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In other departures from traditional Christianity, Armstrong and his faithful worship on Saturday, not Sunday; they observe kosher laws set forth in the Old Testament. They celebrate Passover but not Christmas or Easter. They deny the Trinity. But they believe steadfastly in the tithe—so much so that each member is expected to set aside three tithes, or tenths, of his gross income. One-tenth is for church headquarters. One-tenth is for the member's travel expenses to church festivals. And, every few years, yet another tenth is required for "widows and orphans." The church monitors the tithes by computer; one member caught cheating was sentenced to tithe double for the rest of his life.
Royal Style. Small wonder that the church's annual income is estimated at around $55 million. Or that Founder Armstrong zips round the world to visit such leaders as Japan's Prime Minister Eisaku Sato or India's Indira Gandhi in a Grumman Gulfstream jet that gobbles up at least $1.5 million a year. Former W.C.G. members charge that the Armstrongs live like kings while members often live in poverty in order to pay their tithes. They maintain that each of the two Armstrongs has elegant homes in Texas, California and England; that Herbert sports a $1,000 watch and bought a $2,000 set of cuff links and tie tack for a Jerusalem trip.
But far worse, others say, is the havoc wreaked on families by Armstrong's unyielding doctrines. One of those doctrines forbids members to undergo any medical treatment. According to ex-Elder John Judy of Akron, a 40-year-old Ohio woman with a history of heart disease died a few months after her minister put her on a diet consisting only of grape juice; the minister did not object when she substituted grape soda. Mrs. Henry W. Peterson of Seattle relates that the W.C.G. broke up her second marriage, of 24 years' standing, because it does not recognize civil divorce. Severe punishment of children is taken as a sign of loyalty to the church, says Judy, who recalls seeing one father spanking his child at a church meeting as if he were "whipping a horse."
If such charges are true, Garner Ted Armstrong might have had any number of reasons to disagree with his father. Indeed, reports one insider, much of the trouble may stem from three sermons Garner Ted gave at Big Sandy, Texas. In one, he wondered aloud why church members did not experience more healings. In another, he emphasized the Apostle Paul—a nearly forgotten man in W.C.G. theology because he talked of a New Covenant replacing the old. During a third, Garner Ted questioned whether the church had the proper presence of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever the cause of Garner Ted's disappearance, his father smilingly insisted last week that the errant lad was in Colorado, making the best of his exile. If so, he was not at a favorite retreat on a former sheep ranch near Oak Creek. When Correspondent Burton trekked out to the ranch, she found it deserted, with its electric meter padlocked. It had not been used all winter.