The Genesis of the United Church of God
A Personal View from Ground Zero
Why this history of Ground Zero? As I write this chapter detailing the final days of our direct engagement with the Worldwide Church of God, there is inescapable irony. I write now just a short time before the Passover of 2025. As I prepare to publish this chapter, thousands of members of the United Church of God plan to peaceably gather around the world for the solemn annual observance of the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Allow me a moment to briefly contrast today with the tumultuous time 30 years ago. In prior chapters I have outlined the internal turmoil associated with unwanted and unasked-for doctrinal dissolution. But also during those years the entire prior focus of the Worldwide Church of God was being forcibly dismantled amidst growing chaos.
After the closure of Ambassador College activities in Pasadena in 1990 (moving to Big Sandy Texas), budget cuts forced the Good News magazine out of existence and the circulation of the Plain Truth magazine was cut in half, including dropping some foreign language editions. The reach of The World Tomorrow television program, once No.1 religious program in America, was also sliced in half in 1991, only to be completely cancelled three years later.
Members registered their disapproval of doctrinal changes and turmoil in the 1990s, as church income dramatically spiraled down. The Los Angeles Times reported in February 1995 – a month before I resigned – that the Worldwide Church of God was being “rocked by members’ reaction to major reversals of its most fundamental doctrines…a startling recanting by church leaders of long-held church teachings.” That financial crisis resulted in further cuts to the once-influential Plain Truth magazine, dropping to a circulation of 750,000 from its height of eight million monthly in seven languages.
The once-powerful Gospel outreach of the church was all but silenced in the ensuing chaos of doctrinal anarchy. Soon even the physical center of the church in Pasadena would also be gone.
Passover - an annual spiritual anchor
This brings us to an important consideration. As those in the Church of God fellowship well know, the biblical events of the Passover are crucial to salvation and eternal life. The weeks leading up to the Passover traditionally include intense Bible study and review of the life and standards set by Jesus. During this time, we conduct a thorough examination of where we are in our relationship with God and how we can continue to steadfastly grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We often typically distinguish our present state of a Child of God (1 John 3:2) with the times of our former, pre-baptism thoughts and actions. To one degree or another, we have all come of out of a spiritual Egypt.
Why bring this up? In this pre-Passover season three decades ago, instead of purposeful plans for a traditional peaceful assembly, there was turmoil and pain, even agony. As friends and families were being ripped apart by foreign teachings, no road map or prior planning guided us.
Thirty years ago, we yearned for peace and a place to worship in peace, beginning anew the annual Holy Day cycle that we had learned and understood directly from the Word of God. For many thousands of people, the time of the 1995 Passover was a tough stretch.
A time to remember
The irony? This year of 2025, 30 years removed from the Passover of 1995, there are many baptized members who will observe the Passover this year who had no part in the Worldwide Church of God. To them, the city of “Pasadena” is a place where there is a major annual parade and football game. Church leaders of the day and their actions in the 1980s and 1990s seem all but unknown, perhaps even somewhat irrelevant to a younger generation. While today we have doctrinal peace in our fellowship, we must remember that such peace is something that must be vigilantly safeguarded.
As I write this chapter reflecting an intense time of culmination, I am humbled and grateful. And I am profoundly reminded of how important it is to remember what led up to and formed the present fellowship of the United Church of God.
Important perspectives
As we move into the early days and the establishment of the United Church of God, I rely here in part on additional notes provided by Guy Swenson. Bob Dick and Beverly Kubik, all people who experienced firsthand the times 30 years ago.
In the history of our fellowship from the 1930s, we saw direct intervention from God to preserve the integrity of the Church, often in the form of an unexpected turn in events or personnel. There was powerful global growth in those times, but not without major challenges.
But this time, it was different. This difference was personally reflected to me by the job and mission that I loved in Church Administration — one where I had the privilege of collaborating with many ministers and members around the world suddenly coming to an abrupt halt. This ended a relationship that began in 1966 with the Worldwide Church of God, one that lasted nearly 30 years before I resigned.
