United News December 2000 1

United Newsª

United Church of GodP.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027

Phone (513) 576-9796, Fax (513) 576-9795

Vol. 6, No. 8DECEMBER 2000News of the UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, an International AssociationNews of the UNITED CHURCH OF GOD, an International Association

Church of God Task Forces ContinuePositive Steps Toward ReconciliationThe task forces of the Church

of God, a Christian Fellowship,(CGCF) and the United Church ofGod, an International Association,(UCG) met for the second time inthree months on Sunday andMonday, November 19-20, with thefocus on developing specific, prac-tical ways for the two organizationsto draw closer and work together.

The first meeting in Augustlaid the foundation for further talks,as the groups affirmed at that timetheir common doctrinal beliefs andidentified the causes of division andbarriers to reconciliation. Potentialdoctrinal differences and hurts fromthe past were considered the twomajor areas of concern. The doctri-nal questions were essentially satis-fied with some issues to be studiedfurther, putting most of the attentionnow on promoting reconciliationand cooperation.

The task forces are presentingto their respective governing bodies(the UCGÕs Council of Elders, andthe CGCFÕs Executive Council)numerous suggestions, includingthe following specific recommen-dations, to consider at their nextscheduled meetings.

Priority AttentionThe task forces recommend

that everyone, individually and col-lectively, give priority attention andpublicity to the biblical instructionsregarding peace making, conflictresolution and forgiveness andendeavoring to dwell together inunity. A number of Feast of

Tabernacles sermons addressedthese subjects, and the ministry isencouraged to magnify thesethemes in sermons, Bible studiesand articles in church publications.Individuals who may have caused,or suffer from, past hurts are urgedto give serious thoughtÑled byprayer, study, fasting and perhapscounselingÑto taking the appropri-ate steps toward resolving thoseoffenses. The task forces believethat God will bless such concentrat-ed spiritual effort by everyone andwill help break down the barriers toreconciliation that may exist.

The task forces further advisethat both groups prepare videotapesermons for their respective congre-gations, coordinated in general con-tent and timing, that will furthercover various elements of thesesubjects.

Information PacketsAnother constructive step rec-

ommended is to coproduce infor-mation packets for the ministry andmembership of both groups con-taining detailed explanations ofeach groupsÕ doctrinal beliefs andtheir answers to the doctrinal ques-tions that have been submitted, aswell as descriptions of their respec-tive forms of governance, adminis-tration and policies. Represent-atives from each church could alsowrite similar articles for the otherchurchÕs publications in an effort toclearly explain their organizationÕspositions. Much information andmany publications are alreadyavailable on each churchÕs Web site(www.cgcf.org and www.ucg.org).

Developing ministerial com-munication and rapport is seen bythe task forces as another high pri-ority. For example, they recom-mend that both groups exchangetheir ministerial phone/e-mail-address lists, and encouragereestablishing contact with oneanother.

In terms of both groups mutu-ally cooperating, the task forcesrecognized that in several areasjoint actions are already takingplace, and recommend severalother actions that are possible pend-

ing approval by the respectivecouncils.

For example, campers andstaff members from both churcheshave often participated together insummer camps, congregations andmembers often combine in somechurch areas for social and educa-tional activities, and ministers haveconducted funerals, weddings, bap-tisms and anointings for membersin the other church. This type ofmutual cooperation is encouragedto continue and expand.

Additional ideas being submit-ted to the councils by the task forcesinclude coordinating certain Feastsites and activities, sharing litera-ture and articles, working on cross-over ministerial speaking opportu-nities, and extending invitations toattend each othersÕ board/councilmeetings and ministerial confer-ences.

Roy Holladay, Dennis Lukerand Clyde Kilough representedUCG and Norbert Link and GeorgeMeeker represented CGCF. WarrenZehrung is also a member of theCGCF group, but was unable toattend due to health reasons.

Moving ForwardEveryone unanimously con-

cluded that the two-day talksproved very productive, especiallywith the pragmatic, tangible ideasfor moving forward toward unity ofmind, spirit and efforts to do thework of God. The next task forcemeeting is tentatively planned forMay 2001. UNUN

Camps Achieve High StandardsConnie Coutellier, director of

professional development for theAmerican Camping Association(ACA), congratulated United YouthCamps (UYC) for achieving ACAaccreditation at a meeting of thecamp team November 14.

ÒOur quest for accreditationhas aided our camps by helping usdesign a mission statement andevaluate our program as to whetherwe are actually fulfilling it, improvesafety, upgrade the qualifications ofinstructors and lessen the ChurchÕslegal liability,Ó said David Treybig,a member of the team. ÒThe unani-mous consensus of the camp teamwas that the ACA served as anexcellent tool to help us carry onour tradition of excellence and thatwe would not want to retreat fromthe high standards we have nowestablished.Ó

Ms. Coutellier presented theofficial scores on each section ofthe ACA scoresheet. Because UYCis considered one camp with multi-

ple sites, the scoring for each of thefour camps visited was combinedon a single scoresheet. (The fourcamps were Oakhurst, Carter,McKenzie and Heritage.)

In order to pass a standard, allfour camps had to comply with thestandard. Even though this made itharder to achieve a high score, theUYC program received excellentscores on each section.

The specific scores for eachsection were: site 89 percent, aquat-ics 98 percent, adventure/challenge96 percent, human resources 100percent, health and wellness 100percent, operational management100 percent, program design 100percent, horseback riding 100 per-cent and transportation 100 percent.The combined total means that allof the UYC camps in the UnitedStates (including those not official-ly visited) are ÒY2000Ó rated by theACA, or simply accredited.

For more on the camp teammeetings, see page 5. UNUN

In the seven months between July2000 and January 2001, more than 2.4million households in the United Stateswill have received a promotion for theGood News magazine (see chart). Thisdoes not include the 12.5 millionReaderÕs Digest readers who receivedan ad in the June issue, or other previ-ous promotions.

Details of the brochure program,direct mail efforts, card decks andpackage inserts are included in theÒNews at a GlanceÓ section of thisissue, pages 15 and 16. UNUN

IN IN THISTHIS ISSUE...ISSUE...Q&A: Paid Ministry; Mr. ........2International News....................3Camp Team Meetings ................5Youth Demographic Study..........5Will You Jump in the Lake?........6Feast 2000......................................7Media Principles of Prophets ....10Open Houses in California ........112001 Holy Day Planner..........12Local Church Updates............13Announcements........................14News at a Glance ....................15WhatÕs New on the Web? ........16

Next issue: January 2, 2001

Connie Coutellier of the ACA congratulates Les McCullough and the campteam for officially achieving ACA accreditation

Good News Promotions Reaching MillionsQuantity Promotional Program Print Date

279,000 Direct mail #1 July 2000250,000 Supermarket take-ones #2 July 2000100,000 Brochure program member distribution July 200050,000 Brochure distribution, Murfreesboro, TN July 200010,000 Brochure mailing #1, London, KY July 200015,000 Brochure insert, Penny Saver, FL July 2000

150,000 Card deck #1, home schooling families Sept. 2000250,000 Package insert, rural home owners Dec. 2000150,000 Card deck #2, home schooling families Dec. 2000250,000 Package insert, rural home gardeners Jan. 2001150,000 Package insert Jan. 2001200,000 Direct mail #2 Jan. 2001500,000 Supermarket take-ones #3 Jan. 200125,000 Brochure mailing #2, London, KY Jan. 200125,000 Brochure mailings by other congregations Jan. 2001

2,404,000 TOTAL

2 United News December 2000

United NewsDecember 2000 Vol. 6, No. 8

United News (ISSN 1088-8020) is published monthlyexcept April and October by the United Church ofGod, an International Association, 5405 DupontCircle, Suite A, Milford, OH 45150. © 2000 UnitedChurch of God, an International Association. Printedin the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction in anyform without written permission is prohibited.Periodicals Postage paid at Milford, Ohio 45150, andat additional mailing offices. Canada Post publica-tions mail agreement number 1487167.

Editor: Peter W. Eddington

Managing editor: Mike Bennett

Copy editor: Becky Bennett

United Church of God Council of Elders:Gary Antion, Aaron Dean, Robert Dick, Roy

Holladay (chairman), John A. Jewell, Victor Kubik, Les McCullough, Burk McNair, Mario Seiglie,Richard Thompson, Leon Walker, Donald Ward

President: Leslie L. McCullough

Scriptural references are from the New King JamesVersion (© 1988 Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers)unless otherwise noted.

Subscriptions: United News is sent automatically tomembers of the United Church of God and is free toall who request it. Your subscription is provided bythe generous, voluntary contributions of members ofthe United Church of God, an InternationalAssociation, and their co-workers. Donations aregratefully accepted and are tax-deductible. Torequest a subscription, write to United News, UnitedChurch of God, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH45254-1027, or to one of the international addressesbelow.

Address changes: POSTMASTERÑSend addresschanges to United News, P.O. Box 541027,Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027

International addresses:

AUSTRALIA: United Church of GodÑAustralia GPO Box 535, Brisbane, Qld. 4001, AustraliaPhone: 0755 202-111 Fax: 0755 202-122

BAHAMAS: United Church of God, P.O. Box N8873,Nassau, BahamasPhone: (242) 324-3169 Fax: (242) 364-5566

BRITISH ISLES: United Church of GodÑBritish Isles,P.O. Box 705, Watford, Herts. WD19 6FZ England.Phone: 020-8386-8467 Fax: 01257-453978

CANADA: United Church of GodÐCanada, P.O. Box144, Station D, Etobicoke, ON M9A 4X1, CanadaPhone: (416) 231-9379, (800) 338-7779 Fax: (416)231-8238

FIJI: United Church of God, P.O. Box 10-577, Nadi, FijiPhone: 723-678

FRENCH-SPEAKING AREAS: �glise de Dieu UnieÑFrance, B.P. 51254, 45002 Orl�ans Cedex 1, France

GERMANY: Vereinte Kirche Gottes, Postfach 30 1509, D-53195 Bonn, GermanyPhone: 0228-9454636 Fax: 0228-9454637 E-mail gutenachrichten@compuserve.com

ITALY: La Buona Notizia, Chiesa di Dio Unita,Casella Postale 187, 24100 Bergamo, ItalyPhone: 0039-035583474 Fax: 0039-035582140

MAURITIUS: P.O. Box 53, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius

The NETHERLANDS: United Church of God Holland,P.O. Box 93, 2800 AB Gouda, The Netherlands

NEW ZEALAND: United Church of God, P.O. Box 22,Auckland, 1015, New Zealand. Phone: 0508-463-763

PHILIPPINES: United Church of God, P.O.Box 4774,MCPO, 1287 Makati City, PhilippinesPhone: (+63-82) 241-0150

SOUTHERN AFRICA: United Church of God,Southern Africa, P.O. Box 2209, Beacon Bay, EastLondon 5205, South Africa. Phone/Fax: 043 748-1694

SPANISH-SPEAKING AREAS: Iglesia de Dios Unida,P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027, U.S.A.Phone: (513) 576-9796

TONGA: United Church of GodÐTonga, P.O. Box 127,NukuÕalofa, Tonga

Internet access on your computer:The United Church of God, an InternationalAssociation, has a home page on the InternetÕs WorldWide Web. The address http://www.ucg.org gives youaccess to general information and news about theChurch, issues of The Good News and United News, aswell as our booklets. The address http://www.ucg.caaccesses the ChurchÕs Canadian Web site,http://www.ucg.org.au the Australian Web site,http://www.labuonanotizia.org the Italian Web site,http://www.goodnews.org.uk the British Isles Website and http://www.ucg.org.ph the Philippines Website.

Q. Why does the Church have a paidministry?

A. The UCGIA has devoted muchstudy to all aspects of this topic. Whilenon-salaried elders make a priceless con-tribution to the service of the Church ofGod, we believe that the Scriptures teachus it is in the best interest of the Church tohave salaried pastors when and where pos-sible.

Looking at the Old Testament first forexamples and principles, we note that theLevites clearly obtained their livelihoodfrom the first tithe (Numbers 18:20Ð21,24), festival expenses from the secondtithe (Deuteronomy 16:13Ð14), and theirretirement or disability income from thethird tithe (Deuteronomy 14:27Ð29).There were additional benefits given to theLevites in the form of property (Numbers35:2Ð8), so they would have ample liveli-hood to be able to teach all Israel the waysof God.

All Israel suffered when it failed toprovide for the Levites as God hadinstructed. The Old Testament records twosuch instances, both in the post-exilictimes, in the books of Nehemiah andMalachi.

