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Tkach WCG: The First Decade

James Malm has been running a series of posts on the history of Armstrongism, written through the lens that there was a strong undercurrent for decades to move away from Herbert Armstrong's teachings and into evangelicalism.  He has no kind words for Herman Hoeh and his Buddhist leanings and for his well known deviancy.

The entire post on the Tkach era can be found here: Tkach WCG: The First Decade  Others in the series are here:

WCG: Tkach Transition
Herbert W Armstrong: Part 4
Herbert W Armstrong: Part 3
Herbert W Armstrong: Part 2
Ministry of Herbert W Armstrong


Lest you think this is another snow job praising all things HWA, be warned that it is not.  Malm has a lot of criticism about HWA, so much so that some on other websites and blogs are calling James Malm an anti-HWA clone. Malm is critical of HWA's arrogance and pomposity.

Much of what Malm has posted is from research done by Richard Nickel's into the history of the church from it's formation with COG7thDAy and the corrupt actions of HWA towards that church when he was in the process of forming Radio Church of God.  Apparently Armstrong was less than truthful about how things went down when he was an ordained minister in CG7thDay. Of course, this should not surprise anyone, but many of the things written are unknown to most people in the church.  The story moves on through the years leading up to Tkach taking over and then into the dissolution of the church into hundreds of splinter cults.

A few tidbits today about the Tkach era are:

(Quoted from Nickel's writings) When the 74 split led by Earnest Martin took place, he had been teaching his errors for several years already and had convinced many of his positions. Then Ted’s adulteries were made known and many had had enough. The situation was ripe for the Liberal Evangelical types to stage a walk away with the 74 split.

At the same time some who had been convinced of these Liberal Evangelical heresies were loath to leave their exalted positions, high wages and personal power; and the esteem in which they were held by the brethren. They chose to stay in WCG and bide their time as they worked to establish a power base for the coming death of HWA. A substantial group were elevated to high positions through taking advantage of the Ted/Rader power struggles.

These people believed that much church doctrine was wrong and false, yet they remained within the organization preparing for the time that they would be in a position to make changes. One such person was Herman Hoeh who had bought into the intellectual sounding arguments of Martin and chose not to give up his “In with the boss” and the esteem that many brethren held for him.

While paying lip service to the church doctrines in public, it was an open secret that he disdained those same doctrines in private. It was well known that he was an Evangelical with a strong lean towards Buddhism, he was also an amateur photographer and his collection of personally taken “dirty pictures” was legendary. He especially enjoyed taking pictures of naked young men. These things were no secret in Pasadena. He wanted to “shut the lights and lock the door” on HWA teachings; and kept his personal views secret as he flattered HWA. He personally recommended Joseph Tkath to HWA for his successor.

Hoeh worked hard behind the scenes while keeping his personal views secret; to support Joe Tkach in his succession bid and assisted with the doctrinal changes taking place after 1986.

It took Joe Tkach a short time to fully consolidate his power and control and by 1989 the move to change the doctrine was underway.

The Tkach team worked together to change doctrine into the “love love” tolerance for sin of the Evangelical Movement, from the moment that Tkach took over; however Doctrinal Change did not fully get going until a new doctrinal Team called the “Doctrinal Manual Group” was set up in late 89. This was to be a new STP project hence the word “Manual”.

 Malm interjects:

I have searched but cannot find a complete list of Tkach’s doctrinal committee names. I have attached a list of names that were very much involved in his operation and there is a good chance most of these were on the committee.

It wasn’t that they just changed doctrine, they viciously went after anyone they thought might stand in their way by personally attacking them. While there were individuals that were attacked, there was a long list of department that was dissolved. I and others in the department were personally slandered. They made sure that the rumor mill spread the word of how evil those they attacked were before lowering the boom. It literally separated friends and families.

The words that I and others write cannot give anyone the real sense of what went on. I had nightmares for years. I know others did also. I was told by a friend in ministerial services to get out of HQ because it was filled with Jackals. I left and never regretted it for a second.
I hope this list helps. You have an uphill battle. The propaganda machine in WCG was very good. Most members and a lot of ministers had no idea what went on at HQ. They were taught all the time that they were in WCG that loyalty of HQ was loyalty to God. That became a part of them. So to them, when you say anything remotely critical of WCG, you were speaking against God. I use to be amazed that so many of the ministers that came in on sabbatical were so naive.

