Misplaced Pages

#586413

77-707: In 1960 a second campus was opened at Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire , England, and in 1964 a third campus was opened in Big Sandy, Texas . At the time Ambassador closed for financial reasons in May 1997, it had operated for 50 years and had become regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . The history of Ambassador College was tied to the development of the Radio/Worldwide Church of God. The name Radio Church of God

154-564: A Garner Ted Armstrong broadcast, a half-hour program that mixed news and biblical commentary. His polemical message was unlike that of most other religious broadcasters of his day. Armstrong's genealogy is described in his father's autobiography. The elder Armstrong reported that the Armstrong ancestors arrived in America in the late 17th century with William Penn . The ancestry was traced to Edward I of England . Armstrong's grandmother

231-657: A daily radio program broadcast on over 300 radio stations across the United States, 33 in Australia , and 11 in the Philippines , with other programs throughout the world rebroadcast in the German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian languages. With an annual television budget of six million dollars, his exposure also included television programs which appeared on up to 165 channels. For almost two years this included

308-420: A daily television appearance. According to Armstrong, notables such as President Lyndon B. Johnson , Nelson Rockefeller , Cyrus Vance and Hubert Humphrey , as well as a number of U.S. senators, were frequent viewers of the broadcast. President Johnson personally told Armstrong during an afternoon lunch the two men had at Johnson's Texas ranch, "I watch your show ( The World Tomorrow (radio and television) ) all

385-764: A diploma and a graduate program. Since 2005 the diploma program, under the name of Ambassador College of Christian Ministry, has continued as a GCI training program in Christian ministry, administered under the auspices of the GCI affiliate in Australia at www.ambascol.org. Grace Communion Seminary, administered from Glendora , California, limits its educational programs to graduate level courses in pastoral ministry. All programs are open to academically qualified men and women who desire to expand their education in biblical studies and theology and their service in pastoral ministry in

462-540: A fluent Spanish speaker, he made several Spanish-language broadcasts of the World Tomorrow . The decade of the 1970s brought a series of reversals for Armstrong's career, however. An article in the Los Angeles Times reported that "The rift between the father and his heir apparent began in 1972 when Herbert Armstrong ousted his son from the church for four months, after an extra-marital affair, saying

539-586: A haven for some former members of the Pasadena church who took exception to Rader's role and/or the elder Armstrong's autocratic style. As a result, members of the Worldwide Church of God were forbidden by Herbert Armstrong from having any contact with Armstrong, and his name was removed from a significant number of church publications. At the time of the separation, he was one of the Evangelists of

616-622: A large portion of a related project on the other side of the freeway was foreclosed. The Westgate project was unaffected. In the Fall of 2010, TBS released the Glory Daze about 1980s college life which was filmed in the buildings and on the campus of the former Ambassador College in Pasadena. In 2013, TBS released the reality show King of the Nerds , also filmed on the campus. The former Fine Arts and Science buildings were demolished in 2013 with

693-685: A member of the National Association of Evangelicals). Grace Communion Seminary is a business name of Ambassador College (AC), and a California non-profit religious corporation with federal 501(c)(3) status, founded in 1947 at Pasadena, California, as a church-related liberal arts college. In 1990 AC transferred its student body to an affiliated campus in Texas . In 2003 Ambassador College, doing business as Ambassador College of Christian Ministry, began offering courses online in areas of biblical studies, theology, and Christian ministry, providing

770-617: A music building and lecture hall, and an office building. Accreditation was achieved in the summer of 1994. However, doctrinal division began to occur a year later in December 1995, ultimately leading to the closure of the campus in 1997. The campus now serves as the headquarters of the Institute in Basic Life Principles and several of its umbrella ministries, and was used to accommodate refugees from Hurricane Katrina in

847-661: A one-year course ("Diploma in Biblical Studies"), with graduation thereafter, on September 4, 1979. Eventually, Ambassador returned to full four-year status, operating with state approval, but still without regional accreditation. Accreditation was something Armstrong did not agree with. In 1981, Herbert Armstrong decided to reopen the Texas campus, which was still owned by the church. In 1985 he decided to close that campus again. In January 1986 Armstrong died, and his successor as church leader, Joseph W. Tkach , decided to keep

