Nothing is mentioned about the vital part Herbert Armstrong's wife, Loma, played in the start of this "Christian denomination." We do not find the story about how Loma raced home to tell her husband that she had just found out Saturday was the Sabbath.1 HWA's autobiography (found online) tells us that his "diligent study of the Bible" consisted of six months of day-and-night study at the library trying to prove his wife wrong. His "evangelistic efforts" differ from other Christians in that he recruited2 others into his organization by not letting them know upfront all that would be expected of them once they became a member. He did not evangelize in the normal sense of the word, neither did he instruct members to go out and "evangelize" anyone. Furthermore, we find nothing on WCG's "About Us" or "FAQ" page telling how Herbert Armstrong later copied (plagiarized) his doctrines from various groups, such as Church of God 7th day, Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists, and others.3 

It's obvious by WCG's large website that they cannot be compared to the websites of the average Christian church in town. In fact, there's a big difference--a difference that might not be as noticeable, however, to those who are used to plugging into the large, new evangelical, ecumenical, Rick Warren-type marketing ministries of today.

Let's notice some of those differences.

The websites of the average Christian church (depending on its size) usually consists of the following:

a picture of their church
links for the weekly sermons
ministry staff, church history (usually brief)
church schedule (time for services)
photos of a recent church event
calendar
coming events
ministries and foreign missions
Sunday bulletin
newsletter
a link to contact them

The average Christian church online:

(1) doesn't state on their site that they are a "Christian denomination."

(2) doesn't have a founder with a dark and sordid history whom they've had to write much about in order to make excuses for him4

(3) doesn't attempt to rewrite their history5

(4) may list other pastors (if they have had more than one serve at their church), along with the years he pastored the church

(5) often states what college the present pastor has attended

(6) in most cases doesn't have some additional "ministry" (i.e., Plain Truth Ministries) connected with (or subsidized by them) them to sell tapes, CDs, videos/DVD's, books, Jesus paraphernalia, etc., to the public (unless, of course, they are a mega church like New Life Church6 or a big marketing Christian organization like Focus on the Family7).

(7) doesn't have a lengthy page for their statement of beliefs

(8) doesn't bombard their visitors with massive amounts of online booklets or literature to read

WCG is quick to post (in case others may doubt them) that they are "members of the NAE" (National Association of Evangelicals). Some may not know that the NAE has now accepted the NCC (National Council of Churches) and WCC (World Council of Churches) members. (See article: The Walls are Coming Down.) The WCC is known as apostate and radically liberal. But if questioned about this, WCG would no doubt say, "That doesn't necessarily reflect our views."

In a manner that only be described as mind-blowing, WCG's website posts all their literature online on almost every religious subject imaginable. The links they furnish are overwhelming. While WCG's founder, Herbert Armstrong offered free booklets on every conceivable subject before the computer (and the members would be used to such), WCG today far outdoes him in online content. All of this equals an exercise in utter, mass confusion.

When clicking on the WCG's "statement of beliefs," there are so many topics listed that one is immediately snowed under. To the side of the page there are still more links to booklets and articles to cover their beliefs even further (not to mention to confuse the reader further since they contain a lot of ambivalence). A person could ramble around all day on their site, trying to read about what they believe, and easily feel overwhelmed with information and become sidetracked. 

If you look for their "sermon of the week," you can't find it. However, you will find, instead, "weekly videos" averaging 2-3 minutes in length (and which are New Evangelical in content) from Joseph Tkach Jr., plus an assortment of other audio clips, some by those who are not members of WCG's "denomination," and brief audio comments favorable of WCG have been offered by men such as Jack Hayford8 and D. James Kennedy9. In the recent past, WCG listed links at the bottom of their page to sermons in Canada, but was quick to add, "those pages are not official statements of WCG doctrine." Nevertheless, the WCG congregations who have their own websites have a link back to WCG's home page for their "statement of beliefs." (Others, such as Worldwide Church of God Canada places a disclaimer on their sermons page to let others know that their sermons "should not be taken as doctrine of WCG Canada, but then they link on their statement of beliefs page over to WCG's massive, confusing list of ambivalent articles.)

Quite noticeable is how Worldwide Church of God congregations around the world (regardless of their name) all have the familiar WCG globe, with the bars running through it, on their website. Could this signify some type of connection? One thing is for sure, the Worldwide Church of God fits right in with the ecumenical  movement of today.

So what is Worldwide Church of God? A combination of church/ministry, a mega information/literature clearing house, "church headquarters"10 to their diminishing congregations spread around the country11--or could all of it simply be a smokescreen for another agenda while they continue to carry on business as usual?