he twentieth century is clearly the time of the most rapid change in human history. The century opened with the horse and buggy as the primary means of transportation, yet within the first 70 years, men had traveled to the moon and back.
This incredible multiplication of knowledge coupled with the rapid increase of travel was prophesied by the Prophet Daniel as a characteristic of the end time (Dan. 12:4). This century has seen two great world wars and the introduction of weapons of mass destruction. Now, for the first time in human history, it is possible to annihilate all life from this planet, just as Jesus Christ foretold (Matt. 24:22).
Another prophecy which uniquely characterizes this endtime is that the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God will be preached in all the world for a witness and then the end will come (v. 14).
Let's examine the story of the people of God in this endtime and seek for lessons we might learn. Satan's tactics of seeking to scatter, confuse and discourage God's people aren't unique to our day. God's people have always had to contend with false teachers within, and the pressures of the world without, in order to maintain their faithfulness to the Truth.
The First Quarter of the Twentieth Century
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Church of God was small and scattered with less than 1,000 members, who lived mostly in the American Midwest. The General Conference of the Church of God legally incorporated in 1900 in the state of Missouri. The Church's newspaper underwent a name change that same year to become, as the last chapter showed, The Bible Advocate.
In 1903 Gilbert Cranmer, a minister since the 1850s and one of the chief builders of the Church in the aftermath of the Seventh-Day Adventist/Church of God split in the 1860s, died at age 89. In 1910, Alexander Dugger, who had served as a leader of the General Conference since its inception, as well as having served as editor of The Bible Advocate, also died. A third faithful pioneer, Jacob Brinkerhoff, died in 1916. He had served as editor of the Advocate on and off from 1871 to 1914. Mr. Brinkerhoff was considered by many to be the most outstanding leader of the Church in his time. "Jacob Brinkerhoff had served the Church of God for over 40 years.... Instead of buying a home in 1874, Brinkerhoff used the money instead to buy the press equipment for the Advent and Sabbath Advocate.... Single-handedly, it seems, he had prevented the total collapse of the Work" (Richard Nickels, History of the Seventh Day Church of God, p. 85).
In 1905 the Church underwent a serious rupture. William Long was dismissed by the Church as Business Manager (and later from the ministry as well) because of allegations of mismanaging of funds. This event, as well as "a drive to enforce tithing and make the General Conference stronger... appear to be the key issues which precipitated the 1905 division" (Nickels, p. 75). The results were that the General Conference in Stanberry retained a little more than half of the membership while the rest withdrew as "independent Churches of God." These independents seem to have either come back into the General Conference or just drifted apart by 1916.
"In this period of tumult, Andrew N. Dugger [son of Alexander Dugger] began his ministry with the Church of God in 1906. When Jacob Brinkerhoff retired from the editorship of The Bible Advocate in 1914, Dugger became both president of the General Conference and editor. During his tenure as president and editor, Dugger exerted much influence upon the Church. Throughout the early period of Dugger's leadership, the Church of God experienced some of its most rapid and greatest growth" (Robert Coulter, The Story of the Church of God Seventh Day, pp. 41-42). Andrew Dugger retained leadership from June of 1914 until 1932.
Shortly after Andrew Dugger took over the editorship of The Bible Advocate in 1914, World War I erupted on the world scene. The way was soon opened for the Jews to return to part of the Promised Land of Israel in accordance with prophecies taught by the Church of God since the 1860s. "This seems to have been an impetus for the year 1914 marking 'a decided awakening in the Church.' It marked the beginning of an explosion 'of missionary work' performed by the Church of God in the years after the Great War and in the Roaring Twenties" (Nickels, p. 88).
The issue of organization and government had long been a source of controversy within the Church of God. Recognizing that no Work of any consequence could be done with the meager amount of monies coming into the headquarters in Stanberry, Missouri (less than $1,000 in 1917), Andrew Dugger took steps to correct the situation. He sent a survey to the membership in 1922 to find out how much tithe they had paid over the previous year and to whom it was paid. It became apparent that most of the tithes were being collected by individual ministers and that one particular minister who "worked little" had collected the lion's share. Soon, a policy was enacted that all tithes were to be paid into the State Conferences and that a tithe of that tithe was to be sent to the General Conference. In 1923 the income of the General Conference in Stanberry jumped to over $18,000.
