Hello from Charlotte!
We have now concluded the Council of Elders conference here at Headquarters. You will be hearing more about what was covered in these sessions as time goes along. We are including some repeat announcements in this issue for emphasis. Please read them out one more time at church, or at least refer to them.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Feast of Tabernacles 2003
We know you have all been anxiously awaiting the announcement of this year's Feast site locations. We regret that because of the move to Charlotte, and last-minute negotiations involving several sites, this information has been so long in coming.
In 2003, the Living Church of God will have nine Feast sites in the United States and three in Canada. Brethren may also apply to transfer to a variety of sites overseas.
Detailed information will be published in the upcoming Feast Planner, which we expect will be mailed by the first week in June. Until then, the following basic information may help you begin thinking about your options.
Please note that the hall in Hawaii can only accommodate 550 Feast goers. If the "Festival headcount" in local congregations (scheduled for the Sabbaths of June 14 & 21) indicates that Hawaii will be oversubscribed, attendees will be approved from among those who have submitted the Hawaii Feast Site Transfer Application included with the Feast Planner. Attendance in Hawaii will NOT be "first-come, first-served," so please do not feel rushed to submit the form; it will be sufficient to submit it after you have received the Feast Planner.
Anyone who is turned down this year will be guaranteed a priority place at the Hawaii site in 2004. Please do NOT make any hotel or airline reservations for Hawaii until the Festival Office gives the "OK" in a few weeks. Please be aware that there will be no Festival Assistance for the Hawaii site. Thank you for your patience.
The US sites for 2003 are:
Prescott, AZ
Kauai, HI
Myrtle Beach, SC
Eureka Springs, AR
Florence, OR
New Braunfels, TX
Panama City, FL
Harrisburg, PA
Teton Village, WY
The Canadian sites are:
Cranbrook, BC
Cornwall, ON
Summerside, PEI
The European sites are:
Evian, France
North Wales, United Kingdom
The Australasian sites are:
Albany, Australia
Bateman's Bay, Australia
Taupo, New Zealand
We will only be encouraging transfers to one Spanish-speaking site:
Oaxtepec, Mexico
We will only be encouraging transfers to one site in Africa:
Port Alfred, South Africa
There will be several sites in the Caribbean, but we only have final information about two of them at the moment:
Runaway Bay, Jamaica
Mayaro, Trinidad & Tobago
(There will be sites in Barbados and Guyana; exact locations have not yet been finalized.)
More detailed information (meeting halls, conference hotels, etc.) pertaining to these sites will be included in the upcoming Feast Planner.
SERMONS ON DVD
The Television Department is now able to provide the monthly sermons sent to the congregations in DVD format. Our duplication capacity is limited at this time and only five sets are initially available. If your congregation or video group has the equipment to use DVDs, e-mail your request to Mr. Don Davis at [email protected] and we will start sending the headquarters sermons in DVD format to the first five video recipients who respond. If the demand is strong enough, we will increase our production capacity.
INSURANCE
Due to cost-related factors, volunteers are no longer covered under the Church's Worker's Compensation insurance policy.
The Church continues to maintain a Special Risk/Accident insurance policy through The Hartford. Please note that this policy is for accidents only. This policy does not cover sickness, nor is it intended to replace any other major medical or catastrophic insurance which an individual or family already has. As an "excess" policy', it is designed to provide financial aid (subject to its own policy limits) in the event that an accident occurs at any Church activity
YOUTH CAMPS
Attention all young people! This year we have preteen camps located in California, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ontario, Canada. We also have our LYC teen camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Deadlines have passed for some of the camps, but we still have openings for campers and
some for staff at most camps, including some at LYC Michigan. If you are interested in having the summer of your life, check out the camps in the January/February 2003 Living Church News, or at our teen website where you can download an application: www.youth-web.org
YOUNG SINGLES
Living 4 Tomorrow - A Time 4 Young Singles - Michigan 2003
Living Church of God young adults are invited to attend our first ever "Living 4 Tomorrow - A Time 4 Young Singles." There will be classes and discussion groups on Christian Leadership, Family Matters, Creating a Culture of Purity, and Doctrines of the Church. Recreational activities will include team sports, dance classes and a dance, barbecues and plenty of "Fellowship Time." The fee of US $100 covers the cost of all lodging, food, and activities. Space is limited to 48 selected participants who will live in one of three modern lodges.
The location for "Living 4 Tomorrow" is Trout Lake in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Arrival day is Tuesday, July 15 with a get acquainted barbecue scheduled for that evening. Departure date is Sunday morning, July 20. If you are interested in applying, you can find an application on line at: www.youth-web.org or by contacting Gerald Weston at: [email protected], or phone at 905 814-1103. Apply soon, as openings are expected to fill up quickly and airline tickets are at bargain basement prices.
COMMENTS
The Council meetings, just completed, were very productive, unified and interesting. Dr. Roderick C. Meredith finished the conference by focusing our attention on Jesus Christ, our close personal relationship with Him and the deep, abiding love we must build for Him and each other. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:9-14
We all know that, generally speaking, this world is without natural affection, just as was prophesied in II Tim. 3:1, 3, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come... Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good..."
However, this must not be so among us—neither in our relationships with one another, nor in our relationships with Jesus Christ and God the Father. This intense, growing love for God and each other is the hallmark of genuine, mature, dynamic Christianity and it is a command from Him. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." I John 4:20-21
Have a happy Sabbath!
Charles E. Bryce