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service--such as Dr. Roderick C. Meredith, Dr. Herman L. Hoeh,
Mr. Raymond McNair who had headed the college in England as
deputy chancellor for fourteen years; Dibar Apartian, director
of the French work; Mr. Dennis Luker, who had been in charge
of the large operations in Australia; Dr. Charles Dorothy,
director of the Spanish work; Mr. Norman Smith, director of
television and radio production; and others.
Meanwhile, in the spring of 1974, there was a major rebellion
among some 35 ministers brought on primarily because of their
opposition to Garner Ted being brought back into a limited top
executive authority (WHICH AUTHORITY, AS I WILL LATER SHOW, HE
ABUSED AND FAR EXCEEDED). When this major rebellion broke, Garner
Ted telephoned me an SOS--to race back full speed to pull the Church
out of this eruption. I was just starting a major public campaign
in Manila, Philippines. I had to cancel the campaign and race in
between 550 and 600 miles per hour--an all night flight. That whole
night in flight I was at my typewriter writing the letter that
quelled the rebellion. It had been intended as a "coup" to wrest
entire control of the Church from Garner Ted, and of course from
myself.
But we with God's guidance "broke the back" of that rebellion,
though we lost 35 ministers.
But now Garner Ted began tightening his grip on the helm while
I was trying to carry out the GREAT COMMISSION committed to me to
get the GOSPEL INTO ALL THE WORLD. Ted never did agree about this
commission--he regarded obedience to Christ's command to "go into
all the world" with the Gospel as "extravagant and lavish spending
of the people's tithes."
I began to realize there was a NEW conspiracy actuated by
Satan in an effort to destroy God's Church subtly going on behind
my back. As I stated, my son had demoted and removed to minor
positions the top ranking ministers, senior in years of service--
THOSE MEN HE KNEW WOULD BE LOYAL TO THE CHURCH under God's Apostle--
which active removal HE HAD NO AUTHORITY TO DO. In their minor
positions of demotion, THESE MEN WERE THREATENED WITH BEING FIRED
ENTIRELY IF THEY COMMUNICATED AT ALL WITH ME! Garner Ted moved to
surround himself with men he thought would be loyal to him
personally above being loyal to the CHURCH and to GOD. In this, I
am happy to say, as nearly as I now know, he was mistaken.
But knowledge of MAJOR decisions Ted was UNAUTHORIZED to make
was carefully under threat kept from me in the years 1975 and 1976
while I was away from Pasadena approximately 300 or 365 days.
But I did begin to sense there was a CONSPIRACY to "retire"
me as being now too old, and for Garner Ted to "TAKE OVER" as the
supreme HEAD of the Work. HE SEEMED NOT TO KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST
IS THE HEAD OF GOD'S CHURCH AND WORK!
Finally a year ago the men next in authority under Ted came
to me begging me to TAKE ACTION. "Your son, Mr. Armstrong," they
said, "has been trying to DESTROY everything Christ has built
through you and build something for Garner Ted Armstrong."