Stanley Rader

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Stanley R. Rader (August 13, 1930 – July 2, 2002). In 1956, in the capacity of a certified public accountant, he first met Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong who was founder of the Radio Church of God (later renamed Worldwide Church of God). This article traces the relationship between Stanley Rader and Herbert W. Armstrong: a relationship which had a major impact on Rader's personal and professional life.

Contents

[edit] Brief biography

Stanley Rader was born and raised in White Plains, New York. He later moved to California where he met his future wife, Natalie "Niki" Gartenberg. He graduated in 1951 from UCLA and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1954.

In 1956 the young Stanley Rader first met Herbert W. Armstrong, leader of the Radio Church of God, at its world headquarters offices on the campus of its Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. Under contract to the Radio Church of God, Stanley Rader worked on improving its accounting system, creating a highly favorable impression with Armstrong, who then urged him to attend law school at Armstrong's expense. In 1963 Stanley Rader graduated from the nationally ranked University of Southern California Law School where he came in first in his class.

The Radio Church of God had been previously incorporated on March 3, 1946 when it was reestablished in Pasadena. Prior to this event it had been an unincorporated voluntary association based in Eugene, Oregon named after its radio broadcast. On January 5, 1968, which was the year following the death of his first wife, Loma, Herbert W. Armstrong, as president, together with the secretary of the corporation amended its Articles of Incorporation to reflect change of name to the Worldwide Church of God. (By then its radio broadcast had also been renamed as The World Tomorrow. By this time Herbert W. Armstrong was considered to be more of a modern-day Apostle by his followers, rather than a mere Pastor General. After coming to terms regarding salary and compensation, in 1969 Stanley Rader decided to devote his full time and best effort to the service of Herbert W. Armstrong.

[edit] 1971 sex scandal of Garner Ted Armstrong

Until 1971, having already taken over all major responsibilities for radio and television broadcasting as well as heavily promoted local public speaking campaigns, Garner Ted Armstrong was in line to follow his father as head of the Worldwide Church of God. In that year, sexual affairs, and gambling binges by Garner Ted Armstrong using church funds, which had been known about for many years by insiders, suddenly became public knowledge, resulting in a major scandal, and Garner Ted Armstrong was removed from the church and from the airwaves.

[edit] 1972 time cycle ends

The doctrinal basis of the Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God had been built upon three basic ideas: The first was an assimilation of many beliefs common to Jews and the second was to disown many beliefs common to Christians. The second was the idea that Jews were merely one of the tribes of Israel (Abraham) and that ten of the tribes had become lost to history until they were rediscovered as being mainly the peoples who had settled in the British Commonwealth and the United States of America. The third belief was contained in a booklet called 1975 in Prophecy! which had been previously developed by Herman L. Hoeh who was a graduate student of Ambassador College.

This booklet which was written by Herbert W. Armstrong and illustrated by Basil Wolverton, stated that the Radio Church of God was operating on two 19-year time cycles with the second one beginning in 1953. That is when its The World Tomorrow broadcast was first aired over Radio Luxembourg. The second time cycle was prophesied to end sometime in February of 1972 following which the church would flee to a place of safety which was often hinted to be Petra in Jordan. Between 1972 and 1975 a third world war would be unleashed upon both the United Kingdom and the United States by a Neo-Nazi dominated United States of Europe which would destroy both Britain and America. In turn this would unleash a second war between this USE and a united USSR and China which would lead to the total destruction of humanity if Jesus did not return at that very moment as the world-ruling Messiah to halt all further military activity. Peace would then reign on Earth for one thousand years with the followers of Armstrong serving in positions of authority in the new world government.

[edit] 1972 financial crisis

By February 1972, at the end of a second 19-year time cycle derived from Old Testament numerology, most members assumed that Mr. Armstrong was declaring that the end of the world would definitely be in 1975. Though Armstrong taught about the prophesied destruction of both the UK and the USA by a German-led United States of Europe during World War III, he did carefully remind church members that Christ stated plainly "no man knows the day or the hour" of Christ's return.