In about 1904 a remarkable man, G. G. Rupert, entered the ministry of the Church of God. Mr. Rupert had previously been in the ministry of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and had raised up congregations for them in South America. After several years of growing doctrinal disagreement, he left the Adventists in 1902. Among other things, Mr. Rupert had come to understand that both the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days were binding upon the New Testament Church. In 1913 Jacob Brinkerhoff published a series of articles by G. G. Rupert in The Bible Advocate discussing the subject of the law of God and arguing that the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 were binding upon the New Testament Church. Though the Church in the United States paid little heed to this teaching, many of the South American congregations Mr. Rupert had established not only followed his example in leaving the fellowship of the Adventists, but also accepted God's Holy Days. Because of disagreement between Mr. Dugger and Mr. Rupert over some issues of doctrine, and particularly over the issue of church organization and government, Mr. Rupert continued as an "independent" Church of God minister, publishing his own magazine, The Remnant of Israel, until his death in 1922.
The 1930s and 1940s--Schism, Splits, and a New Beginning
The late twenties and early thirties saw the Church of God become virtually paralyzed by political infighting as well as doctrinal strife. The Church's Conference in 1929 was marked by considerable confusion and dissension. Issues of controversy revolved around "born again," clean and unclean meats, the use of tobacco, the date of the Passover (Nisan 14 or 15), and the work of the Holy Spirit (Pentecostalism). The number of conversions dwindled and the Work of the Church was virtually at a standstill.
It was at this point, in the autumn of 1926, that the life of Herbert W. Armstrong became intertwined with the story of the Church of God. Recognized even by those outside the Church of God as one of the most influential and noteworthy religious figures of the twentieth century, Herbert Armstrong's ministry very likely had greater impact on more people than any Church of God minister since the first century. Challenged by his wife over which day was the Christian Sabbath, as well as by a sister-in-law over the question of evolution, Mr. Armstrong began a six-month period of intensive study. By the spring of 1927 he had come to understand that much of what he had grown up believing wasn't biblical Truth. He learned that both the seventh-day Sabbath as well as God's annual Holy Days are to be kept by Christians today!
In the aftermath of this intensive study, Mr. Armstrong struggled with the question of "Where is the true Church?" He eventually entered the fellowship of Church of God brethren in the Willamette Valley of Oregon because he saw them as retaining more Truth than any other group.
By 1928 Mr. Armstrong began submitting articles for publication in The Bible Advocate. As there was no minister in Oregon at that time, the brethren in Eugene frequently asked him to speak to the congregation. In June of 1931, Mr. Armstrong was ordained to the ministry by the Oregon Conference of the Church of God, thus beginning a ministry that lasted almost 55 years!
In the meantime, trouble was building for the Church of God as a whole. At the General Conference, held in August 1933, Andrew Dugger, the primary church leader for the past 20 years, lost his position by one vote. This precipitated a crisis that split the Church down the middle. "On the one side, Andrew N. Dugger and others held to 'reorganization' of church government, clean meats, no tobacco, and Passover on Nisan 14. On the other hand, Burt F. Marrs led a group of 'independents' who were pro-pork and tobacco, and felt Passover should be on Nisan 15. The issue of when to observe the Passover was debated for three days during the time of the division" (Nickels, p. 151). Andrew Dugger withdrew from the General Conference of the Church of God headquartered at Stanberry and held a meeting to reorganize the Church in Salem, West Virginia, in November 1933. A new organizational structure was instituted with "Twelve Apostles," "Seventy Elders" and "Seven" set over the finances.
Offices were chosen by lot rather than by vote. Herbert Armstrong of Oregon was chosen as one of "The Seventy." He and most of the Oregon brethren switched their affiliation from the Stanberry organization to the new organization headquartered in Salem. Though Mr. Armstrong didn't receive a salary from Salem, he accepted their ministerial credentials and submitted monthly ministerial reports.
"The division of the Church of God (Seventh Day) caused the membership and leadership much grief. Many members and prospects were discouraged by the frequent attacks one church launched on the other. In some instances, ministers switched organizations, bewildering their membership. In other cases, the membership became pawns in the struggle between ministers who were vying for their loyalty and support. The membership growth of the 1920s was not realized or even approached in the decades of the 1930s and 1940s" (Coulter, p. 55). Actually membership decreased during this period.
At the time all this was occurring, the foundation was being laid for a Work of God that would have unprecedented worldwide impact. Rather than waste his energies on political infighting within the Church, Herbert Armstrong began making a regular weekly radio broadcast aimed at preaching the Gospel to the world. The program was entitled "Radio Church of God," and first aired on KORE, a 100-watt station in Eugene. The radio program was launched on the first Sunday in January 1934 and, in February, Mr. Armstrong began publication of a mimeographed "magazine" entitled The Plain Truth which was sent to about 200 people.
