(Of course, that came after Worldwide Church of God founder-apostle Herbert W. Armstrong died in January of 1986)
This account is very interesting in that transition:
From this article:
How does the American evangelical community respond when one of its customary entries into The Kingdom of the Cults refutes its aberrant doctrinal distinctives and repents of its abuse to those within their own fold? Or, more narrowly, how do the congregants of this movement respond when presented with the unpleasant reality that they no longer had the corner on Biblical truth and the sole keys to the Kingdom? And how do the leaders of this movement usher their people from exclusivism and self-acknowledged heresy to orthodoxy without bowing the knee to modern-day evangelicalism (saving such honors for the One who alone deserves such praise)? These are a few of the fundamental spheres of interest and concern prompted by the upheaval in the Worldwide Church of God. Without a doubt, the changes are noteworthy. Many had counted the Worldwide Church of God faithful for one thing alone: To be found in Walter Martins tome on the cults. Now, they have boldly tried to set aside heresy and its legalistic outworking. In so doing, they have lost half of their denomination of 150,000all the while watching the birth of over 100 splinter groups. But the relatively small size of their membership, even at its peak, was no real reflection of their impact on the globe. Their magazine was distributed (free of charge) far and wide across the planet, presenting a Gospel message that was clouded with prophetic obsession, misapplication of Mosaic law and exclusive keys to the Kingdom, such as mandatory observation of the Sabbath and Jewish Holy Days. According to Joseph Tkach, Jr., Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God since 1995, they did acknowledge a few other Christians outside of their church, but the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) was certainly the main thing.
PFL
Is a 2016 political candidate a member of the religion Armstrong started?