SECTION 10

#1732776434587

924-586: A phone call to Tyler, Texas. Armstrong moved to Tyler, Texas , where he founded the Church of God International and the Armstrong Evangelistic Association, through which he soon returned to the television airwaves. Armstrong never again had the media outreach that he had enjoyed in his father's organization, nor did his new church ever rival his father's in membership statistics. The Church of God International did, however, become

1001-569: A separation would result in the truth of God, as he believed it to be and taught it, being watered down at an Ambassador that would become increasingly secular. He held this opinion despite the fact that numerous accredited colleges and universities around the country were operated by the Catholic Church , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and other Christian denominations without those organizations being required to alter church teachings. The final phase of Ambassador began in

1078-465: A village hub and meeting room, as well as a station. The village is home to the Morris Dancing team, Wicket Brood Border Morris. Bricket Wood Common is a 70-hectare (170-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest . Garner Ted Armstrong Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003) was an American evangelist and the son of Herbert W. Armstrong , founder of

1155-454: Is Dr. Michael P. Germano, former vice president of academic affairs at Ambassador. Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire , England, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south of St Albans city centre (though in said city's contiguous built-up area) and 4.2 miles (6.8 km) north-northeast of Watford . The area of Bricket Wood was mostly occupied by farmers until Bricket Wood railway station

1232-590: Is a non-profit, humanitarian organization sponsored by the Philadelphia Church of God and headquartered on the Herbert W. Armstrong College campus in Edmond, Oklahoma. The two-pronged concept behind all of the foundation's goals and activities is: 1) that man is a unique being, possessing vast mental, physical and spiritual potentials—the development of which should be aided and encouraged, and 2) that it

1309-579: Is buried with his wife and her family: his father-in-law Roy Hammer, his mother-in-law Pearl Hammer, and several other members of the Hammer family. His parents, paternal grandmother, and brother are buried in Altadena, California . The Hammers were the donors of the original property on which the Ambassador campus was located. His widow, Shirley, died in 2014. Rather than selecting a new media spokesman,

1386-665: Is the Anglican place of worship. The local primary school is Mount Pleasant Lane, situated in grounds that include a small pond. Close to the village stands Hanstead House , built by Sir David Yule in 1925, who is buried in the grounds. It formerly operated as the Hanstead Stud , breeding Arab horses, as the UK campus of the Worldwide Church of God 's Ambassador College , and as a corporate training centre. In 2022 it

1463-541: Is the responsibility of all men to attend to and care for the needs of their fellow men, a precept professed by the vast majority of religions of the world—appropriately summed up in three biblical words: “Love thy neighbor.” The foundation has sponsored several activities in Jerusalem. In 2006, the foundation began supplying volunteers and aid to Dr. Eilat Mazar's ground-breaking excavation of King David's palace in Jerusalem. It has also helped refurbish Liberty Bell Park in

1540-649: The Discovery Channel . Meanwhile, Stanley Rader aided significantly in crafting a unique role for the senior Armstrong on the world stage: Herbert W. Armstrong was promoted to various governments as an "ambassador without portfolio for world peace." In that role he did not so much represent the Worldwide Church of God or Ambassador College as he did a completely new entity called the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation (AICF). This foundation helped to finance

1617-643: The Intercontinental Church of God . Until his death, he was the head of his Armstrong Evangelistic Association, which he had established in 1978, and the Intercontinental Church of God. Armstrong died on September 15, 2003, owing to complications from pneumonia. He was buried in Gladewater Memorial Park, approximately two miles east of the former Big Sandy, Texas , campus of Ambassador University . He

SECTION 20

#1732776434587

1694-550: The John Ankerberg Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show . He continued to conduct personal appearance campaigns throughout the United States, Australia, Jamaica, and Canada, but on a much smaller scale than during his heyday in the 1970s. The appearances also provided opportunities for unofficial reunions between those who had left and those who remained in the Worldwide Church of God. In the fall of 1989, he travelled to Berlin to do on-the-spot radio broadcasts covering

