Epilogue I
Copyright © Jules Dervaes
September 1, 2005
At the time of Herbert W. Armstrong’s death, the Worldwide Church of God’s membership was a little over 100,000.
The Church’s flagship publication, The PLAIN TRUTH, showed an English language circulation of 8,075,000. The more doctrinally based The GOOD NEWS magazine had a circulation of 754,000. Moreover, The World Tomorrow television broadcast was one of the most watched religious programs in the U.S.
However, as church membership declined and annual revenue plunged from a high of about $170 million a year to $25 million, the WCG began looking for ways to dispose of its property.
With rolling lawns and manmade streams trickling into ponds swimming with koi, the maintenance of the Pasadena campus alone cost an annual $2 million.
In the spring of 1990, the Ambassador College Pasadena campus closed its doors and was listed on the real estate market. The WCG had its last remaining campus located in Big Sandy, Texas, closed in 1997.
In March of 2000, the Big Sandy campus sold for $8.5 million dollars to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., who then leased the campus to Bill Gothard, president of the Institute in Basic Life Principles.
The Pasadena campus remained on the market for 14 years. During this time, the church had put forward plans to develop a massive housing project on the property. The world-renowned Ambassador Auditorium—also known as the HOUSE OF GOD—was slated to be bulldozed.
Pasadena neighbors fought this project and, in the end, the church decided to sell off portions of the property. The eastern third of the campus was bought by Sares-Regis, an Irvine-based developer who plans to build condominiums and apartments.
In May of 2004, the WCG sold approximately 13 of its 31-acre west campus to Maranatha High School and Harvest Rock Church for an undisclosed sum. The sale included many of the campus’ main buildings: Ambassador Auditorium, Hall of Administration, Physical Education Complex, Student Center and Men’s Dormitory.
The WCG’s total church income for 2003 was approximately $18.6 million.
In the fall of 2004, the remnant of the WCG leadership closed escrow on their new headquarters—a 50,000 sq. ft. office building in Glendora, CA.