The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 19

Coo Angeles SJhnea Thursday, January 8, 1981 I'arl I 1 9 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Attorney meira. 'Kept His Wodo Mioeo Now 1 Will Keep I will continue to serve as Executive Vice-President of the Ambassador Foundation, which carries on the non-sectarian work of the Church. I also, as an attorney, will continue to defend the interests of our Church worldwide, and I will continue as a personal assistant to Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.

I hope this statement will serve two purposes. First, I hope it will end forever any speculation about the possibility of my succeeding Mr. Armstrong as head of our Church. That will never happen. As I have said before, I do not expect anyone to succeed Mr.

Armstrong. The Living God has entrusted Mr. Armstrong with a Great Commission and God has never taken a man before his work was done. I do not look for or expect another Pastor General. Under no circumstances will I ever be Pastor General of our Church.

I do not know how to put that more clearly. Secondly, I hope this statement finally will clear the way for my return to a more private life, a move I have desired for more than two years. Those who know me will remember that I resigned my official positions once before. I stayed on only because of the battle that needed to be fought. Now that the fight is won, I am looking forward to the tranquility of a private life that my family and I have missed so sorely during the past two years.

I have learned much during the last two years. I have learned much about the reality of law as it is practiced in the United States. I know more than I once did about the need to remain vigilant in protection of our basic rights. Too, I have learned much about the struggle of minority groups to achieve justice. I will not forget what I have learned.

What I ask God for now is the strength and wisdom to use what I have learned in ways that will serve Him well. 1am treasurer and General Counsel for the Worldwide Church of God. Last September, while my church was locked in battle with the Attorney General of the State of California over the question of whether or not the State had the right to investigate our work and our use of our money, I made a public statement. Because it had been insinuated that I was leading the battle to protect our Church because, at least in part, I was personally ambitious and might even have visions of succeeding our Church's Founder and Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong, I found it necessary to spell out my thinking and my intentions.

This is what I said then, in a press release and in an advertisement similar to this one: "Many members of the press have asked me who will lead the Church when Mr. Armstrong is gone. And many times, I know, they ask, believing they know the answer. They think I will succeed Mr. Armstrong or, at least, that I hope to.

They are wrong. I also know that there are many members of our Church who think of me as a possible successor to our Pastor General. I am touched by their love and by their faith in me. But they also are wrong. I do not consider it even remotely possible that I will succeed Mr.

Armstrong. I am not worthy. I am not qualified to serve Christ in that way. I do not believe it is my calling. It certainly is not my desire.

And I do not believe it is God's will. "However, I know that my leadership role in the struggle against the Attorney General has created a public presence that apparently leads some persons to question my sincerity. As a result, my Stanley R. Rader motives become suspect as I continue to defend our Church's Work. Much of what I try to do is colored by that suspicion.

There are those who believe I am self-serving or personally ambitious. But they are wrong. The only thing I want for myself is a return to a more private life. I continue the fight because I believe it is a good fight. With all my heart and soul I believe in the Tightness of our cause.

"When the lawsuits against us are won and our Church is free from attack, I will resign my official Church position. I will return to the private practice of law and, preferably, will devote the rest my working life to public service." I closed by promising never to surrender in our fight and never to leave our Church. That is what I said last September and that is what I meant. In October, our fight was won. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill No.

1493, providing that the Attorney General shall have no powers that he asserted in the litigation against the Worldwide Church of God. Attorney General George Deukmejian had said he would ask dismissal of the lawsuits against us if SB 1493 became law. He kept his word. The suits were dismissed, on his request, October 15, 1980. Therefore, it is time for me to keep my word.

I have resigned my position as Treasurer and a member of the Board of the Worldwide Church of God. My resignation is effective July 1, 1981. 1 dated my notice of resignation January 3, 1981, as a kind of symbol. It was on January 3, 1979, exactly two years ago, that our Church was first assaulted by the officers of the Attorney General. Stanley R.

Rader The Worldwide Church of God.