1771-537: The Tatum O'Neal motion picture Paper Moon and a new and slick commercial publication called Quest ; bought Everest House, a publishing company; and turned the Ambassador Auditorium , located on the college campus in Pasadena, into a performing arts venue that boasted an annual subscription series featuring world-renowned performers and celebrities from stage, screen and the recording arts. Gifts from

1848-496: The Worldwide Church of God , at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught observance of seventh-day Sabbath and annual Sabbath days based on Leviticus 23. Armstrong initially became recognized when he succeeded his father as the voice of The World Tomorrow , the church's radio program that aired around the world. A television program of the same name followed, aired mostly in North America, eventually giving way to

1925-513: The "corn patch" on the show to say "Sa-loot" to his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. He sang a country-western song he had written titled "Working Man's Hall of Fame" and joined "the whole Hee Haw gang" to sing the popular Ocean gospel song Put Your Hand in the Hand . Country music star Merle Haggard said that his most popular song " Okie From Muskogee " was inspired by listening to a Garner Ted Armstrong radio program of The World Tomorrow . Armstrong

2002-466: The 1930s the area became popular with naturists after Charles Macaskie set up the naturist camp Spielplatz on the outskirts of the village. Naturists bought up plots of land on the edge of the village and built their own communities, which at first didn't have electricity or running water. The village also began to attract Wiccans after Gerald Gardner set up the Bricket Wood coven . During

2079-556: The 1950s housing estates were built for employees of aviation company Handley Page , who had a plant at nearby Radlett . More estates then followed, aimed at commuters desiring housing near the Green Belt with convenient access to London. Bricket Wood is in the civil parish of St. Stephen , part of the St Albans district which shares provision of local government services with Hertfordshire County Council . St Luke's Church

2156-735: The Ambassador Bible College at its Ohio headquarters. The program is not accredited. Garner Ted Armstrong , president of Ambassador from 1975 to 1978, established Imperial Academy in Tyler, Texas. However, student enrollment was quite small and the program is now defunct. Roderick C. Meredith established the online Living University in the fall of 2007. The university is based at the Living Church of God's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. The chief executive officer

2233-546: The Armstrongs' teachings of a theory generally referred to as British Israelism , outlined in the elder Armstrong's book The United States and Britain in Prophecy . When the church's prophecies about 1972 and 1975 did not occur, Armstrong proposed dropping such an approach in favor of one centered on Christian living and an outline of church doctrines and practice. Nevertheless, by 1977 Armstrong's media exposure included

2310-463: The Auditorium was built. The college built two modern classroom buildings flanking Ambassador Hall, and the formal Italian sunken garden, with a plaza in the center, joined the three buildings and the garden into an academic center. Hulett Sr.'s former mansion was featured as the opening scene in the old TV show The Millionaire , looking upward from the tree-lined steps towards the hill with

2387-523: The Big Sandy campus, which was in the midst of a construction boom to accommodate the influx of new personnel and to support the regional accreditation efforts. Ambassador College at Big Sandy, Texas, began the process of applying for regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . Accreditation was granted in 1994. That same year the college underwent a name change to Ambassador University. This new period of transformation

Ambassador College - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-586: The City of Pasadena's Architectural and Historical Survey of 1997. Mr. Merritt's mansion was at 99 Terrace Drive, bounded on the north by Olcott Place and on the west by South Orange Grove Avenue. After Hulett Sr.'s death in January 1956, the property was purchased by Herbert W. Armstrong from Hulett's four surviving grandchildren in October 1956, because it was adjacent to Ambassador College. Villa Merritt Ollivier

2541-577: The Hall of Administration following suit in early 2016. The Bricket Wood campus operated for 14 years at Hanstead House , a few miles north of London. The estate had belonged to Annie Henrietta Yule and her daughter Gladys, who used it for their Arabian horse breeding farm , the Hanstead Stud . The college operated in the house and grounds for fourteen years. Leading administrators on the campus included Ernest L. Martin , Roderick C. Meredith , Ronald L. Dart, and Raymond F. McNair. It closed in 1974, and

