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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, June 13, 1980
N
,...;
Corruption
•
1n governm.ent
didnotendwith
Watergate.
O
N ,JAN. 3, 1979, California's attorney general
RAIDED
and put into receivership the Pasadena
offices of the Worldwide Church of God. In a cinl
lawsuit he charged that Church leaders were "siphon
ing off" property and assets of the church. liquidating
Church properties below market value and shredding
financial records to cover up wrongdoing.
These charges were not based on actuai el'ldence
but rather on ''information and belief''-Jawver lan
guage for ''rumor and gossip." There had been no
investigation prior to filing the suit and raiding the
Church.
WHO DECIDES EXPENSES?
The Church's principal work is pro
claiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of
God to all the world, and Mr. Herbert W.
Armstrong, the apostle and leader, has for
a nurnber of years been traveling around
the world speaking to national leaders
and conducting campaigns and meetings.
The attorney genera\ refers to the ex
penses involved in our Gospel work as
'"travel expense," which he feels ls exces
sive. But how a Church spends its own
money should be none of his business! If
he wants to govern a Church according to
hls opinions, perhaps he ought to start his
own. not take over ours[
The Church of God does not proselyte
and does not solicit financial support
from the
public, but supports
itself
prin
cipally on the tithes and offerings of its
own baptized members-90 percent of
whom live outside California. The Church
has hundreds of congregations through
out the world.
THE RAID
Employees of the Pasadenaofficeswere attend
ing their normal duties the morning of .Jan. .1,
1979, when a ·raiding party' uf deputy attorney
genera.ls, private attorneys and a receiver barged
into the Hall
0£
Admi.
n\!!,tration and demanded
immedjate access Ul the ellecutive offices and l'lll
the records.
With absolutely no warning, no nottce, no
hearing the Church had been put int() receiver
ship and the receiver was claiming HE now ou:ned
aU the assets of the Church and that we would all
be tired if we did not cooperate fully. We were
given tounderstandthat theChurch·s leaders had
been tired'. Here is the stunning message we were
gwen:
· ' The recewer oums all the property, assets ana
.�ecords of the
Church
e:1/le!,!e and
f()un.dati : on
(andJ tne lau: gwes li.im the rt�ht
!o do r.nlh them as he .�ees ,tit
·,Judge We-isman. 1he recewer, rs >our bas.\
1·wu. · He
has the power to hire and /J.N. to
dispose of all Church property, I uanl !u empha
size this. as he sees fit m hi.s ;ud!,!ment. S:nme
people hace not appreciated the nient of che
receit=er's power. He owns everythmg. It is h.1.s
property n.ou.- · ·
How can such bizarre and shocking things
happen in the United States where the Constitu
tions.ays government cannot become entangled in
Church aifair-s?
It :-.eems to all h,)il down w the fact that certain
public ,.)ttic1al,.; Me aOle anci apparently wdiing to
use the µ<.Jwer ')t- the �tale !n a wrongfui :nanner t,,
achieH : their nwn purposes
COURT RULES IGNORED
People 1 1 ,ant their public servants to ohev the !aw
�cr= Jpulous!y. Yee in thi� ca�e court rules h�l 'E' bef''1
i�rtrJr.•d at the a.ctorne\· general's pleasure
: '\ix dissident �ormer members l)! the ('h,irch
went to Beverlv Hills attorney Hille! Chodos
and his associates with rumors nf wrnngdorng in
the Church. He contacted the attorney general
who authorlzed a c\"i! -�uit. And together they
met wirh Los :\nge!es ::;uperior (\,urt .Judge
Jeny. Pacht t!l get an ex parte order putting the
Church into recpi\ 'ed-,ip and naming a friend
ex
s
.Judge Steven Weisman. as re{"eiver
Court rules require a. suit t(1
be
tiled be{,;re
being heard bv a judge. but this nicet�· ,.o.·as
ignored _ C1uf! rule.; a/.rn requir,, that a mini
mllm ,lf four hou� riotice be given to the other
party in ex parte proceedings:.. but this t\Xl was
ignored
On the afternoon of .Jan. 2, 19"79. ,Judge Pacht
held a proce-.-ding in his chambers on :he
attornf'y general'� ..;ui!-'lf'/ore it 1, · as ji!ed
A...:cording to the transcript, Chodos told Judge
Pacht ac the beginninJ,l that the ca.s,e had:
'!rd '.Pt J .