In addition to the weekly radio broadcast, Mr. Armstrong conducted evangelistic campaigns throughout the area. Though several churches were raised up as a result of his efforts, these new congregations usually fell apart or went astray because of a lack of faithful, dedicated ministers to shepherd the flock. During this period, Mr. Armstrong came into increasing conflict with the Church headquarters in Salem because of his teachings about the identity of Israel and the annual Sabbath days. Although Mr. Dugger had admitted in a private letter to Mr. Armstrong that Mr. Armstrong's teachings on the "lost Ten Tribes" were correct, Mr. Dugger refused to publish an article on the subject in The Bible Advocate.
Finally, the issue of the Holy Days came to a head in 1937. The following is quoted from the minutes of the business meeting held in Detroit, Michigan, May 5-10, 1937, by the Board of Twelve Apostles of the Church of God (Seventh Day), Salem, West Virginia, Headquarters: "May 7, at 1:00 p.m. Reading of Elder Armstrong's letter to the Twelve. Reading in periods of 20 minutes each of Elder Armstrong's articles on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles, etc., followed each time by discussion pro and con by the Elders.... A decision was made as given in the following resolution: 'Inasmuch as some have troubled the Churches, teaching them they should observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread and yearly Sabbaths... we reaffirm the teachings of the Church of God on this point... that we observe no such custom'" (John Kiesz, History of the Church of God, p. 180). According to the official records provided by Virginia Royer, bookkeeper of the Church of God Publishing House in Salem, "It was in 1938 that he [Mr. Armstrong] was asked to turn in his credentials for continuing to preach contrary to Church doctrine" (p. 180).
Although Mr. Armstrong no longer carried ministerial credentials from the Church of God (Seventh Day) after 1938, he continued to teach and preach more forcefully than ever. As reported in the April 1939 Good News, the weekly Radio Church of God broadcast was reaching 100,000 listeners in the Pacific Northwest. That also was the year that the first, full eight-day Feast of Tabernacles was held in Eugene, attended by 42 people. From 1933 to 1938, services were held only on the Holy Days. In addition to Mr. Armstrong, other Church of God elders such as John Kiesz were guest speakers at the Feast until about 1945.
By mid-1942 the name of the radio program changed from "Radio Church of God" to The World Tomorrow, and there was an experimental period of daily broadcasts begun in the Los Angeles area. In the late summer of 1942, over 1,700 people attended an evangelistic campaign Mr. Armstrong held at the Biltmore Theater in Los Angeles. The Work that God was accomplishing through Herbert W. Armstrong was growing and bearing fruit. In August 1942 The World Tomorrow went nationwide, with a Sunday broadcast from WHO in Des Moines and, in 1943, WOAI in San Antonio was added. By 1944 The Plain Truth's circulation reached 35,000.
As the impact of the Work God was doing through Herbert W. Armstrong grew, the Church of God (Seventh Day) continued to split and splinter with more and more independent churches and ministers. There were efforts toward unity that resulted in the merger of the Salem and the Stanberry groups in 1949. However, the merger itself spawned additional splits and, 20 years later in 1969, that Church's primary publication, The Bible Advocate, had a circulation of only slightly over 2,000. The Church of God (Seventh Day) represented the final phase of what is described in Revelation 3 as the Church at Sardis. Remember, it is described as being spiritually dead, though there would be a few who walked with Christ in white.
Open Doors and Dramatic Growth
In 1946 God started positioning the Work being done through Herbert Armstrong and the Radio Church of God for dramatic growth. Faced with the pressures of daily radio broadcasting (for which Hollywood was well-equipped to provide technical support) and the need for a college to train an educated and faithful ministry, Mr. Armstrong looked into moving to Southern California. He located an appropriate property in Pasadena and entered into negotiations to purchase it.
At this time, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong took a trip to Europe to see about also creating a European branch of the college to prepare ministers for a worldwide Work. No one can accuse Herbert Armstrong of thinking small! Yet, most people would have viewed that idea as totally unrealistic. After all, only 50 people attended the Feast of Tabernacles in Belknap Springs in 1946! There wasn't even an American college up and running--only great dreams and a rundown estate with two buildings that Mr. Armstrong was trying to purchase. Others, both within and without the Church of God, were talking about "when this thing folds up." However, the possession of vision and the ability to think big were qualities Herbert Armstrong had in far greater measure than any other Church of God leader of whom we have record. Ambassador College opened its doors in the fall of 1947 with four students and eight instructors. Expansion with a European branch college would have to wait--for a little while.
