Roderick C. Meredith
Encyclopedia
Roderick C. Meredith is the leader and founder of the Charlotte, North Carolina
based Living Church of God
. One of the first five Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God
, he was ordained to the rank in 1952 by Herbert W. Armstrong
, founder of the Radio Church of God (later renamed the Worldwide Church of God
or WCG in 1968). For many years he was one of the Church's leading theologians, top executives, and college professors.
on June 21, 1930, and is the eldest of three children. His father H. Carl Meredith (1896–1963) worked as an accountant, and along with his wife, Mildred Elaine Kohane Meredith (1902–1996), provided their family with a middle-class lifestyle while living in Joplin. During high school, he was very active and successful in sports. He participated in football, became a Missouri high school track champion in the 1-mile run, and was a Golden Gloves
boxing champion. He and his family were also active members of the local Methodist church.
When he was a junior in high school, along with the encouragement of his uncle, Dr. C. Paul Meredith (1902–1968, a doctor of veterinary medicine for the state of Missouri), he began listening to Armstrong's The World Tomorrow
radio program on station XEG. He also began receiving the Church's main monthly publication The Plain Truth
magazine, along with numerous other literature the Church had offered free of charge.
In the autumn of 1949, following one year of attending Joplin Junior College (now called Missouri Southern State University
), his growing religious convictions to Armstrong's teachings led him to enroll as a full time student at Armstrong's Church-founded Ambassador College
in Pasadena, California
. He became one of the liberal art institute's earliest students (Armstrong had founded the college just two years earlier), and was the student body class president during his senior year.
Over the next 43 years, he would become one of the leading executives and most influential ministers and writers within the top levels of the Church. He would in later years have repeated confrontations with colleagues over who should be in authority, always maintaining that he (Meredith) should be the one in charge.
; San Diego, California
; and Seattle and Tacoma, Washington
. On December 20, 1952, after summoning him back to the Church's headquarters in Pasadena from his pastorship in Oregon, Armstrong ordained him and four other men - including his uncle Dr. C. Paul Meredith - to the high-ranking position of evangelist. These men were the very first evangelists of the WCG. Meredith was the youngest of the newly ordained men, and was the fifth to be ordained.
Over the following years, Meredith would help raise up scores of congregations throughout the United States. He would also conduct many baptizing and evangelizing tours in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa. From the early to mid-1950s, and again in 1960, he was assigned by Armstrong to live in Britain to start up congregations for the Church.
. He also served as 2nd Vice President of Ambassador College (late 1950s to early 1970s); Deputy Chancellor of Ambassador College at each of the school's three campuses in Pasadena, California (1972), Bricket Wood
, England
(1973), and Big Sandy, Texas
(1986–1989). Meredith served briefly as the Dean of Faculty at Ambassador College in Pasadena (1978). Meredith served as a senior editor and associate editor of the church's flagship publication The Plain Truth magazine from 1953 to the early 1990s. He was also on the Church's Corporate Board of Directors from 1958-1973. He served periodically as a guest presenter on The World Tomorrow radio program in the mid-1950s, and acted as the Superintendent of the Church's ministry in the United States (this position was later renamed Director of Pastoral Administration) from 1961 to 1972, and for the Church's worldwide ministry from January to August 1979. He was the pastor of the Church's largest congregation, which was in Los Angeles, California
, from 1964–1969, as well as the Senior Pastor of the Glendale
, Bakersfield
(he also pastored here in the early 1960s), and Reseda
, California congregations from 1976 to 1978. In 1979, he pastored the high profile Pasadena Ambassador Auditorium
congregation. In 1980, Armstrong sent Meredith to Hawaii
on the basis of accusations made against Meredith. Armstrong also wrote a letter to Meredith an alleged copy of which later found its way onto the internet.
On November 20, 1977, he married his second wife, Sheryl Ann Hensley. They have two sons, David and Jonathan.
Meredith is a prolific writer who has written hundreds of articles and dozens of booklets since the early 1950s on topics ranging from Christian living, endtime prophecy, the plan of God, to mankind's ultimate future.
On Friday night, September 19, 2008 Meredith suffered a mild stroke. He was released from the hospital and was expected to recover.