Additionally, in 1972, after convincing his father that he had indeed repented of his gambling, adultery, and solicitation of prostitutes, Garner Ted Armstrong was restored to his broadcasting and ministerial positions of authority. Eventually, he did fall back into his habitual problems and was removed ("disfellowshipped," in WWCG terminology) from the church.

  • Edited to remove slant and spin, and to remove statements about the WWCG financial status in 1986, and magazine subscriber numbers in 1986, which are quite irrelevant to events of 1972.

[edit] Proposals by Garner Ted Armstrong

Garner Ted Armstrong made proposals that would have relegated the past failures to his father so that the son could present a new plan for the future. That plan included a transformation of church- sponsored media into the more mainstream approach similar to the plan adopted about that time by the Christian Science movement. Garner Ted Armstrong wanted to transform The World Tomorrow program into a daily news broadcast which it was suggested could be sustained by developing a flying television studio aboard a Boeing 707. For years he had rehearsed his style to copy that of Paul Harvey to the point that sometimes the similarity became obvious to the casual listener. He would have also turned The Plain Truth into a newsmagazine and since it had been styled after US News & World Report, to which it had already been to a minor extent. He later suggested that it should instead become a newspaper and actually converted it from a glossy magazine into tabloid newsprint. This experiment did not last.

[edit] Proposals by Stanley Rader

Because Stanley Rader had gained the financial confidence of Herbert W. Armstrong beginning in 1956, he was able to reverse the plans of Garner Ted Armstrong and install a version with more long-term sustainability. Using his inside knowledge of and great personal influence with Herbert Armstrong, Stanley Rader remodelled the Worldwide Church of God to sustain any sudden and dramatic change which would once again damage the donation income flow, such as the scandalous public disfellowshipping of media draw Garner Ted Armstrong.

The membership and existing media were left in place with the existing doctrines, although any mention of time cycles or dates for end time prophecies was removed. Indeed, the church attempted to go out of its way to pretend that the numerology and time cycles had never really been a part of the core message of the church — in spite of all of the broadcasts, editorial articles and the booklet called 1975 in Prophecy!.

[edit] 1975 conversion

Stanley Rader, who still considered himself to be a Jew, was baptized into the Worldwide Church of God by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1975 using a hotel bathtub in the Mandrin Hotel in Hong Kong. This move allowed Stanley Rader to reposition himself as a high-ranking church evangelist[1] in an attempt to quell misgivings by many in the ministerial hierarchy, who felt that Rader's undue influence on Armstrong was troubling. Rader, the ever striving CPA, had become class valedictorian of his law school class at USC, a noteworthy accomplishment in and of itself. In the 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace,[2] he more than proved able to defend himself, remarking humorously to Wallace, "I (Rader) don't take stupid pills." Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong refused to interview with 60 Minutes because he felt they were going to edit the interview in a manner unfavorable to him, and would not agree to air the interview honestly. Herbert Armstrong, by way of contrast, did not attend college, but became a very successful and wealthy man at an early age as a salesman and religious figure.

[edit] Ambassador for World Peace

Whereas the plan of Garner Ted Armstrong was to ease his aging father into retirement, the plan of Stanley Rader and his aide Robert L. Kuhn was to transform Herbert W. Armstrong from an elderly evangelist into casting him as a vital Ambassador for World Peace without portfolio. The diplomatic phrase "a minister without portfolio" may refer to an important government official who is not in charge of a particular department, but who still takes part in the decisions of government. His plan required the creation of a totally new and secular cover entity from which to operate, distanced from his Worldwide fundamentalist sect, which might prove unpalatable to prominent world leaders as he played out his role as quasi ambassador. In 1975, therefore, he incorporated the AICF Ambassador International Cultural Foundation which was actually funded from tithe money of church membership of the Worldwide Church of God.

As a consequence, the AICF foundation transformed Ambassador Auditorium on the Ambassador College campus from a church auditorium in which Saturday Sabbath church services were conducted, into a Carnegie Hall of the West, which began a concert series featuring the top names in classical music, jazz and the performing arts. PBS and other television networks made use of this glamorous new venue. The AICF also created a new glossy secular coffee-table commercial magazine called Quest magazine with a circulation of several hundred thousand copies; bought the book publisher Everest House and funded the motion picture Paper Moon starring Tatum O'Neal.