2618-467: The Texas campus open. The roller coaster of closings and openings was possible only because Ambassador was not regionally accredited. State approval to grant degrees (a requirement in most states, including California and Texas) is all that had been sought by the institution. However, the dynamics of higher education in the United States soon began to have an effect on independent, unaccredited colleges like Ambassador. For many years, regional accreditation

2695-670: The U.S. and Britain with the Lost Ten Tribes . He experimented with turning the church's flagship magazine The Plain Truth into a tabloid-size newspaper in the style of the Christian Science Monitor . He envisioned a television broadcast along the lines of one that was later developed by the Christian Science Church, which created a short-lived nightly news program that was later seen on

2772-421: The Worldwide Church of God . However, in his later years, Armstrong's relationship with the Worldwide Church of God was somewhat cordial. Armstrong and his family were invited to stay on the Ambassador campus in Pasadena during the time of his father's funeral. He returned to the Big Sandy campus in 1986 for the funeral of Norval Pyle, an early Worldwide Church of God pioneer. In the spring of 1997, shortly before

2849-493: The Worldwide Church of God, decided to merge all operations at one location and seek regional accreditation. The decision was made to separate the college from the church's base of operations in California and move all college operations to the Big Sandy, Texas, campus. The California college closed permanently in 1990. Students at the Pasadena campus and many faculty members who were pursuing advanced degrees were transferred to

2926-610: The acquisition of the Hulett C. Merritt mansion , formerly belonging to an iron ore mining magnate, in the late 1950s. Hulett Merritt was the chairman of US Steel and made his millions on the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota. Hulett Merritt's estate "Villa Merritt Ollivier" in Pasadena was built on four acres for $ 1,100,000 during 1905–08. This area on South Orange Grove Avenue was referred to locally as "Millionaires' Row", per

3003-454: The annual Feast of Tabernacles . The campus closed in the fall of 1977, with students and faculty transferred to the Pasadena campus. During the period from 1977 to 1981, the campus was used as a feast site and was used by the local congregation of the Worldwide Church of God. After several near sales of the property, the decision was made to reopen in the fall of 1981. For a while, the Big Sandy campus included an organic farm, consistent with

3080-534: The annual fall Feast of Tabernacles church convention. Buck Owens and his band the Buckaroos traveled to five U.S. Feast of Tabernacles sites and performed before about 15,000 people. The concerts were attended by festival attendees and were also open to the general public. To reciprocate, in 1976 Owens asked Armstrong to guest star on the Hee Haw show that starred Buck Owens and Roy Clark . He popped up out of

3157-593: The campus landmarks is a rock considered to have been used by Herbert W. Armstrong as a "prayer rock" when he lived in Oregon. The campus' Armstrong Auditorium features two Baccarat candelabra purchased from Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena in 2004, and a bronze swan sculpture (Swans in Flight by Sir David Wynne) purchased from the Big Sandy campus in 2009. In 2015, a second HWAC campus was opened at Edstone, U.K., near Stratford-Upon-Avon. The United Church of God established

Ambassador College - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-469: The church and college owing to an unrelated scandal, and Herbert Armstrong, recovered from a heart attack, announced that Ambassador was closing its doors altogether. That stance was softened just as quickly, however, and the decision was made to continue operating Ambassador as a scaled-down academic institution more in line with a bible college . Beginning in August 1978, new incoming students were offered

3311-550: The church and its operations. Armstrong was described as "movie star handsome" and was noted for his broadcasting talents. In radio and TV programs he mixed political, economic, and social news of the day with religious commentary. He was noted for adding "wry humor" into sermons that preached about the biblical prophesied return of Jesus Christ to the Earth. In 1975, Garner Ted Armstrong arranged for his friend, Hee Haw co-host Buck Owens , to entertain attendees on Family Night at

