Beginning in 1987, Bill Dankenbring, founder of Triumph Prophetic Ministries, has been one of the more successful of the many “one man works” splitting off of the WCG. Many others have contributed to his efforts, written articles for him, etc., but he has never had a “field ministry”, a “headquarters staff” or anything typical of the Church organizations. A number of his associates have come and gone—some to start their own competing “works”. There is nothing wrong with a “one man work”; many men of the Bible essentially did that. Mr. Dankenbring is not trying to follow exactly in Herbert Armstrong’s footsteps as he has expounded a number of problems with Herbert Armstrong’s teachings. But he bases his credentials very heavily on his WCG experience and he does seem to believe that he teaches more truth than any other WCG split-off group. He sent the following press release to us, so we are reprinting it with commentary:
Triumph: In September-October 1999, our former website was “hijacked” and taken over by a former associate and friend in the faith, John Keyser, who was with us for ten years. He was a former member of the Worldwide Church of God in Pasadena, and joined us about 1989-90. He has changed our former site to “Hope of Israel Ministries,” and now teaches that the weekly “Sabbath” rotates to a different day each month.
It has required intensive work and becoming more familiar with website building, but the new Triumph website is a “site to behold”! With dazzling pictures of the universe, Grand Canyon, and creatures that mystify evolutionary theory, it puts forth the gospel of Jesus Christ in a powerful, no-holds barred manner. William F. Dankenbring, who wrote scores of articles and booklets years ago for the Worldwide Church of God, was disfellowshipped in January, 1987, by Larry Salyer, at the behest of Joseph Tkach, Sr., exactly one year (to the very day) after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong. He had been a member of Worldwide since 1957—thirty years—when the fateful blow was struck.
SN: Mr. Dankenbring still seems quite tied to the WCG as he calls his disfellowshipment a “fateful blow”. Most independent believers now see such disfellowshipments as irrelevant to membership in Christ’s body. Many consider them a blessing that helped them “wake up” to the fact that they were too dependent upon a human organization.
Triumph: He graduated from Ambassador College in 1963, and became a fulltime unordained minister serving in the Letter Answering Department under Clint Zimmerman. He began writing articles for the Plain Truth, Good News, and Tomorrow’s World in 1964 through 1974, and lessons for the Bible Correspondence Course, until his employment was “terminated” in a budget-staff reduction cutback, at a time the Church was suffering severe internal dissension and strife due to massive high-level coverups of egregious sins, including adultery by a top evangelist. From that time till 1987, William Dankenbring published a score of books, many written by himself, and others by Church members, including evangelist Raymond C. McNair, which were sold through mail order, and at book stores and grocery stores at various sites of the Feast of Tabernacles.
SN: Some of the “heads” of WCG split-off groups have re-invented history to make themselves a significant figure in the WCG when indeed they were not. Mr. Dankenbring may overstate his importance a little, but he actually did write many articles for many years.
Triumph: After being disfellowshipped by Tkach in 1987, and accused of heresy and being a “false prophet,” Mr. Dankenbring continued his publishing activities, but added a newsletter, entitled Prophecy Flash. The initial mailing list was about 35 people, and the first issue was about 8 pages. Today, Prophecy Flash is still being published every two months—about 88 pages, and a circulation of roughly 3,500—after many renewals to eliminate those who did not maintain interest. In addition, Triumph Prophetic Ministries (Church of God), incorporated as a non-profit religious organization by Mr. Dankenbring, also produces weekly Bible Study audio tapes, free of charge to interested people, and video cassettes on a monthly basis, each cassette containing four or five full 90-minute Bible Studies, and broadcasts over short-wave radio every week.
The spanking new Triumph Website gives a brief history of Triumph Prophetic Ministries, the background of Mr. Dankenbring, and insight into the various outreach ministries being performed by this end-time Work of God. It does not claim to be “God’s only Church,” or “only Work,” and never has. It does claim, however, to be unique—”one of a kind”—in its approach and understanding of many Biblical doctrines, Bible prophecy, and current events in the light of prophecy!
Many Bible-related articles are posted on the website which can be read or downloaded free of charge. Newly posted articles on the website include, “New Truth about the Calendar Postponements,” “Why Does God Say, ‘I Hate Your Feast Days’?”, “Daniel’s 1260, 1290, and 1335 Days Revealed,” “The Book of Revelation Decoded at Last,” “A Message to Garcia,” “The Mystery of the Menora,” as well as the latest hot “Prophecy Briefs” section.
SN: Mr Dankenbring has certainly not been afraid to publish letters critical of himself or to answer questions on difficult topics. This is something that I would hope other groups would learn from. I know people who read Prophecy Flash specifically because he published so many of the brethren’s letters. I do not agree with all of his research, but I think some of it is very good. He always shows, from the scriptures and history, why he believes what he believes, so it is possible to weigh his evidence and evaluate his conclusion.
Triumph: Mr. Dankenbring, a prolific writer of books and articles, was converted and gave his life to Jesus Christ, however He wanted to use it, as a teenager in Taiwan, in 1956, when his father was stationed there in the U.S. Navy, living in Kaoshiung, near the southern tip of the island. He began reading through the New Testament, given to him by an elderly missionary lady. He had been baptized in a southern Baptist Church in Strong, Arkansas, shortly before leaving for Taiwan (then called “Formosa”) in 1954. Having thought at the time he was merely “joining a church,” he felt after being “baptized,” that he needed to study and find out just what a “Christian” really was—and what better way to do it than “read the Book”! He began reading about 5 chapters every Sunday, and then feeling this was hypocritical, he began reading at least one chapter every day, plus 5-10 on Sunday. Within two years’ time, he had read the New Testament 5-6 times through. In spring of 1956, he attended a special four week Bible Study on the prophecy of Daniel; and at the end of the seminar, he felt he should be baptized again, this time “for real,” since he knew his first baptism was merely to “join a church” and only amounted to a “dunking in the water.”
