Garner Ted Armstrong - Post 1978 Ministry

Post 1978 Ministry

Garner Ted Armstrong continued his ministry through the Church of God, International in the years that followed. During this time, he appeared on both the John Ankerberg Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

He continued to conduct personal appearance campaigns throughout the United States, Australia, Jamaica, and Canada, although on a much smaller scale than during his heyday in the 1970s. These appearances also provided opportunities for unofficial reunions for those who left or remained in the Worldwide Church of God. During the 1980s, he was in Jamaica when a major hurricane (Hurricane Gilbert?) struck the island.

In the fall of 1989, he travelled to Berlin to do on the spot radio broadcasts covering the fall of the Berlin Wall. This was coming full circle, as he had been in Berlin in 1961 as well.

His reputation was again damaged when a licensed nurse in Tyler accused him of making sexual advances during two massage sessions in 1995. She was interviewed by then-CNBC television host Geraldo Rivera, who showed portions of videotapes she had made during the encounters. The fallout from the scandal was immediate and dramatic, and Armstrong was asked to step down from his roles with the Church of God International. He declined to appear on the Geraldo show to discuss the incident (although he had appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show several years before.) His next steps were to heighten the profile of his Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association, which he had established in 1998, and the Intercontinental Church of God, which he headed until his death.