By Amy A Nutt
Gerald Flurry is the pastor general of the Philadelphia Church of God and editor in chief of the Trumpet news magazine, which he began publishing in 1990. He is also founder and chairman of the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation, known for its cultural, charitable and humanitarian activities, and founder and chancellor of Herbert W. Armstrong College in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Gerald Flurry is a native Oklahoman born in Oklahoma City in 1935 to parents Clarence (deceased 1977) and Jicie (deceased 1997). He married Barbara Jean Brewer, September 5, 1964, and they had two children, Laura and Stephen. Barbara Flurry died in 2004 after suffering a stroke.
Gerald Flurry became a member of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in 1960 and graduated from Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, in 1970. He then worked for the church's editorial department and wrote for the Plain Truth magazine before being ordained a minister in 1973.
For over 35 years he has remained in the ministry full time. Mr. Flurry served as a pastor in the Worldwide Church of God until the church disowned its founder, Herbert Armstrong, and his teachings after his death in 1986.
Upon witnessing the changes in church doctrine away from Mr. Armstrong's teachings, Mr. Flurry plunged into an intensive study of the Bible to seek the cause of the betrayal he was witnessing. The result was a manuscript titled Malachi's Message to God's Church Today. Originally written in the spring of 1989, when the new direction in the Worldwide Church of God was, to many of its members, not very perceptible, the book was primarily intended to alert the ministry of the WCG as to what was really happening, and secondarily to alert the Church membership. When an early draft of the book was brought to the attention of WCG leadership in Pasadena, California, Gerald Flurry and his assistant, John Amos, were fired from their positions as WCG ministers. Mr. Flurry immediately founded the Philadelphia Church of God on December 7, 1989 in Edmond, Oklahoma.
After the Worldwide Church of God ceased printing Armstrong's writing and existing supplies of his major works were exhausted, Mr. Flurry successfully defended the Philadelphia Church of God's right to publish and freely distribute 19 of his works, obtained through a six-year legal battle against the WCG, which attempted to use the books' own copyrights to keep them out of print.
Gerald Flurry has visited over 20 countries in such critical areas as the Middle East, South Africa, Europe and Asia, meeting with key international news analysts. He has authored over 30 books including Malachi's Message to God's Church Today, The God Family Vision, and The Last Hour.
As presenter of the Key of David television program, which he began in 1993, Gerald Flurry examines world events in the light of Bible prophecy and proclaims the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ to Earth -- to save mankind alive and usher-in the peaceful, happy, wonderful World Tomorrow. Through broadcast, print and personal appearance campaigns he also prophesies again in the tradition of Herbert W. Armstrong a sobering warning of the unprecedented world troubles just ahead, which will precede Christ's second coming.
Gerald Flurry founded the Philadelphia Church of God in 1989. Mr. Flurry is also the face of the Key of David television program and is the editor in chief of the Trumpet news magazine.
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