. On December 10, 1992, Meredith was fired from the WCG ministry by Tkach for not agreeing to consent with these major - and in the eyes of the Armstrong tradionalists, heretical - doctrinal changes.
Several weeks later on December 26, 1992, he and 19 other members of the WCG who did not agree with the new direction the organization had undertaken, met for the commanded weekly seventh-day Sabbath service in the living room of his home. One week later on January 3, 1993, meeting in a small rented hall in Los Angeles, California, 42 people met for the first official Sabbath services of the newly incorporated Global Church of God
(GCG), which Meredith had recently founded. The new organization's teachings and stated objectives closely mirrored that of Armstrong's original WCG.
By the Fall of 1993, the membership of the GCG had swelled to approximately 1,500. In June 1994, its corporate headquarters were relocated to San Diego, California.
However, his firing was widely unpopular with most of the GCG membership, and approximately 80 percent left the organization and came with him. In addition to the majority of the membership coming with him, approximately 70 percent of GCG's ministers and Council of Elders joined with him as well.
Within days of his dismissal, he and others had founded a new organization, and named it the Living Church of God. It too was headquartered in San Diego. Ironically, the new headquarters was located in the same office building as the GCG board which had recently fired him. In early 2003, the Church's corporate headquarters was moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. In March 2005, an LCG congregation in Brookfield, Wisconsin was attacked by a gunman who some speculated was upset by Meredith's sermons about the end and demands for money. No actual motive was ever determined, and prosecutors ended their investigation into the shooting without determining the exact reason the depressed gunman attacked. Meredith later stated the massacre brought LCG a lot of unusual attention.
As of December 2009, the LCG had an active membership of approximately 8,100 people in over 290 churches and small groups in 40 countries, with over $11 million in revenue being received annually in the form of tithes, offerings, and gifts from its members, co-workers, and other supporters from around the world. Meredith is the organization's Chief Executive Officer as well as the Presiding Evangelist of the Church. He is also the Editor in Chief of its main print and internet publication, Tomorrow's World magazine. Meredith is one of the four regular presenters of the Church's nationally and internationally aired television program, Tomorrow's World. One of the program's presenters, evangelist Richard F. Ames, is married to Meredith's younger sister, Kathyrn.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
based Living Church of God
Living Church of God
The Living Church of God is one of the church groups formed by followers of the teachings of the late Herbert W. Armstrong. It was formed as a series of major doctrinal changes were introduced in the Worldwide Church of God after Armstrong's death in 1986...
. One of the first five Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God
Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God
Historically, an evangelist was the highest ranking minister in the Worldwide Church of God under the pastor general, Herbert W. Armstrong from 1934 to 1986, and Joseph W. Tkach, from 1986 until 1995...
, he was ordained to the rank in 1952 by Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God in the late 1930s, as well as Ambassador College in 1946, and was an early pioneer of radio and tele-evangelism, originally taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon...
, founder of the Radio Church of God (later renamed the Worldwide Church of God
Worldwide Church of God
Grace Communion International , formerly the Worldwide Church of God , is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Glendora, California, United States. Since April 3, 2009, it has used the new name Grace Communion International in the US...
or WCG in 1968). For many years he was one of the Church's leading theologians, top executives, and college professors.
Childhood and conversion
He was born in Joplin, MissouriJoplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
on June 21, 1930, and is the eldest of three children. His father H. Carl Meredith (1896–1963) worked as an accountant, and along with his wife, Mildred Elaine Kohane Meredith (1902–1996), provided their family with a middle-class lifestyle while living in Joplin. During high school, he was very active and successful in sports. He participated in football, became a Missouri high school track champion in the 1-mile run, and was a Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
boxing champion. He and his family were also active members of the local Methodist church.
When he was a junior in high school, along with the encouragement of his uncle, Dr. C. Paul Meredith (1902–1968, a doctor of veterinary medicine for the state of Missouri), he began listening to Armstrong's The World Tomorrow
The World Tomorrow
The World Tomorrow is a now-defunct radio and television half-hour program which had been sponsored by the Radio Church of God which ran from 1934 to 1994...
radio program on station XEG. He also began receiving the Church's main monthly publication The Plain Truth
The Plain Truth
The Plain Truth is a U.S.-based magazine founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, who also founded the Radio Church of God , Ambassador College, and The World Tomorrow radio and television programs. Herbert W...
magazine, along with numerous other literature the Church had offered free of charge.
