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Herbert & Loma Armstrong's relationship with the Runcorns
“The Runcorns - our "spiritual parents" - were members of the Church of God, Seventh Day, with headquarters at Stanberry, Mo." (“The History of the Beginning and Growth of the Worldwide Church of God” by Herbert W. Armstrong, Good News, May 1980, p. 2)
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Background to their relationship to the Armstrongs
“Some little time prior to this, we had been visiting my
parents in Salem. My wife had become acquainted with an elderly neighbor lady,
Mrs. Ora Runcorn. Mrs. Runcorn was an avid student of the Bible.
Before our marriage my wife had been quite interested in
Bible study. She had been for years an active Methodist.
After marriage, although she had not lost her interest in
the Christian life and the Eible, she had not had the same opportunity to
express it, or participate in religious fellowship with others. While we lived
in Maywood, suburb of Chicago, we had joined the River Forest Methodist Church,
but the fellowship there had been more social than spiritual or Biblical.
But all Mrs. Armstrong's active interest in things
Biblical was reawakened when she became acquainted with Mrs. Runcorn. One day
Mrs. Runcorn gave her a "Bible study." She asked my wife to turn to a certain
passage and read it. Then a second, then a third, and so on for about an hour.
Mrs. Runcorn made no comment-gave no explanation or argument-just asked my wife
to read aloud a series of Biblical passages.
"Why!" exclaimed Mrs. Armstrong in amazement, "do all
these Scriptures say that I've been keeping the wrong day as the Sabbath all my
life?"
"Well, do they?" asked Mrs. Runcorn. "Don't ask me
whether you have been wrong-you shouldn't believe what any person tells you, but
only what GOD tells you thru the Bible. What does He tell you, there? What do
you see there with your own eyes?"
"Why, it's as plain as anything could be!" exclaimed Mrs.
Armstrong. "Why, this is a wonderful discovery. I must rush back to tell my
husband the good news. I know he'll be overjoyed!" A minute or so later, Mrs.
Armstrong came bursting into my parents' home, shouting the "good news" to me.
My jaw dropped!
This was the worst news I had ever heard! My wife gone
into religious fanaticism!
"Are you CRAZY?" I asked, incredulously.
"No, I was never more sure uf tht: TRUTH in my life," she
responded with enthusiasm. Indeed I thought she had lost her mind. She certainly
'was CRAZY! Deciding to keep "Saturday for Sunday!" "Now look, Loma!" I said
sternly. "I simply am not going to tolerate any such religious fanaticism in our
home. You have to give that up, right here and now!" But she wouldn't. Week
after week, month after month, we argued. I reminded her the Bible said a wife
must be obedient to her husband!
… "I will give you just one more chance, before we
separate and get a divorce," I said. "I don't know just where it is, but I KNOW
all these Churches can't be wrong! I KNOW it's in the Bible that we are to keep
SUNDAY! I'll give you this one more chance, before you break up our home. I
won't tolerate fanaticism!” (The Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong,
ch. 10)
After intense study Herbert Armstrong was convinced about the Sabbath and the rest is history ...
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"Upon surrender to God, I had lost all sense of
animosity toward Mrs. O. J. Runcorn, the elderly lady who had started my wife on
the religious 'fanaticism' which proved to be God's TRUTH. We even came to call
her and our spiritual parents. Mrs. Armstrong and I visited with her frequently
when in Salem at the home of my parents. Through her and her husband we became
acquainted with a small group of 'Church of God people' in Salem and near
Jefferson, Oregon." (The Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong, ch. 17)
"The state conference was agreed to and formed. The
concept of church government seemed to be that lay members should be in the
offices of authority. Ministers were to be employed, and under orders from the
lay members. This is essentially the concept of what we call democracy:
government from the bottom up. Those being governed dictate who shall be their
rulers and how their rulers shall rule them. The most perplexing subject in all
the Bible to me was this matter of church government. I never did come to clear
understanding of the BIBLE teaching on the subject until after Ambassador
College was formed and well on its way. I believe that elderly G. A. Hobbs of
Oregon City, previously mentioned, was made the first president of this state
Conference, and that O. J. Runcorn, with whom I had come to this meeting, was
president the second year. I have in my old files my Ministerial License
Certificate, which is reproduced in this autobiography, dated March 2,1932, and
signed by O. J. Runcorn as President, and Mrs. I. E. Curtis as Secretary. This
was almost a year after I was ordained — probably my second certificate." (The
Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong, ch. 23)
"When the meetings came to the end of the planned
duration, and absolutely NO 'fruit' had been borne, except for the nightly
emotional jamboree, Mr. Oberg was reluctant to stop. Sam Oberg and his young
25-year-old wife had been living with Mr. and Mrs. O. J. Runcorn. I believe it
was Mr. Runcorn who put up the $10 for one more month's hall rent. The total
duration of the meetings ran either three or four months. But even after the
extended month, there were no conversions — no members added to the Church —
absolutely no visible results. The 'pentecostals' had been enjoying a continuous
nightly show. There was nothing else to show for it." (The Autobiography of
Herbert W Armstrong, ch. 28)
"There had come a request for me to hold evangelistic
meetings of about three weeks in the Eldreage schoolhouse on a country road 12
miles north of Salem, Oregon. In previous chapters I have had a great deal to
say about Mr. and Mrs. O. J. Runcorn. We had come to regard them as our
'spiritual' parents. They lived in Salem during these years. Their son, Fern
Runcorn, and his family lived in this community close to the Eldreage school,
and Mr. Fern Runcorn was a member of the school board. It was through him that
permission was obtained by the board to hold the meetings. I was invited to be
his guest while they were held." (The Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong,
ch. 35)
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"It was in November, 1930, that the Runcorns asked my
wife and me to accompany them to a business meeting of the Church down in the
Willamette Valley, at the home of Mrs. Ira E. Curtis. The Church in Oregon was
being divided. One group, in which were the Runcorns and Mr. Hobbs, were
opposing Andrew N. Dugger, who had been the head minister at Stanberry." ("The
History of the Beginning and Growth of the Worldwide Church of God – Chapter 1",
Good News, May 1980)
"Those meetings lasted some four months, Mr. O. J.
Runcorn paying the $10 monthly storeroom rent. Nothing was accomplished but a
nightly emotional jamboree. All through this 'campaign' the conspiracy of
Messrs. Oberg and Ray against me deepened. They wanted my $3 per week and were
willing to use any dirty politics to 'GET' it." ("The History of the Beginning
and Growth of the Worldwide Church of God – Chapter 3", Good News,
June-July 1980)
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A letter from Herbert Armstrong to the Runcorns
There is a surviving letter from Herbert Armstrong to the Runcorn's about British-Israelism (28 February 1928) wherein he mentioned that he and his wife were nearly convinced of Anglo-Israelism’s truthfulness, but they had yet to make a final decision. Here is an extract:
"Now as my mind works on this subject, it appears thus: The theory is that England and the U.S. are descendants of Joseph. The Jews are the descendants of Judah, and possibly also of Benjamin and Levi. If we have them located, then where are the other eight tribes? Why, why not right here in the U.S., mixed, thru immigration and inter-marriage between different races? They would all be of the white race. We have married and intermarried with other white races ...
Now if my theory is worth anything, it is this:
Salvation is for all the world who will come to Jesus and accept it, regardless
of race. But the special blessings, many of which I believe are to pertain to
the next world, promised Israel, are for that one blood race alone.”