This Rogues Gallery exists to profile the major players, both extinct and extant, in the continuation of Armstrongism and the existence of the myriad COG cults still thriving today. Herbert W. Armstrong may have started this special lineage of false prophets and religious con-men, but these men have helped to propagate the lies Armstrong championed at the expense of hundreds-of-thousands of victims worldwide.

Armstrong himself is covered in-depth throughout this site, therefore to avoid redundancy we will profile only his minions, family and lieutenants. Tracking-down former WCG evangelists throughout the many splinter groups can be like hunting down war criminals in the Amazon since most prefer to run their scams below the radar of a news media that has forgotten about Armstrong and his legacy. Silenced will continue to hunt them down and expose whomever happens to pop-up with a new doomsday prophecy or power-grab.

With some exceptions, most of these men held the rare and coveted title within WCG of “Evangelist,” which was the second-highest rank beneath “Apostle,” held only by Armstrong himself.

The Worldwide Church of God

Garner Ted Armstrong
1930-2003 (DECEASED)
Leader of the Church of God International (COGI)
Criminal Record: sexual assault, infidelity, rape allegations

The son of cult leader Herbert W. Armstrong, Garner Ted Armstrong was one of the chief evangelists of WCG. Born in Portland, Oregon, he was thrust into international fame for his charm, good looks and on-air charisma as the host for The World Tomorrow television and radio broadcasts. His sardonic, ironic, low-key delivery made him seem more like a comedian than a tele-evangelist, and made him one of the most well-known voices throughout the world for his generation.

He was a fluent Spanish-speaker and broadcasted a special Spanish edition of The World Tomorrow.

Armstrong was also a writer of many pieces of church literature, including brochures attacking the Theory of Evolution and many other booklets decrying various “social ills.” He was also an author and made many non-cult-related appearances on shows such as Hee Haw. Armstrong, despite his father’s teachings against service in “man’s military” served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

Armstrong was ordained by his father as a pastor in WCG in 1955, despite Garner Ted voicing his opposition to the promotion. In 1957 he took the reigns of his father’s broadcasting responsibilities and was responsible for launching the television version of his father’s radio show.

In 1972, Garner Ted was removed from WCG’s ministry, his father describing him as being “in the bonds of Satan”. The reasons for his dismissal stemmed from swirling rumors that Garner Ted had raped a stewardess aboard his private jet, was guilty of adultery for sleeping with numerous Ambassador College coeds, and that he had developed a serious gambling problem.

Armstrong was in a constant power-struggle with Stanley Rader, and a disagreement developed between Armstrong and his father over choosing specific dates for the Apocalypse, which he deemed as being bad for the cult’s public perception.

Garner Ted was excommunicated by his father in 1978 and formed his own ministry, Church of God International, in Tyler, Texas. Garner Ted was removed from his leadership position within his own church after footage of his sexual assault of a massage therapist went public on the Geraldo Rivera Show.

Armstrong died of pneumonia in 2003.

Stanley Rader
1930-2002 (DECEASED)
Spokesman for the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
Criminal Record: researching

Stanley Rader, born in White Plains, New York, was one of the chief evangelists of WCG under Herbert W. Armstrong. Rader acted as the cult’s chief accountant when it was known as the Radio Church of God. He attended law school at Armstrong’s behest and expense to act as the cult’s lawyer as well. Purportedly baptized by Armstrong in a Hong Kong bathtub in 1975, Rader been a practicing Jew up until that point, as he had not prescribed to Armstrong’s teachings despite helping to further the goals of his church.

Rader would eventually become the chief spokesman and public relations representative for Armstrong and WCG, similar to Tommy Davis of the Church of Scientology. He is best known for his 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace, where he stormed off the set, and for his lawsuit of George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg, whom he accused of stealing his script for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

He gained additional public exposure during the 1979 Receivership Crisis when the California Attorney General launched an investigation into Armstrong and Rader under the suspicion they were stealing millions in money tithed to the cult by its members. Rader later wrote a book about this experience entitled Against the Gates of Hell: The Threat to Religious Freedom in America as a popular mantra railing against state involvement in what he deemed to be purely religious matters.

