Greetings from Church Administration:
It has been two weeks since I last sent you an update - and it seems like yesterday. My wife and I spent Sabbath before last with Mr. and Mrs. Dan Hall and family, along with the Jackson brethren and visitors from surrounding areas. We met for the first time some wonderful brethren, and also some old-timers going back to the days when my wife and I were living in Memphis, Tennessee.
From Jackson we drove up to Louisville, Mississippi where we met with ministers and wives from the eastern regions. As Mr. Meredith has written, we had a wonderful conference in a peaceful setting, with a beautiful spirit of unity. We were saddened by the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Don Contardi, of Rochester, N.Y. Mr. Contardi has not been well for some time, and is currently undergoing tests to determine the cause of his illness. Please remember Mr. Contardi in your prayers. An article on the conference will be included in the July L C News.
International: Mr. Rod McNair reports that the ministry to the Philippines had a ministerial meeting in Manila - attended by six ministers plus himself - and their wives. They were: Mr. Gorgonio de Guia, Mr. Eleno Cabahit, Mr. Felipe Casing, Mr. Tex Benitez, Mr. Elias Flores, and Mr. Encardio Benitez, who is 75 years of age. Mr. Encardio Benitez was baptized in 1950 by the ministry of the Church of God Seventh Day was able to attend. Mr. Encardio Benitez is brother of Mr. Tex Benitez who has been with us for a number of years now. We are very happy to have brothers working shoulder to shoulder in Mindanao!
Update for the Ministry from the Treasurer: It's amazing how time flies. Five months of 1999 are already behind us! Through the end of May, the income is better than expected-especially the Holy Day offerings. The spring Holy Days came in at exactly 80.0% of last year's amounts. Total income, as of May 31, stands at 78.5% of last year's total. While the income is better than expected, expenses are also a little higher than planned (naturally-it's always that way). However, we are in a better financial position overall than we have been in the past several years. Although we expect income to grow, even if it just holds steady and if we hold expenses as we have been doing, we should be able to make it through the summer AND pay all the bills during the Feast break with the income that comes in before Atonement. In essence, after the Feast, we should have Holy Day offerings from three Holy Days in the bank (instead of just two as we had been used to) to help us make it to the spring Holy Days of 2000. This is the minimum that we must set aside since we expect that customary year-end donations will be much smaller at the end of this year, as we approach year 2000.
Editorial Department: Mr. Richard Ames reports that "What's Ahead for America and Britain" is back from the printer and will be mailed directly to each member household plus the 2,000 plus persons who have requested it from the telecast. Speaking of the telecast, the respondents to Tomorrow's World program now exceed 15,000. Mr. Bowmer reports that two Web commentaries were recorded this week. Dr. Meredith's commentary on the European Community Military Alliance will be uploaded by Mr. Bode next week. Mr. Bowmer also informed me that we are continuing to upload one new sermon per week in addition to the current telecast.
Two other Web site items are under final review: (1) www.mundomanana.org (Spanish) should be operational within two weeks; (2) a members only web site which will be a (single account) password - to avoid viewing by John Q Surfer. We will then post church related items on that site. The Living Church News - should have been received by most now. It contains pre-registration forms, which will be helpful to festival coordinators in feast planning. Please ask folks to return these per instructions. Radio Manx - is now available to us. We will begin broadcasting in July or August, if technical obstacles are surmounted.
Conclusion: For some weeks now I have been on the road on the weekends. Since this will continue for the foreseeable future I will continue to be unable to Host the CHAT on Sunday evenings. Therefore, I am recessing the CHAT sessions for the summer. I hope that we will be able to develop a viable Bible study format for the Internet by this fall. Until then, I hope all of you Internet users will be able to enjoy the extra time with family or friends. Have a great Sabbath and weekend!
CEMc