To summarize Joe Sr, Joe Jr and Mike Feazel started the changes.

Schnippert, Albrecht and Ward were quickly on board.

Hoeh and Kelly supported Tkach from among the old WCG leaders and supported the new path.

Dave Albert and Gary Antion were AC instructors teaching the new doctrines especially hard.

David Hulme ran AICF under Tkach and was a well known Evangelical, as his subsequent history demonstrates.

In 40 years of doing business I have never seen the treachery and corruption that took place from the late 70′s to the late 80′s in the WCG.

Nickel's comments continue:

Kevin Dean – Was a Rader supporter until he turned against him, informing on him in 82; then supporting HWA and leaving after his death in 86.

Aaron Dean – Strongly supported HWA, and then his successor. He claims to have learned about the efforts to change core doctrine over time; and to have been fighting the changes; he left for UCG in 95.

Joe Jr. – Brought to HQ in 1987. Was raised from local elder to Pastor rank immediately. Was put in charge of the ministry. Larry Salyer then worked for him.

Mike Feazel – Personal assistant and ghost writer to Joe Jr. Lifelong friend of Joe Sr. Head of the Doctrinal Manual Group that made the doctrinal changes. Became Head of Theology and head of the new Doctrinal Manual Group in 89.

Robin Weber- Ministerial Services. Personal friend and constant companion of Joe Sr. A strong supporter and known for disfellowshipping resisters to heresy.

Greg Albrect – Dean of Students and Theology instructor (had a well know reputation of getting students to reveal their problems and then use it against them). Bernie brought him over to editorial to head the PT.

Bernie Schnippert – Brought back in 1987 by Joe Sr. – raised to Director of Media Operations very shortly after arriving; was the coordinator of the Systematic Theology Project in 1977 that HWA exploded over.

Herman Hoeh – You know the story.

Leroy Neff – Treasurer and in charge of all financial services – Accounting, Purchasing, Feast Site business offices. He went however the wind blew. Was staunch Armstrong supporter, and then a staunch Joe Sr. supporter.

Victor Kubic- In charge of Ministerial Services kept the field elders in line by firing those that did not agree with the new teachings

Ron Kelly – Long time minister, Festival coordinator, writer for magazines and TV presenter. Spoke often in Pasadena. became Controller of Tkach Team, strong Tkach man.

Dr. Stravanidies – Thought of as the best biblical scholar on campus. Often disagreed with HWA church teachings. played important role in changing them to the Evangelical Mainstream.

Don Ward –Worked on STP. Was the key person behind the accreditation of AC. HWA fired him as president of AC, Pasadena. Went to big Sandy and was reinstated under Leon Walker as academic dean . Joe Sr. brought him back to Pasadena in 1987 as vice chancellor of both campus’s. Liberal arts accreditation started once again. Sent promising elders off to Azusa Pentecostal college for indoctrination into Evangelicism.

NOTE: Accreditation was a euphemism for turning the school away from the HWA Theology and into a Evangelical school by emphasizing criticism of those doctrines in the name of open questioning by students. While I do believe in questioning to seek the truth; in this case the questioning was to move youth and future leaders into the Evangelical mold. The youth would ask a question and the instructor would then spout arguments so as to plant Evangelical ideas.
The youth and future leaders are again under attack through the various church education systems of several COGs.

Michael P Germano-Ambassador University was also Evangelically trained; completing post-graduate studies in anthropology, archaeology, and theology at Southern Methodist University and Texas A&M University at College Station. Involved in the Jordanian Archeological Project and highly critical of HWA teachings, strongly Evangelical.

Dave Albert – Instructor in theology. Degree in Psychology and was an advocate of pop “its not your fault” psychology. Norman Smith, Denny Luker and John Elliot also in the pop psychology attitude of “sin is not your fault; denial of personal responsibility” and “love love” toleramnce (sic)

David Hulme – TV presenter. Became AICF director in 1987, replacing Ellis LaRavia (Ellis was now out). Was strongly into Evangelicism and helped excise the teachings of HWA.