Rader was instrumental in attempting to recast Armstrong from his public perception as a cult leader to an “ambassador for peace” and he setup many fake photo-ops featuring Armstrong shaking hands with world leaders and dignitaries. Rader, teamed with the wily former advertiser Armstrong, proved to be an effective PR mastermind for WCG.

Rader died of pancreatic cancer in July 2002.

Joseph W. Tkach Sr.
1927-1995 (DECEASED)
Leader of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
Criminal Record: researching

Joseph Tkach, born in Chicago, Illinois, was the appointed successor of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of WCG. Tkach became president and pastor general of the church upon the death of Armstrong in 1986. Tkach spearheaded a major doctrinal transformation of WCG, abandoning some of Armstrong’s unconventional doctrines and bringing the church into accord with mainstream Evangelical Christianity.

During Tkach’s tenure, the changes he implemented stirred much controversy and significant dissent among those who continued to follow Armstrong’s theology. The dissenters labeled the changes as “heresy” and many left to form new church organizations.

The church entered a period of rapid growth during the early years of Tkach’s administration. In fact, the membership peaked during his tenure at 126,800 members in 1988. The finances were stable, largely due to the church’s teaching that members should tithe, giving a tenth of their gross income to the church. The church magazine, The Plain Truth, continued to serialize the final and most controversial book by Armstrong, Mystery of the Ages. Tkach also continued, at least in public, to promote the church’s unique doctrines.

Tkach did not have the charismatic personality of his predecessor. Unlike Armstrong, who kept a strong hold of the reins, Tkach delegated many tasks, including the presentation of the church-supported television broadcast, The World Tomorrow and the authoring of articles and booklets produced by the church. Although Tkach was not known as a theologian, and made no claims as such, eventually he was to have profound impact on the theological foundations of the WCG.

The doctrinal changes in the church occurred gradually, but by 1994, most of the concepts of Armstrongism had been discontinued. The major bombshell was dropped during what is now called the “Christmas Eve Sermon.” Tapes of Tkach’s sermon, dated January 7, 1995, were delivered to local congregations for viewing. In this sermon, he publicly declared that the Worldwide Church of God was a “New Covenant” church and, therefore, not bound by the terms of the “Old Covenant.” Tkach officially dropped all doctrines based on Mosaic Law, making observance of such practices an individual choice. He also dropped the requirement of tithing, which had a significant and immediate impact on church finances.

The Christmas Eve sermon only served to accelerate the departure of church members. Splinters started to spring up all across the world made up of those clinging to Armstrong’s doctrinal vision. Although revenues continued to drop, Tkach remained steadfastly committed to the changes he had implemented.

In 1995 Tkach had surgery that revealed he had cancer. As Armstrong had done before him, Tkach named a successor to become pastor general in the event of his death. In this case, it was Tkach’s son, Joseph Tkach Jr. Tkach died on September 23, 1995.

Joseph Tkach Jr.
1951-present
Leader of Grace Communion International (GCI)
Criminal Record: researching 

Joseph Tkach Jr., born in Chicago, Illinois, is president and pastor general of Grace Communion International, formerly WCG. Since assuming his responsibilities in 1995 after his father’s death, Tkach oversaw a period of radical change in the WCG.

Tkach spent most of his childhood in Chicago until his parents moved to Pasadena, California in 1966. He attended the WCG’s private university, Ambassador College, from 1969 to 1973, when he received a degree in theology. He was ordained a minister of the cult in 1976.

With the support of several key leaders in the church, Joseph Tkach Jr. continued the doctrinal transformation of the WCG that had begun under his father. In the process, he encountered a mixture of acceptance and resistance from members within the church. External acceptance came from other ministries such as those of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, but there were many skeptics who were not convinced the church had gone far enough with its changes, or that they really believed in these changes. There was much thought that these doctrinal transformations were expand the church’s appeal to the mainstream and generate more money for the organization.

