Gene Hogberg recounts three decades of service to church publications

'No place on earth I'd have rather worked,' former news editor reminisces

By Neil Earle

Gene Hogberg, former PT news editor, who retired last March, is grateful for the years he worked for the Worldwide Church of God.

In an interview he shared some highlights of his 34-year career writing for the church's publications.

Gene Hogberg was attending Wilson Junior College in Chicago when he heard about the church. He saw one of the original World Tomorrow telecasts that aired on the ABC network in 1955 and 1956.

From 1956 to 1960 Mr. Hogberg attended Ambassador College. The last two years he worked in the News Bureau, forerunner of the Editorial Department. After a stint in the field ministry in Colorado, he was back in Pasadena in 1961. Under the influence of Herman Hoeh he slowly turned himself into a writer.

"The most important requirement for a writer is being a reader, an active and avid reader," Mr. Hogberg said. He read and Dr. Hoeh's patient and personalized tutelage did the rest.

In January 1966 Mr. Hogberg married Barbara Sipe, an Ambassador student from Houston, Texas, who was already a university graduate.

The Hogbergs have two sons, Neal, who is married to Denise Zvorak from Kansas City, and Derek.

Family and family values are more than slogans to the Hogbergs. Here is where he feels our publications had a major influence in the 1960s and 1970s.

"We were a vital part of the media landscape--almost a household word. When I would introduce myself at media events most people knew who we were. We were among the first to publicize the environmental crisis. Several of us attended one of the first major environmental conferences in 1968," he said.

Mr. Hogberg is grateful to have had a part in this. "There is no place on earth I'd have rather worked," he said. "I appreciate the confidence both Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Tkach showed in me over the years. I will always remember the occasion in December 1993, when Mr. Tkach invited my wife and me to accompany him to the Kennedy Center honors ceremony in Washington, D.C."

There Mr. Hogberg experienced one of the highlights of his life. "Only a small group was allowed to accompany Mr. Tkach to the White House to meet President and Mrs. Clinton. For me that was quite an experience. To be received by a serving President in the White House, well, you have to hang in there because sometimes the best opportunities come after a life of service."

For the church in its present time of transition, Mr. Hogberg, a minister since 1989, said: "These are times when we need the godly traits of patience, perseverance and wisdom. We need complete trust in God and in Jesus Christ, the head of the church. This is not a time to lean to your own understanding."