Roy Holladay Leslie L. McCullough
Chairman President

Dear fellow members of the General Conference of Elders,

We are looking forward to seeing many of you in just two weeks as we gather for the Annual Meeting of the General Conference of Elders. By now all of you should have received the call and notice for this meeting, as well as numerous documents that we need to collectively consider and ballot on. Please read everything over carefully in advance, giving prayerful thought to your balloting decisions. Also, please encourage the brethren to be praying for God’s will to be done in everything we discuss and decide in Cincinnati – both for the GCE Annual Meeting, as well as the Council of Elders’ meeting that will immediately follow.

As you have undoubtedly read in the United News, Council reports and recent President’s letter, we will be having a special event this year – the dedication of the new home office building. We are looking forward to sharing this exciting occasion with the elders and wives who will be coming to Cincinnati, as well as with all of the brethren in the local area. We are expecting between 600-700 people to be in attendance for this event.

The purpose of this letter is to give you some advance information about the logistics involved in organizing this ceremony. As I am sure you can appreciate, accommodating such a large group in a single location requires skilled coordination. Everyone's cooperation is needed to ensure a smooth, safe and enjoyable event.

Please take note of the following details, as they pertain to you.

Dedication Ceremony. The dedication ceremony will take place outside of the new building, in the parking lot. It will be held on the Sabbath of May 4, beginning at 11 a.m. The ceremony will include a welcome address, special music, a dedication speech, a dedication prayer and a ribbon-cutting. The entire event should last about 30 minutes. Because the event is taking place outdoors, there will be no parking in the parking lot. There will be no tours of the building during that time.

Hotel Guests. If you are staying at the Holiday Inn, or another nearby hotel, we are asking you to take one of the buses (which we are arranging) to the home office. Please do not drive your own cars to the home office. Please assemble outside the Holiday Inn by 9:30 a.m. We have arranged for four (4) 50-passenger buses, and they will be making two runs.

Home Guests. If you are staying in a home while in Cincinnati and need to drive your car to the home office dedication, you will need to park your car in one of the large parking lots down the hill from the new building. There will be signs and attendants directing you where to park. Buses will be available to shuttle you up the hill and back again. If you need to drive your own car, please arrive at the parking area between 10-10:20 a.m. to allow enough time for the buses to transport everyone.

Chairs, Refreshments, Weather. There will be approximately 600 chairs available, as well as some light refreshments served. There will also be plenty of standing room. If the weather looks like rain, please bring your own umbrella with you. If there is rain on that weekend, the dedication ceremony will be moved to the Holiday Inn during the time of services.

Tours of the Home Office. Tours of the new building will be conducted before, during and after the GCE weekend. Information about these tours will be available upon your arrival. For the sake of the home office staff – who are working overtime to plan all of the events for this week of activities – we ask that you tour the building only during the dates and times given.

Thank you very much for your prayers for a successful round of meetings, and for your cooperation with regards to the dedication and tours of the new building.