Greetings from Charlotte,
Living Education-Charlotte classes are now in full swing. Those on the work-study program have been introduced to their department managers and are getting acclimated to their new tasks. Feast preparations continue, and the Feast of Trumpets, which will fall on the Sabbath of September 12, is less than a month away! Mr. Barry Walker reports that eleven days after evacuating, brethren in the Summerland, British Columbia, congregation—including the Walkers—have been allowed to return to their homes after the horrendous fires that swept through the area. Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Weston are on their way to Louisiana as I write this. They’ll be attending the funeral on Friday for Mr. Hermie Brown, an elder in the Monroe congregation. Mr. Brown died on August 14. The Westons have known the Browns for more than 50 years, from the time when Mr. Weston pastored in the area. Please remember in your prayers Mrs. Brown and others who are suffering from various trials.
—Rod McNair
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week, we held six initial presentations, two follow-up presentations, and three online presentations. These events collectively drew 60 in-person guests. This week, Mr. Michael Heykoop will give initial presentations in Winnipeg and Winkler, Manitoba, Canada; Mr. Brandon Fall will give an initial presentation in Rapid City, South Dakota; Mr. Chet Carpenter will give follow-up presentations in the Bay Area and Salinas, California; and Mr. Phil Sena will give a follow-up presentation in Columbus, Ohio. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Feast of Tabernacles
Final Preparations for the Feast of Tabernacles
With less than six weeks left before Opening Night, final preparations are being made for the Feast of Tabernacles 2026! The Festival Office is holding a number of meetings with those serving in various capacities at the Feast, including speakers, business managers, ushers, and audio/visual technicians. Note to all brethren: Please be sure to check your email regularly for messages from your site coordinator. The email address associated with your MyLCG account will be his means of communicating vital information to you right up to the Feast.
Tithe of the Festival Tithe
For many decades, the Church of God has practiced what is called the tithe of the Festival tithe. What this means is that brethren who can afford it are asked to send a tenth of their Festival tithe to the Church before the Feast, to help pay for meeting halls and other Feast expenses as well as to help brethren around the world who have limited resources to attend the Feast (Deuteronomy 14:27; 16:14). If you are able and you have not already done so, please send in your tithe of the Festival tithe for this year. This contribution is greatly appreciated.
Special Music at the Feast – Assistance with Live Stream – Repeat Announcement
Due to copyright restrictions, the live streaming of many music selections that we might use for special music is prohibited. However, we do have individuals who have composed their own original music for special music. Others would like to use the original music of another member, with their permission. That presents the question, Can music that falls into this category be live streamed?
The answer is yes—with a little preparation. In cases like this, live streaming is permitted if the proper documentation is submitted to our legal department here at headquarters. Just contact Mrs. Maranda Pirotte ([email protected]) in our legal department, and she’ll provide you with instructions as to how to proceed. You’ll need to provide a copy of your sheet music as part of the process. If you need help with transcribing your music into notation, just send an audio track of your music to [email protected], and we can create sheet music for it, which can then be submitted to our legal department.
Activity Registration Is Now Open – Repeat Announcement
Activity registration is now open and Living Church of God attendees and guests can sign up for Feast activities. Simply go to fotreg.cogl.org, sign in, select “Register for Activities,” and follow the prompts. Once you have signed up for activities, you can pay by selecting “Pay for Activities.” If paying by check, please read and follow carefully the instructions provided by your Festival Site Coordinator—and, of course, never send cash in the mail. And please note that, while it is perfectly fine to give Holy Day offerings online on the Holy Days, payments for Feast activities should, of course, not be made on a Sabbath. Note payment deadlines for your specific site. The general deadline to pay by check is September 7. If you have questions, contact your Festival Site Coordinator. Note: There may still be some activities at your site that are not yet open for registration. If you have any questions about the activities at your site, please contact your Festival Coordinator.
Finance
Green Holy Day Envelopes Have Been Mailed – U.S. Only
Green Holy Day envelopes for the fall Holy Days were mailed out the week ending August 14. If you have not received yours and would like the personalized, pre-addressed offering envelopes, please contact [email protected] or call the office (704-844-1970) and we will mail you a set. If you choose to donate through the envelope system, using these pre-addressed envelopes greatly speeds up the counting and receipting process, which in turn saves valuable time and money. For those who will donate online, please use donations.lcg.org: Click on “Type of Donation,” then choose “Holy Day Offering.” A Holy Day drop-down menu will appear, with which you can select the applicable Holy Day.