The New International Commentaryon the Old Testament comments: ÒDuringNehemiahÕs absence the people neglectedthe compulsory contributions for the sup-port of the temple staff, so that these peo-ple were obliged to abandon the templeservice in order to support themselves.Ó Itcontinues, ÒJ.M.P. Smith rightly empha-sizes that the tithes and offerings togetherconstituted a large element in the mainte-nance of the temple staff of priests andLevites. IsraelÕs robbing God thereforecoincides with conditions alluded to in 2Chronicles 31 and Nehemiah 13Ó (Haggai-Malachi, pages 304-305, emphasis addedthroughout).

We read the results of this inNehemiah 13:10, ÒÉthe portions of theLevites had not been given them; so thatthe Levites and singers who did the work(forced by necessity) had each fled to hisfieldÓ (Amplified Bible). Soncino addshere, ÒEither to his own field to the culti-vation of which he had to devote timewhich should have been devoted to histemple duties, or, any field from which hecould obtain the portion due to himÓ(Nehemiah, page 264).

The story in Malachi is much thesame. The primary passage that deals withthe subject of tithing is very familiar to theChurch of God (Malachi 3:8). In responseto the peopleÕs perplexed question, ÒHowhave we robbed you?Ó God responds with,ÒYou are robbing meÓ (NRSV). The word-ing indicates an ongoing process.According to the ExpositorÕs BibleCommentary Òstealing means not only tak-

ing what is not yours, but keeping back foryourself what belongs to someone elseÓ(vol. 7, page 720).

The application to modern times isself-evident. We must not fail to use thetithes and offerings for the adequate sup-port of the New Testament ministry, lestthe Israel of God lack the teachers andcounselors it needs.

LetÕs look at some points in the NewTestament. ÒThe laborer is worthy of hiswages,Ó said Christ to the 70 that He sentout to do the work of spreading the gospel,clearly implying that they would be sup-ported by those whom they taught (Luke10:1, 7Ð8). Christ shows that the spreadingof the gospel was work (ÒlaborÓ) and thatthe one spreading the gospel (Òthe labor-erÓ) has a right to receive (ÒworthyÓ)wages or physical remuneration (food anddrink).

His instruction was similar to the 12apostles He sent to Òpreach, saying, ÔThekingdom of heaven is at hand.Õ Heal thesick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, castout demons.Ó Plainly, theirs was a spiritu-al work. He told them not to provide fortheir own support, because ÒÉa worker isworthy of his foodÓ (Matthew 10:5Ð10).

Christ taught that the spiritual work ofthe ministry is worthy of receiving physi-cal things as compensation and that tithingwas a continuing requirement in the NewTestament. ItÕs logical to assume that thetithe was the basis of those ÒphysicalthingsÓ that were used to compensate theNew Testament ministry just as it was forthe Levite in the Old Testament. (Hebrews7 corroborates this conclusion.)

The strongest and most direct state-ment by Paul about the compensation ofthe ministry is found in 1 Timothy 5:17:ÒElders with a gift of leadership should beconsidered worthy of respect, and ade-quate salary, particularly if they workhard at their preaching and teachingÓ (J. B.Phillips).

A comparison of several commen-taries shows that that this wording reflectsthe sense of the Greek (The BibleExpositor Volume III, page 359; The NewBible Commentary, page 1175; TheCritical and Experimental Commentaryby Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, VolumeVI, pages 495 and 496; Adam ClarkeCommentary, page 1227; Matthew HenryOne Volume Commentary, page 1891;Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles byWilliam Barclay).

In 1 Corinthians 9:5Ð14, Paul defendshis right to receive pay for his ministerialservices, implying that it was routinelyaccepted that the ministry be so compen-sated. What support one congregation wasnot able to or did not provide, others did,and Paul did not hesitate to accept it (1Corinthians 16:17; Philippians 4:16Ð17).

Galatians 6:6 must also be consid-ered. Says Matthew HenryÕs Commentary:ÒIt is the duty of those who are taught inthe word to support those who areappointed to teach them; for they are tocommunicate to them in all good things,freely and cheerfully to contribute, of thegood things with which God has blessedthem, what is needful for their comfortablesubsistence. É It is but fit and equitablethat, while [ministers] are sowing to othersspiritual things, they should reap their car-nal things. And this is the appointment ofGod himself; for as, under the law, thosewho ministered about holy things lived ofthe things of the temple, so hath the Lordordained that those who preach the gospelshould live of the gospel (1 Corinthians9:11,13Ð14)Ó (notes on Galatians 6).

This gives a good overview of theBibleÕs guidelines on the subject of a paidministry.

Q. Does Matthew 23:10 forbid theuse of ÒMr.Ó when addressing the min-istry?

A. ÒNeither be called masters,Ó iswhat the KJV says in Matthew 23:10.Since ÒMr.Ó is but an abbreviation forÒmaster,Ó some have questioned the use ofthis title. The Greek word translated Òmas-terÓ in the KJV is kathegetes. According tothe commentaries, VineÕs and Strongs,kathegetes means Òa guide,Ó such as ateacher. So, Jesus was not referring to thepresent-day custom of using the titlesÒMr.Ó and ÒMrs.Ó as a demonstration ofcourteous respect.

It is certainly true that these titles areused much less in business dealings todaythan what was customary in previous gener-ations. Nonetheless, it is also true that usingthese simple titles is still regarded as a meansof showing courteous respect in our Westernculture. It is generally considered polite torefer to men and women who are years oursenior as Mr. or Mrs. out of respect.

We have typically used the title ÒMr.Ówhen addressing or referring to one of ourelders in a public or official situation, notas a means of elevating him unduly, but inrespect for the office that he holds. Thereare, of course, casual situations in friend-ships when the use of this formal title isunnecessary.

The heart of ChristÕs instructions inMatthew 23 was His criticism of thePharisees for their lack of the attitude of aservant. That is to say, His focus was notso much on the use of a specific title, butrather on the attitude of mind.Paraphrasing His instruction, Òservantsmust have a servantÕs attitude.Ó Whatevertheir responsibility, however they areaddressed by others, they must have theheart of a servant.

Cecil E. Maranville

Q&A: Paid Ministry; Using ÒMr.Ó

United News December 2000 3

By Lillie Robinson

Recently a series of TV advertisementshas been publicizing certain family activitiesand occasions to be Òpriceless,Ó but declaringthat for Òeverything elseÓ one simply needs touse a specific credit card. The validity of thefirst part of this advertisement would beheartily supported by many of the brethren ofthe Toronto congregation. On the weekend ofNovember 11 and 12, they experienced 12hours of classes from the Ambassador BibleCenter mini-sampler program presented byGary Antion and Ralph Levy. Certainly nocredit card could have purchased what thesetwo dedicated, well-studied teachers of GodÕsWord presented to those in attendance. WhenGodÕs Word is Òrightly dividedÓ it is price-less!

This invaluable instruction began at theSabbath service held at the Radisson Hotel inMississauga, Ontario. Dr. Levy and Mr.Antion presented split sermons to 110brethren including 16 visitors from easternOntario, New York and Ohio.

Dr. LevyÕs sermon set the backgroundfor his future classes by revealing how thepost-exilic Jews until the time of Christ haddeveloped very minute, specific laws makingJudaism narrow, exclusive and a religion oftraditions. As their Mishna, Talmud and orallaws developed, they became substitutes forGodÕs merciful and just laws. He showedhow Christ ripped away the Pharisaical layersof tradition and revealed the important intentof GodÕs law and Himself as ÒLord of theSabbath.Ó Dr. Levy asked, ÒWould Christ beLord of something done away with?ÓFollowing PaulÕs declaration in 1 Corinthians7:19 and JohnÕs prophecy in Revelation12:17 and 14:12, Dr. Levy declared that weare a Commandment-keeping Church andhave the testimony of Jesus.

In the second sermon, Mr. Antion beganby posing the question, ÒIs just believing inJesus enough?Ó He developed the answer byshowing that a scripture must not be isolated.Other scriptures concerning any subject mustbe searched out to give complete understand-ing.

Belief or faith in Christ has two sides,asserted Mr. Antion: mental knowing andactive doing (James 2:14Ð26). He pointed outthat Jesus taught only what the Father toldHim (John 14:24), and He will deny us to theFather if we are not obediently doing GodÕswill (Matthew 7:21Ð23). Mr. Antion statedthat Christ directed the rich young ruler to theTen Commandments, not to just believe onHim. In concluding, he emphasized how obe-dience must accompany belief, and that sinceChrist kept His FatherÕs Commandments, somust we.

The Sabbath service was followed by ahalf-hour of fellowship, after which 56 peo-

ple remained for two hours of instructionbefore supper. Two more hours followedafter supper. Mr. Antion and Dr. Levy alter-nated with 50-minute presentations.

The same format continued for 42 stu-dents all day Sunday with four sessions bothbefore and after lunch. The written handoutsgiven by each teacher were most helpful infocusing attention and reinforcing under-standing. The presentations were so thor-ough, powerful, animated and clear that timeseemed to slip by too quickly. Those whocompleted the 12 hours of instruction werepresented with handsome certificates muchlike those given at ABC in Cincinnati.

During his presentations, Mr. Antioncovered 2 John, 3 John, Jude and chapters 9,10 and 15 of Acts. Understanding for eachbook was established by first building the his-torical and spiritual background of the time.After a theme was extracted, the verses wereread, compared, explained and expanded. Heshowed how JohnÕs and JudeÕs letters warnthe Church and certain individuals to usetruth to discern false doctrines and falseteachers and that, though hospitality is impor-tant, evil men must be resisted.

When presenting Acts 9, 10 and 15, Mr.Antion showed how PaulÕs work with gentileconverts and the giving of the Holy Spirit to

Cornelius and his family impacted the deci-sion of the Jerusalem council to accept thegentiles. Christianity was for all people notjust circumcised Jews. As Acts 1:8 reveals,Christ sent His disciples to the entire world.

Dr. Levy covered the subject ÒThe Lawin the Covenants.Ó After defining a covenantand outlining its elements, he progressedthrough the establishment of the TenCommandments as the heart of the OldCovenant with Israel. It was accompanied bya book of the covenant, a package of lawdesigned to govern a physical nation. Godknew Israel was Òstiff-neckedÓ and wouldfail, so in Deuteronomy 10:16 He asked forspiritual circumcision of the heart. The OldTestament and New Testament flow together.There is no disjuncture as Dr. Levy assertedand proved from many scriptures such asJeremiah 31:31Ð34 and Hebrews 8:6Ð13.The lines of connection are so strong thatthey cannot be ignored or fractured.

Taking the study further, Dr. Levyshowed how Moses mediated the OldCovenant, which had no promise of eternallife, and Christ mediates the New Covenantin His blood and builds on the Old. The lawdefines transgression for us, said Dr. Levy.He emphasized that only by ChristÕs bloodcan we be cleaned up and justified. Thus, the

New brings greater glory than the Old. Dr.Levy concluded that the Bible itself elevatesthe decalogue mediated by Moses and showsthat the love of God, codified in the TenCommandments, constitutes the center ofGodÕs way of life, under both the OldCovenant and the New Covenant.

It became clear from the remarks ofthose who attended this seminar, that therewas much enthusiasm for and satisfactionfrom the studies they absorbed. One motherstated, ÒI just left things at home undonebecause I knew that this was an opportunityof a lifetime.Ó She found the presentationswere revealing, convincing and reinforcedmany beliefs already held.

Others commented on how muchground was covered in such a short time.Words like Òinspiring,Ó Òrefreshing,ÓÒinstructiveÓ and ÒexcitingÓ were heard. ÒIwish we could have more of this,Óenthused a visitor. A deacon felt that he hadbeen Òequipped to more properly defendour faith.Ó Toronto brethren and their visi-tors would greatly urge others to attend anABC mini-sampler program if it comes totheir area. Like us, they are sure to find itÒpriceless.Ó

Lillie Robinson is a member of theToronto, Ontario, congregation.

Toronto Hosts ÒPricelessÓ ABC Mini-Sampler

November 15 a couple of staff mem-bers dutifully and enthusiastically trans-ported 30 flat top containers to CanadaPostÕs Gateway Terminal in Mississauga,Ontario. In the containers were 3,300copies of The Good News destined for ournonmember subscribers coast to coast.

That same day the same crewdropped off five boxes of The GoodNews (100 copies in each box) at thelocal post office in Etobicoke (pro-nounced E-toe-bee-ko), Ontario, forthose who operate newsstand outlets forour fine publication.

ItÕs most heartening to see the seedsof the gospel being sown further and widerright here in our beautiful country.

