Birth of the Radio Broadcast

That Thursday after the morning broadcast, Frank Hill, the owner/manager of KORE, had some news for Mr. Armstrong—both good and bad.

First, the good news: The messages Mr. Armstrong had given were unlike anything radio listeners had ever heard before. They wanted to learn more—they made phone calls and sent in letters to the radio station, asking for literature, even though Mr. Armstrong did not offer any.

Next was the bad news: Mr. Armstrong’s listeners had confronted their pastors and asked them why they were preaching the opposite of what the Bible taught. Embarrassed, these local ministers got together, and informed Mr. Hill that they did not want Mr. Armstrong preaching on the air anymore. And to make certain of this, one of them would be at the station every morning thereafter and take up the free 15-minute airtime.

Mr. Hill could no longer give Mr. Armstrong free air time, but he liked the listener response, and he thought highly of Mr. Armstrong’s broadcasting voice. So he suggested to Mr. Armstrong that they work out a half-hour radio program, broadcasting it as a public service every Sunday. Mr. Hill offered to sell him a half-hour segment on Sunday mornings for less than half of what it would cost the station—$2.50 per half hour.

Mr. Armstrong sent a letter to a small mailing list of Church members and past contributors, asking them for pledges to finance the broadcasting of the radio program. Preaching the true gospel cost money, yet the brethren were not of the rich and famous, the “movers and shakers” of society. They were mostly farmers and country people, who scrimped and saved to regularly pay tithes and give offerings. In order to spread Christ’s gospel beyond the walls of Church services, the brethren had to sacrifice above and beyond their regular contributions—not an easy thing to do during the Great Depression. However, following Mr. Armstrong’s lead, they took up pledges and were able to raise half the amount to finance the weekly broadcast: $1.25 per week. Deciding to step out on faith and trust God to provide the other half, Mr. Armstrong arranged to begin broadcasting the radio program every Sunday, beginning January 1934. This was the birth of the Radio Church of Godradio program—and the start of many amazing, awe-inspiring things to come.

The cost seems insignificant by today’s standards, but $2.50 per week during the Great Depression seemed like a huge obstacle—especially after Mr. Armstrong had rejected his $3 per week salary. But he knew that God had opened this door, and he was determined to walk through it. He decided to rely on God to provide the money, which had to be paid in advance of each broadcast.

And God did provide.

For instance, one Sunday morning when Mr. Armstrong did not have the money to pay for the broadcast, he and his wife fervently prayed for God to intervene. As they prayed, a man knocked on the door and handed them his tithe payment—which paid the radio time for that morning. On another Sunday morning in which Mr. Armstrong did not have the money, he started walking to the radio station, believing that God would intervene—and on the way, a stranger handed him the funds that were needed.

These and similar events increased Mr. Armstrong’s faith even more, and inspired him to be even more urgent in proclaiming the good news of Christ returning to bring world peace and universal happiness.

From Small Beginnings

By the end of Mr. Armstrong’s six-week nightly campaign at the Firbutte schoolhouse, a congregation of 19 had been established, including the Armstrongs, the Fishers and others. These early brethren were the pioneers of what became the Philadelphian Era.

The members were organized as The Church of God at Eugene, Oregon, and met at the Jeans schoolhouse, about four miles west of their former location and 12 miles west of Eugene. With Mr. Armstrong as pastor and Mr. Fisher as deacon, the Church met three times a week—Tuesday and Thursday nights, and afternoon services on the Sabbath. The average attendance was 22 people.

In addition to doing radio broadcasts, Mr. Armstrong began holding evangelistic campaign meetings three times a week at an old Masonic Temple building in downtown Eugene, which had an auditorium on the second floor, with retail stores on the first floor.

These meetings, held every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday night for almost six months, were Mr. Armstrong’s first attempt at holding campaigns three times a week. He advertised them through the radio program and mimeographed handbills. About 100 people attended per meeting, with only about 15 being baptized during this time period.

At these meetings, Mr. Armstrong had trouble dealing with “Pentecostal” types—people who were more concerned with getting emotional “highs” than with learning God’s truth. They were turned off by any sermon that taught obedience to God and His laws. Ironically, whenever these people needed a minister to pray for their healing, they rushed to Mr. Armstrong.

One “Pentecostal” church, which also broadcast a radio program on KORE, told its listeners that it was acceptable to visit any other churches—just as long as they stayed away from Mr. Armstrong’s campaign meetings.

