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WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
WORLD HEADQUARTERS
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
PRESIDENT and PASTOR
December 27, 1971
Dear Brethren in God's Church:
AT LAST! And this time IT'S OFFICIAL!
The ground breaking ceremony for construction of the
superb HOUSE FOR GOD at His present earthly Headquarters, here
on the Pasadena campus, is set definitely for Friday, January
14th next, 1972! That will be the second day of the annual
Ministers' Conference!
We have had to be patient. We had been hoping to build
this magnificent edifice ever since 1963. But always some other
building had become so imperatively necessary that it had to be
given priority. Now God has rewarded our patience!
Last January 21, I wrote our members that we hoped to
break ground for the auditorium by July. But there were a number
of "IF's" -- and then the nation's dollar crisis delayed things.
There is another reason why we could not proceed until
now. We did not have the financing for it. The general
contractors must be paid progress payments weekly or monthly, so
they will be PAID IN FULL upon completion, and before they turn
it over to us for our use. Many of you have been faithful in
sending in the special monthly offerings for the BUILDING FUND,
although many have been slacking off the past few months. We
have been setting aside these special offerings, as they have
accumulated, and now have this money on hand. And within the
past week our mortgage bankers have finally succeeded in
obtaining long-term insurance company loans for the balance.
This auditorium will be positively breath-taking in
beauty. Possibly it will be THE FINEST -- though far from
largest -- building in California. Some architects and engineers
have even said possibly the finest in America, but that I doubt.
It will not remotely compare with the TEMPLE which God allowed King
Solomon to build at Jerusalem. This, of course, is NOT a Temple,
but will be known by the public as the 1300-seat auditorium of
Ambassador College -- though to us in God's Church it will be
GOD'S HOUSE. God's TEMPLE can only be built in Jerusalem, and
probably not until after Christ's return in Power and Glory.
This auditorium will serve the dual purposes of providing
the auditorium for college functions -- the weekly forums and
assemblies and other special events -- and also the meeting place
where God's Headquarters Church will meet with Him on the Sabbaths.
Actually, it will not be large enough to accommodate even all of
the local members, who now number around 3,000. We are having