Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003) was an American
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
and the son of
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) 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 ...
, founder of the
Worldwide Church of God
Worldwide may refer to:
* Pertaining to the entire world
* Worldwide (rapper) (born 1986), American rapper
* Pitbull (rapper) (born 1981), also known as Mr. Worldwide, American rapper
* ''Worldwide'' (Audio Adrenaline album), 2003
* ''Worldwide ...
, at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught observance of
seventh-day Sabbath
The seventh-day Sabbath, observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening, is an important part of the beliefs and practices of seventh-day churches. These churches emphasize biblical references such as the ancient Hebrew practice of beginning a ...
and annual Sabbath days based on Leviticus 23.
Armstrong initially became recognized when he succeeded his father as the voice of ''
The World Tomorrow'', the church's radio program that aired around the world. A television program of the same name followed, aired mostly in North America, eventually giving way to a ''Garner Ted Armstrong'' broadcast, a half-hour program that mixed news and biblical commentary. His
polemical
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
message was unlike that of most other
religious broadcasters of his day.
Brief biography
Armstrong's genealogy is described in his father's autobiography. The elder Armstrong reported that the Armstrong ancestors arrived in America in the late 17th century with
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
. The ancestry was traced to
Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...
. Armstrong's grandmother was "something like a third cousin to former President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
".
Armstrong was born in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, to Loma Isabelle (Dillon) and Herbert W. Armstrong.
He was raised in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.
As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...
, the youngest of four children. He was named for a great-grandmother on his mother's side, Martha Garner, who was born in
Suffolk, England, in 1841 and died in Iowa in 1923, seven years before he was born.
Following service in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, Armstrong returned to
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
, where his father had moved the church's operations in 1946. He was baptized in early 1953 (Origin and History, p. 36). He enrolled in
Ambassador College
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 ...
, founded by his father and supported by the church. Ambassador was not regionally accredited, and Armstrong eventually completed
bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the only discipline offered,
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
. He was ordained a minister in 1955 and held key administrative posts in both the Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College until he was disfellowshipped (excommunicated) by his father in 1978. Prior to his removal, he was executive vice president of the church and president of the college and was widely considered to be heir-apparent to succeed his father as head of the church and its operations.
Personality
![Garner Ted Armstrong playing guitar, 1979](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Garner_Ted_Armstrong_playing_guitar%2C_1979.jpg)
Armstrong was described as "movie star handsome" and was noted for his broadcasting talents. In radio and TV programs he mixed political, economic, and social news of the day with religious commentary.
He was noted for adding "wry humor" into sermons that preached about the biblical prophesied return of Jesus Christ to the Earth.
In 1975, Garner Ted Armstrong arranged for his friend,
Hee Haw
''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 1 ...
co-host
Buck Owens
Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on ...
, to entertain attendees on Family Night at the annual fall Feast of Tabernacles church convention. Buck Owens and his band the Buckaroos traveled to five U.S. Feast of Tabernacles sites and performed before about 15,000 people. The concerts were attended by festival attendees and were also open to the general public.
To reciprocate, in 1976 Owens asked Armstrong to guest star on the ''Hee Haw'' show that starred Buck Owens and
Roy Clark. He popped up out of the "corn patch" on the show to say "Sa-loot" to his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. He sang a country-western song he had written titled "Working Man's Hall of Fame" and joined "the whole Hee Haw gang" to sing the popular Ocean gospel song
Put Your Hand in the Hand
"Put Your Hand in the Hand" is a gospel pop song composed by Gene MacLellan and first recorded by Canadian singer Anne Murray from her third studio album '' Honey, Wheat and Laughter''.
It became a hit single for the Canadian band Ocean, release ...
.
Country music star
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...
said that his most popular song "
Okie From Muskogee
''Okie from Muskogee'' is the first live album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers released in October 1969 on Capitol Records.
Background
The album was a recorded performance at the Civic Center in Muskogee, Oklahoma on October 10, 1969, the da ...
" was inspired by listening to a Garner Ted Armstrong radio program of ''The World Tomorrow''.
Ministry
Armstrong was ordained to the ministry by his father in 1955. G. T. Armstrong later reported in a sermon that he did not want to be a minister, to which his father answered something to the effect that his opposition to entering the ministry was a sign that he should. In 1957, he began to take over much of his father's broadcasting responsibilities. During that same year, he traveled extensively through
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. As a fluent Spanish speaker, he made several Spanish-language broadcasts of the ''World Tomorrow''.
The decade of the 1970s brought a series of reversals for Armstrong's career, however. An article in the
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
reported that "The rift between the father and his heir apparent began in 1972 when Herbert Armstrong ousted his son from the church for four months, after an extra-marital affair, saying the son was "in the bonds of Satan."
The year 1972 had been prominent in Herbert W. Armstrong's prophetic views, as elaborated in a booklet called ''
1975 in Prophecy!''. January 1972 was supposed to be the conclusion of the second of two 19-year "time cycles" which, according to the elder Armstrong, had begun in 1953 when ''
The World Tomorrow'' began to be heard over
Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg).