October StatisticsThe Canadian office ended the month of

October on a positive note. Once again, weexceeded our budgeted amount for mailincome. This time, though, the amount wasonly $40 over budget. For the year to date weare running about 6 percent over budget formail income. Holy Day offerings, on theother hand, are nearly $6,000 below whatwas budgeted.

In October we added 108 new names toour files. Many of these were first-timedonors who attended with us on one or more

of the Holy Days. That is an encouragingindication.

Comparing the number of members,donors and subscribers on file on January 1,2000, and October 31, 2000, there is anincrease of 3.7 percent, 19.4 percent and 29.7percent respectively. We have about 11,500subscribers currently on our mailing list.

So far in 2000 we have distributed73,844 pieces of literature. The Good Newsaccounts for about 75 percent of the total.

Top Five BookletsThe ÒTop FiveÓ booklets in terms of

numbers distributed are: You Can Understand Bible Prophecy

(932 pieces)Does God Exist? (541)Creation or Evolution (523)Heaven and Hell (521)The Book of Revelation Unveiled (450).

French LiteratureUntil this fall, visitors seeking French

language literature on our Web site havebeen offered only four booklets translatedby the Church. We are now pleased tooffer what we hope will be only the first ina new series of articles translated intoFrench in Canada. The first article isÒConseils Sages Pour Decisions SagesÓ

(ÒWise Advice for Wise DecisionsÓ) byLarry Greider, which appeared in theJuly/August issue of the Good News mag-azine.

This complex project is being ablycoordinated by staff member Kevin Ford.

The initial translation is done in theCanadian office, with the rather limitedhelp of a computer program. The computer-rendered translation is fairly rough, and asignificant amound of correction has to bedone by Mr. Ford before the article canmove on to the next stage.

A careful review is provided by twoindividuals proficient in CanadaÕs otherofficial language, Ghyslaine Palmer (fromthe Vancouver, British Columbia, congre-gation), a native of French-speakingSwitzerland, and Carol Livermore (fromthe Ottawa, Ontario, congregation) whogrew up in Quebec fully bilingual.

The final text is e-mailed to our Webmaster, Paul Wasilkoff, who posts it on theCanadian Web site for access by the grow-ing number of subscribers in Quebec whomay prefer to receive literature in theirown language.

The UCG Canadian Report is pre-pared weekly by Anthony Wasilkoff and Edvan Pelt, and is available on the Web atwww.ucg.org/a/news/canada.htm.

International News...

News Briefs From The UCG Canadian Report

Excerpts from the report givento the Annual General Meeting

of the United Church ofGodÐBritish Isles October 19.

by John A. Jewell

At Pentecost 1998 a major splitoccurred which saw the United Church ofGod in the British Isles reduced from approx-imately 450 attending with 15 ministersdown to around 90 attending with two minis-ters. The Church of God in Britain in 1995had an attendance of around 4,500 in 40churches.

In 1998 UCG was reduced to a pointwhere there was no infrastructure. No office,no equipment, no mailing list, no staff, nohymnbooks, no literature, no Feast site, nosummer campÑnothing except a desirewithin those who were still at their stations todo the work.

Things came together and today, justtwo years later, I can report solid growth.

CongregationsWe now have five churches. The initial

five people in Harpenden are now around 35meeting in Bricket Wood and we have asmall group meeting regularly inBirmingham. We hope that further groupscan be established in East Anglia,South/Southeast England and the Southwest.

The speaking team now has seven menregularly taking church services and givingsermons. A further eight men are currentlygiving sermonettes. Last year David Fenneywas ordained and brought the ministerialteam up to three. We look forward to furtherordinations in due course.

InfrastructureFrom no facilities we now have leased

premises in Lancashire, in Eccleston (whichactually means Òchurch townÓ), which pro-vide general mailing facilities, literature stor-age, a resource facility, storage, etc.

In 1998 we had no paid staff. Everythingwas done on a voluntary basis. Today we stillhave no paid ministry, but we do have twopaid employees, Jan Schroeder and DavidMcDermott.

CirculationIn 1998 we managed to put together a

mailing list of around 400. A year later inOctober 1999 the circulation list was up to1,359 with subscribers in 21 countriesthroughout Scandinavia, Europe and theMediterranean.

As of October 11, the list was 2,613,roughly twice that of last year. (By mid-November it was nearly 3,500!) We are nowmailing into 25 countries giving those peoplea faster service and at the same time relievingCincinnati from a further mailing complexity.

FinancesIn our first year of restructuring the

income was £59,000. The second year it was£66,000 and this year it looks as though wecould reach £88,000.

New Subscribers and SubscriberDevelopment

We must remain aware of the reason forthe Church. It is to fulfill the task delegated toit by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24 andMatthew 28: To preach the gospel of thecoming Kingdom of God with the hope itoffers together with the warning of thoseevents to immediately precede ChristÕsreturn, plus the duty of pastoring and nurtur-ing those God calls as a result.

We see this first part as falling into twoelements:

1. The printed word, which is a vehicleby which the gospel can be preached and adialogue developed. Such a dialogue willresult in a calling where God chooses.

2. Radio and public meetings, which area preaching of the gospel as a witness per se.

To achieve the first it is necessary toincrease the circulation list as much as wereasonably can. We have tried various meth-

ods, such as local newspaper advertising, awaiting room program, national magazineadvertising and leaflet drops. These have notall been that successful. In fact, we have nowdiscontinued the waiting room program.

¥ ReaderÕs Digest was very successfulin March 1999 giving us around 800 respons-es. By GodÕs intervention we paid only asixth of the regular cost.

We have this year tried the:¥ Sunday TelegraphÑ351 responses.¥ Information ServiceÑ500 responses

so far. (As of mid-November this was over1,400.)

¥ Direct mailÑ1,000 sent out, 19responses so far.

¥ Direct mail in the Isle of ManÑ5responses so far.

¥ Two Granada Motorway serviceareasÑ8,000 brochures placed so far inEdinburgh and in Tamworth, with the projectto run from September to DecemberÑ12responses so far.

¥ Swedish ReaderÕs DigestÑ31responses so far.

¥ Web siteÑ159 responses.We are now more clearly seeing where

the doors are open.To develop a dialogue with subscribers

we have instituted four main methods.1. Bible Study Course, as a correspon-

dence course. We have developed test papersfor each lesson with test cards. This gets theindividual into the habit of writing to us andhelps develop a personal relationship. Wehave around 400 on the list.

2. The British and European supple-ment to The Good News. The thinking wasthat The Good News itself is oriented mainlyto the United States. The foreign languageareas are obviously able to orient a magazinespecifically to their own areas. Dealing withScandinavia, English-language Europe, theMediterranean and the Middle East, we need-ed to do so too.

So as a temporary recourse, we devel-oped a four-page supplement with a Q&Asection and letters mainly from this area.

There are also European targeted articles. Isay temporary because we see the obviousdirection to go as being the development ofthe supplement as an eventual front-line mag-azine with The Good News as the doctrinalsecond line with booklets, Bible StudyCourse, etc., following on behind.

The next stage in the supplementÕsdevelopment is now taking place with aneight-page issue for November/December.

3. Semiannual letters. These are goingout every six months to the whole list, alwayswith an offer of some kind. Always free.Always without a request for money. Thisencourages the written response.

4. As subscribers become donors andcoworkers, we send special regular lettersevery eight weeks. These are addressed tomembers, coworkers and friends. The lettersare intended to develop a closer dialogue.They speak of prophecy and world condi-tions and inform of what the Church is cur-rently doing.

The WitnessWe realized quite early that more than

this was neededÑthat there would always bethose who either donÕt write in or find it dif-ficult to do so. We therefore developed aradio program, The World Tomorrow broad-cast. This has now been on the air on ManxRadio (AM and FM) for 17 months, withover 80 programs now Òin the can.Ó This yearwe have gone on to two shortwave stations,WWCR and WINB. This year we havereceived very few known responsesÑ14from Manx Radio and six from shortwave.But a listening audience is being built. InJune we received our first complaint. Thiswas a result of a program entitled ÒReturn toSodom.Ó The radio station was very support-ive of us and has remained so. We knew thenthat people out there are listening.

We are negotiating with Radio Carolineon the Astra satellite. We also plan to meetwith London Broadcasting, but the cost perprogram may be more than we can manage.We are also working towards streaming onthe Internet after we get the right equipmentand systems in place. Streaming on-line willenable us to speak out more strongly than ispossible on regular stations.

Statistically, it takes around two yearsfrom the time someone receives his first copyof the magazine to the time he responds toGodÕs call. If we are to respond to that statis-tic, we have got to think in terms of two-yearbites. Each year we need to see a significantaddition to the mailing listÑpreferably at onetime, perhaps twice in the year. This will thenlead two years down the line to possible pub-lic campaigns to those same people.

In the meantime we continue to developthe ministry and the congregations to beready for that time. As the world disinte-grates, we pray ÒThy Kingdom come.Ó UNUN

John Jewell is chief executive officerof UCGÐBritish Isles and a member of theCouncil of Elders of UCGIA.

4 United News December 2000

CEO Reports on Growth in United Church of GodÐBritish Isles

The first Australian National YouthCommittee meeting is scheduled to beheld in Sydney December 9 and 10. DonGoodger, chairman of the committee, saidthey will discuss summer camp, an ABCscholarship, publications, future Feasts,youth days and many other items.

ÒOur goal this year is to expand thewaiting room program as much as possi-ble, and this has been happening thanks tothe diligence of a handful of callers whoare principally targeting the New SouthWales area,Ó said Ruth Root, chairman ofthe Media Committee. ÒAs a result of theirunflagging efforts, we are expecting tomail out approximately 1,700 waitingroom subscriptions with the

November/December issue. This methodof getting new subscribers costs less than$2 a subscription and is very effectivebecause readers see the magazine beforethey subscribe to it.

ÒWe are planning to do our mainadvertising for the year in February/Marchas this time has produced some of the bet-ter results in the past,Ó she said.

The Good News circulation was up 39percent over the previous year for theSeptember/October issue, to 6,115.

Approximately A$547,000 will be avail-able for doing the work in Australia this year,including an 11 percent subsidy fromUCGIA. ÒThese resources are being put tovery good use,Ó said Drew Efimov, National

Finance Committee chairman. ÒSome$108,000 will be spent in national and localactivities promoting the gospel in a measuredfashion. An additional $255,000 has beenallocated to meeting the needs of our localchurch congregations.Ó

The Policy and Planning Committee isworking by e-mail to develop the strategicplan for Australia. ÒUpon completion of thedraft copy of phase one of the plan, it will besent to the congregations for comment,Ósaid Trevor Huthnance, committee chair-man. ÒWe will welcome comment both onthese strategic goals and ideas on how toachieve these goals.Ó

United News Australia is on the Web atwww.ucg.org.au/content/una.asp.

News Briefs From United News Australia

United News December 2000 5

Youth Camps...

by David Treybig

The United Youth Camp (UYC) teammet at the home office in Cincinnati, Ohio,November 12 through 14, to discuss the pastseasonÕs camps and consider plans for thefuture. Those in attendance included the eightcamp directors, Larry Greider, the overallcamp coordinator, and three additional menwho have been making special contributionsto the camp team.

On Sunday morning the conferencebegan with each camp director giving areport on his camp. An overall compilation ofdata from the seven summer camps just con-cluded revealed that these camps wereattended by 859 campers and served by 361staff. Several camp directors remarked thattheir staff this past year was the strongest andbest qualified ever. Such reports indicate thatUnited has been developing a strong team ofvolunteers to serve our youth.

A review of surveys from campers, staff

and parents reflected these positive reportsfrom camp directors. According to an overallreport on these surveys prepared by MaryClark, ÒCampers see the main goal of campas building a relationship with God and learn-ing His ways. The percentage of camperswho listed this as the main goal rose from 55percent in 1999 to 63 percent this year. Anadditional 13 percent listed the main goal aslearning about GodÕs plan and theMillennium. The goals seem to be becomingmore focused and clear.Ó

Building relationships was also anotherimportant reason why many youth came tothe camps. Many were from small congrega-tions and were excited about the opportunityto meet and make new friends in the Church.Many also said they would like to havelonger camps.

Staff surveys reflected appreciation forthe training tapes that were sent out beforecamp. Suggestions included remaking thetapes so they would be fresh each year and

sending them out ear-lier so staff wouldhave more time to lis-ten to them beforecamps began. Thecamp team expressedtheir desire to imple-ment these sugges-tions. Several staffsurveys also notedthat some of our girlcampers need instruc-tion in modest dress.