3388-578: The church led to a rapid decline in the annual financial subsidy the church had historically provided to the university. In December 1996 the university's board of regents voted to close the institution once and for all. In May 1997, with the university having just concluded its 50th anniversary year, Ambassador closed its doors. However, the Ambassador College legacy lived on in the form of Grace Communion Seminary (an educational institution affiliated with Grace Communion International (GCI),

3465-399: The church. Armstrong and others in the organization were skeptical of Rader's legal and financial dealings and suspected a bid to control the church's multimillion-dollar business. One objection to Rader's role was that, being Jewish, he had never been a baptized member of the church or a practicing Christian. That obstacle was removed in 1975 when Rader was baptized by the elder Armstrong. By

3542-521: The college's emphasis upon personal health and bodily purity. When the campus reopened, it initially served as a two-year junior college, with students having the opportunity to apply to transfer to Pasadena after two years. In the fall of 1989, the campus returned to a four-year format. In the fall of 1990, students and staff from Pasadena were transferred, as plans were underway to seek accreditation. Numerous buildings were constructed almost overnight, including five dormitories, an administration building,

3619-608: The conclusion of that second 19-year time cycle the members of the church were expected to flee to a place of refuge, which leading ministers had speculated could be the ancient city of Petra , carved into rock in Jordan . Following this flight, World War III supposedly would begin, with a United States of Europe rising up to overthrow both the United States of America and the United Kingdom . This fitted with both of

3696-436: The evangelical tradition. Aside from being the identified sponsor of The World Tomorrow radio broadcast for a time (although the costs for the broadcast were paid by the church), the college in Pasadena became locally well known for its Ambassador Auditorium worship and concert venue , which for 20 years was host to many renowned artists from classical music to jazz . The concert series closed in 1995. The auditorium

3773-477: The evangelistic association continues to broadcast old programs made by Armstrong on approximately 30 television stations and cable outlets according to the Armstrong TV/Radio Page of the ministry's website. The Intercontinental Church of God (United States) and Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association are now led by Mark Armstrong, who functions as CEO of the organizations and producer of

3850-732: The fall of 2005. The campus golf course, renamed Embassy Hills Golf Course , is now open to the public. Ambassador College also sponsored archaeological excavations in Israel. Together with a related Ambassador International Cultural Foundation it sponsored both the Ambassador Auditorium concert series and many appearances by Herbert Armstrong in the company of world statesmen and women. The two organizations also jointly sponsored educational projects in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Jordan. Armstrong International Cultural Foundation

3927-530: The fall of the Berlin Wall . In 1997, following accusations by a masseuse named Sue Rae Robertson, Armstrong was asked to resign as leader of the CGI, but to remain a laymember, by the church's board of directors. No charges were ever filed in relation to the alleged assault, and civil cases brought against Armstrong and the CGI were dismissed. Instead, Armstrong chose to resign from CGI altogether and founded

SECTION 50

#1732776434587

4004-507: The foundation helped Rader secure audiences with world leaders for the elder Armstrong, whose message was less an overt Christian one than a more general one about peace, brotherly love, giving instead of getting, and a "great unseen hand from someplace" intervening in world affairs. Armstrong was known to disagree with this approach as well as the expenditure of funds on it and other foundation activities. It became an increasing point of division between father and son. In 1977, he officiated at

4081-540: The heart of the city, a project Herbert W. Armstrong had started Several Ambassador graduates and former administrators have led efforts to replicate the school in other settings. When Ambassador closed in 1997, the Worldwide Church of God established the Ambassador Center at Azusa Pacific University . This later gave way to the online Ambassador College of Christian Ministry, which was headed by Ambassador's last president, Russell K. Duke. The graduate program

4158-405: The interim, the decision had been made by church leadership to pursue regional accreditation in California. However, in 1978 President Garner Ted Armstrong , son of college founder Herbert Armstrong, announced that everything would be moving back to the Texas campus, with the California facility becoming a graduate school. Within months, however, the younger Armstrong was ousted from all positions in