Paul Kroll – Was disfellowshipped by Mr Armstrong for his ultra-liberal views, he was brought back in to write articles for the literature

Larry Salyer – Appointed Director of Church Administration. He left to join Global and then fell out with Rod Meredith joining UCG, then COGWA. Here is a very interesting interview concerning the period when Larry was over the Doctrinal Committee from 86 to 89. The committee was reconstituted in 89 with Larry leaving and Mike Faezel becoming head of Theology at AC; and as such head of the new “Doctrinal Manual Group”.

NOTE: This may be a good account of that time frame and the developing situation. When the interviews of any leader of the period come into play; consider that these folks are consummate politicians and spin experts, with a genuine interest in glossing over their personal involvement. They pill state points in their favour and not mention anything else; making the WHOLE truth very difficult to discover.

Check out the above link for more from Malm's posting.

Part of the reason Malm is on this subject is that he is attempting to prove that UCG is a den of corruption that is seeking to turn it's self into another 'evangelical' COG similar to the new WCGGCI.  Malm points out that the men in charge of UCG and COGWA are the very same men who helped Tkach institute many of the changes.  These men worked in collusion with Tkach by disfellowshipping and kicking members out of the church who disagree with the new directions.

Then in their continuing path of corruption these men then went and formed UCG where they secretly carried many of the new WCG understandings with them where they are attempting to institute them today.

Obviously when you read Malm's postings you will quickly see that there is "nothing new under the sun" in regards to the corruption that is rife within Armstrongism. The entire church system and its leadership is rotten to the core.

Prophet Thiel Is Not Happy With "Christianity Today" Magazine

God's greatest gift to the Church of God and particularly the Living Church of God is NOT happy that another cross is being forced upon him that offends his delicate LCG beliefs. He is not happy that a "cross" from the World Trade Center support beams is being placed in the WTC Memorial site.

Prophet Thiel points out that an atheist group has filed suit to stop it's display.  Prophet Thiel is kind of glad they did, but for reasons other than what you would think.

Thiel despises crosses.  Remember when the LCG shootings happened and sympathetic citizens in Milwaukee erected a few small crosses in the snow bank in sympathy for the people killed?  Thiel went ballistic over that and made a complete ass of himself and brought more ridicule on the Living Church of God and it's aberrant non biblical beliefs.

Thiel wrote:

While I am sure that Greg Zanis (the man who made the crosses) must have meant well, all need to understand that since we in the Living Church of God do not use crosses for worship in anyway, that we would prefer they not be used to honor our dead. All of the victims would have agreed. Flowers, prayers on behalf of the survivors, etc. would be considered appropriate.

 Christianity Today magazine had this to say about Thiel tirade:

"At the same time, believers in the midst of tragedy should be patient with the media and the world at large. One member of the Meredith organization, on a website to which I will not link, takes great issue with the erection of memorial "crosses" outside the hotel where the shooting took place. Why? Because Meredith and his followers do not believe the "cross" is anything other than a pagan invention; they assert that Christ was crucified on an upright stake or tree, and that crosses were introduced later. Another objection was to the view that the deceased are, at this moment, "in a better place," i.e., heaven. The Meredith-supporting writer emphasized his church's view that the dead are "asleep" and unconscious until the resurrection, casting aspersions on a heartfelt expression from people who are presumably of good will. Neither the symbolism of the cross nor the question of the state of the dead is a debate I wish to enter here. Nor do I wish to disparage the sincerity of the other writer's convictions. However, it could easily be viewed by the general public as ungracious at best for people in one church to disavow a kind gesture from another, different church because those other people didn't know the etiquette that the first church follows. In a time of tragedy, when emotions are raw and hearts are wounded, I believe it is better for all concerned to merely accept whatever condolences are offered with the words, "Thank you," and then move on. This isn't the time for an "educational message" about paganism, so-called "soul sleep" or anything else. It's a time to accept what is offered with thanks, and in so doing perhaps opening the door to further discussion at a later time.

