''The World Tomorrow'' is a half-hour radio and television program which was sponsored by the
Worldwide Church of God
Worldwide may refer to:
* Pertaining to the entire world
* Worldwide (rapper) (born 1986), American rapper
* Pitbull (rapper) (born 1981), also known as Mr. Worldwide, American rapper
* ''Worldwide'' (Audio Adrenaline album), 2003
* ''Worldwide ...
(originally known as the
Radio Church of God) led by
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was an American evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he claimed was the comprehensiv ...
. It originally ran from 1934 to 1994. A 15-minute version of the radio program (under varied translations of ''The World Tomorrow'') was broadcast in the French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish languages.
Radio
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was an American evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he claimed was the comprehensiv ...
secured a temporary 15-minute slot on
KORE,
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.
As of the 2020 United States Census, ...
, on October 9, 1933. That became a permanent half-hour slot on January 7, 1934. Armstrong founded the
Radio Church of God with the first broadcast in 1934, to serve as the home church for his pioneering broadcast-based ministry.
Armstrong's radio program "eventually reached millions with its message of the imminent end of the world to be followed by the second coming of Christ."
Following the
1939 World's Fair in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the broadcast was renamed ''The World Tomorrow'', inspired by the theme of the fair, "the World of Tomorrow". In 1968, the Radio Church of God changed its name to the Worldwide Church of God.
Television
There have been three eras of ''The World Tomorrow'' on television.
1950s
The first era featured Herbert W. Armstrong speaking from a Hollywood
sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...
in the 1950s, before the advent of
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...
, when all syndicated programs had to be recorded on film. The original series was shown on a portion of the
ABC Television Network
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Califor ...
for half an hour, once a week, in black and white.
1967 to 1994
The second era began in 1967, beginning with black-and-white television broadcasts before changing to color in 1968. They continued well into the 1980s. The presenter was originally
Garner Ted Armstrong
Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003) was an American evangelist and the son of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught observance of seventh-day Sa ...
, youngest son of Herbert Armstrong. Following his ouster from his father's church in mid-1978 and his subsequent founding of his own church, the
Church of God International,
Herbert W. Armstrong resumed the presentation. The broadcasts largely involved analysis of how current events in the world tied into the church's views of
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...
prophecies.
Both the radio and television broadcasts of ''The World Tomorrow'' invariably told their audience how to receive the church's magazine, ''
The Plain Truth
''The Plain Truth'' was a free-of-charge monthly magazine, first published in 1934 by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of The Radio Church of God, which he later named The Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The magazine, subtitled as ''The Plain Truth: ...
'', the content of which was largely similar to that of the broadcasts.
At its peak, the radio program was broadcast worldwide on 360 stations, and the television program was viewed by 20 million people on 165 stations.
[
Following Herbert Armstrong's death in 1986, the television program was presented by David Hulme, David Albert, Richard Ames, and Ronald Kelley, on a rotating basis until 1994, when doctrinal shifts in the Worldwide Church of God, and declining revenues, led to the program's cancellation.
]
Format
The programs originated daily in a half-hour format, primarily from a studio located on the campus of Ambassador College
Ambassador College (1947–1997) was a four-year liberal arts college run by the Worldwide Church of God. The college was established in 1947 in Pasadena, California, by radio evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong, leader of what was then the Radio ...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
, which was owned and operated by the church as a then-unaccredited liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...
institution. Other studios were located at Ambassador College, Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, south of St Albans and north-northeast of Watford.
History
The area of Bricket Wood was mostly occupied by farmers until Bricket Wood railway station was built in 1861. In 18 ...
, Herts, England, and Ambassador College (later accredited as Ambassador University) at Big Sandy, Texas
Big Sandy is a town in Upshur County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 1,231. A lake of the same name is cut nearly in half by U.S. Highway 80, the main thoroughfare of Big Sandy. It lies directly west ...
, U.S.
In 1958, Garner Ted Armstrong took over the narration of the half-hour all-talk presentation.
The program was introduced and concluded by the voice of Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
radio and television announcer Art Gilmore. ''The World Tomorrow'' concluded with a segment of music from the Capitol Hi "Q" production music library (Reel M-27, cue C-95B, "Documentary Legato End Title", composed by William Loose) over which Art Gilmore gave the program address which varied according to the country that it was being aired in, or where its broadcast was intended to be received.
International versions
A 15-minute and usually once-a-week version of the same program was broadcast by various speakers in the French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish languages.
* French: The French language edition was primarily aired in parts of Canada and Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
over several local stations and in Europe over the super-power station Europe 1. The presenter was Dibar Apartian who recorded the programs in the same studio used by Herbert W. and later Garner Ted Armstrong on the Pasadena, California campus of Ambassador College. The program was also supported by a French-language edition of ''The Plain Truth
''The Plain Truth'' was a free-of-charge monthly magazine, first published in 1934 by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of The Radio Church of God, which he later named The Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The magazine, subtitled as ''The Plain Truth: ...
'' magazine.
* German: The German language edition was primarily aired in Europe over Europe 1. The presenter was a graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena where the program was recorded. The program was supported by a German language edition of ''The Plain Truth'' magazine.
* Italian: The Italian language edition was primarily aired in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
and Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in Canada over two local stations. The presenter was also a graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena where the program was also recorded.
* Russian: The Russian language edition was primarily aired for a short period of time in the 1950s-1960s over the super-power station Radio Monte Carlo
Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) is the name of radio stations owned and managed by several different entities:
* RMC (France) is a French-speaking station, broadcasting in France and Monaco owned by NextRadioTV.
**RMC Sport, a French bouquet of paid T ...
, which was beamed towards the USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
. The presenter was a Russian-language Hollywood presenter who translated the English scripts and then recorded the programs.
* Spanish: The Spanish language edition was primarily aired in parts of South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
, although it was also aired from Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
. The original presenter was Dr. Benjamin Rea who was Vice-Chancellor of Ambassador College at Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...
, England which is where he recorded the programs in the radio studio located on the campus. The program was also supported by a Spanish language edition of ''La Pura Verdad'' magazine.
Archived episodes
Copies of ''The World Tomorrow'' broadcast episodes from 1978 to 1983 are held in the Television Religion Collection of the United States Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
. The copies were placed into the Library of Congress archival holdings at the request of United States Senator Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...
.
Rights to use title
A new trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...
for the television program name ''The World Tomorrow'' was registered in 2004 by Earl and Shirley Timmons. The Timmons, members of the WCG, and Garner Ted Armstrong's Church of God International and Intercontinental Church of God, split from the Armstrong organization after the death of Garner Ted Armstrong, forming a breakaway independent group named Church of God, Worldwide Ministries, with its headquarters in Sevierville, Tennessee.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Tomorrow (1934), The
American Christian radio programs
Television series about Christianity
Church of God (Armstrong)
1934 radio programme debuts
1934 establishments in Oregon
1994 disestablishments in California