SN: I find it significant that Mr. Dankenbring begins his “spiritual history” with his teen-age commitment and Bible reading—prior to his knowledge of the WCG or the Sabbath. My own history was similar. The WCG taught that this sort of prior commitment or “conversion” meant nothing, and I believed that for a while, but I now disagree. My life changed at that point. I noticed it, and so did others around me.
Triumph: Returning to the States in August, he first heard the World Tomorrow broadcast by Herbert W. Armstrong, in Seattle, Washington, and began listening every night at 10:30 pm. While still a student in Shoreline High School, he began attending the Tacoma church under Jimmy Friddle in 1958, and joined the local Spokesman’s Club. He entered Ambassador College as a freshman student in fall 1959, along with Roy Holiday, Dave Albert, Howard Clark, Anthony Buzzard, Ben Chapman, Ralph Helge, and others.
The new Triumph Prophetic Ministries website—full color, 15 plus pages—has a hundred or so articles available for download on such vitally important topics as: “Law Versus Grace?”, “Is Obedience Required for Salvation?”, “Is God a Trinity?”, “Who or What Was Jesus Christ Before His Human Birth?”, “Is God Reproducing Himself?”, “The Mystery of God,” “Which Day Is the True Sabbath?”, “Sabbath Versus Sunday?”, “God’s 6000 Year Plan,” “Armageddon—How Much Longer?”, “What Do You Really Mean, ‘Born Again?’”, “What Is the True Gospel?”
In addition to those articles and many more, we have published many articles on the annual holy days of God—Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles—articles giving new profound insight into the mysteries and majestic symbols of these holy days.
SN: These articles are mostly about historical, prophetic and doctrinal subjects. His strength is not family life, Christian living and related topics.
Triumph: Triumph Prophetic Ministries (Church of God) is not in full agreement with the majority of the churches, groups and splinters which came out of the original Worldwide Church of God, directly or indirectly. After much study and research, it has concluded that most groups that came out of Worldwide are still stuck in the old Worldwide syndrome or time warp—and haven’t grown in much grace or knowledge of Christ and God’s truth since leaving Worldwide. They seem caught fast in a circling time warp repeating history over and over again—as if reliving “Groundhog Day” in a repetitious cycle.
SN: Mr. Dankenbring has rarely been shy about saying what he thinks of other groups. “Open rebuke is better than secret love”, but needless offenses often divide brethren.
Triumph: Contrary to the assumptions others make, Triumph Prophetic Ministries believes that there is much we can learn from the Jews—although they are far from perfect. In particular, there is much to be learned about when and how to keep the Passover properly, when Pentecost should be observed, and how to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Many people do not realize it, but even Herbert Armstrong was confused about Pentecost! Originally he observed it on the same day the Jews do worldwide—Sivan 6—but switched in 1936 to a Monday Pentecost, and then, after heart-wrenching agony, to a Sunday Pentecost in 1974. But William Dankenbring says he should have gone “full circle”—because the Jews were right, all the time!
SN: I don’t agree with everything that Mr. Dankenbring accepts from Jewish sources, but some of his writing helped me become interested in Jewish sources where I certainly learned many things. As an overall summary, Jewish sources are much like Christian sources—they are a mix of true history, false history, inspiration of righteous men and error—both careless and deliberate.
Triumph: Many people consider some of Mr. Dankenbring’s articles to be controversial, and some even say he is a “heretic”—such as the Worldwide Church of God,” who originally branded him with this epithet in 1987, when they suddenly disfellowshipped him at Joseph Tkach’s bidding. But in the 13 years since that “day of infamy” and the “long knives,” Mr. Dankenbring has “stayed the course”—continued serving God, as he vowed to do when he gave his life to Christ in 1956—and has now been serving God with all his heart, soul and mind and might for 44 years! He still claims Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, Redeemer, and coming King, and counts it a joyous blessing to be able to follow Him and do His Work, as He leads and directs.
SN: Some people who study “Jewish sources” give up on Jesus. We must give Mr. Dankenbring credit here.
Triumph: There indeed may be and are “disagreements” during these end times among many of the people of God—there is much confusion and controversy—but did not the apostle Paul command us all to “prove” or “test” all things (1Thes 5:21)? On many things we may not see “eye to eye” until the Kingdom itself arrives, but that should not drive us apart, or cause us to hate one another. As Isaiah prophesied: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the LORD brings back Zion” (Is 52:7-8, NKJV).
Come see our new web site! Pay us a visit! Tell us how we can improve! We look forward to your suggestions, comments, and dialogue!
Triumph Prophetic Ministries (Church of God); PO Box 292; Altadena CA 91003; Fax: 626-797-0075; e-mail: Triumphpro@aol.com; web address: Triumphpro.com.
SN: Bill Dankenbring seems to be quite willing to work with and listen to others in this press release. This is good. It also seems that he is emphasizing prophetic interpretation much less. Mr. Dankenbring wrote some articles showing where Herbert Armstrong erred in prophetic interpretation. In previous Prophecy Flash issues, he gave a definite date for the return of Christ—which has long since passed. Obviously he does not have the gift of prophecy. How could God hold anyone responsible for not heeding a prophetic warning of Christ’s return from Mr. Dankenbring, when he has wrongly prophesied it before?
The New Testament shows that the Church works by members each using their spiritual gifts. Mr. Dankenbring and other “one man” groups do not have all of the gifts to do all the work that Christ is doing, but it seems that they can make a positive contribution if they are willing to acknowledge Christ’s work in others. I hope all of us can come to see ourselves in that perspective.
—Norman Edwards