Aided by several influential individuals within mainstream Christian churches, the WCG was able to forge positive relationships with other Christian organizations and individuals. WCG became a member of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1997. That same year, Tkach published a book outlining the process of transformation in the WCG. Transformed by Truth is now out of print, but is available for online reading at the WCG Web site.

While Tkach remains a board member of Plain Truth Ministries, it is now a separate ministry headed by Greg Albrecht. The magazine, a once-formidable arm of the WCG’s media empire, has been radically altered. Where Armstrong printed millions of copies monthly and distributed the publication free, The Plain Truth is now a subscription-based magazine with a modest circulation. Tkach also produces regular video commentaries, titled “Speaking of Life,” that are available on the WCG website.

United Church of God

Dennis Luker
1949-present
Leader of United Church of God (UCG)
Criminal Record: Allegedly connected, as pastor, to various UCG members convicted in murder and stalking cases

Dennis Luker was one of the chief evangelists under Herbert W. Armstrong in WCG. After the 1995 schism he joined the newly-formed UCG a full-time pastor in Garden Grove, California before being moved to Seattle, Washington. Luker came to hold a seat on UCG’s Council of Elders and in 2005 became the Regional Pastor of the Northwestern United States. In 2010, Luker was elected as the new president of UCG, a move that eventually led to a massive schism within the cult.

Unlike many COG ministers, Luker is an extremely emotional man prone to fits of tears during sermons. He has repeatedly confirmed, denied and reconfirmed that he suffers from depression. He also has a reputation for paranoia rooted in his deep dislike for perceived disloyalty and criticisms, traits that led him to fire most of UCG’s regional pastors and force the resignation of all ministers who would not submit to his authority as the new leader of UCG.

Luker’s administration has been the most secretive and least transparent in UCG’s history, which is saying something for a cult already characterized by clandestine meetings and keeping its members in the dark concerning matters of church government and decision-making.

Luker has led UCG down a path that some have described as an “endgame” or a “suicide run,” declaring that there are “three years remaining” before the Apocalypse (without giving specific dates) and pouring the remainder of the church’s waning income not already allocated to huge ministerial salaries into cable television projects and “humanitarian causes” for the sake of “preaching the gospel” before Christ’s return.

Luker’s sense of urgency seems to be driven by a deeply-seated fear that the church doesn’t have long left to exist before its membership, and therefore its funding, dies off.

He has been connected to several defendants, as their pastor, in stalking cases and to a UCG member involved in a murder.

Living Church of God

Roderick C. Meredith
1930-present
Leader of Living Church of God (LCG)
Criminal Record: researching

Rod “Spanky” Meredith is the leader and founder of LCG. As one of the first five Evangelists of WCG, he was ordained in 1952 by Herbert W. Armstrong. For many years he was one of the cult’s leading theologians, top executives, and professors at Ambassador College.

Following his graduation in June 1952, Meredith was assigned by Armstrong to start and pastor churches in Portland, San Diego, Seattle, and Tacoma. On December 20, 1952, after summoning him back to the cult’s headquarters in Pasadena from his pastoral region in Oregon, Armstrong ordained him and four other men to the high-ranking WCG position of Evangelist. Meredith was the youngest among them.

Over the following years, Meredith would help raise up scores of congregations throughout the United States. He would also conduct many baptizing and evangelizing tours in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa. In addition to serving as a senior evangelist, Meredith held many high ranking and influential positions within WCG.

After the collapse of WCG, Meredith headed the Global Church of God (GCOG). Following a heated dispute with several members of the GCG’s corporate Board of Directors over Meredith’s authority within the Church, he was fired by a 3-2 majority of the Board on November 25, 1998. Meredith’s firing was widely unpopular with most of the GCOG membership, and approximately 80 percent left the organization and came with him. In addition to the majority of the membership coming with him, approximately 70 percent of GCOG’s ministers and Council of Elders joined with him as well.

Within days Meredith and others had founded LCG. Meredith is the organization’s CEO and Presiding Evangelist of Church. He is also the Editor in Chief of Tomorrow’s World magazine and one of the four regular presenters of the LCG’s television program, Tomorrow’s World.

