January 16, 2026, marks the fortieth anniversary of Herbert W. Armstrong's death. I remember that day quite clearly. I was a sophomore at Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, and employed by Church Administration to assist the office in various functions (in the vernacular, I was a "gofer"). When I reported for work that morning at 8 o'clock, there was a palpable feeling that something big had taken place, and it took me all of three seconds to find out that Mr. Armstrong had died earlier that morning.

His death was not unexpected, as it was common knowledge that his health was rapidly declining. Joseph Tkach, the new Pastor General, quickly put a transition team into action, and plans were put into motion for announcing Mr. Armstrong's death to the church and the press, arranging his funeral, developing a tribute telecast, informing the students and employees on campus, making legal adjustments for the smooth operation of the church, and doing a host of other activities. Condolences began pouring into Pasadena from all over the world by telex, fax, and phone. I remember being handed a thick stack of them and being impressed by all the "big names," both foreign and domestic, who took the trouble to convey their sympathies.

The next few days and weeks were, to me, a blur of activity, highlighted by specific events that loomed large at the time: Mr. Armstrong's funeral, the huge response figures for the tribute World Tomorrow program, the introduction of the new World Tomorrow presenters, the move "upstairs" by Joseph Tkach, his inaugural church visits around the country and the world (on one of which, to Chicago, I was permitted to go), the "We Are Family" campaign, etc. Those were heady days. The church appeared to have transitioned peacefully and prosperously to the new regime.

It did not take long for those exhilarating days to end.

Most people in the church are unaware that the doctrinal changes began to be enacted almost immediately. It began with "little things" slipped into a Pastor General's Report or implemented without much fanfare as counsel in individual cases. The first may have been backpedaling on teaching that married women, especially those with children, should be homemakers. There were flip-flops on applauding special music and women wearing makeup. Many of Herbert Armstrong's booklets were edited, demoted, or retired and replaced altogether. The church's teaching found in The United States and Britain in Prophecy was questioned, ridiculed, and subsequently dropped.

The first core doctrinal change—concerning faith, Christ's sacrifice, and healing—occurred in early 1987, just over a year later. Elements of this change were theologically correct, for instance, that sin is sin, the transgression of God's law (I John 3:4, KJV), no matter whether it is physical or spiritual in nature. However, the practical effect of the larger shift in doctrine was to disconnect faith from healing—and, really, from anything else—to the extent that it became negligible.

Once this major tenet of the church's teaching fell, others, like dominoes, were doomed to fall also. Soon, certain Sabbath teachings were relaxed, hints of Trinitarianism began to bubble out of headquarters, and the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14) was downgraded in favor of "the gospel of grace" and "the gospel of Jesus." All of this took place before 1992 began, and many more changes would follow.

In a relatively short time, then, the work of Herbert Armstrong, which had taken about sixty years to build, was dismantled. Certainly, a decade after his death, the Worldwide Church of God was essentially unrecognizable as the church God had raised up through him. Forty years on, it is not even called the "Worldwide Church of God" any longer because, in the words of Joseph Tkach, Jr., "[The old] name does not properly represent us." He was right. With its mainline Protestant teachings, it no longer characterized, nor deserved, the name!

Notwithstanding such praise, Herbert Armstrong was a fallible man, and some would argue that he made many mistakes, both doctrinal and administrative. His fixation on preaching the gospel, while commendable, blinded him to other areas that should have received his attention, particularly to many church members' desperate need for strong, thorough instruction in God's way of life. In addition, his authoritarianism is legendary, but it was highly effective in promoting and accomplishing his vision of God's work on earth. A person cannot head a global evangelistic organization without these traits.

It is too bad that, for many people, his negatives overshadow his positives. He was a wonderful teacher, due in many respects to his advertising skills. He could bore right to the heart of an issue, gather what was necessary to understand it, and explain it in uncomplicated terms so that a person of average intelligence could grasp it. Unlike many in these "nuanced" times, he was at times painfully, even offensively, direct, but there was never any doubt where he stood on an issue. He was also doggedly stubborn, refusing to modify a doctrine until he was absolutely convinced that the change was biblically correct. These qualities, combined with the sheer force of his charisma, kept the church's teaching relatively stable for many decades, which produced much good fruit.

William Shakespeare wrote, "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." The skein of Herbert Armstrong's life contained more good yarn than ill, and for that, we can praise God that He weaves the lives of such servants into ours. Would there were more of his fiber!