Herbert W. Armstrong, in the company of Stanley Rader, began introducing himself to any world leader who held political power willing to meet with the aging grandfatherly figure while receiving expensive gifts such as Stueben crystal during a Plain Truth photo op. Armstrong sold his new AICF portfolio approach to the church membership as being a "new phase" in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, that gospel message had now changed to a more palatable international mix of less of its Judeo-Christian elements and more of Buddhism. The message was now about giving and not getting and instead of referring to Jesus, Armstrong dusted off an old US News and World Report editorial headline about A Great Unseen Hand from Someplace as being the savior of the world.

[edit] Business relationships

Stanley Rader used his own professional legal accounting practice and also incorporated new companies with which to conduct profitable business enterprises on behalf of the Worldwide Church of God. The companies largely owned and controlled by Rader included:

  • Rader, Helge & Gerson who provided legal representation for the church;
  • Rader, Cornwall, Kessler and Palazzo who provided accounting services for the church;
  • Worldwide Advertising, Inc., which booked The World Tomorrow on radio and television stations;
  • Mid-Atlantic Leasing, which leased light aircraft and a Gulfstream II, all paid for by the Worldwide Church of God, to enable Stanley Rader and Herbert W. Armstrong to fly around the world meeting kings, princes, presidents and prime ministers;
  • Wilshire Travel, which made the travel bookings for Stanley Rader and Herbert W. Armstrong;
  • Gateway Publishing, which printed books used by the church.

[edit] 1978 excommunication

Behind the corporate scene Garner Ted Armstrong began to complain loudly to other ministers that Stanley Rader had taken over the church. Stanley Rader hit back and the continued gambling and sexual escapades of Garner Ted Armstrong, which had never stopped since his return to the church in 1971, were suddenly plastered all over the mainstream media in both news broadcasts and print media articles. Garner Ted Armstrong was denounced by his father and excommunicated for the final time.

For a very short time Stanley Rader emerged victorious because he seemed to have total control and his new secular entity was growing while the church was being downplayed. When Garner Ted Armstrong left the airwaves again, his aging father attempted to resume the task, but he was not successful because he had passed his prime and his religious message was discredited. However, as Ambassador for World Peace without portfolio, Herbert W. Armstrong continued making the rounds of visiting world leaders with Stanley Rader and delivering his new message about giving versus getting and the Great Unseen Hand from Someplace. Stanley Rader assumed that he had won the war for control of the church when he moved into Garner Ted's former office space. In 1979 Stanley Rader told a reporter:

Mr. Armstrong has said publicly very often that I am a son in whom he is well pleased. The only other one he ever said that about was Garner Ted Armstrong.

[edit] 1979 retaliation

While Garner Ted Armstrong had been driven out of the Worldwide Church of God and from the airwaves, he attempted to reestablish himself with a new membership base that he created around his new home in Tyler, Texas. However, the organization and media reach that Garner Ted Armstrong was able to create was minuscule by comparison with the Worldwide Church of God and its annual multi-million dollar budget. Garner Ted Armstrong then began to engage in behind-the-scenes political activity in order to topple Stanley Rader from power, so that Garner Ted Armstrong could regain control of the Worldwide Church of God and its income.

In alliance with dissident Worldwide Church of God members who were not happy with Stanley Rader and his AICF activities, Garner Ted Armstrong and others managed to get the attention of the State of California to look into allegations of financial malfeasance and misfeasance by Stanley Rader and his business associates with regards to the income of the Worldwide Church of God. Concurrent with that activity the dissenters also managed to get the attention of Mike Wallace, famous for his tough interviews on the nationally-acclaimed CBS television series 60 Minutes. Wallace was given audio tapes in which even Herbert W. Armstrong appeared to be having misgivings about what Stanley Rader was actually trying to do in transforming the church from a religious organization into a secular enterprise. Garner Ted Armstrong told Mike Wallace that:

Practically everywhere you look, if the church has business it is performing or bills that it's paying, well, somewhere Rader is involved. How can this be? Why should it be?

[edit] Response by Stanley Rader

In an attempt to explain the church's lavish spending policies overseas, Rader told Mike Wallace:

Our policy was we would make friends wherever we went in order to help us to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ." Rader's plan was successful.