While parentalsurveys reflectedsome specific con-cerns about eachcamp, 97 percent of those responding said thecamps were successful in accomplishingtheir goals and 96 percent said the overalleffect was good for their children. Selectedremarks included: ÒI realize there is nothingmore important for my children to do during

the summer than to attend United YouthCamp.Ó ÒIt was the best use of money weÕveseen in a long time.Ó ÒCamp always inspiresmy children that GodÕs Way is the right way.ÓÒMy daughterÕs favorite aspect of camp is theChristian Living classes.Ó ÒThey [the camps]anchor him for the rest of the year by helpinghim have vision.Ó

The next item of business was to reviewa demographic study of youth in the Church(see article, this page).

One of the lengthier discussions cen-tered on a review and discussion of currentpolicies dealing with equipment inventories,non-UCG involvement, scholarships, campshirts, the application process, internationalinvolvement, discipline matters includingexpulsion, interfacing with parents, our codeof conduct, awards and recognition, ChristianLiving formats, health and fitness issues, sur-veys, dorm parents, legal concerns, and theuse of Web pages. On each of these issues,the camp team sought to differentiatebetween policies (expectations of the wayeach camp will handle various matters) andguidelines (recommendations to be appliedas appropriate by camp directors).

The next day, members of the teamreviewed financial matters including costreporting, next yearÕs budget and how to pro-ceed with efforts to secure corporate dona-tions for our camps. Concerning the latter,guidelines were provided on how to approachbusinesses with specific requests.

Camp Magazine and VideoPeter Eddington and Mike Bennett, of

the home office, then joined the conference toplan the camp magazine for 2001. Articleassignments were given in addition to havingeach camp director provide an overview ofhis camp. It was noted that last year this mag-azine clearly identified United Youth Campsto the ACA as one camp program with differ-ent locations across the United States. It wasalso a great help in approaching potential cor-

Camp Team Discusses This YearÕs Camps and Prepares for 2001

by Matthew Fenchel

In August of this year, pastors in theUnited Church of God were asked to fill outa demographic survey of their congrega-tions. According to Larry Greider (UnitedYouth CampsÕ overall coordinator), the pur-pose of this questionnaire was to gatherinformation to assist the Church in planningfor our teen, preteen and other youth-relatedactivities. In October, Mary Clark (wife ofKansas pastor Tom Clark) completed thelaborious task of compiling and analyzingthe results. The finished report was then pre-sented by the Youth Education Committeeto the president and operation managers fortheir use.

The survey contained a variety of ques-tions, including how many children andteenagers we have in various age groups, thenumber of young adults, the number of fam-ilies, those who have attended camp in thepast, those who plan on attending next year,numbers of children who attended past pre-teen camps, and those children who plan onattending preteen camps in 2001. The reportproduced some interesting results:

¥ Approximately 71 percent of youthages 12 to 19 in United have attended sum-mer camp at least once, and 57 percent of thepastors served at camp last summer.

¥ Thirty-one percent of UnitedÕs totalU.S. attendance is between the ages of 3 and25, with 26 percent between the ages of 3 and18.

¥ United has approximately 700 youngadults between the ages of 19 and 35. Based

on the results of this survey, that numbercould grow to almost 1,200 by the year 2003,and to more than 2,200 by the year 2009.

¥ At this time, UCG has about 1,200teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18.That number is projected to decrease some-what during the next few years. Based onthose currently in the Church, by 2003 thatfigure would be around 1,080. In 2006 itwould be down to 950, and just slightly morethan 900 in the year 2009.

The various results were also analyzedby geographical region. This will help us toknow where future teen and preteen campsshould be located, to minimize travel andcosts to families.

As with any study of this nature, it isimportant to note that this is a ÒsnapshotÓ at

one point in time. Certainly these numberscanÑand probably willÑchange in the com-ing months and years, due to a variety of fac-tors. Those working with the youth programsof the Church will continue to monitor thenumbers and locations of our young people,in order to serve them in the most effectivemanner possible.

While demographic studies are valu-able, they are just one tool the Church isusing to analyze and improve its service toour children, teens and young adults. Mostimportant is our dedication to God and Histruth, and seeking His will in all that we do.All of those working with our youth are veryexcited with the spiritual growth that God isproviding our young people and the dedica-tion they are showing to Him. UNUN

Youth Education Committee Conducts Demographic Study

United Youth Camp team meets in the conference room at the homeoffice November 12 through 14

Youth 3 to 25: Breakdown by Category and Region

Region Age Age Age Age Age Age Totals Previous3-5 6-8 9-11 12-14 15-18 19-25 camp

attendees

Northwest 66 67 72 74 84 24 387 157

Southwest 45 34 45 42 39 59 264 50

Mountain 28 32 25 30 35 28 178 44

North Central 59 47 54 72 86 58 376 92

South Central 79 72 95 98 116 110 570 130

Central 45 31 45 58 55 76 310 99

Great Lakes 55 52 75 75 109 90 456 130

Southeast 60 72 58 74 81 56 401 108

Northeast 29 40 32 56 35 31 223 58

Totals 466 447 501 579 640 532 3,165 868(See ÒCAMP,Ó page 11)

by Robert Berendt

When I was a little boy, my moth-er would often caution us against blind-ly following the lead of others. Shewould say, ÒIf everyone else jumps intothe lakeÑdoes that mean that youshould too?Ó The answer of too manypeople to that question is an emphatic,and tragic, yes!

We are strongly influenced by peo-ple around us. Often the actions of oth-ers draw us simply because it seemseverybody is doing it. Few people giveserious thought to consequences or tothe future.

We have seen the millions inGermany following the goose step of afanatic dictator to early graves andruined lives. We read about the tens ofthousands who marched together intodisillusionment and suffering in thearmies of the Crusades, Napoleon andGenghis Khan. We know of the millionswho devoted their lives to the growth ofcommunism.

We Are FollowersIt is obvious in clothing fads, activ-

ities we engage in, trends and styles thatpeople are, by and large, followers.ÒWhere you lead me I will followÓ wemay have said as little children whenthinking of Jesus Christ, but in reality,most follow the paths that the majorityof people about us take. Most people donot do that which seems wrong to them.They believe they are doing somethingthat is right and good (Proverbs 14:12).

It is rare to find a person who thinksdeeply and makes his or her choicesbased on logic, observation, goodadvice and, most importantly of course,the Holy Scriptures.

Choices are easy just as long aseveryone else is doing it. When a persondetermines to do the right thing, no mat-ter the consequences, then that person isshowing signs of strength and the abili-ty to think clearly.

In 1 Corinthians 15:33 God inspiredPaul to caution members not to bedeceived: ÒEvil company corrupts goodhabits.Ó We use sayings such as ÒOnerotten apple can spoil the barrelÓ to helpus remember certain guidelines to livingwell. One good apple tossed into a bar-rel of rotten apples will not change thebad apples to good ones. Yet, so manyChristians naively believe that this canhappen.

There is a huge amount of energyand zeal, enthusiasm and drive in theyoung. This is vital to progress andwhen properly directed, results in suc-cess and accomplishments. For themasses, though, this exuberance is oftenmanipulated and used for purposes that

only result in disillusionment, regretsand pain. Humanity has not yet learnedthat there is only one way to liveÑGodÕs way.

Our attitudes and beliefs need to beguarded and inspected often. It is ahuman tendency to avoid the extra effortthat is often needed to reach the highestlevels of a relationship with God. It isnot easy nor is it natural for we humansto stand against the whole society about

us. That,how-

ever, is exactly what Godexpects of us! God givesclear guidelines in the HolyScriptures for a lifestyle thatpromotes liberty and happiness.

Liberty Carries Responsibilities

Liberty carries responsibility forchoices and actions with it and oughtnot to be confused with license. Godtells us that this society will not tolerateHis way of life. In John 17:14Ð15 Jesusasked the Father to keep His peoplefrom the evil one. He said His followersÒare not of the world, just as I am not ofthe world.Ó We are not living in theworld God supports and loves. He lovesthe people of this world and is deter-mined to end the blindness, hardheart-edness, greed and other vices thatplague all of our societies.

Back to the wisdom of my motherÕsremarks. The easiest thing to do is to goalong with the status quo. ÒDonÕt rockthe boat,Ó people will say. In Matthew7:13Ð14 Jesus said to ÒEnter by the nar-row gate; for wide is the gate and broadis the way that leads to destruction, andthere are many who go in by it. Becausenarrow is the gate and difficult is theway which leads to life, and there arefew who find it.Ó God did not leavemuch room for those who are quick andeager to jump into the lake with every-one else. Just because everyone else isdoing it, that does not make it right.

God has taken to Himself the taskof forcing us to think for ourselves,guided by His Word, and to think cor-rectly. We all have the freedom to reject

GodÕs work because He wants freeÒchildren of obedienceÓ in His family (1Peter 1:14). He wants those who canmake good and right decisions whenthey have been given GodÕs Word andthe understanding of truth.

This is not much different than ascientist learning to think for himself,but guided by the laws of science. Hewould be insane to cast those laws asideand try to work in the field of sciencewithout knowing and using the laws ofthe physical universe around him. Mostpeople, sad to say, are content to letsomeone else think for them in so many

vital aspects of life.Some manage to bury

their heads in thesand for their wholelives.

Courage andDeterminationGod did not promise

an easy life for His fol-lowers. He said it wouldtake a great deal ofcourage and determina-

tion to enter eternal life.Developing and building

these and other powerfuland valuable character traits pleases Godgreatly. Jesus Christ suffered for us andHe was perfected by what He suffered.Since we are to walk in His footsteps, wetoo are allowed to suffer sometimes.

1 Peter 5:1 is a strong admonition tothe elders who have been given the priv-ilege of serving the children God haschosen. This is a huge responsibility.Peter goes on to say in verse 6 to allowGod to lead our lives. He then tells us inverses 8Ð10 that we are to be seriousand thoughtful in how we conduct ourlives. We are to steadfastly look to Godfor guidance because Satan has beengiven control over the affairs of this

world and since he is GodÕs adversary,he is our adversary too. As we yield toGodÕs hand and resist the ways of thisworld, God will in due time perfect,establish and strengthen us.

We are to come out ofthis world. The

difficult path willbecome the most

beautiful andsatisfying.

It seems that it does us a lot of goodto take a firm and strong stand based onÒtruth.Ó It builds character. In the small-er scale of things such as growing up ina family with a mother such as I had,some of that kind of character wasformed in all of her children.

To follow the lamp of goodness,justice, righteousness, honesty and out-going concern, no matter what the cost,is the only way of liberty and peace.Sleep comes easily and is sweet forthose who allow God to do His handi-work in their lives.

Standing on the EdgeHow about you? Are you standing

on the edge of the lake watching theactions of others and if they jump in,will you jump into the lake too?

We all have much too much work todo to waste our years watching others.Let us be about our FatherÕs business andlet us keep our wits about us at every turnof the road. We are to come out of thisworld. The difficult path becomes themost beautiful and satisfying. UNUN

Robert Berendt pastors the Edmonton,Alberta, congregation in Canada.

6 United News December 2000

Will You Jump in the Lake Too?

ÒUpstreamÓ

The easy roads are crowded and the level roads are jammed,

The pleasant little rivers with the drifting folks are crammed.

But off yonder where itÕs rocky, where you get the better view,

YouÕll find the ranks are thinning and the travelers are few.

Where the goingÕs smooth and pleasant, you will always find the throng.

For the manyÑmoreÕs the pityÑseem to like to drift along.

But the steps that call for courage and the task thatÕs hard to do,

In the end results in glory for the never wavering few.

ÑAnonymous

by Larry Greider

Seminars for young adults, ages 18 to30s, were held this year at all the U.S. andCanadian sites. These seminars are a contin-uation of a process that began in 1996, whena survey was given to young adults askinghow the Church could be of service to them.The overwhelming response was for morebiblical education that related to living in thisworld.

Each year, ministers have been selectedby the Youth Education Committee to con-duct a presentation and discussion on a topicof interest to this age group. This year thetheme was ÒMaking Wise Decisions.Ó A tele-conference was held before the Feast andeach presenter was encouraged to customize

the material. KarieGreider put together aMicrosoft Powerpointpresentation of slidesand graphics to helpstimulate interaction.

Cecil Maranville,the presenter in Bend,Oregon, mentioned,ÒWe had 61 youngadults in attendance. Theywere an enthusiastic group andwere positive about the presen-tation and information.Ó

Bill Bradford mentioned,ÒWe had 72 in attendance inEscondido, significantly upfrom last year. The discussionwent very well and we had anumber of comments that thiswas no ordinary Bible studywhere we got Ôpreached at.ÕÓ

At Panama City Beach, Florida, JimFranks commented, ÒThey were enthusi-astic and very motivated. We had a total of 87in attendance. Many commented on the pre-sentation and virtually all asked for copies ofthe slide show afterwards. I explained in thebeginning that I would provide copies of thematerial to anyone who wanted it, but did notwant to make copies that would not be used.