In 1949 the first nationwide baptismal tour was conducted by Raymond Cole and Raymond McNair, both young Ambassador College students. Much of the fruit of those early, student-led baptismal tours was reflected in the jump in Feast attendance from 150 in 1951 to 450 in 1952. In December of 1952, the first evangelists of this phase of the Church of God were ordained by Mr. Armstrong: Richard Armstrong, Raymond Cole, Herman Hoeh, C. Paul Meredith and Roderick Meredith. In February 1953, two more evangelists were ordained, Raymond and Marion McNair, bringing the total to seven. This began a period of rapid growth and development in the Work.
After the first two classes of Ambassador College students graduated, a Graduate School of Theology was established. Mr. Armstrong used this as a springboard to delve more deeply into a number of subjects, the most important of which involved the nature of God and the destiny of man.
The Church of God has, throughout its history, been non-Trinitarian, never accepting the formulations of the early Catholic councils as a valid guide for Christians. However, in modern times, it wasn't until the spring of 1953 that Mr. Armstrong and the other ministers began to develop a clear understanding of the biblical teaching that God is a divine Family into which converted human beings may be born at the resurrection. They attempted, at first, to prove it false from the Bible but, instead, found it reaffirmed throughout God's Word. Though this understanding was the clear implication of much that had been taught previously, it was hard for Mr. Armstrong and the others to accept this simple yet profoundly important and overwhelming truth. The clear understanding that we can be born into the Family of God is perhaps the single greatest truth that God used Mr. Armstrong to restore to the doctrine of the Church of God.
Two giant leaps forward in the preaching of the Gospel happened in 1953. Mr. Armstrong obtained time for a daily broadcast carried over the entire ABC Radio Network. The year began, however, with the opening of one of the greatest single doors in the history of the Work. It was on January 1 that the most powerful radio station on earth, Radio Luxembourg, began broadcasting The World Tomorrow to Europe.
In February 1953 Dick Armstrong (Herbert Armstrong's older son who died in an automobile accident in 1958) opened a mailing office in London. And, in 1954, Mr. Armstrong, accompanied by his wife, Loma, Dick Armstrong and Roderick Meredith, conducted evangelistic campaigns in Britain. In 1957 Mr. Meredith returned for more campaigns and, in 1958, Raymond McNair arrived to take charge of the Work in Britain. That summer Mr. McNair and Mr. George Meeker conducted a baptizing tour throughout the British Isles.
The June 1960 Plain Truth magazine carried a special announcement from Mr. Armstrong to the British readership, announcing a series of campaigns by Mr. Rod Meredith in Britain. Mr. Armstrong wrote, "Mr. Meredith is fully consecrated, utterly sincere.... He is going to tell you things you can't hear from any other source... you'll be shocked, surprised--you'll hear more real truth in one night of these meetings than most people learn in years of the preaching of our day!" (Ivor Fletcher, The Incredible History of God's True Church, p. 256). By October 1960, the second Ambassador College opened its doors in Brickett Wood, England, with Raymond McNair as deputy chancellor.
As the number of ministers available to conduct baptizing tours and pastor churches increased, so did the harvest that was being reaped from the Work. Feast attendance skyrocketed from 750 in 1953 to over 2,000 in 1957. By 1961 the numbers were almost 10,000 and, by 1967, over 40,000. The Plain Truth's circulation topped the half-million mark in 1964 and hit one million by 1967. By the late 1960s The World Tomorrow was broadcast daily and heard by tens of millions of people around the world.
Throughout the soaring 1960s, Garner Ted Armstrong (Herbert Armstrong's younger son) served as the main speaker on The World Tomorrow and as vice president of the Church, while Roderick Meredith was second vice president and director of the ministry. In 1967 Mrs. Loma Armstrong died at age 75 and, by the end of the 1960s, signs of future problems for the Work were already surfacing. As has happened time and again, when the sons of God are gathered together, the devil always seeks to come among them (cf. Job 1).
In January 1972 the Church was shaken by the removal of Garner Ted Armstrong from his responsibilities. Four months later he was reinstated. The 1970s saw in the Church, as in America as a whole, the emergence of an increasingly liberal, permissive spirit. A number of ministers and members left the Church in 1974; and increasing doctrinal confusion, coupled with accusations of scandal, assaulted the Work. After beginning recovery from massive heart failure in 1977, Herbert Armstrong finally removed Garner Ted from his responsibilities in the spring of 1978 and disfellowshipped him from the Church in June.