The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. According to his theory, at the conclusion of that second 19-year time cycle the members of the church were expected to flee to a place of refuge, which leading ministers had speculated could be the ancient city of
Petra
Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
, carved into rock in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. Following this flight,
World War III
World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical World war, worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use ...
supposedly would begin, with a
United States of Europe
The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Ameri ...
rising up to overthrow both the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. This fitted with both of the Armstrongs' teachings of a theory generally referred to as
British Israelism, outlined in the elder Armstrong's book ''The United States and Britain in Prophecy''. When the church's prophecies about 1972 and 1975 did not occur, Armstrong proposed dropping such an approach in favor of one centered on Christian living and an outline of church doctrines and practice.
Nevertheless, by 1977 Armstrong's media exposure included a daily radio program broadcast on over 300 radio stations across the United States, 33 in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and 11 in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, with other programs throughout the world rebroadcast in the German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian languages. With an annual television budget of six million dollars, his exposure also included television programs which appeared on up to 165 channels. For almost two years this included a daily television appearance. According to Armstrong, notables such as President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
,
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
,
Cyrus Vance and
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...
, as well as a number of U.S. senators, were frequent viewers of the broadcast. President Johnson personally told Armstrong during an afternoon lunch the two men had at Johnson's Texas ranch, "I watch your show (
The World Tomorrow (radio and television)
''The World Tomorrow'' is a half-hour radio and television program which was sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God (originally known as the Radio Church of God) led by Herbert W. Armstrong. It originally ran from 1934 to 1994. A 15-minute ver ...
) all the time and I agree with most of what you have to say". Senator
Bob Dole requested all copies of Armstrong's 1970's World Tomorrow broadcasts be preserved into the national archives of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
TV & Film division.
His establishment of a "Systematic Theology Project" was eventually jettisoned by his father, but a form of it was later adopted by a separate church that Armstrong later established.
Relationship with Stanley R. Rader
By the mid 1970s,
Stanley Rader
Stanley R. Rader (August 13, 1930 – July 2, 2002), 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.
Be ...
, an attorney and church accountant who had been a personal assistant to Herbert W. Armstrong since 1958, appeared to be stepping into the number two position of administration previously thought to be Armstrong's domain. Relations between the two became strained and a power struggle ensued. One conflict was that Rader had set up privately owned affiliated corporations that were doing business with the church. Armstrong and others in the organization were skeptical of Rader's legal and financial dealings and suspected a bid to control the church's multimillion-dollar business. One objection to Rader's role was that, being Jewish, he had never been a baptized member of the church or a practicing Christian. That obstacle was removed in 1975 when Rader was baptized by the elder Armstrong.
By the mid 1970s two different and rival views were developing regarding the work and future of the church.
One plan was formulated by Armstrong, who wanted to take the church in a direction built around a larger publishing and broadcasting platform that would go out under his name. Armstrong was wary of prophecies built around specific dates, and he was reported to be against the idea of continuing to deliver messages that associated the U.S. and Britain with the
Lost Ten Tribes. He experimented with turning the church's flagship magazine ''
The Plain Truth
''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: ...
'' into a tabloid-size newspaper in the style of the ''
Christian Science Monitor
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
.'' He envisioned a television broadcast along the lines of one that was later developed by the
Christian Science Church, which created a short-lived nightly news program that was later seen on the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
.
Meanwhile, Stanley Rader aided significantly in crafting a unique role for the senior Armstrong on the world stage: Herbert W. Armstrong was promoted to various governments as an "ambassador without portfolio for world peace." In that role he did not so much represent the Worldwide Church of God or Ambassador College as he did a completely new entity called the
Ambassador International Cultural Foundation
Grace Communion International (GCI), formerly named the Radio Church of God and Worldwide Church of God, is a Christian denomination with 30,000 members in about 550 churches spread across 70 countries. The denomination is structured in the episc ...
(AICF). This foundation helped to finance the
Tatum O'Neal
Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. S ...
motion picture ''
Paper Moon'' and a new and slick commercial publication called ''
Quest''; bought Everest House, a publishing company; and turned the
Ambassador Auditorium
Ambassador Auditorium is located on the historic Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, California, United States. Its architectural design has been noted to be somewhat similar to that of the Temple in ancient Israel. The auditorium's main hall h ...
, located on the college campus in Pasadena, into a performing arts venue that boasted an annual subscription series featuring world-renowned performers and celebrities from stage, screen and the recording arts. Gifts from the foundation helped Rader secure audiences with world leaders for the elder Armstrong, whose message was less an overt Christian one than a more general one about peace, brotherly love, giving instead of getting, and a "great unseen hand from someplace" intervening in world affairs.
Armstrong was known to disagree with this approach as well as the expenditure of funds on it and other foundation activities. It became an increasing point of division between father and son.
In 1977, he officiated at the wedding of his father to the former Ramona Martin. The two separated in 1982 and divorced in 1984.
