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PASTOR GENERAL'S
REPORT
TO THE MINISTRY OF THE
WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
VOL • 3 , NO • 27
FROM MINISTERIAL SERVICES
International News
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
JULY 3, 1981
News From Radlett Office Possibly the first Feast of Tabernacles since the
days of the early apostles--perhaps the first Feast ever--is now being
planned for the island of Malta. This small island, lying just to the south
of Italy in the Mediterranean, is soaked in history. Although now inde
pendent, it was, for many years, one of the strategic sea gates controlled
by the British. Mentioned in Acts 28:1, this was also the island on which
Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome.
The Feast is to be held in the town of Rabat, a very central location.
Total attendance is expected to be 160 people, and the members throughout
the Mediterranean are all looking forward to meeting the 100 or more
visitors who are planning to join them.
Mr. Armstrong's full-page ads have now appeared on six separate occasions
in the large national papers of Fleet Street. In spite of being message
rather than response oriented, they have prompted over
2,200
people to
write in requesting The PLAIN TRUTH. They also prompted a reaction from a
very few individuals who wrote direct to the newspapers in complaint.
Unfortunately, due to the very traditional stance adopted by some of the
national dailies, both the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph have refused to
handle any more of our advertising as a result. These are two of the
highest response papers we had and obviously we are currently requesting a
full explanation of their reasons for the ban--though under English law,
they are under no obligation to comply.
Holy Day attendance for Pentecost was up six percent in the U.K., and the
offering was 21% greater than last year. Our mail income was 19% higher
than May 1980, giving a year-to-date figure of +27%.
Update From Manila God has continued to bless His Work here in the Phil
ippines in the last two months, after it suffered some setback in income
last March. The May income was 43% over last year, and the year-to-date
increase has now moved up to 20.5%. It is hoped that the next month will
continue the upward trend.
Some very good responses have been received from PLAIN TRUTH readers. This
shows that we are reaching a good quality readership, and the potential for
growth is big. With the fine financial backing from the Canadian office, we
will be able to increase our PLAIN TRUTH circulation here to 70,000. At
present there are 42,221 subscribers. A stepped-up newsstand distribution
campaign will be carried on once the extra magazines arrive.
From January until end of May this year, we have had a total of 36 baptisms.
This brings the total number of baptized members in the Philippines to
2,199.