The World Tomorrow

For the magazine founded in 1918 by the pacifist organization Fellowship of Reconciliation, see The World Tomorrow (magazine).

The World Tomorrow is a radio and television half-hour program which had been sponsored by the Radio Church of God (later renamed Worldwide Church of God while under the direction of Herbert W. Armstrong) which ran from 1934 to 1994. A 15-minute version of the radio program (but under varied translations of The World Tomorrow name), was broadcast by various speakers in the French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish languages. The World Tomorrow televison program is once again in current production and airs in Atlanta, Georgia and Knoxville, Tennessee. The rights to the name were obtained by the Church of God, Worldwide Ministries of Sevierville, Tennessee, through the United States Patent and Copyright office.

The Radio Program (English language)

Herbert W. Armstrong secured a temporary 15-minute slot on KORE Eugene, Oregon on October 9, 1933. This became a permanent half hour slot on January 7, 1934. This broadcast was originally called the Radio Church of God after the church that sponsored the program. Herbert W. Armstrong created the program and founded the church. Following the 1939 World's Fair in New York the broadcast was renamed The World Tomorrow following the theme of the fair which was "The World of Tomorrow." In 1968 the Radio Church of God changed its name to the Worldwide Church of God.

The programs originated daily in a half-hour format, primarily from a studio located on the campus of Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, (USA), which was owned and operated by the church as a then-unaccredited liberal arts institution. Other studios were located at Ambassador College, Bricket Wood, Herts, England and Ambassador College (later accredited as Ambassador University) at Big Sandy, Texas, USA.

In 1958, Garner Ted Armstrong, youngest son of Herbert W. Armstrong and his wife Loma Armstrong, took over the narration of the half-hour all-talk presentation. The voice and style of Garner Ted Armstrong was often compared to that of news commentator [Paul Harvey], whom Garner Ted Armstrong attempted to emulate with a degree of success.

The program was introduced and concluded by the voice of Hollywood radio announcer Art Gilmore who appeared both on film and television screens in various roles. He was also noted for being the unseen announcer on The Red Skelton Show and on Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford which were among his many credits on television. "The World Tomorrow" concluded with an early Hollywood-produced music jingle over which Art Gilmore gave the program address and a toll free telephone number still used by Grace Communion International (by which the Worldwide Church of God is known today), which varied according to the country that it was being aired in, or where its broadcast was intended to be received.

The rights to the name of the World Tomorrow broadcast were obtained in 2004, by Earl and Shirley Timmons who were longtime friends of both Herbert W. Armstrong, and Garner Ted and his wife Shirley Hammer Armstrong. The rights to the program name were granted by the United States Patent Office upon approval of the Timmons application. The Timmons, members of The Worldwide Church of God, and Garner Ted's Church of God International and Intercontinental Church of God - split from the Armstrong organization after the death of Garner Ted and formed a breakaway independent group named Church of God, Worldwide Ministries with its headquarter offices located in Sevierville, Tennessee. George Trent, a former prison warden in Moundsville, West Virginia, hosted this revamped version of the World Tomorrow broadcast for a brief time before he left the newly formed organization to form his own group named Church of God, New World Ministries. The George Trent hosted World Tomorrow broadcast aired in Kentucky. A series of new hosts now share the duties on a rotating basis and the World Tomorrow televison broadcast now airs on cable access stations in Atlanta, and Knoxville.

Senator Bob Dole ordered the preservation of all copies of the World Tomorrow broadcast episodes from 1972 through 1986 in the Film and Television archives of the United States Library of Congress. Senator Dole was in attendence at the Anwar Sadat White House state dinner with Garner Ted Armstrong on April 4, 1977. The dinner was hosted by then President Jimmy Carter. Garner Ted Armstrong became a personal friend to Anwar and Jehan Sadat after doing a series of interviews with the former Egyptian president for the World Tomorrow broadcast. GTA had also done a series of programs entitled Agriculture and the American Farmer, and Senator Dole was serving on the Senate committee for agriculture, at the time. The Library of Congress collection was unknown to exist until it was discovered by Garner Ted Aukerman mid April of 2009. Garner Ted Aukerman was searching for a hardback copy of Garner Ted Armstrong's 1981 book "Peter's Story", to include in the annual fall Feast of Tabernacles church raffle, when he discovered the preserved archived broadcasts. Aukerman, a babtized member and supporter of the Armstrong evangelistic association and church, received a phone call from Senator Dole's personal assistant who confirmed his inquiry the Senator did indeed instruct the broadcasts preserved, after the Senator learned the younger Armstrong split with the elder on June 28, 1978. Two copies of the archived Library of Congress collection have been repackaged and aired by Mark Armstrong, eldest son of Garner Ted Armstrong, who serves as the shows producer and President of Operations of the organization.