,pprt ,'ii;,d hut u·p ar,a oric>rJal'"f'd
to ,f-!fp ,I �nd pa> lhP 'l!'CE'ssar_, /ee a! an:-,
rnomt>n.t l! ;� .'c<�! :liar , u ' did not "cqnt a
. Ii!:"!!-; bt>,i-'1N' , :
i
,1rncrl.l;' 'J} �PP _' .
' 'W
Judge P.9.t : ht v.ent m ' - '-' Ji.
ear the att,Jrnev
general's Lrnsubstant1ated 1nforniation anvwa�
.'l.nd wa5 persuaded tu make one l)f the most
e,.
weeplng orders ,n _indicial h1ston· without hear
inK from che Church at all. , Judg-e P8cht HBted
near the end of the prnceeding
"I thirtk L di.a! I ha;., indicaiPd is u·hat j ,_ni[
.·;,_gn as .won a,, !hr apprnpnatel_-, riled papers
art? prPsPnlf'd to !'IH'
After getting his ruling in advance, the attor
ney general tiled his case and got the signed
urder. That ;s h,iw the receiver g{,t his unheliev
able pr,wers !1e claimed to have. Both \fr
Chodt)S and ,Judge Pacht are members of Cali
fornia's
Commission
Lm
.Judicial
Performance�
which is supposed to -"e€ that judges discharge
th<!:ir dut1e-,,; properh·. [ wonder who LS watcb.
ing
the commls.slon members'
CHURCH ALMOST DESTROYED
The raiding party did not expect the Church
to survive the initial onslaught. The recenrer
went to t}Ur bank-where oux" credit rating had
bttn impeccable-and stopped payment \)n a
million dollars worth of outstanding checks. He
also took some $1�15,000 from our accounts and
put 1t lnto a rece1,,cership account to pay his own
salary and the expenses of hiring �ome lawyer
friends, accountants. guards, etc. Our L'redit
:mmediate!v L'Ollapsed. Checks bounced all over
:he place. ,
.\fany per,ple dnn 't realize that this Church
�uppon� hundreds of impoverished widows all
over the nation. .\lanv oi thtse widows found
:helt �upport checks , houncing and suffered
hardship until Church personnel were able tcJ
rush relief.
HOW THE CHURCH SURVIVED
ChL;rch members immediately realized there
was monkev-buslness afoot, and we began send
ing L)Ur tithes and otferings to �r. Armstrong in
Arizona where Church workers began to pay the
�ills and keep rhlngsi:oing.The widows, Church
workers. hroadcasting and publishing bills, etc..
were paid
But the money coming lnto Pasadena otfices
dned up and the recei,. .
·er be
g
an to worr . v. 1 Soon
he resigned. claiming 'poor health and obstruc
tion. He put Ln a hill for about $250,000 for his
two month·s 'reign' uver the Church. Chodos
argued that the Church should pay his ti.rm over
� [(){1_1.JOO for two month's work in suing us'.
lrnnicallv. these men had loudly criticized
Church leaders for !ecei\ - ing ·excessive sala
ries'-and then lhev tried to collect MUCH 81G-
1�ER salaries from th,e Church account for them
selve�
1
The- attorney general claims to be ·just
trying to protect Church assets,' but I don·t
helleve him. Would you · �
<>
�
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
What scares me most about this case is the
immense, raw, brutal ptJwer a state otticia! can
wield. and 1ts unusual !nnuence wtth some
i1.1die", _ He has the ?')Wet te. de.stto':'I a C.h,m:.t.,
corporation or individuaf with an initial attack
accompanied by vicmus chatg� in the press.
lf this Cr\urch had lacked
w1s.e
leadership. loyal
members and spiritual, as well as financiaL
re�omces�d the attorney general"s reach,uA'
:.,;u!d liave bf'Pn destrnved-and would never
have t1ad the chance to cl,
ear our name rn court.
Watergate proved that even the former
Cnlted States President and attorney general
considered themselves above the law and free to
use g�wernment power to achieve their own
illegal plans: and I believe this case has similar
ht§O\"'\',, fot Ca\iforni.an�.
We would urge all people who are int1:rested
in preservlng their fre-edoms to write the Church
at Box 111, Pasadena, Calif., 91123, for a free
artlcle detailing the attorney general's attack on
the Church and the dangers this poses for all
" '" ""' � R,4
Stanley R. Rader
Treasurer
Worldwide Church of God
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