Philadelphia Church of God

Gerald R. Flurry
1935-present
Leader of Philadelphia Church of God (PCG)
Criminal Record: researching 

Gerald Ray Flurry is the founder and Pastor General of PCG, based in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is also host of the television program The Key of David, is editor in chief of The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine, is founder and chancellor of Herbert W. Armstrong College, and is founder and chairman of the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation.

Flurry graduated from Ambassador College in 1970 and became a minister within WCG in 1973, and was transferred to Oklahoma in 1985. During the three years after Herbert Armstrong’s death in 1986, WCG made several doctrinal changes that Flurry objected to as “doctrinally false.” He began to openly oppose these changes, and felt God had “inspired” his Bible studies. Flurry eventually wrote a manuscript that would become the book Malachi’s Message to God’s Church Today. These actions led to his summon before WCG leaders, who promptly fired Flurry on December 7, 1989.

Members of PCG must develop a deep respect and love for the PCG ministry. To them, the PCG ministry is made up of “faithful, dedicated men,” of which there are few.

Flurry has been criticized by detractors for the church’s teaching of disfellowshipment. The church, citing Romans 16:17, teaches PCG members to avoid associating with or fellowshipping with present and former baptized members of the Worldwide Church of God, prohibiting “any kind of fellowship with former PCG members and all ‘Laodiceans’, even if they are members of a church member’s immediate family.”

He has written, “We must not keep company or fellowship with them [‘Laodiceans’] by going to restaurants and things like that. In the past some members have been told that these relationships are okay so long as religion is not discussed… there should be a complete cut off.” Exceptions to the teaching are if an apostate or Laodicean spouse of a PCG member is “pleased to dwell.” Scripture, Flurry said, dictates that “that relationship should be preserved as long as the [disfellowshipped or Laodicean] mate is pleased to dwell.” He cited 1 Corinthians 7:10-14. The other exception to the disfellowship rule is “unbaptized children” and other former PCG attendees who may have been baptized but were not “validly baptized.” The PCG disfellowshipment teaching does not apply to family members not formally associated with the Worldwide Church of God.

Members are tossed out of PCG regularly, either for fraternizing with outsiders or for disagreeing with Flurry’s special brand of Armstrongism.

Flurry is frequently cited as an egomaniac, since part of the church’s initiation process is to read his book and accept every single word of it as inspired scripture. Anyone who does not revere him is removed from the fold and shunned. He has been quoted several times as stating, concerning himself: ”Following God’s Man is actually following God.” This is a full listing of Gerald R. Flurry quotes, with regards to adoration and loyalty to him and his office.

Church of God, Preaching the Kingdom of God

Ronald Weinland
1949-present
Leader of Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG)
Criminal Record: Tax evasion indictment

Ron Weinland, born in Wichita, Kansas, studied at Ambassador College and graduated from Bricket Wood in 1975. He was ordained a full-time minister by WCG in 1982. After the 1995 schism, Weinland joined the newly-formed UCG as the pastor of the Toledo, Ohio congregation, taking many of his flock with him to form Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God in 2000.

COG-PKG is a small Christian church that claims to provide “support, education and warning to the scattered Church that was formerly united in the Worldwide Church of God.”

Weinland has taken Armstrong’s apocalyptic beliefs to its farthest point, claiming that we are “currently” in the process of watching the world end. Weinland has identified himself to be “the spokesman of His two end-time witnesses” mentioned in Revelation 11:3. Weinland also claims that he and his wife Laura are both prophets, and that he is the ‘end-time Elijah’ to come as mentioned in Malachi 4:5-6. He also claims to be the “Zerubbabel” who will rebuild the Jewish Temple.

According to his blog, “the final countdown has begun, as the 1335 days before the actual day Jesus Christ returns began on Tuesday, September 30, 2008.” In a sermon given for April 18, 2008, he identified his wife Laura, as the other witness of Revelation 11 and called Pope Benedict XVI a “false prophet.”