60 copies were made (50 hard copies and 10on disks).Ó

Many of our young adults seem eager tolearn more about GodÕs way of life and wantto be involved in the work of the Church.Fred Kellers, who attended in Mont SainteAnne, Quebec, made an interesting observa-tion. ÒOne of the major comments was thatyoung people donÕt have much of a chance todevelop leadership in the Church. They saidthat they attempted to serve in the local con-gregation, but that all opportunities to serveseemed to be reserved for the older membersand deacons. One commentedon all of the ways he attemptedto serve and yet it was yearsbefore he was ever asked to givean opening or closing prayer. In

his congregation, one mustbe an old-time memberbefore being allowed to doanything at Church.Ó

Opportunities nowavailable for teens andyoung adults such as theUnited Youth Camps, theUnited Youth Corps and

Ambassador Bible Center, make the futureof the Church seem more secure, especiallyseeing the enthusiasm demonstrated at manyof the Feast sites this year.

Larry W. Greider is a member of theYouth Education Committee and is UnitedYouth Camps coordinator.

United News December 2000 7

Feast of Tabernacles 2000

Young Adults’ seminars in Wisconsin Dells,Branson and Hawaii

Festival Youth Instruction atPanama City Beach (photo by

Ken Treybig); right, Mont SainteAnne (photos by Kent Spiry);

below, Branson, Missouri(photo by Glenn Smith)

Young AdultsÕ Seminars Presentedat All U.S. and Canadian Sites

This year the Festival YouthInstruction Program or Kingdom GrandSlam 2000 was presented at all 13 Feastsites in North America. An estimate of 950children eagerly participated in the two-day class schedule. The program andlessons were extended by request toGermany and Australia.

The program incorporated variousactivities intended to teach the fundamen-tal lessons associated with GodÕs comingKingdom, which was the focus of eachclass. Some highlights from the programinvolved the use of hand puppets, roleplaying, original skits, Bible stories andreinforcing art projects that students couldtake home.

A few typical comments from the par-ents and staff included:

ÒThe lessons went well and seemed

to capture the childrenÕs imagination.Ó ÒThere was enthusiastic response to

the material.Ó ÒThey willingly worked together and

were eager to answer questions and dis-cuss the material.Ó

ÒItÕs exciting to see the children learnand hear them repeat what they learnedafter such a short time.Ó

Many thanks to the volunteers whotaught, assisted and coordinated the pro-gram this year. It takes many hours totransform an ordinary room into a learningcenter that allows children to catch avision of the world tomorrow. It is our sin-cere hope that these specially tailoredlessons will reach the hearts of the chil-dren and foster a love and understandingof God and His promises.

Jim and Judy Servidio

Festival Youth InstructionProgram Serves 950 Children

8 United News December 2000

Feast 2000

Corpus Christi(photo by Bill

Callison)

South Africa (photo by Claire Hawkins)

Panama City Beach (photo by KenTreybig)

Wisconsin Dells (photosby Steve Nutzman)

Estonia (photo by Victor Kubik)

Cameroon (photo by Joel Meeker)

Chile (photos contributed by Jaime Guinez)

Taupo,New

Zealand(photos by

DavidGood)

Davao City, Philippines (photosby Charles Macaraeg)

Iloilo City, Philippines(photos by Virgilio

Belga Jr.)

Feast 2000in Pictures

“It’s overwhelmingly the bestFeast over the past joyousyears.... This is reality; we

are one family picturing theKingdom of God.”Iloilo City, Philippines

“The first night I was insidethe door a whole 10 secondsbefore I was bombarded by a

huge group of excitedfriends! We all started

talking about how great thisFeast was going to be!”

Wisconsin Dells

United News December 2000 9

Noosa Heads, Australia

Escondido, California

Lihue, Hawaii

JekyllIsland

(photos bySolomonDowning)

Zambia (photos by Andre vanBelkum)

Barbados (photo by Arnold Hampton)

Gettysburg

RemnantChurchof GodFeastsites inGhana(photosby DougHorchak)

Kenya

“This year’s Feast of Tabernacles hasbeen described glowingly by the old-

timers here, including this writer, as thebest FOT in this part of the world.”

Nigeria

GodÕs encouragement toJeremiah and Ezekiel canhelp us in our approach topreaching the gospel today.

by Graemme Marshall

Constantinople was for 1,000 yearsthe Byzantine capital of the eastern Romanempire with Christianity its religion fromthe fourth century In 1453 that all changedfor the next nearly 500 years.

Muhammed II laid siege to the city tomake it capital of the Ottoman empirewhich at its height stretched from theDanube to the Euphrates. That empire last-ed until World War I.

He climaxed the siege by taking hisnavy and enormous bronze cannons over-land to bypass chains across the harbormouth. He then shelled the city from theinner harbor.

On May 29, 1453, the walls werebreached and Ottoman soldiers pouredinto Constantinople subjugating the localChristian and Jewish populations. A storyfrom that time tells how Christian scholarsin the besieged city (within days ofbecoming Muslim for the next 500 years!)were preoccupied with the following theo-logical questions:

¥ What color eyes had the virgin?¥ If a fly falls into holy water, is the

water defiled or the fly sanctified?Whether true or not, thereÕs an unset-

tling parallel with our times. With the fab-ric of society tearing apart, many todayseem preoccupied with similar debates.But we donÕt have to fall into that trap. Wecan be motivated by these dangerous timesto get on with the job weÕve been given ofpreaching the gospel in all the world.

GodÕs Church Always Involvedin Promoting the Gospel

Recent home office news illustrateshow we seem once again poised to grow.Treasurer Tom Kirkpatrick, commentingon the ChurchÕs income, said, ÒOur finan-cial stability now gives us the ability tocontinue strongly fulfilling the commis-sion of the Church.Ó This is evidenced byrequests for literature more than doublelast year. Some callers responding to thenew radio broadcast ask, ÒAre you thesame program as Herbert Armstrong?Ó

We indeed strive to continue the call-ing and commission of our recent past. Italso parallels that given Jeremiah andEzekiel. We can learn much about mediachallenges from what these two prophetswere instructed by God.

Jeremiah and EzekielÕs ProblemsJeremiah was called to preach GodÕs

message in Jerusalem as Ezekiel wascalled, 700 miles away in Babylon.

Jeremiah was told the problems heÕdencounter and that, no matter, he was tofulfill his calling. His immediate responsequite lacked enthusiasm. Like Moses hepleaded inadequacy, saying he was tooyoung (Jeremiah 1:6). He may have meanthe was too young as a priest and felt inex-perienced. Or it could have reflected hisintrospective nature and that he, by tem-perament, felt personal inadequacy.

Paraphrasing GodÕs response as itapplies to us: ÒDonÕt you think I knowwhat IÕm doing in calling you? DonÕt beafraid of the looks on their faces because Iwill give you the right words to sayÓ (vers-es 7Ð8).

We too can feel overwhelmed byGodÕs calling and feel inadequate for thetask. God anticipated negative reactions topreaching His truth. He told Jeremiah tonot be dismayed about it. We get discour-aged at the lack of seriousness from otherswhen we speak on GodÕs behalf. Therewas a personal warning too, that ifJeremiah allowed unresponsive attitudesto deter him from doing the job, Godwould trouble Jeremiah before his detrac-tors (verse 17). God knew people wouldfight against him, but He assured Jeremiahthey would not succeed because Godwould be with him (verse 19).

Society ever rots aroundus. Can we afford toidly sit back and let

darkness overtake us?Have the courage and

heart for the gospel. Beinvolved in sowing the

seed!

Now it seems Ezekiel had a differentpersonality, but he faced the same prob-lems. In graphic language God describedhis audience as a Òrebellious house, impu-dent and stubbornÓ (Ezekiel 2:3Ð4).Whether they would listen, or whetherthey wouldnÕt (because after all Òthey area rebellious houseÓ), Ezekiel was to stilltake GodÕs message to them (verse 5).

GodÕs purpose includes making sureour peoples will in the future come toknow that a prophet has been among them.Much of our effort may not bear fruit untillater.

Understanding how His human instru-ments can become discouraged, God sym-pathetically outlined to Ezekiel the peo-pleÕs attitudes: though we may be hurt byresistance, and words and looks make usafraid, we are NOT to be deterred from thetask. We are told the peopleÕs reaction to

truth will be like briers, thorns and scorpi-ons (verse 6). Thorns prick our skin andmake us bleed. Scorpions sting with burn-ing pain. In a similar way their words andlooks can psychologically demoralize andweaken our resolve.

God emphasizes that whether theyhear or refuse, we are to still do the job andmake sure we arenÕt rebellious like them(Ezekiel 2:6Ð8). In comforting EzekielGod further explains the reason they wonÕtlisten to us is that they will not listen toHim. They are unreceptive because theirnature is Òimpudent and hardheartedÓ(Ezekiel 3:7Ð9). While preaching GodÕstruth we must remember they will NOTlisten because of insolent hard hearts.

As with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, a lackof response shouldnÕt put us off. Dirtylooks and hurtful words are a natural resultfrom a rebellious nation.

Relatives and Friends CanDiscourage Too

Interestingly, even family may attimes hinder the gospel. In JeremiahÕs caseclose family, probably embarrassed beforefriends by what he was saying, enlistedothers to deter his public preaching. Godmakes clear that Jeremiah was in danger ofbeing deceived by family (Jeremiah 12:6).

Today we can have similar difficultywith unbelieving relatives. Strangely, too,some opposition to the gospel comes fromwithin our Church family. Perhaps we errby a desire to placate others when weshould step out in faith and stand for truth.

Yet, There Is HopeGod explains to Ezekiel that, even

though they have eyes that canÕt see andears that wonÕt hear, he should still goahead and preach as Òit may be that theywill considerÓ (Ezekiel 12:2Ð3). This isvery comforting. It makes our effortsworthwhile when just one person respondsto GodÕs calling. Ezekiel would become asign later when the people realized thewords he had spoken had come to pass.

God explains that a lack of responsehas to do with attitudes of people who con-clude, ÒThe vision is for many days, heprophesies of days far offÓ (verses 6,25Ð27). IsnÕt this true in our history? Whatthe Church has preached hasnÕt happened,so they put off involvement. The task ofthe prophets was to be accomplishedwhether people listened or not. Theywould at a later time come to know aprophet of God had been among them(Ezekiel 33:31Ð33).

Yet, despite our knowing this, a lackof response can make us feel we arenÕtachieving much. Elijah felt this, whichputs us in great company! It seems strangethat after the triumph on Mount Carmeland the execution of the priests of Baal, hewould throw in the towel just because of a

death threat from Jezebel. She had beentrying to kill him for years. But stress canbecome the last straw that breaks our emo-tional back and he fled.

God succored Elijah for a while, theninformed him of something he didnÕt real-ize. There were 7,000 who had not bowedto Baal nor kissed the idol. Elijah probablydidnÕt know of these people. When thepaganism of Ahab and Jezebel reignedsupreme, God-fearing people would havequietly hid themselves. This illustration ofpeople who remain faithful to GodÕscovenant was used by Paul about a rem-nant in Israel (Romans 11:1Ð5).

What of New Testament Times?Although Justus, Crispus and many

others believed and were baptized throughPaulÕs preaching in Corinth, he becameupset at stubborn attitudes against him. Itdeterred him enough to quit Corinth andplan to go elsewhere (Acts 18:6Ð11). Paulconcluded his work there was over.

But God knew better. Because Paulwas determined to leave, God gave avision one night saying: ÒI have many peo-ple in this city. So donÕt be afraid, no onewill attack you, and I will be with you.ÓPaul obediently stayed another 18 months.We can be so short-sighted and demoral-ized by resistance to our efforts.

As John the Baptist prepared the wayfor ChristÕs first coming, so too ChristÕsChurch prepares the way for His secondcoming (Mark 1:2Ð4).

We have a commission and obligationto preach the gospel. Paul expressed hisrole this way: ÒYet when I preach thegospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelledto preach. Woe to me if I do not preach thegospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have areward; if not voluntarily, I am simply dis-charging the trust committed to meÓ (1Corinthians 9:16Ð17, NIV).

It was PaulÕs preference to sacrificeand from the heart see the gospel madeavailable. He asked how can anyone hearthe truth unless there are those who makeit known (Romans 10:14Ð17)? If we sitback uninvolved, how will people whocould have been reached by our effortsever hear?