In the autumn of 1949, following one year of attending Joplin Junior College (now called Missouri Southern State University
Missouri Southern State University
Missouri Southern State University is a public, state university located in Joplin, Missouri. Missouri Southern State University was formerly Missouri Southern State College and is also known as Missouri Southern, MSSU, or MoSo for short. Established in 1937 as Joplin Junior College, Missouri...
), his growing religious convictions to Armstrong's teachings led him to enroll as a full time student at Armstrong's Church-founded Ambassador College
Ambassador College
Ambassador College was a four-year, liberal arts college run by the Worldwide Church of God. The college was established in 1947 in Pasadena, California by radio evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong, leader of what was then the Radio Church of God, later renamed the Worldwide Church of God...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. He became one of the liberal art institute's earliest students (Armstrong had founded the college just two years earlier), and was the student body class president during his senior year.
Over the next 43 years, he would become one of the leading executives and most influential ministers and writers within the top levels of the Church. He would in later years have repeated confrontations with colleagues over who should be in authority, always maintaining that he (Meredith) should be the one in charge.
Ordination and ministry
Following his graduation in June 1952, Meredith was assigned by Armstrong to raise up and pastor churches in Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
; San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
; and Seattle and Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. On December 20, 1952, after summoning him back to the Church's headquarters in Pasadena from his pastorship in Oregon, Armstrong ordained him and four other men - including his uncle Dr. C. Paul Meredith - to the high-ranking position of evangelist. These men were the very first evangelists of the WCG. Meredith was the youngest of the newly ordained men, and was the fifth to be ordained.
Over the following years, Meredith would help raise up scores of congregations throughout the United States. He would also conduct many baptizing and evangelizing tours in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa. From the early to mid-1950s, and again in 1960, he was assigned by Armstrong to live in Britain to start up congregations for the Church.
Titles and responsibilities
In addition to serving as a senior evangelist, Meredith held many high ranking and influential positions within the Worldwide Church of God. He was a member of the Council of Elders, a body of 12 evangelist-ranked men that assisted Armstrong in clarifying and establishing Church teachings. Throughout the 1960s, Meredith served as the 2nd Vice President of the Worldwide Church of God, which was the third highest position in the Church under Herbert Armstrong and his son Garner Ted ArmstrongGarner Ted Armstrong
Garner Ted Armstrong was an American evangelist and the son of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught strict observance of seventh-day Sabbath, holy days typically associated with the Jewish faith, and other observances...
. He also served as 2nd Vice President of Ambassador College (late 1950s to early 1970s); Deputy Chancellor of Ambassador College at each of the school's three campuses in Pasadena, California (1972), Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, approximately 4½ miles from St Albans. It is part of the parish of St Stephen. Its railway station is served by a London Midland service that runs between St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction stations.Close to the village stands...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(1973), and Big Sandy, Texas
Big Sandy, Texas
Big Sandy is a town in Upshur County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town's population was 1,288. A lake of the same name is cut nearly in half by U.S. Highway 80, the main thoroughfare of Big Sandy....
(1986–1989). Meredith served briefly as the Dean of Faculty at Ambassador College in Pasadena (1978). Meredith served as a senior editor and associate editor of the church's flagship publication The Plain Truth magazine from 1953 to the early 1990s. He was also on the Church's Corporate Board of Directors from 1958-1973. He served periodically as a guest presenter on The World Tomorrow radio program in the mid-1950s, and acted as the Superintendent of the Church's ministry in the United States (this position was later renamed Director of Pastoral Administration) from 1961 to 1972, and for the Church's worldwide ministry from January to August 1979. He was the pastor of the Church's largest congregation, which was in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, from 1964–1969, as well as the Senior Pastor of the Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
(he also pastored here in the early 1960s), and Reseda
Reseda, Los Angeles, California
Reseda is a San Fernando Valley district in the city of Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Reseda was originally inhabited by Native Americans of the Tongva tribe that lived close to the Los Angeles River....