Weinland has changed the prophesied date for the return of Christ to May 27, 2012 and recently began to ordain women in his church as elders. Weinland delivers his sermons weekly on Saturday afternoons on a live basis to members throughout the United States and Canada via streaming internet podcast.

He was indicted on tax evasion charges in November 2011 for using tithe money for his personal use and expenses. Federal investigators said Weinland failed to report more than $356,000 in taxes between 2004 and 2009, translating to millions in received tithes from his followers.

His alleged acts of evasion included filing tax returns, understating his gross income, using church funds for personal expenses and failing to report the existence of a Swiss bank account where he funneled many church donations. If convicted on all five counts, Weinland faces up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000 for each of the five counts of tax evasion brought against him.

Church of God, a Worldwide Association

Jim Franks
1950-present
Leader of Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA)
Criminal Record: researching

On September 2, 2011, Jim Franks was elected the first full-time president of COGWA, which was fitting because he helped orchestrate the split from UCG in late 2010, which was even more fitting because he helped orchestrate the split from WCG in 1995. What we’re saying is that he’s really good at starting new splinter cults and transitioning the confused sheep to new paradigms where they forget about their time in the previous organization, save to demonize it. After it was clear that Franks and his allies, including former UCG politician/president Clyde Kilough were all going to lose their jobs after Dennis Luker’s coup, he managed to feather a nest for all of the newly-unemployed COGWA dissidents built on all of the tithe money UCG’s disaffected were withholding during the throes of the crisis. Slick moves, Jim!

Restored Church of God

David C. Pack
1948-present
Leader of Restored Church of God (RCG)
Criminal Record: researching 

David Pack, born in Lima, Ohio, was an Ambassador College graduate who entered WCG‘s ministry under Herbert W. Armstrong in 1971. Pack left WCG two years before the schism in 1993 citing the gradual doctrinal changes as “blasphemy.” He started the Restored Church of God in 1999 in Wadsworth, Ohio after his excommunication from the Global Church of God. He continues to write copious amounts of literature, books and runs a number of RCG-related websites where he attempts to siphon members from the larger COG cults in ‘open letters’.

Pack has declared himself an “apostle” and the rightful heir to that title following the death of Armstrong in 1986. He works very hard to direct as much tithe money from his own followers and members in COG cults to himself and his small yet steady ministry.

Church of God, an International Community

David Hulme
1946-present
Leader of Church of God, an International Community (COGIC)
Criminal Record: researching

David Hulme, born in Bolton, England, is president of Vision Media Productions, publisher of the quarterly Vision Magazine, and lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Southern California. After the 1995 schism of WCG, he also founded the Church of God, an International Community.

Hulme was one of Herbert W. Armstrong’s lieutenants and latched onto UCG in the wake of WCG’s schism. From 1986-1994, Hulme was a presenter on The World Tomorrow television program, and from 1995-1998, was the president of the United Church of God.

In 1998, when it was clear that UCG was not going to institute the ‘one-man rule’ of WCG and instead establish a ‘General Council of Elders’ with a rotating president, Hulme left to form COGIC in Pasadena, California, the spiritual home of Worldwide and all of its daughter churches.

Hulme has continued his broadcasting work and still writes much of COGIC’s literature.

Church of the Great God

John W. Ritenbaugh
1932-present
Leader of  Church of the Great God (CGC)
Criminal Record: researching

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, John Ritenbaugh was recruited to WCG through The World Tomorrow radio broadcast in 1959. He was ordained a deacon i in 1965, an elder 1969, and then a full-time employed pastor for WCG in 1982. Ritenbaugh resigned from WCG in 1992, citing his outrage with the slight changes in doctrine made by Joseph Tkach at the time. He now pastors a small, scattered congregation of followers known as the Church of the Great God. Most of their operations are run through their website where posts sermons, booklets, papers, newsletters, and a magazine called Forerunner.

