Plain Truth Ministries and WCG

In the latest issue of Together (subtitled Worldwide Church of God News) WCG reported:

Even after 20 years, people find old advertisements for magazines and booklets that we used to publish. If they ask for The Plain Truth, we explain that the PT is published by an organization that is not affiliated with us, and we give them the contact details for Plain Truth Ministries. We also offer them a free copy of our booklet Good News for Bad People and a subscription to Christian Odyssey. Over the past four years that we have done this, we have received almost 5,000 requests for out-of-print literature.

Plain Truth Ministries’ site (various pages) states:

Greg Albrecht, the Editor of the Plain Truth magazine and President of Plain Truth Ministries…

Plain Truth Ministries Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Is Plain Truth Ministries (PTM) financed by or affiliated with a church or denomination?

A. No. We partner with and provide resources to other ministries and well as small groups and individual congregations. But we are not dependent on any other ministry or church. We are a member of the Evangelical Press Association and National Religious Broadcasters…

Plain Truth magazine was founded by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1934. He later had a radio program and television broadcast by the name The World Tomorrow. Herbert Armstrong died in 1986, was succeeded by Joseph Tkach, Sr…

The Worldwide Church of God was accepted as a member of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1997.

This story is told in Transformed by Truth – written by Joseph Tkach, Jr., who succeeded his father in the fall of 1995 when Tkach, Sr. died of cancer, cancer that most feel moved much faster due to the incredible stress Tkach, Sr. was under. Transformed by Truth was published, two editions, by Multonomah Press, but is now out of print. It is available through Plain Truth Ministries.

The Worldwide Church of God (WCG) was a church that grew out of a media empire, and shortly after Tkach, Sr.’s death the church board, headed by Tkach, Jr., decided that the church would no longer sponsor a media empire for the purpose of leading people to the church. Instead, the WCG founded Plain Truth Ministries (PTM) as a non-denominational media ministry to bring people to Christ. PTM now exists for that purpose, serving people of a number of denominational affiliations as well as the non and formerly churched. We do not prefer one church over another, but advise those we serve to be involved with a healthy, well-balanced Christ-centered local church.

Plain Truth Ministries is now essentially Greg Albrecht. While I am uncertain about whether or not he still attends the Worldwide Church of God, the fact that he is essentially claiming that his PTM is the place to get the mistitled “Transformed by Truth” (a better title would have been, Transformed by Worldly Christianity or Transformed from Truth) shows some type of affiliation (though the two groups apparently have no corporate-legal connections).

While I have few articles specifically about the new WCG, three articles that do refer to it include:

Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles (the main one from J. Tkach Jr.) which state that this should be a local decision.
Comments on the Teachings of Ron Wallen, Philip Neal, Kenneth W., GRUMPS, Jesse Arellano, and others who Profess(ed) that WCG has God’s Authority Can one still believe what HWA used to teach and still be in WCG? This article addresses this important issue.
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?