Christ was busy with His FatherÕswork when He was on earth. He said, ÒImust work the works of Him who sent Mewhile it is day; the night is coming whenno one can workÓ (John 9:4).

Society ever rots around us. Can weafford to idly sit back and let darknessovertake us? Have the courage and heartfor the gospel. Be involved in sowing theseed! UNUN

Graemme Marshall pastors the con-gregations in southeast Queensland and isa member of the Media and PublishingCommittee in Australia. He is also areviewer for the ChurchÕs literature.

10 United News December 2000

Media Principles From the Prophets

By Robin Webber

Like all of our brethren around theworld, the congregations in SouthernCalifornia are working together to do theirpart in fulfilling Matthew 28:19Ð20. As theChurch does its part in producing written lit-erature, the local ministry and brethren takevery seriously their role, looking at SouthernCalifornia as their area of responsibility.

Evangelism is a way of life for ourGarden Grove, Los Angeles, Bakersfield andFresno congregations. Camilo Reyes and I,as well as our elders and deacons, our localchurch councils and members, are all on thesame page. While serving our own flocks, wealways think outward of the world around us.Much of our time in local meetings is takenup with what to do next.

Signs and CybercastingOur first step in reaching out is having

quality church signs for our two largest con-gregations of Los Angeles and GardenGrove. While church signs do not Òcall peo-ple,Ó they tell people that we are here, that weare open and friendly to all who come to wor-ship and learn in peace. While relatively fewpeople have been attracted to our services bythese signs (though several have), the greatergood is the message the signs give our peo-ple. The sign is a small way of allowing ouryoung people a sense of identity and lettingthem know that their parents are excited to letother people know who they are.

Over the past five years, occasionally IÕllget a comment like Òbut are you a ChristianChurch?Ó Therefore on our church sign wehave added in smaller print ÒA ChristianFellowshipÓ to define ourselves for otherswho may be interested.

Another step we are taking in the LosAngeles congregation is to cybercast our ser-vice live as often as we can. Again, this is ameans of serving the world at large. It alsocreates a vibrancy in that particular congre-gation that this message is reaching beyondthe church walls. Our local church council inLos Angeles is currently laying out plans toinitiate another cybercast from Los Angelesthat would be totally in Spanish. Once we aretotally confident in our English cybercasting,

we hope to take this next step early in 2001.

Distributing LiteratureFurther up in the Bakersfield and Fresno

juncture of our circuit, Camilo Reyes, ourassociate pastor who resides in Bakersfield, isspearheading an all-out effort of ÒseedingÓthe lower Central Valley area of California.Currently, The Good News is being distrib-uted in 21 locations in this area using the pro-fessional services of Traders Distribution(TDS) and Central Valley Distributors. Overthe last six months this effort has spread over26,500 magazines. Mr. Reyes has often men-tioned the joy that he and his wife have whenloading up their VW with magazines headedfor distribution.

Our Garden Grove congregation hasalso taken several initiatives. Our Good Newsteam has added 3,000 names to the WaitingRoom Program.

Beyond this effort, we have been work-ing in conjunction with the home office indistributing booklets within our communi-ties. Each booklet has a sticker on it identify-ing the congregations in Southern Californiaand giving our local toll-free number.Currently we have two separate toll-freenumbers, one for English and one forSpanish. The Garden Grove congregation hasalso advertised Las Buenas Noticias (SpanishGood News) through eight display ads in thewidely distributed La Opinion newspaper.

Open HousesAll of these efforts are geared to the next

phase of local evangelism. Since last Marchwe have had a three-week Open House seriesin each of the Garden Grove, Los Angelesand Bakersfield congregations. We are cur-rently planning one for Fresno for early nextyear. While our places of worship are openevery Sabbath, we still liked the overall nameand concept of ÒOpen House.Ó Our memberswanted to directly invite our Good Newsaudience to services. We all felt that it isimportant and vital for Òpeople to meet peo-ple.Ó

The Open House Program currently isentering phase three. The first phase was tosend out a letter to all on our Good Newsmailing list in a particular congregational

area. We invited them to services to hear athree-part series over three weeks. The sub-jects were ÒWhy Were You Born?Ó (ultimate-ly explaining our understanding of the family

of God), ÒWhy Do Bad Things Happen toGood People?Ó (explaining this is not theonly day of salvation and explaining the bib-lical teaching on the resurrections) and ÒIsThis the Beginning of the End, or the End ofthe Beginning?Ó (a positive and encouragingapproach to end-time prophecy).

While turnout for this initial phase hasbeen relatively light in Garden Grove andLos Angeles with seven people attendingeach congregation, in Bakersfield eight peo-ple came to the first message which wasabout a fifth of those in attendance that day.

Our brethren in all locations have beenencouraged to invite seriously interested fam-ily members, friends, neighbors, coworkersor classmates. It has been encouraging to seethe openness of our members, especially ouryounger members, in sharing the Sabbathwith dear friends. For the moment, it seemsmost people are reluctant to actually attend,which indeed is a big step for them. We sim-ply may be ahead of the curve of their under-standing or interest. Nonetheless, the mem-bers have shown great enthusiasm, recogniz-ing that this is just the beginning, as we pre-pare for future growth.

Encouraging Results of Tape OfferThe second phase of our program was to

send another letter to the Good News mailing

list to offer them this same series on audio-tape. We targeted this second phase to first-time contacts (not our own membership orthose who may be in other church organiza-

tions with common under-standing). Also, the returnenvelope did not have astamp so we could be moresure they really were inter-ested. The results have beenoverwhelmingly encourag-ing. Just in the Los Angelesand Garden Grove congre-gations we have received225 requests for all three setsof tapes. This is about a 15percent response.

For the third phase ourintention is to offer thisgroup a second round ofaudio messages. This round

will include a two-part series on ÒSeven Keysto Understanding the Blessing of theSabbathÓ and a message on ÒHow theKingdom of God Will Be Restored onEarth.Ó All letterhead always includes theministryÕs phone number, fax number, e-maillisting and the ChurchÕs Web site. We look atthis Open House Program as an opportunityto place a calling card from GodÕs people intovarious houses within our communities.

It is our goal to move through the threephase program annually. Our congregationshave truly appreciated the support of thehome office in allowing us Òto work togeth-erÓ in a work that is greater than all of oursum totals put together because it is GodÕswork which He allows us to do for Him.

I never cease to be amazed at the energy,desire, creativity and urgency of our mem-bers to do the work.

Is it worth it? Consider this commentthat I received from a gentleman. His moth-er, one of our Good News subscribers, hadasked to receive the audio messages fromthe Open House. As he stated, Òthey werejust laying around the house.Ó He was theone who listened to them and he made a pro-found comment upon calling me to seewhere we met. He said, ÒYour church is ask-ing the big questions of life, and you are giv-ing answers!Ó UNUN

United News December 2000 11

Working Together to Spread the Gospel in Southern California

porate donors. Of course, it was also helpfulfor families and teens in determining whichcamp or camps to attend.

This year in place of a one-hour video,the team decided to produce a 10- to 12-minute video illustrating one aspect of camp.The focus of the video would revolve aroundinterviews with campers and parents aboutour campsÕ goal of helping youth developtheir relationship with God. Plans were thenmade for taping selected youth and parents atthe upcoming Winter Camp.

Observations from camp directors onthings that worked especially well this pastyear included: adult staff members eating

with campers at the evening meal, compilinga CD with digital camp photos, a relationshipclass (discussing personality differences andhow males and females should treat eachother), team-building classes, flag raising andlowering ceremonies, special music forFriday evening and Sabbath evening meals,Sabbath notes, a Sabbath evening steak din-ner, an additional Bible class during the weekalong with Christian Living classes, preview-ing talent show acts and concluding the daywith a hymn (ÒGod Will See Us ThroughÓ).

The pros and cons of various styles ofChristian Living classes were also discussed.Various styles currently used include shortlectures (called Compass Check and conduct-

ed in the morning), formal classes (usually inthe morning but occasionally at other timesthroughout the day) and Q&Asessions with apanel of ministers (usually conducted in theevenings). One camp, McKenzie, has alsoexperimented with sending out ChristianLiving material to be studied before camp.This method seems to improve the under-standing of the campers. The camp team con-cluded that camp directors should use a mix-ture of these styles depending on the materialthey want to cover and the abilities of thosewho will conduct them.

Two new challenger-type camps werealso proposed. A decision on whether toimplement one of these camps in 2001 was

deferred until everyone had more time to prayand meditate on the proposals. Later it wasdecided not to launch the camps this year.

Discussions on Monday concluded withcomments and a Q&A session with LesMcCullough. On the last day of the confer-ence, Connie Coutellier of the ACA took theteam through a review of risk exposure tomake sure our potential liabilities are ade-quately addressed. After identifying currentstrengths and weaknesses, the team consid-ered future opportunities such as programexpansion and distance training of staff.Finally, the team identified potential threatsto our program including economic factors,substandard facilities and societal trends. UNUN

ÒCAMP,Ó (Continued from page 5)

12 United News December 2000

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

31

24

17

10

3

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

24

17

10

3

23

16

9

2

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

31

24

17

10

3

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

28

21

14UNLEAVENED

BREADHOLY DAY

7PASSOVER(SERVICE PREVIOUSEVENING)

27

20

13UNLEAVENED

BREAD6TH DAY

6

26

19

12UNLEAVENED

BREAD5TH DAY

5

25

18

11UNLEAVENED

BREAD4TH DAY

4

24

17

10UNLEAVENED

BREAD3RD DAY

3

30

23

16

9UNLEAVENED

BREAD2ND DAY

2

22

15

8UNLEAVENED

BREADHOLY DAY

1SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

29

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

31

24

17

10

3

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27PENTECOST

20

13

6

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

24

17

10

3

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

31

24

17

10

3

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

25

18

11

4

31

24

17

10

3

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27DAY OF

ATONEMENT

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18FEAST OF

TRUMPETS

11

4

24

17

10

3

23

16

9

2

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

27

20

13

6FEAST OF

TABERNACLES5TH DAY

26

19

12

5FEAST OF

TABERNACLES4TH DAY

25

18

11

4FEAST OF

TABERNACLES3RD DAY

31

24

17

10

3FEAST OF

TABERNACLES2ND DAY

30

23

16

9LAST GREAT

DAYHOLY DAY

2FEAST OF

TABERNACLESHOLY DAY

29

22

15

8FEAST OF

TABERNACLES7TH DAY

1

28

21

14

7FEAST OF

TABERNACLES6TH DAY

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

24

17

10

3

30

23

16

9

2

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

29

22

15

8

1

28

21

14

7

27

20

13

6

26

19

12

5

25

18

11

4

24

17

10

3

23

16

9

2

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

2001 SABBATH AND HOLY DAY PLANNER

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH

APRIL MAY JUNE

JULY AUGUST

OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

SEPTEMBER

Formal Dinner Held forSalt Lake City Teens

On September 16, 2000, there was aformal dinner held for six teens in the Salt

Lake City, Utah, congregation. It was heldat the home of Mr. and Mrs. Neil Hart. Wehad a five-course meal complete withÒcocktailsÓ (nonalcoholic) and hors dÕoeu-vres, planned and cooked by Lynn Fox,Carol Foy, Beth Hart and MargaretVillaescusa.

The dinner taught us about proper eti-quette, and how to behave in a very nicerestaurant. The dinner was a great successand went off without a hitch. It was a verymemorable evening.

Nancy Fox

Cincinnati North Hosts4th Family Tournament

The Cincinnati Family Tournament isscheduled for December 22 to 25 at theKings Island Resort.

This is the fourth year for the tourna-ment and each year it has increased in size.Last year more than 1,150 people from allparts of the United States and Canadajoined us for an exciting event.

This year activities will begin onFriday evening, December 22, at 7:30 p.m.with Bible studies for teens, young adultsand families. Sabbath morning seminarswill begin at 10 a.m. You can choose anytwo seminars from a menu of a dozen

thought-provoking subjectsbefore taking a break for lunchand returning to hear a specialguest speaker at afternoon ser-vices. Preteen classes will occurat the same time and a nurserywill be available for those whoneed it.

A dance will take place onSaturday night. Games will beginafter the dance and activities willconclude on Monday, December25, at 2:30 p.m. There will be anopen house of the home office forthose who would like to visit on

Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.All basketball and volleyball games

will take place at Sports Express as theyhave in previous years. The table tennisevents will occur at Kings Island Resort. Amap and directions are available on-line atwww.ucgcincy.com/FamilyTournament/directions.asp.

Entry fees are $5 per person per sportin advance or $10 at the door. Please makechecks payable to Cincinnati NorthActivity Fund and send them to JimOÕBrien at the address listed below. If pay-ing for more than one person pleaseinclude a note detailing who is includedwith the payment.