4235-439: The late 1970s and was characterized by constant uncertainty and indecision. The Ambassador campus at Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire, England, was closed in 1974, as operating funds were deemed necessary for other functions of the Worldwide Church of God. For similar reasons, the Texas campus was shuttered in 1977, and all students who wished to be were offered the opportunity to transfer to the original campus in Pasadena, California. In

4312-429: The mansion and towering palms above. The Pasadena 1997 Architectural Survey stated at Page 2.1–33: "The Hulett C. Merritt' House is significant as the residence of one of Pasadena's most celebrated millionaires and foremost residents of South Orange Grove Blvd." The college was designed to prepare youth for life and service in the church. In the earliest days of Ambassador, male students frequently graduated into

4389-437: The mid 1970s two different and rival views were developing regarding the work and future of the church. One plan was formulated by Armstrong, who wanted to take the church in a direction built around a larger publishing and broadcasting platform that would go out under his name. Armstrong was wary of prophecies built around specific dates, and he was reported to be against the idea of continuing to deliver messages that associated

4466-432: The mid 1970s, Stanley Rader , an attorney and church accountant who had been a personal assistant to Herbert W. Armstrong since 1958, appeared to be stepping into the number two position of administration previously thought to be Armstrong's domain. Relations between the two became strained and a power struggle ensued. One conflict was that Rader had set up privately owned affiliated corporations that were doing business with

4543-418: The ministry of the church. By the 1970s, that occurred less often. As the church grew in membership in the 1960s and 1970s, a smaller and smaller proportion of applicants could be accepted, some applicants having to wait years for acceptance. The motto of the college was Recapturing True Values . Although most students of the college were associated with the church, it was not a strict requirement. Nonetheless,

4620-414: The only discipline offered, theology . He was ordained a minister in 1955 and held key administrative posts in both the Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College until he was disfellowshipped (excommunicated) by his father in 1978. Prior to his removal, he was executive vice president of the church and president of the college and was widely considered to be heir-apparent to succeed his father as head of

4697-484: The son was "in the bonds of Satan." The year 1972 had been prominent in Herbert W. Armstrong's prophetic views, as elaborated in a booklet called 1975 in Prophecy! . January 1972 was supposed to be the conclusion of the second of two 19-year "time cycles" which, according to the elder Armstrong, had begun in 1953 when The World Tomorrow began to be heard over Radio Luxembourg in Europe . According to his theory, at

SECTION 60

#1732776434587

4774-423: The students and faculty were primarily those with church affiliation. Throughout most of its history, Ambassador operated under state approval or its international equivalent. Regional accreditation was not sought, primarily because it required that the college have a functioning board that was separate and distinct from the church's administration. Armstrong resisted this requirement, apparently concerned that such

4851-486: The time and I agree with most of what you have to say". Senator Bob Dole requested all copies of Armstrong's 1970's World Tomorrow broadcasts be preserved into the national archives of the Library of Congress TV & Film division. His establishment of a "Systematic Theology Project" was eventually jettisoned by his father, but a form of it was later adopted by a separate church that Armstrong later established. By

4928-472: The university closed, he was interviewed by a staff writer from the Ambassador University student newspaper. Finally, the church archivist sent him several family heirlooms that were held in the Worldwide Church of God's possession following his father's death. He continued his ministry through the Church of God International (CGI) in the years that followed. Meanwhile, he appeared on both

5005-425: The wedding of his father to the former Ramona Martin. The two separated in 1982 and divorced in 1984. As Rader's influence with the elder Armstrong grew, so did the gap between Armstrong and his father over operations and certain doctrinal positions of the church. In 1978 Herbert Armstrong excommunicated his son and fired him from all roles in the church and college on the night of Wednesday, June 28, 1978, by means of

5082-615: Was "something like a third cousin to former President Herbert Hoover ". Armstrong was born in Portland, Oregon , to Loma Isabelle (Dillon) and Herbert W. Armstrong. He was raised in Eugene, Oregon , the youngest of four children. He was named for a great-grandmother on his mother's side, Martha Garner, who was born in Suffolk, England , in 1841 and died in Iowa in 1923, seven years before he

