"Honey, I shrunk the church
After renouncing founder Herbert W. Armstrong as a false prophet, the Worldwide Church of God is in upheaval. So why is new leader Joseph Tkach, Jr. smiling?
New Times Los Angeles/December 4, 1997
By Ron Russell"
http://www.culteducation.com/group/1236-world-wide-church-of-god/22317-honey-i-shrunk-the-church.html"Despite Tkach's early pledge to promote openness and loosen the dictatorial grip for which Armstrong was famous, the leaders have resisted calls for financial disclosure. Among other things, they've refused to reveal their own salaries and perquisites. A former high-ranking church official says that
Tkach's compensation package exceeds $300,000, including a hefty raise he reportedly was given even as plans were being drawn up to lay off staffers. His chief aides include Greg R. Albrecht, the church's second-in-command and its public relations director, treasurer Bernard Schnippert, and J. Michael Feazell, an assistant to the Pastor General. Tkach and Albrecht declined numerous requests for interviews. After calls to Schnippert and Feazell went unreturned, Albrecht, the public relations chief, told New Times that neither they nor any other church officials would make themselves available for comment.
Not until January of this year did the Tkach team and its outside accountants complete a legally required audit of church finances for 1995. The leadership then declined to publish it, with Schnippert declaring in a message to the faithful that the audit was "so late as to be almost irrelevant to our current financial picture."
The leaders also refused to publish the church's bylaws until a smuggled copy turned up on the Internet last year. Afterward, the church printed the document in its monthly newsletter.
The bylaws confirmed what doubters had long suspected -- that Tkach, as head of the church, wields virtually absolute financial authority. Not only does the title of Pastor General denote his eminence in spiritual matters, but as chairman of the church's board of directors, he possesses the extraordinary power to appoint or remove other board members "at any time, with or without cause or notice.""