According to the American Lawyer magazine:

By 1976 the two had become constant companions - Armstrong called Rader his "best student" - and they traveled around the world together some 200 to 300 days a year.

[edit] Receivership

By 1979 California Attorney General George Deukmejian had opened an investigation into allegations that millions of dollars a year had been stolen from the church by Herbert W. Armstrong and Stanley Rader. These allegations resulted in the Worldwide Church of God being placed in court-ordered receivership for more than a year.[3]

[edit] 60 Minutes

Mike Wallace was able to convince Stanley Rader to appear on the 60 Minutes show on April 15, 1979. In speaking about himself, Armstrong, and the Worldwide Church of God, Rader said:

This is a state, and we are representatives of God, and I am Mr. Armstrong's Secretary of State.

Wallace then revealed that he had been given a secretly taped phone call in which Herbert W. Armstrong had alleged that Stanley Rader was deliberately trying to put himself in a position to take over as the church's spiritual leader following the death of Herbert W. Armstrong. This infuriated Stanley Rader who got up from the interview, told Wallace to leave, adding: You're contemptible.

On April 16, 1979, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote to his co-worker supporters in an attempt to explain what was going on:

Perhaps I will have a steward on our jet plane write an article of what he actually SEES me and Mr. Rader do on trips around the world. We are busy every minute. I am writing articles, letters, or proclaiming THE GOSPEL on my typewriter on the plane, in my hotel rooms almost every minute I am not out preaching to big crowds in Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, India, Japan, Thailand, Holland, South Africa, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Philippines (many times), Costa Rica and many other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America.

[edit] Rader's apparent victory

During this time Stanley Rader was the point man for Herbert W. Armstrong and he rallied other religious groups to his defense. With the backing of a nonprofit religious lobbying coalition forming against state intrusion, Stanley Rader was able to successfully introduce a bill into the California Legislature which generally restricts the Attorney General's authority to conduct civil, but not criminal, financial investigations into the activities of California religious and nonprofit organizations. Subsequent to the bill's passage into law,[4] the California Attorney General then dropped its Worldwide Church of God financial receivership investigation litigation.

[edit] Author

In 1980, Rader wrote a book called Against the Gates of Hell: The Threat to Religious Freedom in America. It was about the investigation by State of California into the finances of the Worldwide Church of God and which the National Council of Churches praised as "the seminal work on church/state relations in the 20th century." The book was published by the church's Everest House corporation.

[edit] Stanley Rader Sues Steven Spielberg

In a sensational case after the release of the first of the Indiana Jones films (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Rader sued producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg for $100 million. Stanley Rader claimed that both he and his associate Dr.Robert Lawrence Kuhn of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation had outlined a very similar plot for a movie. The plot, Rader alleged, had been shown to an artists' agent whose properties were later acquired by Lucas and Spielberg. Nothing came of the suit.

[edit] Resignation

Although Stanley Rader appeared to have won the financial receivorship, his plan to create the AICF cultural empire had come to a halt. In 1981 Stanley Rader resigned as General Counsel and Treasurer of the Worldwide Church of God. Armstrong paid Rader a special $250,000 bonus, after taxes, he said, as a result of his efforts in vigorously defending the church against the state receivorship. Also, Rader received substantial pension payments arising under his contractual agreement with the church. However, when Herbert W. Armstrong died in 1986, control was passed to Joseph Tkach, Sr., a person alleged to be close to Stanley Rader.

[edit] Death of Stanley Rader

By the time that Stanley Rader died on July 2, 2002, which was just two weeks after being diagnosed with acute pancreatic cancer, the Worldwide Church of God had terminated its former broadcasts and created a separate ministry for its magazine which had renounced its previous editorial purpose. When virtually nothing remained of the former major doctrines of the church, it joined a mainstream evangelical organization.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Rader Ordained", Ambassador Report, Issue 10, November, 1979
  2. ^ "Stanley Rader on Sixty Minutes with Mike Wallace"
  3. ^ Ambassdor Report, Issue 7, January, 1979
  4. ^ "Petris Bill Passes", Ambassador Report, Issue 13, September, 1980
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