5159-465: Was born. Following service in the United States Navy during the Korean War , Armstrong returned to Pasadena, California , where his father had moved the church's operations in 1946. He was baptized in early 1953 (Origin and History, p. 36). He enrolled in Ambassador College , founded by his father and supported by the church. Ambassador was not regionally accredited, and Armstrong eventually completed bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in

5236-441: Was built in 1861. In 1889 brothers Henry Gray and William Gray bought up land in the area and built Woodside Retreat Fairground. The fairground attracted hordes of visitors to the area from London and nearby towns and a small village developed around the station. In 1923, a rival fairground named Joyland was built nearby by R.B Christmas. Both resorts were closed in 1929, Christmas used his leftover land for building bungalows. During

5313-420: Was converted into luxury apartments. Bricket Wood railway station is served by a West Midlands Trains stopping service on the Abbey Line that runs between St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction ; both towns are three stops away with a frequent service. The station building was taken into private ownership in 2018, and is being developed into a sympathetic recreation of its original appearance. It will be

5390-419: Was given then name Grace Communion Seminary. Russell Duke was the president until 2015; Gary W. Deddo was the president until December 2021. Michael Morrison is now the President. Former WCG minister Gerald Flurry established Imperial College in Edmond, Oklahoma, based a great deal on the Ambassador model. To avoid confusion with Imperial College of London, the school is now Herbert W. Armstrong College . One of

5467-509: Was initially selected in the 1930s, because Herbert Armstrong started the church as a radio program in Eugene, Oregon . The ministry grew to include publishing, and congregations were formed, first in the United States and then gradually in other countries—hence, the eventual name change to "Worldwide Church of God." After Armstrong moved his operations to California, he founded Ambassador College in 1947. The college began acquiring lavish mansions on Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena, culminating in

5544-581: Was largely unused for a decade until a portion of the Ambassador campus was sold to interdenominational Maranatha High School and a smaller portion, including the auditorium , to HRock Church . In September 2006, the Pasadena City Council approved the redevelopment of the remaining Ambassador campus space into the "Westgate Pasadena" complex, a large mixed-use development consisting of 820 condos and apartments as well as 22,000 square feet (2,000 m) of commercial space. [1] In June 2008,

5621-563: Was not required for colleges to open in various states—only state approval was needed. By the late 1980s, however, many states began to require that a college, after having operated for a certain number of years, would have to either move from state approval to regional accreditation or be closed. Ambassador was at a crossroads, in that it had to seek regional accreditation or be reduced to a bible college offering diplomas rather than recognized degrees or else close its doors for good. The board of regents of Ambassador, still consisting of members of

5698-416: Was ordained to the ministry by his father in 1955. G. T. Armstrong later reported in a sermon that he did not want to be a minister, to which his father answered something to the effect that his opposition to entering the ministry was a sign that he should. In 1957, he began to take over much of his father's broadcasting responsibilities. During that same year, he traveled extensively through South America . As

5775-406: Was renamed "Ambassador Hall", and Ambassador College subsequently obtained permission to close Terrace Drive. Thereafter, the residence and street address for the former Villa Merritt Ollivier was renamed Ambassador Hall, 100 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena. This mansion, with a sunken Italian garden, a rosewood-paneled room, and a basement swimming pool, became the campus centerpiece until

5852-448: Was short-lived, however. For decades Ambassador did not have an endowment fund separate from the church. School officials had begun the process of establishing the first dedicated operating endowment in Ambassador's history, but there was not sufficient time to build the endowment. Doctrinal controversy within the Worldwide Church of God led to numerous splits and church spinoffs, and the resulting decrease in membership and contributions to

5929-495: Was sold shortly thereafter to the Central Electricity Generating Board . It was used as a management training facility, first by CEGB and then HSBC, closing in 2011. It is currently being developed for housing. The history of the Big Sandy campus can be divided into seven periods: The Big Sandy campus opened in the fall of 1964. Since the early 1950s, the campus had been used as a location for

#586413