What next?
Suddenly in March of 1995, I was unemployed. Neither my wife Bev nor I had any plans for what to do next or where to go. I went from a high-paced environment to a brief time of wandering and wondering, initially grappling with uncertainty. While Bev and I remained committed to the precious spiritual understanding of what we knew from the Bible, there were few alternatives. Certainly the thought of starting something altogether new was unappealing.
Guy Swenson, my now-former assistant, told me he was planning to quit, but decided to make one more regional ministerial conference trip to Portland, Oregon, where he gave his and my scheduled presentations to the ministry. He then submitted his resignation to Joe Tkach, Jr. one week later on March 10, 1995.
Guy and I had worked together in difficult circumstances, all the while with one focus: that Church Administration was doing its job in caring for the needs of our ministry and the Church.
Starting Anew
In those early days before the formation of the United Church of God, just thinking about picking up the pieces was often overwhelming. These were pre-internet days and widespread communication was not simple. There was no widespread network of cell phones with texting capacity and instant 24-7 access to emails. There were no social media platforms with video messaging and links to online resources.
Our faith, however, remained strong and intact, even in the face of unexpected internal persecution from people we once regarded as friends and trusted leaders. A huge chasm was yawning open with alarming speed, sundering long-time relationships.
Now we relied on and trusted God, His Word, and His promises not to abandon us. The Bible is filled with stories of heroes of faith who stood firmly against hostility toward their beliefs and consciences. We drew strength from them often.
Thankfully, we did not have to endure anything close to what the brave and faithful individuals of Hebrews 11 experienced.. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t difficult and trying times. There exist countless tales of valor and courage displayed by ministers and brethren alike during this challenging and complicated time.
A last sermon in Worldwide
As I written earlier, what bewildered me was how people I had known for years, who shared my faith and ministered alongside me, could be so mercurial and impulsive about the most critical and essential aspects of their lives. We were admonished for years concerning the warnings in the Bible to be alert to possible deceit and heresy. Yet, when the time came, once-rock-solid pillars of spiritual strength dissolved before my eyes.
I gave my last sermon in Phoenix, Arizona on the Sabbath before I met with Joe Tkach Sr and resigned. I focused my message on two of my favorite Bible passages: Psalm 15 and Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.
This was especially poignant to me, as Psalm 15 describes those who will dwell on God’s holy mountain. It embodies embracing and practicing the virtues of integrity, righteousness, and truthfulness. Similarly, Christ’s Sermon on the Mount begins in Matthew 5 by outlining the Beatitudes, of those with humility, mercy, peacemaking, hungering and thirsting for righteousness—those who will see God in His coming Kingdom.
Afterward, people from both sides of the church’s growing organizational abyss approached me, saying, “Thank you for your sermon; it’s what we needed to hear.” It was bizarre how one message could resonate so differently, making me marvel at how humans perceive and interpret so differently what we want to see and hear.
Invisible warfare
We were firmly lodged in a spiritual and psychological war, as described by the Apostle Paul: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:10-13).
This spiritual warfare savaged pastors who objected to the "new teachings." If they openly objected, they were picked off and summarily fired one by one.
Others bided their time. They quietly waited on the sidelines of the conflict to see what and how the front line of those opposing the new teachings and resisting spiritual regression would do. It was a confusing time for multiple thousands of people, members and ministers alike.
Rumors and questions abounded. Would the resisters and those who resigned or were fired succeed in forming something new? If so, would any emerging organization be “good enough” in terms of doctrine and organization? As talk of new assemblies grew, others resigned themselves to thinking thoughts like, “Why should I leave one imperfect organization and join another imperfect one?”
So went the talk as the WCG state of affairs further deteriorated. Sadly, the faith of many was pierced through. Betrayed, many walked away, angry and suspicious. With betrayal at such a high level, who could be trusted? The spiritual debris field was tragically wide and deep.
