Schism In The Church of God

The Fragmentation of a Sect – Schism in the Worldwide Church of God by David V. Barrett: Book Review(available on Amazon) 

This book is based on his PhD thesis and is an independent look at what happened, what is happening, and how WCG is similar to other founder churches. 

Part one discusses the doctrines (Sabbatarianism and Observance of the Law, millenarianism, the ten lost tribes and British Israelism, Church governance, and a comparison between Worldwide and Mormonism. Then continues with how WCG got started. Next it covers failure in prophecy, major doctrine changes (Pentecost, divorce and remarriage, and liberalism), sex scandals, ousting of GTA, and other problems.

Next a chapter on Tkach doctrinal changes, membership of WCG then and today.

The final chapter in Part one covers the schism, the schism of the schisms, smaller groups, and special focus groups.

Part two – Analysis 

First chapter – authority and governance in HWA and Tkach eras, and in the offshoots.

Second chapter – after the founder dies – examines other organizations as well as the WCG splits, plus looks at what happens when the split founder dies.

Third chapeter – who went where and why.

Finally, he covers his research behind the book.

For an unbiased look at what happened and how we compare to other groups, this is a book well worth reading regardless on whether or not you are a believer in the original WCG doctrines.

Submitted by TLA

My comments

David Barrett was given almost unfettered access to Worldwide Church of God historical archives and Herbert Armstrong's writings.  Of all the hundreds of books written about the WCG over the decades, this one has been deemed the fairest and most balanced.

Barrett also goes into depth the doctrine of British Israelism.

Living Church of God even quoted his book in their The Incredible History of God's True Church by Ivor C Fletcher, as did the United Church of God's Michael Snyder..

James Tabor had this to say:

Prof James D Tabor, Chair, Dept. of Religious Studies, UNC Charlotte, wrote:

“Millions around the world listened by radio or watched on television 'The World Tomorrow' program with Herbert W Armstrong or his son Garner Ted Armstrong, or subscribed to The Plain Truth magazine in the 1960s through the 1990s. Both were sponsored by Ambassador College and the Worldwide Church of God. The Armstrongs believed they had been raised up by God to warn the world before the final Apocalypse. In many ways they were the most successful such movement of our times. David V Barrett, a sociologist of religion with no connection to the Church, has provided us with the most thorough and objective history to date. From its inception in the 1930s to its schisms and transformations, Barrett weaves the fascinating story of faith, corruption, disappointment, and hope. His careful research and skillful analysis has not only advanced our understanding of the Worldwide Church of God and its history, but clarified the dynamics of such modern apocalyptic groups more generally.”

Oxford University Press had this to say about the book:

The Worldwide Church of God was a largely American 20th century Christian sect (or new religious movement: NRM) with heterodox beliefs and practices. It was Sabbatarian, millenarian, British Israelite and legalistic. After the death of its charismatic founder Herbert W. Armstrong in 1986 his successor changed the Church’s distinctive doctrines, leading it towards an increasing convergence with mainstream Evangelical Christianity. Ministers and members faced massive cognitive dissonance: whether to accept or reject the authority of the Church leadership which had abandoned the authority of the founder’s teachings. Groups of ministers left to form new Churches, taking thousands of members with them. These schismatic Churches in the “Worldwide family” in turn faced continuing schism, resulting in over 400 offshoot Churches by 2009. This sociological study examines some of the processes involved in schism, including the legitimation of authority, within both Worldwide and its range of offshoots, from hardline to comparatively liberal. Religions frequently face a period of turmoil and readjustment following their founder’s death. This book offers a new typological model for categorising various outcomes, including schism, and explores the usefulness of this model by applying it to both the Worldwide Church of God and a wide variety of other religions. It also extends Stark and Finke’s rational choice concepts of “social capital” and “religious capital” when people make religious choices, specifically reaffiliation between movements; it introduces a third factor, “moral capital”, covering for example past problems with leaders, and tests the relative strengths of these factors.