International editions in other languages

A 15-minute and usually once-a-week version of the same program (but under varied translations of The World Tomorrow name but which are also now-defunct), was broadcast by various speakers in the French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish languages.

FRENCH: The French language edition was primarily aired in parts of Canada and Haiti over several local stations and in Europe over the super-power station Europe 1. The presenter was Dibar Apartian who recorded the programs in the same studio used by Herbert W. and later Garner Ted Armstrong on the Pasadena, California campus of Ambassador College. The program was also supported by a French language edition of The Plain Truth magazine.

GERMAN: The German language edition was primarily aired in Europe over Europe 1. The presenter was a graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena where the program was recorded. The program was supported by a German language edition of The Plain Truth magazine.

ITALIAN: The Italian language edition was primarily aired in Montreal and Toronto, Canada over two local stations. The presenter was also a graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena where the program was also recorded.

RUSSIAN: The Russian language edition was primarily aired for a short period of time in the 1950s-1960s over the super-power station Radio Monte Carlo, which was beamed towards the USSR. The presenter was a Russian language Hollywood presenter who both translated English scripts and then recorded the programs.

SPANISH: The Spanish language edition was primarily aired in parts of South America, although it was also aired from Porto, Portugal. The original presenter was Dr. Benjamin Rea who was Vice-Chancellor of Ambassador College at Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire, England which is where he recorded the programs in the radio studio located on the campus. The program was also supported by a Spanish language edition of The Plain Truth magazine.

The Television Program (English language)

1950s: ABC Television Network

There were two eras of The World Tomorrow on television. The first era featured Herbert W. Armstrong speaking from a Hollywood sound stage in the 1950s before the advent of videotape when all syndicated programs had to be recorded on film. The original series was shown on a portion of the ABC Television Network for half an hour, once a week in black and white.

1967 to 1994

The second era began in 1967 beginning with black and white before changing to color in 1968. These continued well into 1980s. The presenter was originally Garner Ted Armstrong and then following his departure from his father's church in mid 1978 and subsequent founding of his own church, the Church of God International, Herbert W. Armstrong resumed the presentation. The thrust of the broadcasts was largely to present how current events in the world tied into the church's views of Biblical prophecies. Both the radio and televisions of The World Tomorrow invariably informed their audience how to receive the church's magazine, The Plain Truth, the content of which was largely similar to that of the broadcasts. Following Armstrong's death in 1986, the television program was presented by David Hulme, David Albert, Richard Ames and Ronald Kelley on a rotating basis until 1994 when doctrinal shifts in the Worldwide Church of God and declining revenues led to the program's cancellation.

Sponsor

For a history of the sponsor of both the radio and television programs see the brief biography of Herbert W. Armstrong and the church that he founded called the Radio Church of God. Although the church changed its legal name of incorporation before the death of its founder, the Worldwide Church of God has since undergone significant doctrinal changes and has moved from Pasadena to Glendale, California with reported discussion underway concerning yet another corporate name change.

1975

The date January 7, 1934, was later ascribed as the point which began the church's final work on earth before the Great Tribulation just before Jesus Christ's return. The World Tomorrow having its first broadcast on Radio Luxembourg on January 7, 1953 was declared to have been the beginning of a second 19-year cycle period which would end with the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Such prophetic beliefs led to the teaching that Jesus Christ would return in 1975.

References

Prophecies of Dystopic "Old World, New World" Transitions Told: The World Tomorrow radio broadcasts to the United Kingdom 1965-1967; p.205-222 Eric Gilder and Mervyn Hagger. 2007 Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest. ISBN 978973637159-2.

External links

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• Listen to World Tomorrow radio broadcasts
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