The Flying Free Website : Book Excerpts

The Flying Free Website
Book Excerpts

Preface

It is now over two decades since Herbert Armstrong passed away. Probably the most powerful legacy he left behind is the impact on his followers’ lives – current or ex. However, his legacy does not just live on in the followers who knew him whilst he was alive, but it has now grown to affect the lives of new members, who have joined Armstrong related organisations since his death.

In 2006, there are over 550 organisations, groups or sites that are offshoots from the original Herbert W. Armstrong Worldwide Church of God (WCG) – a comprehensive list can be found in Appendix 5 of this book. The vast majority of these groups are promoting the beliefs taught by Herbert W. Armstrong, and all have emanated from Herbert Armstrong’s “one, true church” – most emerging in the period since “the changes”[i] in 1995.

Ten years after the changes, tens of thousands are still heavily influenced by Herbert W. Armstrong.

Introducing the changes in the WCG, could be compared to moving the latch and releasing a spring that had been coiled tightly for decades. WCG members reacted in many different ways.

It is not easy to leave a fundamentalist environment.

There are many who have tried to move on, yet still may not have understood the true nature of what they were a part of. Many others may be still lumbered with feelings of guilt. Conversely, many others believe in Herbert Armstrong and have done their best to live as close as they can to what he taught, and have continued to pass his teachings on to others. Still others subscribe to some of Armstrong’s teachings, yet discard other parts of his doctrines.

I believe that to be successful in completely moving on from this fundamentalism, it is important to understand more about Herbert Armstrong – answering critical questions like: what was his background, and where was he coming from? It is important to understand the actual reality of the organisation WCG members were a part of.

Understanding these things can have a huge freeing influence – “the truth will set you free”.[ii]

In Flying Free I have addressed these issues. This book contains never previously published research on Herbert Armstrong’s Holiness Quaker upbringing. It includes extensive research on the WCG’s comparison to a cult, and the characteristics that actually define a cult. There are also many pages devoted to scanned material from original WCG literature – the content of material read from an external perspective, is assimilated and interpreted completely differently to the identical documents read from within the organisation. Reviewing this material can give new insight into the journey taken by WCG members and ex-members.

Further to this, Flying Free also contains an open-minded assessment of the origins of the Bible, the authority of the Bible, and an appraisal of organised Christianity’s influence on the individual Christian.

Flying Free documents the impact of the Armstrong teachings on individual lives, but then goes on to show a priceless freedom – found in life beyond fundamentalism.

Flying Free should serve as a warning to those contemplating entering a fundamentalist church.

[1] A list of WCG beliefs and doctrines can be found in Appendix 1

Introduction

The life of my stepdaughter, Lara, was prematurely taken in a car accident, April 15 1993, at the age of 23. The revealing letter, which follows, was written by Lara to her diary in 1986, at age 16.

Lara was born in 1970. From the age of three, she was brought up in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG).

I was born in 1957, and was also raised in the same church, and likewise, from the age of three. I was to spend the next 35 years of my life as a part of the WCG.

There were approximately 100,000 dedicated members worldwide. The WCG had many unusual and strange beliefs, mixed in with some comparatively normal mainstream teachings[1]– see Appendix One. All doctrine was based on the Church’s unique understanding and interpretation of the Bible.

These teachings were formulated by “God’s one end-time apostle”, who was also the WCG leader. His name was Herbert W. Armstrong, and he became famous through his magazine The Plain Truth, and his television and radio program called The World Tomorrow. Both of these media outlets had humble beginnings in America during the depression of the early 1930s.

This book is the true story of life as it was, in the church headed by Herbert Armstrong. It is a story spanning over 60 years. It is a story of hope and hopelessness. It is a story of being trapped in darkness.

This book is also a story of being liberated through the light of true freedom.

I have written this book with several purposes in mind.

Flying Free confronts members of fundamentalist religious organisations that are legalistic in their approach.

This book is also a challenge to all Christians to rethink their freedom in Jesus Christ. Do you really have the freedom Jesus confronted the Jews with, in John 8:31-32?

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Remember, these were the believers he was talking to. Flying Free shows the realities of this freedom, and what it means for Christians.

I am also hoping this book will be of benefit to victims of the Armstrong errors—particularly those who were brought up in the organisation from an early age. Many young people, like Lara, had their lives and career choices artificially stifled by the WCG teachings. These, I feel, are the group of people who have had their minds and lives affected most by this tragic litany of error.

When I started Flying Free, I was primarily writing it to provide my own debriefing. I was in the process of leaving the WCG, but realised before I could move on, I had to deal with my past. I have found the journey to be of immense value. It has forced me to face up to the past, and deal with it. It has challenged me to rethink my beliefs: to look at things, as much as possible, without preconceived concepts.

The result has been the beautiful taste and touch of freedom—something which, up until a few years ago, I had not even glimpsed on the horizon. This freedom I have found goes way beyond anything I could ever have envisaged, at the beginning of this journey of change – in the summer of 1995.

Let’s now explore the history of the Worldwide Church of God....

[i] The changes are explained throughout the book – also refer “The Changes” in the index

[ii] Jesus Christ in John 8:32