The converts produced from Mr. Armstrong’s efforts were organized into a local congregation, meeting at his home for morning Sabbath services in Eugene.

Mr. Armstrong began another campaign—this time six nights per week for six weeks—at the two-room Alvadore schoolhouse, 15 miles northwest of Eugene. About three or four Seventh Day Adventist families attended, but one man among them came only to find out what Mr. Armstrong was preaching so that he could discredit him. Yet, the others would not listen to these attacks.

Desperate, the man heckled Mr. Armstrong during his sermon, which was about Christ being in the tomb three days and three nights, proving that the crucifixion was not on Friday, and that Christ wasnot resurrected on Sunday morning. The heckler tried to embarrass Mr. Armstrong—so Mr. Armstrong had no choice but to embarrass him. He told the young man to spend the rest of the sermon looking up biblical proof for his claims, and to be ready to read it aloud to the whole audience. When the sermon concluded, Mr. Armstrong called on his heckler to read aloud his proof—but the man could not answer. He fumbled through his Bible, looking for verses to refute what Mr. Armstrong had just proven from the scriptures. The heckler stood helpless and confused as people sitting around him began to laugh. Finally, Mr. Armstrong put the man out of his misery and told him to sit down. This was the only time Mr. Armstrong had ever done this, and he did so because, in that circumstance, he felt it was the best way to defend God’s truth and keep people from being deceived. (Notice Proverbs 26:5.)

These meetings also yielded 15 baptized members.

“A Magazine of Understanding”

As early as 1927, Mr. Armstrong had envisioned the creation of a magazine that would be like no other publication on earth, without commercial advertising or a subscription price. In the spirit of Mark 13:10 and Matthew 24:14, he would publish and proclaim the gospel, or good news, of the kingdom of God. It would explain why man cannot solve the troubles, ills, evils and problems that continually plague him. It would reveal the true meaning of biblical prophecy, which had been concealed in the murky waters of false prophetic teachings. This unique magazine would be calledThe Plain Truth.

Relying on his extensive advertising training and experience, Mr. Armstrong created a mock-up version. He also had a professional letter-artist design its front cover. However, it was not God’s timing to publish The Plain Truth in 1927.

Now that God had opened the door for him to proclaim Christ’s gospel on the radio, Mr. Armstrong believed that the time was ripe to publish The Plain Truth magazine, which Mr. Armstrong decided should carry the subtitle of “a magazine of understanding.” He announced it to listeners of the Radio Church of God program, offering it free of charge. Mr. Armstrong knew that this Work had to be of God—that it could not be of men. He relied on God to inspire those who requested the magazine to contribute donations, tithes and offerings. Yet, Mr. Armstrong never asked the general public for contributions. He only asked this of regular contributors, whom he called “co-workers”—human instruments God had called to contribute to the spreading of the true gospel, the most important message in the history of mankind—people who voluntarily wanted to spread this message, who wanted to share with others the spiritual knowledge and understanding with which God had blessed them.

The first issue of The Plain Truth was published on February 1, 1934, and began with about 350 subscribers. Without extra funds to fall back on, Mr. Armstrong employed the fifth law of success—resourcefulness. He borrowed a typewriter and bought some mimeograph stencils and paper, and, having free, temporary access to a mimeograph machine, he produced and published the inaugural edition.

Afterward, the magazine was published on a used $10 Neostyle, which predated the mimeograph. It had to be operated by hand, with paper being fed into it one sheet at a time. Articles were created on a secondhand typewriter, which also cost $-10.

The Plain Truth was always intended to be written for the general public, and not exclusively for Church members or religious people. Its purpose was to take the gospel to non-religious people and make God’s truth plain to them.

Years later, Mr. Armstrong wrote, “It is doubtful whether any institution in human history started from as humble and small beginnings. When God starts something on His power alone, it is big from the beginning. For example, the creation of the universe—the creation of the earth. But when God starts something through humans, it usually, like the grain of mustard seed, starts the very smallest and most humble, and then grows as the spiritual character of the humans develops” (“Now It Must Be Revealed How the Worldwide Church of God Began,” The Good News, May 1979).

The Plain Truth was part of what Mr. Armstrong called a “Three-Point Campaign”: The radio broadcast brought in listeners—the magazine gave readers greater details of what the Bible actually teaches—and these were followed and reinforced by nightly evangelistic campaigns.

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