Dave Pack: Tares in the church made my work a real challenge

Dave Pack says he stuck out like a sore thumb, not only because he was tall and married Herbert Armstrong's secretary, but because of his decisive leadership that resulted in him being sent into troubled areas to straighten things out.  The problem when he arrived that there were "tares" laying in wait for him in order to "explode" when he reestablished "true standards." This also pissed of the ministers in those areas who resented him.  This made his work a real challenge.

Like the 90% of church members who never really got HWA's teachings, 90% of the COG members in the areas he went to rescue never "got" what he was trying to do.

“When you draw a line in the sand, and the ministers around you do not, you stick out like a sore thumb. Some saw me as harsh compared to others. Never mind that I was tall, and from a high-profile family in the Church because I had married Mr. Armstrong’s secretary. I simply could not hide—nor did I seek to. Decisive leadership was necessary. Of course, I could never have imagined that merely administering standards the Bible taught and Mr. Armstrong adhered to could be so problematic and controversial.

“I was sent into these troubled areas time and again where many were ‘lying in wait.’ Tares were everywhere, waiting, ready to explode when true standards were re-introduced. And it seemed surrounding pastors always grew resentful. All of these factors made my ministry a tremendous challenge.

“Cleaning up programs and standards was interesting and rewarding as I saw the many positive effects on people’s lives, but it was also extremely difficult, and wearying, dealing with the constant politics of what later were understood to be, for the most part, a carnal-minded ministry that had grown up throughout the Church. Of course, this was later evidenced as true in the same large percentages among the lay members.

“I just could not always put together the great overall meaning of what I was observing—and enduring—at the time. None of us could know until later how right was Mr. Armstrong when he said, ‘90 percent of you do not get it.’ However, I was sure getting good training for all that would come.”