Larry Salyer and his wife, Judy, began attending God's Church exactly one week after their wedding in 1963.
Larry Salyer and his wife, Judy, began attending God's Church exactly one week after their wedding in 1963. Then in 1965, they and their 1-year-old daughter, Lisa, moved to Big Sandy, Texas, when Larry was accepted to Ambassador College. Born in northern Indiana in 1942, the eighth of 10 children, Mr. Salyer remembers when his parents began listening to Herbert Armstrong in 1954. His mom was baptized in 1960.
Larry and Judy met in high school. Judy had no previous knowledge of the Church. But her future mother-in-law introduced her to the booklet on the subject of marriage and divorce and the BibleThe books (Greek, "biblia" ) that are acknowledged as canonical (authoritative) by the early Christian Church. It includes both the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets and those of the apostolic witnesses to Jesus Christ. Story, which Judy found agreed with the BibleThe books (Greek, "biblia" ) that are acknowledged as canonical (authoritative) by the early Christian Church. It includes both the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets and those of the apostolic witnesses to Jesus Christ.. Within a week after their marriage, studying and talking led them to ask permission to attend the Elkhart, Indiana, congregation where some of the family already attended. Both were baptized on the same day in November 1963 by George Meeker.
Mr. Salyer graduated from Ambassador College in 1968. He was ordained an elder the next day and immediately sent to Houston, Texas, as an assistant pastor. In January 1969, he took up his first pastorate in Abilene and Odessa, Texas. Subsequently, he pastored in Houston North and South; Big Sandy; Washington, D.C.; Hagerstown, Maryland; Pasadena Auditorium and San Francisco, California; and St. Louis and Wentzville, Missouri.
From 1982 to 1986, as dean of students at Ambassador College in Big Sandy, he worked closely with Les McCullough, Don Ward and Dick Thompson. After Mr. Armstrong's death, Mr. Salyer was drafted away from "the best job in the world" to become the director of Church Administration in Pasadena. By 1988, Church Administration was reorganized and Mr. Salyer became the director of Church Administration, International, overseeing all aspects of the international work until 1992. In addition, he was responsible for all YOU programs, summer camps and Imperial Schools. He served on the Council of Elders and taught in the Ministerial Refresher Program.
Working in Pasadena, Mr. Salyer became aware of the negative trends in the Church. In the summer of 1992, with the job becoming impossible due to doctrinal changes, Mr. Salyer volunteered for a pastorate in the field. The Salyers moved to the St. Louis and Wentzville, Missouri, circuit, thinking it would be possible to teach the truth without interference. That would soon prove to be untrue.
In 1993, Mr. Salyer was asked to serve as a regional pastor. He cautiously accepted the role, alongside other senior ministers now serving in the United Church of God. He thought perhaps this team would be used by God to restore the Church's traditional teachings. But within a few months, the apostasy had become egregious and doctrinal division in the congregation and local ministry were intolerable. He resigned from the ministry of the Worldwide Church of God in February 1994.
As faithful members left the WCG, a small congregation was formed, meeting in homes. They soon found the Global Church of God and merged with that group at Pentecost. The Salyers pastored the Midwest churches until 1996, when Mr. Salyer became director of editorial services in San Diego, California. By 1998, internal conflicts led to a split in Global. Later, a number of ministers and members formed the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship, which then merged with the United Church of God in 2001.
Mr. Salyer has served on the Godly Leadership Task Force, the Expelled Elder Appeal Committee and the BibleThe books (Greek, "biblia" ) that are acknowledged as canonical (authoritative) by the early Christian Church. It includes both the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets and those of the apostolic witnesses to Jesus Christ. Reading Program editorial team. He pastored the congregations in Salt Lake City, Utah; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Twin Falls, Idaho, before moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, to become operation manager of Media and Communications Services in 2007.
The Salyers have four children: Lisa (Mrs. Andy Burnett), Jeff, Julie (Mrs. Royden Morgan) and Randy (married to Stephanie Millan); and four grandchildren. UN