Independent Church of God

Ronald L. Dart
1946-Present
Leader of Independent Church of God (ICOG)
Criminal Record: researching 

Ron Dart was one of the chief evangelists in WCG and an administrator at the Bricket Wood campus of Ambassador College. After the 1995 schism of WCG, Dart  founded the Independent Church of God along with Christian Educational Ministries. Dart is infamous for his prolific production of sermon tapes and literature, all of which he personally and independently creates. Dart leads ICOG as more of a “living room church” that is decentralized without being officially incorporated and ICOG members usually join other COG groups for Holy Day festivals and services.

As the founder of Christian Educational Ministries, he is the host of the radio program Born to Win heard across 275 stations across the world where he makes the majority of his income. The leadership of other COG cults generally dislike Dart even more than they dislike each other for his independent streak.

House of Yahweh

Yisrayl ‘Buffalo Bill’ Hawkins
1938-Present
Leader of House of Yahweh (HOY)
Criminal Record: Bigamy charges, molestation conviction, child labor conviction

Yisrayl Hawkins is the founder of the House of Yahweh based in Abilene, Texas. Hawkins claims to be descended from European Jewish immigrants who fled Nazi persecution. He was a follower of Herbert W. Armstrong in WCG before starting his own cult, his teachings on the Sabbath, Holy Days, anti-paganism, Levitical Laws and Apocalyptic prophecies mirroring those of Armstrong.

He is best known for wrongly predicting nuclear war on several occasions, first for 12 September 2006, then 12  June 2007, followed by 12 June 2008. He has not made any recent prophecies regarding specific dates for nuclear Apocalypse, but it’s only a matter of time.

In May 2008 Hawkins was charged with bigamy. The House of Yahweh lives in an Abilene bunker, its members are largely closed-off from the outside world, and it was alleged that Hawkins had over 30 wives. All four counts of the charges were dropped in October 2009, yet rumors of what goes on within the confines of his bunker persist.

In December 2008, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually molesting his 11-year-old niece.

Other COG Evangelists (via Wikipedia)

Colin Adair (1944-1998, DECEASED): Leader of WCG congregations in the Philippines and Canada. Was a minister in GCOG after the split.

David Albert (STATUS UNKNOWN): Ordained by Joseph W. Tkach in 1988. Co-host of The World Tomorrow from 1986 to 1994. Author of Difficult Scriptures. “Professor” of psychology for many years at Ambassador University.

Richard Ames: Former Registrar of Ambassador University. Co-host of The World Tomorrow. 1986-1994. Currently co-hosts Tomorrow’s World for LCG.

David Antion: Left WCG in 1979. Affiliated with the COGI.

Dibar Apartian (1916-2010, DECEASED): Came to Ambassador University in the 1950s as a French professor, later head of the French outreach for the cult. Left WCG in 1995. Now affiliated with the LCG.

Richard D. Armstrong (1929-1958, DECEASED): Ambassador Student Body President, 1951-1952. Ambassador Class of 1952. Ordained by his father, Herbert W. Armstrong on December 20, 1952. Died in an automobile crash near San Luis Obispo in 1958. Is buried in his family’s plot at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.

C. Stanley Bass (1945-1998, DECEASED): One of two African-Americans to be ordained as an evangelist in WCG. From 1990 onward was on the English faculty at Ambassador University in Big Sandy. As he had graduated from Paul Quinn College many years earlier, he was finally awarded a degree from Ambassador in 1997 at the institution’s final spring commencement.

Dean Blackwell (1931-2003, DECEASED): Was the first pastor of the WCG congregation in Big Sandy, Texas in 1953. Ordained Evangelist in 1964. Long-time pastor in the Chicago area, later a favorite professor of theology at Ambassador University. Retired by WCG in 1996. Remained with WCG until his death.

Carn Catherwood (STATUS UNKNOWN): Ambassador Class of 1961. Leader of the Italian outreach of WCG beginning in the early 1980s.

C. Wayne Cole (STATUS UNKNOWN): Ambassador Class of 1954. Excommunicated in 1979 during the Receivership Crisis. Has been affiliated with both the COGI and the UCG.

