Warm greetings from beautiful Charlotte!
We are starting to receive very encouraging reports about the Feast. It seems that this one was indeed one of the best—and in several ways the best Feast yet—according to ministers and brethren alike. That was certainly true for Sharon and me. Most everyone is back at Headquarters, healthy and eager to work. We plan to build on the momentum of this exceptional Feast for the entire year. A big hearty "thank you" to everyone for doing your part in making it so particularly special this year. Apparently God was very pleased, considering the way He intervened, guided and so abundantly blessed His people, both spiritually and physically during this high point of the year.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
We are sad to announce the death of a long-time minister in the Church of God, Dr. Lynn Torrance. He died on Atonement morning, September 25, 2004. Mrs. Torrance commented that Dr. Torrance had died on the best day that he could have. He leaves a legacy of service and Christian example that is respected and admired by all of us. Funeral Services will be held on Sunday, October 17 at 1:30 pm. They will be at:
Croley Funeral Home
401 N Center St.
Gladewater, TX 75647
Ph: 903-845-2155
Cards and letters of encouragement may be sent to Mrs. Lynn Torrance at P.O. Box 507, Big Sandy, TX 75755.
Post-Feast Reports
Many of the Feast site coordinators are already submitting their post-Feast reports to HQ. Thank you for your promptness. As a reminder, we need these reports by the deadline of October 20, 2004. Please refer to the memorandum sent to all of the coordinators dated September 14 to ensure that we get all of the info we need. Thank you very much for your outstanding service at this year's Feast.
Church Survey
Notice to all U.S. Church Pastors: Please complete the Church Survey forms, sent to you before the Feast, and get them back to us by the deadline of October 29, 2004. This will help us immeasurably to continue to improve our Church database. Thanks to all of you who have already done this!
Council of Elders
Please remember to pray for God's blessing and guidance in preparation for the upcoming Council of Elders conference. The meetings will take place here at Headquarters, November 15-17, with a Regional Pastors meeting on the 18th.
COMMENTS
Many wonderful and exciting things are being discussed and planned in God's great Work for the coming year. Mr. Roderick C. Meredith will be covering more of that as time goes along. I thought I would mention some of the projects underway in CAD, so you can be aware of them and pray about them.
- We are already firming up plans for the Feast of Tabernacles 2005.
- We are about 60% done with the Living Church of God Hymnal project. We are aiming for distribution in November-December of this year.
- We are looking into holding a Living Church Youth Camp in the western part of the United States. This camp will be in addition to our wonderful LYC in Michigan, which will certainly continue.
- We are planning to hold the general Ministerial Conference every other year, which will help relieve the budget. In between the general Conferences, we will hold a series of Pastor's conferences and workshops here in Charlotte. Specific planning will start soon on these smaller conferences to be held next year, 2005. More details will be forthcoming.
- We will start discussions soon on possible ministerial hirings for the Pastoral Training Program for next year. Budget questions will weigh heavily in these decisions, but we also realize that we must meet the needs of the flocks in the field.
- We must begin the process of ministerial transfer decisions for the year 2005. This will take a bit of time to complete, but we'll get there with God's help.
- We have had to delay the photo album of the ministers—but only briefly. This will get done and sent out before too much longer, we hope.
Of course, Mr. Meredith will be leading and guiding all of these discussions and planning sessons.
That's it for now. Enjoy the after glow from the Feast of Tabernacles. Make it last as long as you can and have a brimful and running over Sabbath day!
Charles E. Bryce