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.^[1]

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.^[2]

In 1956 Rader met Armstrong, leader of what was then called the Radio Church of God, at its headquarters offices in Pasadena, California. Under contract with the Radio Church of God, Rader worked on improving its accounting system, thereby creating a highly favorable impression with Armstrong, who then urged him to attend law school at Armstrong's expense. In 1963 Rader graduated from University of Southern California Law School.^[3]

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, Armstrong, as president, together with the secretary of the corporation, amended its Articles of Incorporation to reflect the change of name to the Worldwide Church of God. (By then its radio broadcast had also been renamed The World Tomorrow). By this time Armstrong was considered to be more of a modern-day apostle by his followers, rather than merely "pastor general," his title in the church. After coming to terms regarding salary and compensation, in 1969 Rader decided to devote his full time to the service of Armstrong.^[4]

1975 conversion

Rader, who still considered himself Jewish, was baptized into WCG by Armstrong in 1975 using a hotel bathtub in the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong. This move allowed Stanley Rader to reposition himself as a high-ranking church evangelist^[5] in an attempt to quell misgivings by many in the ministerial hierarchy, who felt that Rader's undue influence on Armstrong was troubling.

60 Minutes Appearance

In a 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace, Rader defended himself, remarking to Wallace, "I don't take stupid pills." In the interview, Wallace read a portion of a letter Armstrong was drafting to Rader asking to resign from any church positions that would make him Armstrong's successor. As Wallace played the tape of Armstrong reading the letter, Rader started to sweat before finally declaring: "Now I say you've acquired this by illegal means. I intend to have my attorneys today not only sue you if you use this.... Mike, look, I think you'd better scrap everything because you're on my list. Okay? You're never going to live it down, Mike, I guarantee it.... you're contemptible.... I'd like you to get out of here, immediately!" Rader then stormed out of the room and accused the press of distorting the facts.^[6]

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 Lawrence Kuhn was to transform Herbert W. Armstrong from an elderly evangelist into a more secular leader, casting him as a vital "Ambassador for World Peace without portfolio". 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 Ambassador International Cultural Foundation (AICF) which was actually funded from the tithe money of members of the Worldwide Church of God.^{[citation needed]} In 1979, he was ordained as one of the Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God.

As a consequence, the AICF 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 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.^{[citation needed]}

Armstrong, in the company of 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 The Plain Truth photo op. Armstrong sold his new AICF portfolio approach to the church membership as being a new phase in preaching the church's gospel.

Business relationships

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.

WCG Receivership Crisis

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 Armstrong and Rader. These allegations resulted in WCG being placed in court-ordered receivership for more than a year.^[7]

During this time, Rader was the point-man for 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,^[8] the California Attorney General then dropped its WCG financial receivership investigation litigation.

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.

Resignation

Although Rader appeared to have won the financial receivership battle, his plan to create the AICF cultural empire had come to a halt. In 1981 he 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 receivership. Rader also received substantial pension payments arising under his contractual agreement with the church.

Death of Stanley Rader

By the time that Rader died on July 2, 2002, 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. Rader was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California (the same cemetery in which the Armstrong family is buried). His funeral was presided over by Joseph Tkach, Jr.

References

External links

• Against the Gates of Hell: The Threat to Religious Freedom in America by Stanley R. Rader On-line copy of Rader's book defending Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God
• Stanley R. Rader Resigns Article by Herbert W. Armstrong
• Stanley Rader, 71; Advisor in Worldwide Church of God - Stanley Robert Rader, the long-time confidant of the late Herbert W. Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God, has died. He was 71. - Los Angeles Times/July 4, 2002 - By Larry B. Stammer
• "The Devil and Stanley Rader" Article in The American Lawyer
• Ambassador Report