New ideas begin to form
After the ordeal leading up to my resignation, Bev and I took a few weeks in mid-March of 1995 to get away from the drama at the church’s headquarters in Pasadena. We had no plans for organizational next steps. We needed space and clarity, so we took some time to visit long-time trusted friends in Oceanside, California, and Sedona, Arizona.
All I had on my mind was what was going on in my now-former church organization. We had severed our ties, but many were still seeking answers. Where could they go and fellowship with people of like mind? We spent many hours talking with friends. Was there a way we might help so many who wanted a way forward?
Suddenly, the carnage of ministerial firings unexpectedly halted. Headquarters was now hoping for a softer landing that would preserve membership and structure. Finances had tanked. The long string of terminations and resignations looked bad for a so-called “change initiative” that was supposed to be enlightening and refreshing.
However, ministers continued to resign one by one. In the years previous, I was one of their main contacts with Pasadena and Church Administration. Many continued to tell Bev and me that they didn’t have a place to go.
People come together
New smaller groups were formed or beginning to form, although not according to any preset plan. George Crow, an attorney in Houston, was forming a corporation known as Worldwide Church of God Texas. With the growing disillusionment of members, WCG income continued to plummet. It was clear that the days of Ambassador College (now consolidated in Texas and summarily accredited as Ambassador University) were numbered. Hopes were expressed that the College might be preserved along with some of the physical assets. Using “WCG” in the corporate name was familiar and seemed to offer some credibility, even as it attracted adverse legal scrutiny from Pasadena.
Wayne Dunlap had gone to Sacramento to register a California corporation under the name United Church of God California. In Birmingham, Alabama members also secured the corporate name United Church of God.
As these groups formed in different ways and in different places, we wondered how many more groups and splinters would form without structure or planning? During these turbulent times these were questions without answers.
The only thing that was certain was that Worldwide Church of God was rapidly ripping apart at the organizational seams.
Hours of time on the telephone lines
Bev and I laughed at the thought: “so much for ‘getting away’.” Ministers and members wanted to meet and talk at all hours of the day and night. As I write today, I recall one midnight call from David Mills from the East Coast. Members and ministers alike wanted action. “Isn’t somebody going to do something?” he pleaded.
We had little time to think and plan, much less recover from the brutal emotional turmoil we had just personally experienced.
As ministers were resigning in growing numbers, Guy Swenson and Bev were assembling a list of people for a possible meeting with the Regional Pastors who had resigned (or shortly would resign). In one of many ironies, the earlier effort we had taken to assemble a group of experienced and faithful longtime ministers to serve as regional administrators was now coalescing into the core leadership of what would become the United Church of God.
This was truly an ironic outcome that we never envisioned.
This list grew on a daily basis. John Anderson, who was still working in Church Administration in Pasadena, would regularly update us about who had resigned from the ministry.
There were many ugly confrontations. As ministers resigned or were fired, momentum started building for a new assembly. Many openly taunted us for considering the possibility of starting something new. Ironically, it reminded some of the times when we had visited with the Church of God Seventh Day leadership, which organization Herbert W. Armstrong split from to form the Radio Church of God (later renamed the Worldwide Church of God).
One minister chided and sternly warned me about establishing something new, saying, “If you split once, you’ll split again and again.” Unfortunately and sadly, that prophecy came to pass on many levels. There was much anger as relationships were torn asunder, even painfully within my own family.
The media was taking notice. A once-powerful church with a former vast media outreach was shattering, affecting thousands of people. Joe Jr. gave an interview to the Pasadena Star-News. The Los Angeles Times featured a small article with photos of me and David Hulme, a leading WCG minister and host of the World Tomorrow program who had recently resigned. David and I were labeled by WCG leaders as “dissidents.”
As events hurtled forward, a final effort was agreed upon to achieve some kind of peaceful coexistence and halt the organizational madness, as well as the destruction of relationships between families and friends. The details of that decision and its outcome will appear in Chapter 13.