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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, June 27, 1980
Page 15
We used to think perhaps that he didn't know exactly what was happening
since he was just elected Attorney General. We gave him time for his
honeymoon in his new job, but when the honeymoon was over it became
abundantly clear that he was completely involved and knowledgeable of
the grievous wrongs being committed against us."
That evening, Mr. Rader and his assistants, Mr. John Kineston and Mr. Joe
Kotara, hosted a banquet for the elders, deacons, and their wives from
the Sacramento congregations. After dinner, Mr. Rader openly and warmly
described the main events leading up to the latest phase of God's Work
with His Apostle, Mr. Armstrong. He then took questions from those
present and spent time trying to personally meet and greet as many as
possible. Church Pastors, Marc Segall and Joel Lillengreen, and their
wives, who accompanied Mr. Rader to the interviews, commented how
impressed they were at Mr. Rader's tireless dedication to Mr. Armstrong
and the work that God is doing through him. He let us all know that his
main role is to support and stand behind Mr. Armstrong.
On Tuesday morning, June 24, Mr. Rader was the special guest of KFBK's
one-hour, open-line talk show hosted by radio commentator, Brian Kennedy.
KFBK can be heard as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far south as
Fresno, California. He asked Mr. Rader, "Has this incredible action taken
against the Church by the State had any positive benefits for your Church?"
Mr. Rader smiled and replied, "Most definitely. Besides uniting this
Church and its members as never before, it has given us all another very
worthy cause with which to involved ourselves and to champion. And, as a
result of this lawsuit, we can now get more people to listen to what we
have to say via our nationwide full-page ads, our publications, radio and
television broadcasts, and through interviews, like we are now doing."
After being asked whether Deukmejian will continue in his efforts against
the Church, Mr. Rader wanted to make a point very clear, and he did. He
said, "You must understand the genesis of this matter. The Attorney
General did not initiate this attack--dissidents from the east coast went
to a lawyer with certain charges and allegations. The lawyer went to a
deputy attorney general who in turn collaborated with others, including
a prominent judge, to begin to launch this assault. The Attorney General,
fully aware of the conspiratorial nature of this case and the unproven
allegations that provoked it, then decided to get involved." Mr. Kennedy
then inquired, "What were their motives?" Answer, "money and power; they
were after the financial gains they felt they could soak up from the
Church's funds and the power that they would have over our Church and
eventually all other Churches. They were clearly pointed towards the
money and power." George Deukmejian was quoted by a reporter as saying,
"We are out to prove that we have the power to control and supervise
churches." Then the reporter asked, "What if your efforts destroy the
Worldwide Church of God?" Deukmejian was reported to have answered,
''It's not important as long as we prove we have the power to control
churches after this is over."
Later in the show, callers asked what the Church is spending its money on
and what the commission of the Church was.
Mr. Rader was then able to go
into a complete explanation of God's Plan for mankind on this earth and
explain the great commission that Christ's Church was fulfilling. He
said, "We are now preparing the way for Jesus Christ and the Government of
God to come to this earth to rule. For more than 50 years Mr. Herbert W.
Armstrong has been proclaiming the good news, the gospel, to a confused