There are many ways to sign up.You can register on-line, print a regis-tration form from our Web site(www.ucgcincy.com/FamilyTournament/)or request a registration form from: JimOÕBrien, P.O. Box 1811, West Chester, OH45071. The e-mail is jimobri@aol.com oryou may call (513) 755-0040.

Kings Island Resort is offering a spe-

cial flat rate of $41 per room per night forthose attending the tournament. It is locat-ed on Interstate 71 at exit #25. You maymake reservations by calling Kings IslandResort directly at (800) 727-3050.

Jim OÕBrien

Salt Lake City SkiWeekend Adds ABC

Lectures

Plans are again being made for theSki Weekend in the Salt Lake City areaFebruary 17-19, 2001. This year some-thing new is being added, ABC sessionswith Ralph Levy conducting some of thesessions. The sessions will be conductedon Saturday morning and evening.

We plan to go again to Solitude, oneof the best ski resorts in the area. Thecost will be $45 per person. This includesthe cost of one ski pass for Sunday,February 18, and one meal. (Note: skirental is extra.) We have an area reservedat Solitude so we can get together whileskiing.

Lodging is available at the CottontreeBest Western, 1030 N. 400 E., North SaltLake City, UT, (801) 292-7666. Cost:$65.05/night (up to four people per room).Be sure to mention when you call that youare with the United Church of God. TheBest Western has a pool and hot tub. If youwish to room with someone (to help withthe cost) fill out the form and let us know.We will try to match some with room-mates to share the cost.

Some housing with brethren is avail-able in the area. Contact Bill Jahns if youwish to stay in a private home.

Services will be held at the CottontreeBest Western, 1030 N. 400 E., North SaltLake City, UT at 3 p.m., February 17.

There will be four ABC lectures start-ing at 10 a.m., February 17. A completeschedule will be sent to those attending.

If you wish to just come for theABC lectures, you are welcome. Thelectures are free, but you can stay on

Sunday and join us for fellowship andgames at the Honeycomb Room in theLodge at Solitude. The cost for the mealis $10. If you are not a downhill skier,you can possibly do some cross-countryskiing if you wish or find a slope forsome sledding.

If you have any questions, call BillJahns at (801) 943-6786 or e-mail atbill_jahns@ucg.org. If interested, just fillout the form and send it in.

Bill Jahns

Kansas City Sells Fruit toRaise Funds

Members from the Kansas City,Missouri, congregation raised money byselling fruit in order to benefit severalChurch projects. Las year a $1,000 dona-tion was given to help send a container ofsupplies to Guatemala. The MalawiBirthing Center was given $480. And thehome office was sent $480 for our festivalassistance and Church assistance fund. Inpast years, funds were provided to sendchildren to school in Africa. Besides all ofthis, teens from the Church have beenhelped to attend summer camp. This year$500 will go toward this fund.

Volunteers for the fruit sale take col-orful advertisements to their places ofbusiness and out into the community.The sale lasts for about three weeks andthen the orders are collected and turnedin. The fruit arrives very freshÑonly 72hours after being picked. Members gath-er together to unload the truck, separatethe fruit and make the gift boxes for dis-tribution.

Our guarantee which backs up thequality of the produce has resulted in alot of repeat business thus making thisfund-raiser a relatively easier one eachyear.

For those wishing information oncontacts, organization and administrationof fruit sales, feel free to contact LarryWilliamson at (913) 592-9932.

Laura Lewis

United News December 2000 13

Jonathan Hart, Nancy Fox, Seth Difley, Neil Hart (host),Alex Fox, Danielle Espil and Nathan Villaescusa enjoy a

formal dinner in Salt Lake City

Local Church UpdatesÉ

Salt Lake City Ski Weekend/ABC LecturesPresident’s Day Weekend, February 17–19, 2001

Name______________________________________________________________

Mailing Address_____________________________________________________

City________________________________ State_____ Zip Code____________

Phone_______________________________ E-mail________________________

Attending Only ABC Lectures: ❑ Yes ❑ No

Ski Level: ❑ Beginner ❑ Intermediate ❑ Advanced

Cross-Country Skiing________ Roommate____________________________

Cost: $45 per person for skiing, $10 if not skiing. Make checks to UCG-SLC.

Return this form to: United Church of God, P.O. Box 933, Sandy, UT 84091

How Can We Make United News Better?What do you read first?_______________________________________________

What do you not read?________________________________________________

What activities in your area would you like to see covered in United News?

___________________________________________________________________

Is there a person in your area you would like to see featured in United News? If so,

who?______________________________________________________________

What would you like to read more about?_________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

What suggestions do you have for improving United News?___________________

__________________________________________________________________

Congregation________________________________________________________

Name (optional)______________________________________________________

Return this form to: United News, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027

14 United News December 2000

BirthsCourtney Nicole Franke was

born September 6, 2000, in Franklin,Tennessee. She weighed 7 pounds 9ounces and was 21 inches long. Herparents are Timothy and Michele(Burnette) Franke of Franklin,Tennessee. Her maternal grandpar-ents are George and Rita Burnette of

Springfield, Tennessee, and herpaternal grandparents are Charlesand Arlene Franke of Soldotna,Alaska. This is Timothy andMicheleÕs first child.

Doug and Ann (Spieker)Murphy of Omaha, Nebraska, arethrilled to announce the birth of theirtwin daughters on September 29,2000. Briana Violet weighed 8

pounds 2 ounces and was 203/4 inch-es long. Sarah Elise weighed 7pounds 6 ounces and was 201/2 inch-es long. Erin, age 4, is the proud bigsister. Grandparents are Harlan andJanice Spieker of Willow Lake,South Dakota, and Robert andNancy Murphy of Murrells Inlet,South Carolina.

Richard and Rachel (Velting)Averett, members of the Dallas,Texas, congregation, are pleased toannounce the birth of their littleblessing, Ethan James. Ethan wasborn on October 10, 2000, weighing7 pounds 8.6 ounces and measuring

20 inches long. The proud grandpar-ents are Richard and Nancy Veltingof Dallas, and Jim and JannetteAverett of Greensboro, NorthCarolina. Ethan is the first grand-child for the Veltings and the fifth forthe Averetts.

Vince and Marie Hirschlerwould like to announce the birth oftheir first child, Janine Marie. Janineintroduced herself October 12, 2000,at 8 pounds 71/2 ounces and 201/2

inches long. She is the fourth newaddition to the Omaha, Nebraska,congregation since August.

Cliff and Susan (Thomas)Demarest are delighted to announcethe birth of their second son, JamesDavid. David was born on July 12,2000. He weighed 8 pounds 9.5ounces and was 22.5 inches long. Bigbrother Derek loves his new play-mate. Proud grandparents are Royand Pauline Demarest of Boynton

Beach, Florida, and Don and EdwinaThomas of Mobile, Alabama.

EngagementPaul Spenser from the Isle of

Man and Kira Engholm fromSweden are pleased to announcetheir engagement (November 18). Awedding is planned for late Februaryin Sweden.

WeddingsBrendan C. Babcock, son of

Col. William (deceased) and AudreyBabcock of Fayetteville, Tennessee,married Sharon Michelle Treybig,daughter of David and Teddi(Goodrich) Treybig of Lubbock,Texas, on September 17, 2000, inDallas, Texas. The brideÕs father per-formed the ceremony. BridesmaidsAmy Smallwood, Bonnie Turner,

Kim Fricke, Kamie Treybig andSuzanne (Oliver) Borton wore deepblue dresses. Brian Babcock,William Babcock, Ben Parsley,Jason Ranew and Pedro Reinososerved as groomsmen. David J.Treybig, Scott Haapasaari andDarrin Keith ushered. The coupleresides in Plano, Texas, and attendsthe Dallas North UCG congregation.

Dawn Elizabeth Schwartzrock,daughter of Gerald and Ardelle

Schwartzrock, and Aaron DavidBooth, son of Les and DebbieBooth, were married October 1,2000. The fall wedding took place inIndianapolis, Indiana, at a cottagenear Eagle Creek Park. DarrisMcNeely performed the outdoorceremony at 3 p.m. About one hun-dred friends and family witnessedthe marriage along with BethSchwartzrock as the maid of honorand Jon Pinelli as the best man. Thenewlyweds reside in Indianapolis.

Andrea Dae Vincent, daughterof Kirby and Jocelyn Vincent, andJohn Austin Flynn III, son of Johnand Toni Flynn, were married onAugust 6, 2000, in Nassau Bay,Texas. The ceremony was per-

formed by Ken Giese, pastor of theHouston South congregation. Johnand Andrea currently reside inCollege Station, Texas, where Johnattends Texas A&M as a financemajor and Andrea works as alicensed cosmetologist. They attendthe Houston North congregation.

AnniversariesOn June 18, 1950, in Peoria,

Illinois, a young Swedish girl wasjoined in marriage to a German manwhom she described as her Òhand-some knight in shining armor whoswept me off my feet.Ó He wasequally smitten with her.

Such were the beginnings forVirgil and Kathryn Priebe, whorecently celebrated their 50th wed-ding anniversary with the UCGPhoenix East congregation. Whenasked what advice they would giveyoung married couples who face thetrials of life or those seeking a mate,they noted the importance of Òbeingpatient with each other, compromis-ing and putting God first.Ó

Mr. Priebe was baptized in1988 and Mrs. Priebe in 1991. ThePriebes shared their love for travel-ing and camping with their three

sons, making for a lot of familytogetherness over the years. Theynow have three grandchildren andtwo great-grandchildren.

Cecil and Bonnie Campbell ofPhoenix, Arizona, celebrated their35th wedding anniversarySeptember 5, 2000. They lived inIndianapolis, Indiana, before mov-ing to Arizona in 1974.

Cecil was baptized in 1959 andBonnie in 1965. They were married

by John Bald. They have two daugh-ters, Renee Stenbak and DianeGeorge, and two granddaughters,Leandra and Janessa Stenbak.

ObituariesHelmut G. Ihde, 80, of Ocala,

Florida, died October 6, 2000. Mr.Ihde was a longtime member whomoved to the Ocala area in 1999from Vero Beach, Florida. He is sur-vived by a son and three grandchil-dren. A memorial service was heldfollowing the Day of Atonementservices October 9 with DonWaterhouse officiating.

Charlene Stephens, 87, diedOctober 21, 2000. She resided atthe West Carroll nursing home inOak Grove, Louisiana, and was avictim of diabetes, having sufferedthe amputation of her leg recently.Mrs. Stephens was baptized inSeptember 1997.

AnnouncementsÉ

Briana Violet and Sarah Elise Murphy

John and Andrea Flynn

Bonnie and Cecil Campbell

Ethan James Averett

Janine Marie Hirschler

James David Demarest

Brendan and Sharon Babcock

Courtney Nicole Franke

Aaron and Dawn Booth

Virgil and Kathryn Priebe

ÒA Framework for ReconciliationÓI wish to thank you, and compliment

you on an exceptional article [ÒA Frameworkfor Reconciliation,Ó by David Sandland,November issue, page 19]. I have been a bap-tized member for almost 27 years now. Thisis the very best explanation of Matthew 18 Ihave heard or read in all those years. I wasastounded at how clear it was once I read it.It makes perfect sense to tie all the chaptertogether in this way. Of course we have hadarticles, sermons and sermonettes on eachpart of the chapter for years. It puts the focusback on the type of Christians we are to be,rather than focusing on how we wish ÒtheyÓwould be. Your article has brought about alife-changing moment for me.

Montana

A Veteran Reflects on War and PeaceA few years back I called several news-

papers on December 7, and asked if they

knew what day it was. The reporters didnÕtknow it was Pearl Harbor Day. Of course,even fewer remember Victory in Europe (VE)Day or VJ Day or other days of remembrance.

How contradictory that the world seekspeace by waging war. The horrors of warwere made painfully clear with World War Iand II. But the world continues to seek peacethrough conflicts and armed battles. ArenÕtwe all looking for the day when the wholeworld will have a truly peaceful environmentin which to live a happy, enjoyable life?

Rather than relying on peace treaties,what if all the world followed the GoldenRule? It certainly appears there would be amuch, much more peaceful world if all theÒwar lordsÓ would use the Golden Rule as adaily guide and settle their differences inmore peaceful ways.

