Joseph W. Tkach - Assessment

Assessment

The impact of Tkach’s tenure as the head of the WCG was notable. Church income dropped from a high of over $200 million in 1990 to $50 million by 1996. By then the church could only count 49,000 as members, less than half from its peak. The circulation of The Plain Truth, distributed free by subscription and via newsstand distribution around the globe, fell from a peak of 8,000,000 to less than 100,000 before it switched to a paid subscription status. Eventually the magazine was spun off into a separate, independent, evangelical ministry. The number of employees at the church headquarters fell from 1,000 to about 50. Ambassador University, as the college had become after earning regional accreditation in Texas, ceased operations in 1997 as the church could no longer provide its annual operating subsidy. The Pasadena campus was finally sold in 2004.

In assessing the work of Tkach, there are two points-of-view. The critics of Tkach, especially those who formed the splinter churches, see Tkach as the key person responsible for the collapse of the WCG. They believe that the changes he brought were a turn against God and say his rejection of Armstrong's unique doctrines were, at best, without biblical foundation.

Tkach’s supporters, including those in the leadership of the WCG, see events differently. The WCG describes Tkach’s tenure as "A Decade of Painful Change" and that the end result of his work was the reconciliation of the church with mainstream Christianity. Ruth Tucker, an evangelical leader and an early supporter of the changes which occurred in the WCG, wrote in an article in Christianity Today that

The "changes"—as they are referred to by insiders—are truly historic. Never before in the history of Christianity has there been such a complete move to orthodox Christianity by an unorthodox fringe church.

Vern Bullough, a secular humanist and senior editor of Free Inquiry, commented on the significance of the changes noting:

The shedding of almost every doctrine the Worldwide Church of God once clung to is a story almost without parallel in American religious history.

After his death, the WCG reiterated its full acceptance of the doctrinal changes implemented by Tkach and published an apology to current and former members of the church for the impact previous doctrines had had on members. As evidence that Tkach's work was instrumental in the move toward mainstream Christianity, the WCG was accepted into the membership of the National Association of Evangelicals within two years of his death.