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"Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did, unto all Israel;
and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation" (I Sam. 2:22). "And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will
do a thing in Israel, at which both ears of everyone that heareth it shall
tingle.
In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning
his house...because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not"
(I Sam. 3:11-13).
When I knew of my son's sins, I sent him away--privately put him OUT OF
THE CHURCH. I told him he had to leave Pasadena, and go to a place away, and
not attend church services. That was in the fall of 1971. I hoped that he
would
repent, so I did not tell the Church membership I had put him out of the Church.
He went to El Paso, Texas. A few days before the Feast of Tabernacles, he
called
me by telephone, professing complete repentance and saying he just could not
bear to miss the Feast. Already he and I had started appearing at every Feast
site. He sounded sincere. I told him to come on back. He shed tears on
arriving back home, put his arms around both me and his wife. But I later had
to learn that temporary remorse, with tears, is not necessarily repentance.
I received a telephone message from Jekyll Island of his gross misbehavior
at a restaurant there, in the evening.
I received a telephone message from Squaw Valley of his misconduct at a
Lake Tahoe (Nevada) gambling casino. I had an all night plane ride, and cut
him off at Penticton, Canada, disfellowshiping him from the Church again.
This time he went to Colorado. From there he wrote me another pleading,
tear-jerking letter, professing that his repentance, this time, was real.
I called him back, and received him with open arms.
But in early February 1972, I had to disfellowship him again--this time
for an offense known to all evangelist--rank ministers at Pasadena. Together,
some eight or ten evangelists and I disfellowshiped him again, this time
publicly.
Again he went to Colorado. This time it hit the newspapers. I refused to
divulge what he had done--or where he went. Time magazine came out with a
headline, "Garner Ted, Where Are You?" This time I worked with him by a series
of letters, desperately trying to bring him to repentance so I could bring him
back on the job.
And of all those leaders at Pasadena, only ONE stood with me, helping me
phrase the letters to reach through to Ted's heart and work a real repentance
so I could bring him back. Who do you suppose that one friend of Ted's, helping
me, was? Not one of the evangelist--rank ministers, some of whom are themselves
disfellowshiped now, and "buddying up" with Ted, hoping he will attract enough
money to pay them a salary. No, it was none of them. It was the man Ted
despises the most--Stanley Rader! Mr. Rader then was Ted's only friend!
The rebellion of 1974, when several ministers left the Church, was
caused by disagreement in allowing Ted to come back.
But in June of 1972, I felt Ted really had truly repented. Mr. Rader,
Albert Portune (then executive vice-president in Ted's place), David Antion,
Ron Dart, and I, flew over to Colorado to see Ted. I took these other men
because I did not want to trust my own judgment on Ted's professed repentance