Thiel responds:

But I did, and still, feel that the public should understand that the use of crosses is not something that the deceased would have preferred. I consider that for proper respect for the dead, as well as the survivors, most of whom are members of the Living Church of God, our position was a good thing to point out--especially BEFORE the funerals. My comments were not intended to be ungracious. I considered my comments to be the courteous thing to do for those unfamiliar with our beliefs.

And now, yet again, we get to see the Prophet angry again at a cross.

First off, he gets a dig in at Christianity Today magazine.  According to him the magazine is falsely labeled because everyone knows there are no REAL Christians outside the Living Church of God!!!!!!!!!!  How dare they pretend to be Christians!

The improperly named publication Christianity Today (CT) currently has the following headline and subheadline at its website:

 He goes on to write:

No Christian in the New Testament is ever described as having or wearing a cross. This is not to say that all who own a cross are active idolators, but that the historical facts should give people pause to ask themselves if they should own or wear one.

The Bible simply does not teach that Jesus had to have been killed on a cross

If the cross is a symbol of the future Antichrist/Beast power as Roman Catholic Priest P. Huchedé indicates it will be (and it is in a book with an official imprimatur), perhaps those who come from faiths descended from Emperor Constantine should be concerned about their religion now–before it becomes even further removed from the original faith. The Bible indicates that the true Christians will NOT have the symbol/mark needed to buy or sell when the two beasts of Revelation 13 are in power, but only those that will follow those beasts will (Revelation 13:16-17)–and while crosses may not necessarily be required everywhere, other Catholic writings suggest that in certain places, they will be.

CT is correct that all should be offended about using the cross as a 9/11 symbol.  Idolatry is a serious problem and many today do not realize that most who profess Christianity practice it.  Some type of cross possibly could be related to the mark of the beast.  All of this was all left out of the CT article, so I thought that those interested in the truth may find this of value.

This is part of what Christianity Today said:

The Book of Acts records that upon hearing this indictment for the first time, many of Peter's listeners were "cut to the heart." Understandably so—the charge is enough to turn the stomach, darken the mind, and plunge the heart into despair. Or, in other words, Peter's words were enough to cause "dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish." The atheist litigants have called the 9/11 cross "an ugly piece of wreckage," arguing that it speaks of "horror and death." On the basis of the New Testament, these statements are difficult to contradict.

But if the image of the cross represents humanity's greatest collective failure, why would a nation cling to it as a sign of hope in the days after 9/11? The exchange that follows Peter's sermon sheds some further light.

When asked to suggest a course of action, Peter advised his hearers, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins"—advice which makes little sense unless one assumes certain premises. These premises, implicit in the Christian religion from day one, were intricately explored over the next several decades in the writings of St. Paul, who advanced what would become the best-known but least-understood tenet of Christian theology: that somehow the death of the perfectly sinless Christ was itself the event which atoned for all the wrongdoing of the sinful human race.

If true, this turns the cross into a profound paradox. The same event that condemns humanity also justifies it, standing at once as damning evidence of guilt and a doorway to forgiveness and innocence. What's more, the very episode that shows humanity at its worst shows God at his best, as he transforms an act of wickedness into a display of mercy and love. It is difficult to imagine themes more relevant to the attacks of September 11. 

Suppose God himself has suffered and died at the hands of evil men. Suppose God himself has shown the capacity for taking what was intended for harm and using it for good. Might this affect the way we ourselves face evil and suffering? Might this be a source of strength to someone who is waist-deep in ash and rubble, trying to loosen bodies from steel and concrete?

For the person who accepts this narrative, the cross is the only thing that makes sense in the face of a senseless tragedy. But for the person who rejects it, the cross serves as a reminder of an offensive and seemingly absurd accusation, adding insult to injury. The trouble with the cross is that it refuses to be the universal symbol of beauty that some would make it out to be—it speaks life to those who believe, but death to those who do not.

No wonder people disagree about where it should be displayed.

Thiel is not happy because of the above excerpts.  He seems to still be bitter that CT nailed his ass years ago with his "cross" comments.  That is why the above comments from CT  stick a knife into the heart of everything Thiel writes.  It damns him and he is not happy!  How dare pagan "Christians" expose him for what he is! Satan is at work in the world condemning the COG.