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PASTOR GENERAL'S
REPORT
TO THE MINISTRY OF THE
WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
VOL.7, N0.19
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
FROM MINISTERIAL SERVICES
MAY 10, 1985
Thank you for your continued prayers for the success of Mr. Herbert Arm
strong's current trip. We look forward to hearing details of his activi
ties soon. Mr. Armstrong is feeling well and has already had a number of
interesting meetings, which will be covered in an upcoming issue of THE
WORLDWIDE NEWS.
Several pastors have mentioned that it would be helpful to once again de
fine the prospective member status. Please follow the guidelines below in
keeping your list of PMs accurate and up-to-date.
• A prospective member (PM) is defined as an individual who shows good
promise of becoming a member in the relatively near future--possibly
six months to one year. (We realize it is impossible to know for sure
whether a person will be baptized. We merely want your best judg
ment.)
• If a PM is regularly attending church, even if he is not making any ob
vious progress toward baptism, you should not, based upon this fact
alone, forbid further church attendance. He could.be worked with, but
it is possible such a person is called only to be a co-worker. It is
fine for the individual to continue attending, provided he or she is
maintaining the standards of the Church and not causing any problems.
Whether an individual should be retained as a PM on file would depend
on the minister's judgment of whether or not he is actively progress
ing toward baptism. If the individual is making no detectable prog
ress toward baptism, he should be deleted from PM status.
• Older children (in their late teens) of members should be made PMs
only if they are actively seeking baptism. They should not be made PMs
just because they are YOU members.
• If a husband and wife are both regarded as PMs, then they should be
designated separately as PMs on file (the PM count should measure in
dividuals, not just heads of households).
• It is not necessary to designate someone a PM just to add him to the
Feast sign-up list.
• The prospective member status is a category we use as an estimation of
future baptisms. For this reason, we appreciate your endeavors to
keep this status as accurate as possible.
• If you have individuals in a PM classification who do not belong there
according to these guidelines, please remove them from PM status.
These guidelines apply for the United States and should be applicable in
international regions as well. However, the regional directors may need to
make some minor modifications aue to special circumstances in their areas.
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