Robert Fahey: Ambassador Class of 1965.  Ordained minister in 1981. Demoted from Evangelist rank. Only Evangelist to be demoted to the rank of Pastor. Now affiliated with UCG serving in Chicago.

J. Michael Feazell (1951-????, STATUS UNKNOWN): Ordained to the rank of Evangelist by Joseph W. Tkach in 1990. Authored The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God in 2001.

David Jon Hill (1930-2003, DECEASED): Ambassador Class of 1955. Authored How to Study the Bible and Read the Book. Contributed to Twentieth-Century Watch in the 1980s. Brother-in-law of church hymn writer Dwight L. Armstrong.

Herman L. Hoeh (1928-2004, DECEASED): Ambassador Class of 1951. Ordained by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1952.  Noted church historian, his two doctoral dissertations that laid the foundation for views on world history held by many in the cult. Retired by WCG iu 1996. Served on Ambassador University board until its closure in 1997. Served on church board until his death.

Charles F. Hunting (STATUS UNKNOWN): Ambassador Class of 1961. Excommunicated in 1974.

Harold Jackson: (1911-1991, DECEASED): First African-American to be ordained as an Evangelist, one of only two.  The Harold L. Jackson Hall of Humanities on the Big Sandy, Texas campus of Ambassador was named in his memory. Worked with African-American members of the church during the 1960s. Listed as “doctrinal advisor” in 1988 ministerial directory.

Ronald D. Kelly: (1938-????, STATUS UNKNOWN): Ordained in 1976. Co-host of The World Tomorrow from 1988 until 1994. Now retired from WCG.

Ellis LaRavia (1931-present): Vice-President of Ambassador International Cultural Foundation. Ordained Evangelist in Tucson, Arizona in 1979. Now affiliated with UCG.

Burk McNair: One-time pastor of WCG congregation in Big Sandy. Now with UCG.

Raymond F. McNair (1930-2008, DECEASED): Ambassador Class of 1953. Authored Ascent to Greatness in 1976. Deputy Chancellor of Ambassador University until 1987 when sent to serve in New Zealand. Excommunicated in 1993. Served in LCG.

Leslie McCullough: Ambassador Class of 1961. Twice served as Deputy Chancellor of Ambassador University in Big Sandy. Currently affiliated with COGWA.

C. Paul Meredith (1905-1968, DECEASED): Ordained by Herbert W. Armstrong on December 20, 1952. Editor of the original Bible Correspondence Course. Was the uncle of Roderick C. Meredith, leader of LCG.

L. Leroy Neff: Ambassador Class of 1959. Long-time treasurer in the WCG. Now affiliated with COGWA.

Al Portune (STATUS UNKNOWN): Excommunicated in 1974.

Richard Rice (1935-2003, DECEASED): Director of WCG Mail Processesing Center.

Larry Salyer: Now with UCG.

Bernard W. Schnippert: Ordained by Joseph W. Tkach in the fall of 1990. Was an assistant to Stanley R. Rader. Affiliated with UCG.

Norman A. Smith (STATUS UNKNOWN):Ambassador Class of 1954. Ordained Evangelist in 1957. Retired in 1996.

Leon Walker: Long-time director of Spanish work, now with COGWA.

Donald L. Ward: Ordain by Joseph W. Tkach. Excommunicated from WCG in 1995. President of Ambassador University from 1987 to 1995. Affiliated with UCG.

Gerald Waterhouse (1927-2002, DECEASED): Ambassador Class of 1956. Excommunicated in 1995. Affiliated with UCG, 2005-2003. Buried in Florence, South Carolina. Known for sermons stressing the importance of remaining loyal to Herbert W. Armstrong and his successors no matter what. In the end, he left the cult to which he had pledged undying loyalty.

Kenneth Westby: Excommunicated in 1974. Founded ACOG.

Dean Wilson (STATUS UNKNOWN): Ambassador Class of 1962. Leader of WCG in Canada.

Clint Zimmerman (STATUS UNKNOWN): Ordained by Joseph W. Tkach in 1990. Originally a chiropractor.