Herbert W. Armstrong was an American evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he claimed was the comprehensive combination of doctrines in the entire Bible, in the light of the New Covenant scriptures, which he maintained to be the restored true Gospel. These doctrines and teachings have been referred to as Armstrongism by non-adherents.
Grace Communion International (GCI), formerly named the Radio Church of God and Worldwide Chruch of God, is a Christian denomination with 30,000 members in about 550 churches spread across 70 countries. The denomination is structured in the episcopal model based in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, and is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Garner Ted Armstrong was an American evangelist and the son of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught observance of seventh-day Sabbath and annual Sabbath days based on Leviticus 23.
The Living Church of God (LCG) is one of several groups that formed after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, when major doctrinal changes were occurring in the former Worldwide Church of God (WCG) during the 1990s. It was after its founder, the late Roderick C. Meredith, was fired by board members of the Global Church of God (GCG), that he went on to found, for a second time, a new organization in 1998. It is just one of many and varied Sabbatarian Churches of God groups that have sprung up from the former Worldwide Church of God, known today as Grace Communion International (GCI). The US membership of LCG is claimed to be around 11,300 with about 5,000 of that total number being claimed international members. From the LCG organization, several additional split-off groups have resulted over the years, each one headed by a former LCG minister.
Armstrongism is the teachings and doctrines of Herbert W. Armstrong while leader of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). His teachings are professed by him and his followers to be the restored true Gospel of the Bible. Armstrong said they were revealed to him by God during his study of the Bible. The term Armstrongite is sometimes used to refer to those that follow Armstrong's teachings. Armstrongism and Armstrongite are generally considered derogatory by those to whom it is applied, who prefer to be known as members of the Church of God (COG). These doctrines were also espoused by his sons Richard David Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong with slight variations.
The Global Church of God (GCG) is a Sabbatarian church based in England. It was founded in Glendora, CA in 1992 by Roderick C. Meredith. Following the dissolution of most church operations in the United States, GCG's operations shifted to the United Kingdom and reestablished a presence in North America under new organizational identities.
The World Tomorrow is a half-hour radio and television program which was sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God led by Herbert W. Armstrong. It originally ran from 1934 to 1994. A 15-minute version of the radio program was broadcast in the French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish languages.
The Plain Truth was a free-of-charge monthly magazine, first published in 1934 by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of The Radio Church of God, which he later named The Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The magazine, subtitled as The Plain Truth: a magazine of understanding, gradually developed into an international, free-of-charge news magazine, sponsored by the WCG church membership. The magazine's messages often centered on the pseudo-scientific doctrine of British Israelism, the belief that the early inhabitants of the British Isles, and hence their descendants, were actually descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
Ambassador College (1947–1997) was a four-year liberal arts college run by the Worldwide Church of God. The college was established in 1947 in Pasadena, California, by radio evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong, leader of what was then the Radio Church of God, later renamed the Worldwide Church of God. The college was approved by the State of California to grant degrees.
Stanley R. Rader, was an attorney, accountant, author and, later in life, one of the Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God, then a Sabbatarian organization, which was founded by Herbert W. Armstrong.
The Church of God, International (CGI) is a nontrinitarian Christian denomination based in the United States, an offshoot of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) founded by Herbert W. Armstrong. It is one of many Sabbatarian Churches of God to separate from WCG.
The United Church of God, an International Association is a nontrinitarian, nondenominational Christian church based in the United States.
Joseph W. Tkach was the appointed successor of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God. Tkach became President and Pastor General of the church upon the death of Armstrong in 1986. Tkach spearheaded a major doctrinal transformation of the Worldwide Church of God, abandoning Armstrong's unconventional doctrines and bringing the church into accord with orthodox evangelical Christianity. His son, Joseph Tkach Jr., continued his work and in 1997 the Worldwide Church of God became a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.
The Philadelphia Trumpet is a cost-free magazine published by the Philadelphia Church of God, also available online. The first issue appeared in February 1990. It is intended to continue preaching the doctrines of Herbert W. Armstrong's "Plain Truth" magazine after Armstrong's death in 1986. It is still being published today. The magazine primarily runs articles about current events, societal commentary, and Bible-based self-help articles, which often source Biblical writing as prophecies relating to world events.
The Philadelphia Church of God (PCG) is a non-trinitarian, sabbatarian church based in Edmond, Oklahoma, US. The PCG is one of several offshoots of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), founded by Herbert W. Armstrong (1892–1986). The PCG was established by Gerald Flurry with the stated purpose of continuing Armstrong's teachings, which were re-evaluated and subsequently rejected by the WCG after Armstrong's death, as it came to accept orthodox Christian teachings, such as the Trinity. Armstrong had rejected the Trinity doctrine in favor of the view that God is not one but two separate God-beings into which Family, according to Armstrong, humans upon true conversion and spiritual growth, may be born.
Dwight Leslie Armstrong was a composer of hymns based upon texts from the Psalms and other books of the Christian Bible. He was the younger brother of Worldwide Church of God (WCG) founder Herbert W. Armstrong, and uncle of American WCG evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong. He was married to Karen Hill Armstrong and was the father of one daughter, Deborah.
The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) that claims to provide "support, education and warning" to former members of the WCG. It is one of many groups that left the WCG after its sweeping doctrinal changes in the late 1980s, and forms a part of the seventh-day Sabbatarian Churches of God, following the teachings of the WCG's founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the COG-PKG is an international church which is mostly active on the Internet. It was founded in 1998 by Ronald Weinland, a former WCG minister.
Historically-speaking, in the former Worldwide Church of God an "evangelist" was a high ranking minister under governance of the Pastor General, Herbert W. Armstrong from 1934 to 1986, then under Joseph W. Tkach, from 1986 until his death in 1995. Higher ranking positions being; "apostle" (first) and then "prophet" (second) as stated in Ephesians 4:11. In the WCG, which was later renamed and is today known as Grace Communion International, the biblical term "evangelist" is no longer used as a ministerial title, although certain denominations with roots in the former WCG organization, such as the Living Church of God and the Philadelphia Church of God, still use the term.
In regards to copyright on religious works, it is not always clear who the rightsholder is. Under the provisions of the Berne Convention, copyright is granted to the author on the creation of the work. Several religions claim that all or some of their works were authored by their god or gods.
The Restored Church of God (RCG) is one of many churches which were formed in response to major doctrinal changes which were made within the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in 1995. The RCG claims to retain the tenets, style, and structure which existed in the earlier WCG before church leader Herbert W. Armstrong's death in 1986.