Father and son part ways
As Rader's influence with the elder Armstrong grew, so did the gap between Armstrong and his father over operations and certain doctrinal positions of the church. In 1978 Herbert Armstrong excommunicated his son and fired him from all roles in the church and college on the night of Wednesday, June 28, 1978, by means of a phone call to Tyler, Texas. Armstrong moved to
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...
, where he founded the
Church of God International and the Armstrong Evangelistic Association, through which he soon returned to the television airwaves.
Armstrong never again had the media outreach that he had enjoyed in his father's organization, nor did his new church ever rival his father's in membership statistics. The Church of God International did, however, become a haven for some former members of the Pasadena church who took exception to Rader's role and/or the elder Armstrong's autocratic style. As a result, members of the Worldwide Church of God were forbidden by Herbert Armstrong from having any contact with Armstrong, and his name was removed from a significant number of church publications. At the time of the separation, he was one of the
Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God Historically-speaking, in the former Worldwide Church of God an "evangelist" was a high ranking minister under governance of the Pastor General (also acknowledged to be an "apostle"), Herbert W. Armstrong from 1934 to 1986, then under Joseph W. Tkac ...
.
However, in his later years, Armstrong's relationship with the Worldwide Church of God was somewhat cordial. Armstrong and his family were invited to stay on the Ambassador campus in Pasadena during the time of his father's funeral. He returned to the Big Sandy campus in 1986 for the funeral of Norval Pyle, an early Worldwide Church of God pioneer. In the spring of 1997, shortly before the university closed, he was interviewed by a staff writer from the Ambassador University student newspaper. Finally, the church archivist sent him several family heirlooms that were held in the Worldwide Church of God's possession following his father's death.
Later ministry
He continued his ministry through the
Church of God International (CGI) in the years that followed. Meanwhile, he appeared on both the
John Ankerberg
John Ankerberg (born December 10, 1945) is an American Christian television host, author, and speaker. He is an ordained Baptist minister and has authored or coauthored more than 150 books and study guides. He is the producer and host of the int ...
Show and ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
''.
He continued to conduct personal appearance campaigns throughout the United States, Australia, Jamaica, and Canada, but on a much smaller scale than during his heyday in the 1970s. The appearances also provided opportunities for unofficial reunions between those who had left and those who remained in the Worldwide Church of God.
In the fall of 1989, he travelled to Berlin to do on-the-spot radio broadcasts covering the fall of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
.
In 1997,
following accusations by a masseuse named Sue Rae Robertson,
Armstrong was asked to resign as leader of the CGI. but to remain a laymember, by the church's board of directors.
No charges were ever filed in relation to the alleged assault, and civil cases brought against Armstrong and the CGI were dismissed.
Instead, Armstrong chose to resign from CGI altogether and founded the
Intercontinental Church of God
The Intercontinental Church of God (ICG) is a nontrinitarian Christian denomination currently headquartered in Tyler, Texas, United States, which was founded by Garner Ted Armstrong (1930–2003) in 1998.
ICG produces a television program and ...
.
Until his death, he was the head of his Armstrong Evangelistic Association, which he had established in 1978, and the Intercontinental Church of God.
Death and legacy
Armstrong died on September 15, 2003, owing to complications from pneumonia. He was buried in Gladewater Memorial Park, approximately two miles east of the former
Big Sandy, Texas
Big Sandy is a town in Upshur County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 1,231. A lake of the same name is cut nearly in half by U.S. Highway 80, the main thoroughfare of Big Sandy. It lies directly west ...
, campus of
Ambassador University
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 C ...
. He is buried with his wife's family: his father-in-law Roy Hammer, his mother-in-law Pearl Hammer, and several other members of the Hammer family. His parents, paternal grandmother, and brother are buried in
Altadena, California
Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish language, Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena, California, Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 ...
. The Hammers were the donors of the original property on which the Ambassador campus was located. His widow, Shirley, died in 2014.
Rather than selecting a new media spokesman, the evangelistic association continues to broadcast old programs made by Armstrong on approximately 30 television stations and cable outlets
according to the Armstrong TV/Radio Page of the ministry's website.
The Intercontinental Church of God (United States) and Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association are now led by Mark Armstrong, who functions as CEO of the organizations and producer of the television outreach program.
Writings
*
* Based on doctoral dissertation
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Published under the pseudonym William Talboy Wright.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
Notes
Prophecies of Dystopic "Old World, New World" Transitions Told: The World Tomorrow radio broadcasts to the United Kingdom: 1965-1967; Eric Gilder and Mervyn Hagger. p. 205-222. Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest. .
External links
Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association homepage*
ttp://www.icg.org.au/ GTA Tape Library, with audio files of some of Armstrong's sermons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Garner Ted
1930 births
2003 deaths
American Christian clergy
United States Navy personnel of the Korean War
American television evangelists
Churches of God Christians
Church of God (Armstrong)
Clergy from Portland, Oregon
Deaths from pneumonia in the United States
People from Pasadena, California