General Douglas MacArthur understoodthe answers to these questions at the end ofWorld War II when he spoke aboard the USS

Missouri September 2, 1945: ÒLet us praythat peace be now restored to the world andthat God will preserve it always.Ó

He declared: ÒWe have had our lastchance. If we will not devise some greaterand more equitable system, our Armageddonwill be at our door. The problem basically istheological and involves a spiritual recrudes-cence, an improvement of human characterthat will synchronize with our almost match-less advances in science, art, literature and allmaterial and cultural developments of thepast two thousand years. It must be of thespirit if we are to save the flesh.Ó

In all, we need to honor God on thesedays of remembranceÑPearl Harbor Day,VE Day, VJ Day, Memorial Day, VeteransDay and Armistice DayÑbecause of His giv-ing us victory. We also honor the tremendoussacrifices Americans have made to try tobring about peace and keep America and therest of the world free. Each time we remem-

ber these days of war and victory, we canremember the words of General MacArthurand the fact that war doesnÕt really make apeaceful world. More than that, we can lookto the Book that teaches the Golden Rule andthe true way to peace.

Iowa City, Iowa

EditorÕs Note: Paper on Exodus 34:22The article ÒDid God Give a Calendar?Ó

in the November United News mentioned astudy paper pastors would have on ÒExodus34:22 and the Calendar.Ó This paper has beenapproved by the Doctrine Committee, but hasnot yet been distributed to the pastors. Weregret any inconvenience this has caused.

United News December 2000 15

News at a GlanceÉ115,000 GNs Distributed

in Newsstand Test;Program to Expand

Over the last 14 months members havedistributed The Good News via a newsstandprogram in four church areas includingBakersfield, Garden Grove and Oakland,California, and New York, New York.

From September 1999 through October2000, 115,000 magazines were distributedthrough the efforts of our brethren in thesecongregations. During that period, a total of602 Good News subscriptions were generat-ed from cards inserted in the magazines.Subscriber response is lower compared toother Good News promotional programs.However, it is likely that some people arepicking up and reading the magazines regu-larly and simply not choosing to subscribenow. If this is the case, we could consider thenewsstand magazine as a ÒwitnessÓ in itself.

We are now planning to graduallyexpand the program over the next fewmonths to include other congregations.

Pastors and former Waiting Room Programcoordinators who are interested in involvingtheir congregations should contact JohnLaBissoniere for more information. The pro-gram will be expanded on a first-come, first-served basis.

John Labissoniere

Brethren DisplayInitiative in Brochure

Program

Currently 46 U.S. congregations areparticipating in the Good News BrochureDisplay Program. Also, 29 brethren areinvolved on their own, since there are too fewmembers available in their areas to partici-pate in a congregational effort. So far 42,000brochures and 812 clear displays have beensent out for distribution. Also, since it is like-ly that the majority of our brethren have notseen the new Good News brochures and dis-plays, we recently sent samples to 65 pastorsrepresenting 148 congregations.

John Labissoniere

Broadcasts on Christmasand the Sabbath to Air

Over the past 16 weeks (throughNovember 26), calls from listeners to theGood News radio program have totaled 444.The numbers have been showing an averageincrease over the last seven weekends, withour average number of calls being 39 eachtime. The weekend of November 19gave us our best response so far,with 61 calls.

Two new programs have beenedited for airing in December. Oneis titled ÒFour Thousand Years ofChristmasÓ and the other ÒAre YouMissing Out on a Blessing FromGod?Ó The first will air the week-end before Christmas (December 23and 24), and the second, about theseventh-day Sabbath, will air a weekafter that. The Sabbath program is quitestrong in expounding the need for people tofollow the biblical command. It will be inter-esting to see what response or controversy isgenerated by both programs! The full pro-

gram log can be viewed on our Web site atwww.ucg.org/radio.

Peter Eddington

LettersÉ

Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Comments and suggestions to improveUnited News welcome. Mail to: United News,P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027, or e-mail mike_bennett@ucg.org.

Above: Les McCulloughpresents a welcoming gift toAlec and Donna Surratt at ahome office potluck October31. Mr. Surratt was hired to

help with the rapidly increasingmail being received by the Church, and

brings experience in handlinginternational mail. Inset: Paul Wasilkoffwas also hired recently to assist in the

computer area after completing theAmbassador Bible Center program

Jacob Aaron Barbush, 20, ofSpring Hill, Florida, died June 17,2000, at home. Born in Tucson,Arizona, he moved to Florida fromLake Tahoe, California, seven yearsago. He worked as an automotivetechnician for All American AutoRepair. Skateboarding was hisfavorite sport. Survivors include hisparents, George and Kathy Barbush;two brothers, Steven of LandOÕLakes, Florida, and Matthew ofSpring Hill; his paternal grandpar-ents, John and Gwen Barbush of

Lockport, Illinois; uncle, JohnBarbush of Romeoville, Illinois;aunt, Diane Warrington of WestChicago, Illinois; and many aunts,uncles and cousins. A memorial ser-vice was conducted by John BarbushJr. and Don Waterhouse on June 24.

Elmer Orren Royce, 89, amember of the Beloit, Wisconsincongregation, died November 8,2000. Funeral services were con-ducted by local elder, Carl Falzone.Mr. Royce had been ill for a number

of years and was currently in a nurs-ing home in Rockford, Illinois. Hewas preceded in death by his wifeMabel. He is survived by four chil-dren: Ronald, Terence, Gordon andMerilynn; 12 grandchildren and onegreat-grandchild.

Mr. Royce and his wife beganlistening to Herbert W. Armstrong onan old radio in the barn on his auntÕsfarm. He was baptized in 1963 alongwith his wife and daughter.

He was well known in the con-gregation for his background in

American history and Midwesternfarm culture as well as his funnyanecdotes. He will be greatly missedby those who had the privilege toknow him for many years.

Ron Sackett of Olympia,Washington, died peacefully athome of cancer on July 24. He wasin the Church for 28 years, first inPuyallup, Washington, and then inthe Olympia area.

Because of RonÕs matter-of-factattitude toward whatever happened

(healing or death) everyone whoparticipated in his care or wasaround him much came away muchricher for the experience. This hasmade his death and the mourningperiod much easier to deal with.

He is survived by his wife,Barbara; two sons, Chris and Jason;seven stepchildren, Dean, Theresa,Bliss, Jenni, Brendan, Bridget andBradley; four sisters; and his stepfatherand mother, Ed and Dorothy Schwass.The memorial Ron had planned wasconducted by John Cafourek July 27.

16 United News December 2000

Breckenridge to ReplaceEstes Park Feast SiteBreckenridge, Colorado, will replace

Estes Park as a site for the 2001 Feast ofTabernacles. This is in addition to thereplacement of Louisville, Kentucky, withGatlinburg, Tennessee, as announced lastissue. More details are scheduled to beannounced in the March 2001 issue.

Teens and Young AdultsWanted to Help With

YOUTH United

Article assignments for the second issueof YOUTH United on-line magazine weremade in a teleconference November 20.

Also discussed was the teamÕs desirefor more editorial involvement from teensand young adults. Young people who areinterested in giving input or submittingarticles for consideration for future issuescan send a message to the editorial teamby using the ÒSuggestions/Comments?Óbutton on the magazine Web site atwww.youthmagazine.org. The next issueis scheduled to be posted in mid-January.

Second Direct Mail EffortPlanned for JanuaryLast July we conducted a major test to

analyze the cost-effectiveness of direct mailadvertising. Mailing to 23 purchased lists, weoffered 278,963 U.S. households a subscrip-tion to The Good News. A clear polybaggedpackage, containing a sample copy of TheGood News, a letter and a reply card, was sentto 50,000 of these households. The balance of228,963 households received a conventionaldirect mail package with a letter, reply cardand flyer. The majority of the responses arenow in. We have received 8,763 subscrip-tions giving us an overall 3.14 percentresponse. Some of the individual lists haveresponded at an even higher level.

We are now gearing up for our seconddirect mail effort which will likely take placein January. For this test, we will re-test sever-al of the lists we used last time. We also planto test a dozen or so other lists, which willlikely include subscribers to Time, News-week, U.S. News & World Report and othermagazines. We may also target readers ofmagazines directed to college-age students.

John Labissoniere

800,000 More GN Cardsto Go Out in Card Decks

and Package Inserts

Card decks and package inserts havebeen used for years by many advertisers whohave found them to be an effective, low-costmeans to reach thousands of people. Through

these programs, insert cards and other pro-motional materials from a variety of advertis-ers are bundled or ÒpiggybackedÓ together ina single cellophane mailing package.

In September we contracted withNational Response Marketing, a media com-pany that mails card decks to households ofhome schooling families. Our jumbo, 51/2-by-7 inch insert card, advertising The GoodNews, was enclosed in a package with cardsfrom other advertisers including those ofChristian Book Distributors, Hooked onPhonics and Current Labels. Our insertioncost was only about 2 cents per insert card tooffer The Good News to 150,000 families.

Already we have received 2,478responses with additional subscriptions com-ing in daily. This is a 1.65 percent response,for a $1.37 cost per response. In early Januarywe will mail to another 150,000 families.

In December we plan to conduct an evenlarger package insert test using the services ofAmerican Home Direct, Inc. We plan toinclude a GN card in a mailing to 250,000households in their Rural AmericanGardening Pack. In January we plan to mailto different set of 250,000 households usingtheir Rural American Homeowners Pack.

Additionally, in January and February,we plan to mail another 150,000 inserts.

John Labissoniere

Periodicals Postage paid at Milford, Ohio,

and at additional mailing officesUnited News

WhatÕs New on the Web?

¥ Listen to Real Audio files of theGood News radio program, postedeach week. Also available is thebroadcast-ready .rm file you maysave on your local congregationalpage. Programs for Decemberinclude: ÒWhatÕs Wrong With OurGovernment?,Ó ÒFour ThousandYears of ChristmasÓ and ÒAre YouMissing Out on a Blessing FromGod?Ó

http://www.ucg.org/radio

¥ The newest Bible Study Courselessons 10 (ÒWhat Is the Church?Ó)and 11 (ÒChristianity: A Way ofLifeÓ) are available in PDF (812Kand 572K) and HTML formats.

http://www.ucg.org/articles/bsc/index.html

¥ The December Virtual ChristianMagazine is available.

http://vcmagazine.org

¥ Read the latest edition(November) of El Comunicado onour Spanish page in HTML format.

http://www.ucg.org/html/espa_ol.shtml

¥ The September/October LaBuona Notizia is available in PDF(1.0MB) on our Italian page.

http://www.ucg.org/html/italiano.shtml

¥ A revised edition of our Dutchbooklet Wat is uw bestemming? isavailable in both PDF (116K) andHTML formats on our Dutch page.

http://www.ucg.org/html/nederlands.shtml

¥ Watch the Feast VideoÒEducation in the Church Today andin the MillenniumÓ in RealAudio(10.6MB) format.

http://www.ucg.org/RealAud/

¥ Regular updates from the presi-dent and home office staff, plusnews of the work United is doing,are posted on our news page.

http://www.ucg.org/a/news/news.htm

If you have any questions orcomments, please contact:

webmaster@ucg.org

News at a GlanceÉTreasurerÕs Report

The financial condition of the United Church of God continues to be stable. For the firstfive months of this fiscal year (July 1 to November 30), the ChurchÕs income is above thisyearÕs budget by about 3 percent for Category 1 and 2 percent for Category 2, and below bud-get by 16 percent for Category 3, as indicated in the table below. (Since Category 3 consistsof the types of income that are not received evenly throughout the year, it is not necessarilythe case that we should expect to actually end the year with a deficit of 16 percent. Furtheranalysis indicates that the deficit may be significantly smaller than that.) It is also encourag-ing to note that these year-to-date totals for Category 1 and Category 2 are 9.2 percent and 8.5percent above last yearÕs comparable figures.

The statistics below are based on 240 banking days in our current fiscal year. Throughthe end of November, we have had 94 of those 240 days (39 percent). If the trends for the firstfive months hold for the entire year, total income could exceed the $15,700,000 budget by$250,000 to $500,000. This is, of course, all dependent on GodÕs blessings.

Tom Kirkpatrick

Income as of November 30, 2000Annual Daily Year to DateBudget Budget Actual +/- %

Category 1 (first tithe, $10,800,000 $45,000 $46,404 +3.1%assistance fund, misc.)

Category 2 Holy Day offerings(4 fall Holy Days) $2,265,000 N/A $2,313,000 +2.1%(3 spring Holy Days) $1,815,000 N/A -0- N/A

Category 3 (festival fund, ABC tuition, $820,000 N/A $271,000 -15.6%camp donations, interest)

TOTAL $15,700,000

Year-End Donation Reminder

In order for any donation you give atthe end of the year to be recorded andincluded in your annual donation receipt,your donation must be postmarked no laterthan December 31, 2000. Only donationspostmarked by then will be eligible forinclusion on your 2000 tax return.