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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, September 25, 1979
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outside the courtroom, or sat inside during the Church's hearing before
Judge Thomas T. Johnson. "But," as a Los Angeles Times reporter observed,
"there were no disturbances."
God's people conducted themselves in an exemplary manner showing that they
are sincere, law-abiding and peaceful people. And, by their very presence,
showed their whole-hearted support for the Church and its leadership. By
generating media coverage (on radio, TV and in newspapers) the crowd drew
the attention of a disinterested public which is largely unaware that its
own religious freedom is being eroded in California by what is happening
to God's Church. The members there were, in effect, concerned people
"looking over the shoulder of the judge" as he decides in these important
matters.
The issues discussed during the lengthy court hearing involved the setting
of a date for a deposition of Mr. Rader in the attorney general's office.
(This deposition would be a court-compelled session where the state would
grill him regarding church matters.) The attorney general also wanted the
judge to order Mr. Rader and Mr. Henry Cornwall (an assistant to Mr.
Herbert Armstrong) to hand over various documents to the state--papers
which the Church's attorneys feel are protected by the first amendment
o= the constitution and should NOT be surrendered. In addition, the court
had to decide whether to end the ban it had imposed against the church's
obtaining information from the state about the outrageous false charges
brought against the Worldwide Church of God nine months ago.
The process for obtaining information in a lawsuit is called "discovery."
The court has ordered the church, Mr. Rader, Mr. Armstrong and the other
individual church officials who are defendants to comply with the state's
"discovery" by giving the state all information it is demanding about
church matters. At the same time the court has prohibited the church from
using the same "discovery" procedures to obtain information from the state
regarding any "facts" on which the state has based its charges. Neverthe
less, the judge continued the ban on discovery by the Church until November
26, saying that the Church had failed to give documents to the attorney
general's office up to the present. Totally ignored here is the paramount
question of whether the state has the lawful right to be intruding into
Church financial documents and other matters in the first place!
Concerning Mr. Rader's deposition, Judge Johnson accommodated Mr. Rader's
schedule and the Work of the Church by setting the date during the week
that Mr. Rader will be in Los Angeles after the Feast of Tabernacles, and
prior to his trip to China with Mr. Herbert Armstrong. During this dis
cussion the attorney general had urged the judge to order Mr. Rader to give
his deposition sooner. This would have interrupted very important pre
parations with Mr. Armstrong just before the Feast of Tabernacles, thus
showing the attorney general's disregard for the observances and beliefs
of this church.
Dates were also set for documents from Mr. Rader and Mr. Cornwall to be
delivered to the attorney general--within 30 and 45 days. Church Attorney
Allan Browne told the brethren after the hearing that the forbidding of
our acquiring a better understanding of the nature of the charges against
the Church, and the order to give extensive Church information to the
state "puts us in a straitjacket on the one hand, but on the other hand,
the court is saying 'We're going to put you in the boxing ring and give
the Attorney General some gloves and tell him to go to work!
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