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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 3, 1984
At the end of the conference, on Thursday, July 5th, the delegates and their
wives were taken on a coach trip to Maidstone to visit Alabaster Passmore's
main printing plant. They also visited the beautiful and historic uLeeds
Castle" and were later treated to a buffet meal, courtesy of Passmore
1
s.
Year-to-date mail is up 39% over 1983. However, mail income took a dip in
June, showing a decrease of four percent from June last year, while the
year-to-date figure was up six percent. Happily this trend has improved a
little and the July income is likely to be somewhat more healthy following a
generous response to Mr. Armstrong's co-worker and semi-annual letters.
The newsstand program is continuing to bring in responses varying from 2.5%
to 3.3%. This is an encouraging response and we plan to test a new insert
card which may lead to even higher levels.
Scandinavia: The Norwegian PLAIN TRUTH mailing list stood at almost 14,000
with the July/August issue, with new subscribers being added daily. The
total Scandinavian circulation in English and Norwegian now stands at
24,500, an increase of 94.5% over 1983. Our end-of-year target is a com
bined circulation of approximately 35,000.
Caribbea,1 News June was a very good month for the Church of God in the Car
ibbean. Year to date 14,772 new subscribers have been added to the PLAIN
TRUTH mailing list, and a further 2,044 have renewed their subscriptions.
At the end of June, there were 5.7% more subscribers than at the end of May,
and 39.9% more than at the end of June 1983. As
a
result, further growth in
the number of donors and co-workers is anticipated, with 460 donors and 247
co-workers being added so far this year. Membership has increased by 8.4%
so far this year. Compared to the first six months of last year, GOOD NEWS
circulation is up 122.9%, YOUTH 84 up 181.7%, donors up 32.8% and co
workers up 24.6%.
The first six months of 1984 were very successful in the media area. Tele
vision was the real producer. "The WORLD TOMORROW" is seen on six televi
sion stations in the Caribbean, and in the first six months of 1984, 6,014
responses were received. The station pulling the most response is JBC in
Jamaica--4,358 responses so far this year. Although this is the lion
I
s
share of the responses, we are happy with the other five stations. Our six
month cost per response was $11.91.
Comments From Monthly Church Reports
From the Caribbean
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS--ARNOLD HAMPTON: The highlight of this month
concerns our meeting hall for Sabbath services. For 14 of the
last 16 years, the congregation has met at a cinema. We were
given word at the end of April to vacate that building because a
new tenant would take it over starting in June. It is very dif
ficult to find halls to accommodate over 450 people, especially
one which is centrally located or near major bus routes. We were
able to use another facility for most of June, but with July ap
proaching we had nothing concrete. The brethren were praying
fervently for God to open a door for us. God did open a door--the
door that had closed to us one month earlier--the same building
the Church has met in for the last 14 years! The brethren were