Related articles and links |  1 of 4

By January of 1995, there was a clear consensus at the top--and among many pastors and laypeople as well--that there was no turning back. It was then that Tkach, Sr., issued a document on the "new covenant" that would enunciate for any still in doubt that the church had departed from Armstrong's teachings. Here, among other things, he focused on the Sabbath: "There is nothing in the new covenant that says we are required to keep the Sabbath according to the rules of the old covenant. . . . Being Sabbath-keepers does not make us more righteous than other Christians."

1995 became the tumultuous year. The "new covenant" proclamation unleashed pent-up emotions that had been, in some cases, simmering for years. The Pasadena headquarters was suddenly inundated with protests and resignations, including that of David Hulme, television host for The World Tomorrow. In his letter of resignation, he asserted that the "so called 'new truths' " were "in fact rather old errors," and accused Joseph Tkach of already believing these new truths when he succeeded Armstrong in 1986.

The trickle out of the church seemed to turn into a flood in 1995. At a conference in Indianapolis in early May, the United Church of God (UCG) was formed and, unlike previous splinter groups, posed a serious threat to the WCG. Former WCG directors and pastors were among the 150 "elders" who gathered in Indianapolis to select a board and name David Hulme, who had also served the WCG in public relations, as chairman.

By year's end, the number of those affiliated with the movement was estimated to be 17,000, far exceeding the size of any of the other splinter groups. They justified the new movement, saying: "Long-held beliefs members have dearly sacrificed for have been officially negated and replaced by doctrines that are diametrically opposed to the teachings that led members into the church."

In the end, more than a third of the ministers left the Worldwide Church of God. The west coast of Florida was one of the hardest hit regions of the country, but other areas experienced similar turbulence. In Sedona, Arizona, Pastor Rand Holm and his wife, Beth, tell of the wrenching pain they felt when a sizable group of faithful church-goers left their congregation.

The losses in Florida and Arizona have been reflected in membership losses throughout the country. U.S. membership in 1986 stood at 89,000. Today the membership is 49,000. "So it shows," laments Joseph Tkach, Jr., "that 40,000 people no longer attend with us. It is the price we've paid to make these changes."

The loss of leaders and members has resulted in financial loss. Church income dropped 50 percent in 1995. Severance pay arrangements for administrators and local ministers who have left the church combined with the decrease in giving has required painful cutbacks that are as wrenching as were the church ruptures. Many long-time, faithful employees are no longer on the church payroll.

Adding to the wrenching pain, uncertainty of finances, and fractured friendships and churches, Pastor general Joseph Tkach, Sr., himself was experiencing pain and uncertainty as he battled cancer. At the very time that the "changes" were coming to fruition--at the peak of his ministry--it appeared doubtful whether he would live to enjoy the "Golden Age" that he had set into motion. And on September 23, 1995, he died at age 68.

Greg Albrecht's prayer at Tkach's memorial service sums up the profound influence of this man who rose out of obscurity to change the course of church history: "We will leave his body behind, but we will take his memory and his legacy with us. We will, in his words, not only keep the faith, we will share it and we will spread it. We will proclaim Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation; the good news that we have in Christ, the new life we have in him."

next page... |  1 of 4

share this page

July 15 1996, Vol. 40, No. 8