, California congregations from 1976 to 1978. In 1979, he pastored the high profile Pasadena Ambassador Auditorium
Ambassador Auditorium
Ambassador Auditorium is located on the historic Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, California, USA. It was built under the guidance of Herbert W...
congregation. In 1980, Armstrong sent Meredith to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
on the basis of accusations made against Meredith. Armstrong also wrote a letter to Meredith an alleged copy of which later found its way onto the internet.
Personal life and interests
On June 16, 1976, Meredith's wife of 20 years died. Margie Helen McNair was 40 years old when she died due to complications of cancer. She was also a sister of several prominent WCG evangelists. During their marriage, they had two sons, Michael Rea and James Paul, and two daughters, Elizabeth Helen and Rebecca Anne.On November 20, 1977, he married his second wife, Sheryl Ann Hensley. They have two sons, David and Jonathan.
Meredith is a prolific writer who has written hundreds of articles and dozens of booklets since the early 1950s on topics ranging from Christian living, endtime prophecy, the plan of God, to mankind's ultimate future.
On Friday night, September 19, 2008 Meredith suffered a mild stroke. He was released from the hospital and was expected to recover.
New beginnings
Over the next several years following Armstrong's death on January 16, 1986, nearly all of the traditional teachings of the Church that had been established by Armstrong were drastically changed or completely discontinued by WCGs new leadership under Joseph W. TkachJoseph W. Tkach
Joseph W. Tkach was the appointed successor of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God. Tkach became President and Pastor General of the church upon the death of Armstrong in 1986...
. On December 10, 1992, Meredith was fired from the WCG ministry by Tkach for not agreeing to consent with these major - and in the eyes of the Armstrong tradionalists, heretical - doctrinal changes.
Several weeks later on December 26, 1992, he and 19 other members of the WCG who did not agree with the new direction the organization had undertaken, met for the commanded weekly seventh-day Sabbath service in the living room of his home. One week later on January 3, 1993, meeting in a small rented hall in Los Angeles, California, 42 people met for the first official Sabbath services of the newly incorporated Global Church of God
Global Church of God
The Global Church of God is a Sabbatarian church based in England. It was founded in San Diego, Calif., in 1992, by Roderick C. Meredith. Following the dissolution of most church operations in the U.S., the GCG's operations shifted to the U.K., and it reestablished a presence in North America...
(GCG), which Meredith had recently founded. The new organization's teachings and stated objectives closely mirrored that of Armstrong's original WCG.
By the Fall of 1993, the membership of the GCG had swelled to approximately 1,500. In June 1994, its corporate headquarters were relocated to San Diego, California.
Living Church of God
Following a heated dispute with several members of the GCG's corporate Board of Directors over Meredith's leadership role and authority within the Church (having been the founder and Chairman of the Board since the corporation's inception five years earlier), he was subsequently fired by a 3-2 majority of the Board on November 25, 1998.However, his firing was widely unpopular with most of the GCG membership, and approximately 80 percent left the organization and came with him. In addition to the majority of the membership coming with him, approximately 70 percent of GCG's ministers and Council of Elders joined with him as well.
Within days of his dismissal, he and others had founded a new organization, and named it the Living Church of God. It too was headquartered in San Diego. Ironically, the new headquarters was located in the same office building as the GCG board which had recently fired him. In early 2003, the Church's corporate headquarters was moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. In March 2005, an LCG congregation in Brookfield, Wisconsin was attacked by a gunman who some speculated was upset by Meredith's sermons about the end and demands for money. No actual motive was ever determined, and prosecutors ended their investigation into the shooting without determining the exact reason the depressed gunman attacked. Meredith later stated the massacre brought LCG a lot of unusual attention.
As of December 2009, the LCG had an active membership of approximately 8,100 people in over 290 churches and small groups in 40 countries, with over $11 million in revenue being received annually in the form of tithes, offerings, and gifts from its members, co-workers, and other supporters from around the world. Meredith is the organization's Chief Executive Officer as well as the Presiding Evangelist of the Church. He is also the Editor in Chief of its main print and internet publication, Tomorrow's World magazine. Meredith is one of the four regular presenters of the Church's nationally and internationally aired television program, Tomorrow's World. One of the program's presenters, evangelist Richard F. Ames, is married to Meredith's younger sister, Kathyrn.