In January 1979 the Church was temporarily hit by a receivership imposed by the State of California. Herbert Armstrong, still recovering from heart trouble in Tucson, Arizona, named Roderick Meredith to his old job as director of the ministry, and he, along with Raymond McNair, who was appointed by Mr. Armstrong to be over the College, sought to restore stability to the Church and the ministry during this troubled time. At the same time, Mr. Armstrong set about trying to "set the Church back on the track" doctrinally from the liberal, watered-down 1970s.
In the midst of a church atmosphere that was highly charged and politicized, Joseph Tkach was named to replace Roderick Meredith in August 1979. Nevertheless, by the final two or three years of Mr. Armstrong's life, stability and growth seemed to be restored to the Church. By the time of his death in January 1986, The Plain Truth had a circulation of over eight million copies printed in seven languages. Attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles approached 140,000 worldwide.
When Joseph Tkach took the helm of the Worldwide Church of God upon the death of Mr. Armstrong in January 1986, the Church was a seemingly unified body. It appeared focused on the Work of God that lay ahead and committed to the Truth. There were problems beneath the surface, however. They became increasingly obvious, at first faintly and then more clearly.
The Final Phase of Church History
In Revelation 3, we read of the two final phases of the history of the Church of God. The Church of Philadelphia was to be characterized by a zeal to do the Work. God promised to set before them an "open door" to preach the Gospel (v. 8) as well as to protect them from the future Great Tribulation (v. 10). However, there is a final, seventh stage of the Church described, the Church at Laodicea. This Church was to be characterized by spiritual lukewarmness and lethargy (vv. 15-17). It is described as a worldly church, and certainly one which fit in with the spirit of these permissive, modern times. Though Mr. Armstrong put things "back on track" during the last seven years of his life, it became increasingly apparent from the very early 1970s on, that two different "spirits" were co-existing within one organization. The personality of a very dominant and powerful leader served as the glue to hold things together (for the most part) until his death.
Starting about a year after Mr. Armstrong's death, there began a gradual trend back toward the permissive, liberal approach of the 1970s. Within a few years, however, changes moved far beyond the 1970s into total apostasy from the Truth, even to the point of teaching the Trinity and that obedience to God's law (including the Sabbath, Holy Days, tithing and unclean meats) was unnecessary. In December 1992, 40 years after his original ordination, Evangelist Roderick Meredith was forced out of the Worldwide Church of God organization because of his refusal to compromise with the prevailing forces of apostasy. This marked the beginning of the Global Church of God. Soon joined by thousands of faithful brethren and scores of faithful ministers, Mr. Meredith and those with him have moved forward to revive the Work of God.
Once again the people of God find themselves at a crossroads. Satan seeks to sow confusion and discouragement. Some of God's people have been overwhelmed by the cares of this life or by personal problems and have dropped by the wayside. Others have been deceived by false prophets and have gone into apostasy. Still others have become so lethargic and softened by comfort that they have lost their vision and merely wish to maintain local churches, no longer caring about doing the Work.
However, there is an ever-growing band that is zealous for the full Truth and zealous to finish God's Work. They are being regathered as a part of this endtime Work. Just as God's people have had to do from the first century onward, so His people today must "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). God states clearly, "He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness" (Rom. 9:28). Who will He use to do it? According to Daniel 11:32 it is "the people who know their God [that] shall be strong, and carry out great exploits."
Where is the Church that Jesus built? It has not died out. Rather, it has defied the gates of hell and is miraculously defying them still. The true Church of God continues to do the Work of God, including the proclamation of the true Gospel to a world spiraling toward destruction.
Will you be one whom God uses to finish His endtime Work? Do you have the true Philadelphian spirit that reaches out to the whole world in genuine love and concern to share God's message of Truth and hope? Do you consider it important that the House of Israel be warned of the impending time of Jacob's trouble? Is the Work of God more important to you than your own personal comfort?
Satan seeks today, as he has sought again and again, to scatter the power of the holy people. During these turbulent times will you focus on personalities rather than principles? Will you turn inward and become self-focused? Or will you join with those who are going forward to finish the Work? Truly, we must work the works of the Father who has sent us while it is yet day, for the night indeed comes when no man can work! (cf. John 9:4).