Category: Joe Tkach Sr.

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The Joseph W. Tkach Story

On January 7, 1986, Herbert W. Armstrong, the man who founded the Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College, lay grievously ill in his Pasadena, California mansion. Sensing that his end was near, the 93-year-old, self-proclaimed “Apostle” named his top aide, evangelist Joseph W. Tkach, as his successor. Nine days later, Armstrong was dead and Tkach became the Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God, the Chancellor of Ambassador College, the President of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, the Publisher of the Plain Truth magazine, and the Chairman of the Board of the WCG and its subsidiary corporations.

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Honey, I Shrunk the Church part 2

“I’ve come to the conclusion that the church under this group exists to perpetuate itself and to make money,” says David Covington. Formerly one of Worldwide’s top field ministers, he spent 25 years in the organization before resigning last year. Up to three-quarters of Worldwide’s former 125,000 members have departed. The church’s operating budget, which was $211 million as recently as 1990, has shrunk to $38 million. The church has had to lay off all but about 200 of its 1,200-plus headquarters staff, shut down Ambassador University, its sprawling Texas liberal arts school, and has drastically scaled back its half-century-old Plain Truth magazine. The new regime has even auctioned off the sterling silver Armstrong once used at lavish dinner parties for heads of state and other luminaries.

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Just what do you mean by apostle?

Qualifications of an Apostle

  • An apostle as defined strictly by the New Testament, no longer exists today, since these three conditions had to be met:
  • The person had to have been an eyewitness to Jesus after his resurrection (1 Corinthians 9:1);
  • Had to have been chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15);
  • Had to have ministered with miraculous signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).

A modern-day apostle would typically function as a church planter—one who is sent out by the body of Christ to spread the gospel and establish new communities of believers.