1.
External links
- Official website Grace Communion International
- Statement of beliefs
- Archive of the Ambassador Report publication published from 1975 through 1999
- Exit & Support Network – aiding those spiritually abused by Worldwide Church of God and offshoots
- God's Work NOW Holding fast to the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong
- Bad News Religion: The Virus That Attacks God's Grace by Greg Albrecht, World Publishing (2004),ISBN 0-529-11954-4
- The Journal: News of the Churches of God independent non-denominational monthly newspaper
- Word of His Grace Ministries Support and Biblical Backing for ex-'Armstrong' members
- "Called to be Free" Documenting how the doctrinal changes in WWCG occurred after Armstrong's death, from the point of view of current WWCG leadership