United Church of God
an International Association

Warm greetings everyone,

We decided to coauthor a letter to you on behalf of both the Council of Elders and the home office staff, updating you on the encouraging events of the last few weeks.

The Feast of Pentecost seemed to mark the end of a several-week stretch of intense activity with the home office move into the new building, the annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders, the quarterly Council meeting and transitions in job responsibilities for a new president and a new chairman. Even though events have been a bit hectic, the moves and changes have gone very smoothly and with God’s blessings.

The early reports from the Feast of Pentecost have been very positive in every way, from inspiring spiritual messages to increased attendance and offerings. It was very gratifying to see more than a 4 percent increase in U.S. attendance over Pentecost 2001, and over 10 percent increase in the offering! We hope these trends were mirrored in the international areas as well.

Here are the preliminary attendance and offering figures for Pentecost in the United States for 2002, compared with 2001:

Attendance: 11,758

Offering: $669,095.51

Average per person: $56.91

Attendance: 11,241

Offering: $605,780.64

Average per person: $53.89

(This represents a 4.6 percent increase in attendance over 2001, and a 10.5 percent increase in the offering amount over 2001. Once all offerings that were individually mailed to the home office are processed, the 2002 figure should reach $680,000.)

Such statistics are encouraging, not because we look to numbers and money as the measure of success, but because we believe they are fruits evident of spiritual growth. There is a wonderful statement about a time of expansion in the early Church in Acts 9:31, where we read: "Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied." Our efforts likewise, brethren, to be at peace and to be peacemakers, to edify the body, to walk in the fear of God and in the comfort of the Spirit, will always pay off. If increased attendance and income is one measure of God’s blessing, we rejoice in that. But there are even more important measurements such as growing "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18), growing in zeal, godly character and the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). In these things we greatly rejoice because we feel they have been the real reason for the steady escalation in attendance and income.

God has graciously shepherded us and granted us some "green pastures," as David described in Psalm 23. If we can take a slight liberty with David’s thought, however, we don’t feel now is a time for us to "lie down" in those green pastures—rather, it is time, as the saying goes, "to make hay while the sun shines." In other words, in this unstable world of tumult and sometimes sudden destruction, we have no time to sit on our laurels and take things easy. We must effectively use every opportunity to be fervently doing the work of God, to be building the spiritual temple and to be preaching the gospel. Thank you for your sense of urgency and for your labors in overcoming, supporting one another and creating a spiritually-healthy church environment to which God can send new believers.

The ministerial conference May 3 to 6 was, by virtually all accounts, the best annual meeting we’ve ever had in terms of profitability, practicality and peacefulness. Ephesians 4:11–16 provided the theme to the presentations, "Equipping the Saints, Edifying the Body." Plans call for developing the Feast of Tabernacles video sermon from these speeches, similar to what we did last year, and we know you will find them both inspiring and exhortative.

The General Conference of Elders also selected two new members for the Council of Elders, Jim Franks and Doug Horchak, both returning to duties they once held. In addition, Aaron Dean and John Jewell were returned for additional three-year terms. The contributions over the last six years of Don Ward, who will not be returning to the Council, should not be unrecognized. Don has given much to the Church, particularly in the areas of doctrine and education, and will continue to do so, only in a different capacity than through the Council. His dedication goes back much farther, of course, than the last seven years that United has been in existence, and he has a legacy of tenacious defense of God’s truth for decades. We certainly appreciate the service he gave to the Council.

One other thing we have learned to appreciate in the last few years is the value of the body working as a team. We are "members individually" but collectively we "are the body of Christ," as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:27. As individuals we all have strengths and weaknesses, but the beauty of collaborative teamwork is that each individual’s strengths are maximized while other teammates shore up his limitations. Changing conditions and different times sometimes call for different strengths. As the years roll by it’s likely that we will commonly see personnel and job changes, not because somebody is doing a poor job, but because the changing climate summons a different set of skills.

When our focus remains firmly on the mission God has given us, the people involved can attain the humility to honestly say, "This is not about me, it’s about God and His work." Much was accomplished under the fine leadership of Leslie McCullough, who took on the job of president during a troublesome period in our history, and guided the Church to our current time of peace and growth. The current United News has an article highlighting the progress we have made during the time he managed the operations of the Church, but history may also show that the peaceful transition was one of the most important precedents set.

The change in the office of president has also necessitated a change in chairman of the Council and General Conference of Elders. A wise mother once told her daughter leaving for college, "Remember, dear, that just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed!" We now have different people doing different jobs, but the Church’s duty, our mission and our vision continue unchanged—we have a gospel to preach and we are a people being prepared. The Council of Elders and all the home office staff are committed to working together even more closely in order to provide to the best of our abilities the most effective leadership and service to God and the Church.

Pentecost reminds us every year of the awesome privilege extended to us to be part of the continuous chain of people God has called and begotten. Let’s continue to labor together in the work He has given us. Remember the sick and afflicted and our brethren who live in stressful conditions. Summer camps for our youth start in just a few weeks, and we hope to see a lot of you teens and young adults there. Before you know it the fall Holy Days will be upon us!

Well, as you can see, even though we mentioned at the beginning that the pace of activity has been frantic over the past few weeks, it is slowing down only slightly! It is exciting to be in the work of God today, isn’t it! Until next time,