Comments
The Importance of Truth: Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Today, we face a global epidemic of misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories that generate mistrust of the media, governments, individuals, and major institutions. The Bible reveals that Satan is the god of this age and that he is a liar and the real author of the confusion we see around us (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 8:44; 1 Corinthians 14:33). The ancient prophets foretold that the time would come when truth would perish and be suppressed (Isaiah 59:4, 14–15; Jeremiah 7:28; 9:3–5; Romans 1:18). However, when Jesus Christ returns, His capital of Jerusalem will be known as “the City of Truth,” and the liberating truth of His law will be spread around the world by His servants He is calling today (Zechariah 8:1–3; Psalm 119:142; Isaiah 2:2–4; 11:9; 1 John 3:19). This is your exciting future—if you hold fast to the truth (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy
“Who broke Britain? Someone—or something—must have.” This was recently stated by an article in The Atlantic (June 24, 2026), which highlighted that “the country’s output per person is now only just above that of Mississippi, America’s poorest state—and that slight lead is only achieved thanks to London. Outside the capital, in places where tourists do not visit, living standards fall well below Mississippi’s.” Due to high mortgage rates and the end of a government home-ownership support program, demand for new homes has dropped, and home costs continue to rise—making them unaffordable for many (JRF.org, April 16, 2026).
How did Great Britain, a nation whose naval and economic power created nearly a century of robust global commerce and the “Pax Britannica,” fall to such depths? While few make the connection, in recent years “there has been a large fall in the number of people who consider themselves as Christian, dropping below half the population of England and Wales for the first time” (Sky News, November 29, 2022), and two-thirds of those surveyed in the United Kingdom categorized themselves as either “not religious” or “atheist” (King’s College London, May 2023). This coincides with a nearly 80 percent approval of the legalization of same-sex “marriage” (Statista, May 7, 2026).
Any society that moves away from biblical values sets itself on a course of self‑destruction. The Bible warns that when people forsake God’s laws, especially those nations to whom He has given abundant blessings, grave consequences follow (Leviticus 26:3–43). Discover how Britain rose to global dominance, why that dominance has faded, and what lies ahead by exploring our free study guide The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.
Sargassum Seaweed Invasion: Sargassum seaweed gets its name from the Sargasso Sea—a region off the southeast coast of North America. However, the seaweed today moves across the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa to the Caribbean. The last couple years have seen a massive explosion in the amount of Sargassum seaweed impacting coasts of the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, and Texas (AccuWeather.com, June 2, 2026). While sargassum seaweed is a wonderful breeding ground for turtles, fish, and birds, it can cause massive problems on and near the seashore. When it washes up on shore and begins breaking down, sargassum seaweed gives off both ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Not only do these gases produce an unpleasant stench, but they also can result in respiratory problems and skin irritation in humans. Additionally, “rotting seaweed smothers coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves, putting entire marine ecosystems at risk” (DCNANature.org, June 12, 2025).
Scientists are not entirely sure why sargassum seaweed has become more devastating in recent years. Recent droughts followed by extreme precipitation events have caused “high concentrations of phosphorus” to flow from the Amazon River into the Atlantic, which seems to have fueled the growth of the seaweed (ABC News, June 5, 2025). When sargassum decomposes and rots in the water, it creates “dead zones” that are hazardous to fish and other animals. One researcher said that the large sargassum bloom of 2025 may have been, itself, the source of the new bloom in 2026, suggesting the possibility that it has grown large enough to be self-sustaining in areas (Associated Press, July 31, 2026).
As Bible prophecy marches on, we seem to be witnessing far greater and more wide-reaching environmental disasters. The sargassum seaweed crisis is beginning to cause real damage and seems poised to get worse in the near future. Why do such events occur? And why do they seem to be on the increase? To learn more, be sure to read or listen to Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters? —Scott Winnail, Richard Franz, and Françoise Duval