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Doctrinal Differences Between Living & United Church of God Some of the Doctrines and Differences between the Living Church of God and the United Church of God, ia UPDATED 07/24/16 By The (Living) and the United Church of God, an International Association (United) both had their roots in the Worldwide Church of God. Although there are many obvious similarities, this author has often been asked about the differences in their teachings. The intent of this article is not to cause division.

The Bible teaches that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3), thus true agreement will not come if the groups hold differing views. This article primarily includes quotes from official publications or the leaderships of two churches. Published quotes from some members, who are not part of the 'leadership' have been included, because in some instances those comments seemed to help clarify certain points. The author is aware that several of the quotes which follow may not be the official policies of the respective churches.

The author is also aware that many members in United do not share the 'official view' of United's leadership on some of these subjects. In addition, quotes from those who were once in United but are now with the group now led by David Hulme (COG, aic) will try to be excluded (as some in United object to them). Some quotes from Living leadership while they were in the Global Church of God are included as these leaders still hold similar leadership positions in Living. For background information, it should be stated that this author has attended United services at least a dozen times in a total of three different congregations. However, the author has had much greater access to Living's videos, tapes, sermons, etc.

Than United's. (Note any bolding was placed by this author, and many of my comments within each position will be in italics.) I know that this is a long paper and readers may wish to selectively pick and chose what to read at first. However, if one is affiliated with United and is under the misconception that United teaches the same doctrines as WCG under HWA did, this article should be read in its entirety as it clearly documents that error of that misconception. Fundamental Difference Perhaps the fundamental difference between the groups is that United believes it is a continuation of the Church of God, while Living has tended to believe it represents the bulk of the remnant of the Philadelphia era of the Church of God. Nearly all the differences which this article documents stem from this fundamental difference. United: 'Jim Franks of Cypress, Texas, chairman of the UCG's advisory committee on doctrine.Mr. Franks believes.UCG is 'not a new church,' he said.

'We are a continuation' ' (Warren, John. UCG tentatively sanctions old-WCG voting doctrine. August 31, 2001). Note: Jim Franks is now president of a group called, that split from UCG. Living: 'The Living Church of God cannot claim that all its members are Philadelphian, but we do believe we are a uniquely Philadelphian remnant' (Thiel, R. Living Church News.

SERVICE OFFICER. COLOR BEARERS. COLOR GUARDS. Commanders should appoint chairmen to head up the various VFW. On the following pages of this manual you will find a calendar which lists important dates for you to build some. Operation Eagle Pull - Cambodia.

Jul-Aug 2001; p.15). '.we are the 'remnant' of the Philadelphian Church living over into the Laodicean era' (Meredith, Roderick C. Living Church News.

Jul-Aug 2003; p3). While Living still tends to believe that, it has changed a bit (and that is covered later). The following is a list of differences that this article will attempt to document in detail: 1.

Broadcast Media and Doing a Work 2. Handling Income Surpluses in 2001 3. Size: Elders, Churches, and Feast Sites 4. Third Tithe 6. Church Eras 7. Philadelphia 9. Who Will Be Protected?

Iran: Possible King of the South 12. Armstrong--Elijah 13. Birthdays 14.

Born Again 15. Disasters 16.

Jury Duty 19. 18 Truths 20. Last Great Day 21. Unleavened Bread 22. Catholic or Moslem Europe?

Doctrinal Changes 25. Approaches to Prophecy: When is the End? Should it be a major concern? Collapse of US Dollar 27. Governance 28.

Who is the 'Man of Sin'? Broadcast Media and Doing a Work United: 'Broadcast Media and Advertising. No budget is projected in this area at this time. The new Council of Elders will develop strategic and operating plans. Broadcast media and advertising will be addressed at that time.' (Notes to Proposed Fiscal Budget. New Beginnings.

December 18, 1995; p:11) 'Israel sat on the bottom of Mount Sinai for nearly a year (Exodus 19:1, Numbers 10:11). Because this is how God decided to start a church.God took time to teach Israel how to worship Him. He took time to organize and train their ministry and to write their ministerial manuals.

He took time to teach them how to conduct worship services. All this was done in Exodus.

God then dedicated the entire book of Leviticus to teaching Israel how to worship and walk with Him--a repetition and expansion of the book of Exodus. Is there a lesson in it for us? Some get overly anxious about doing a work.Some would like to see us do it right this time.'

From the Chairman: How Would God Start a Church? New Beginnings. March 4, 1996). For United's 15 month fiscal year ending June 30, 2000 'Public Proclamation' (2,584,544) divided by 'Total revenues, gains, and other supports' (19,715,635) = 13.1% (Financial Statements Receive Positive Report from Auditors. November 2000; p.18).

'Presenters are being chosen for a possible radio program for United' (Eddington, Peter. Radio Program Explored. July 1999; p.16). 'On May 30 Gary Petty will come to the office to begin taping the first 13 half-hour radio programs for the Church-sponsored weekly radio broadcast scheduled to begin in August.it is hard to know what results to expect from this test phase' (Radio Taping Begins. May 2000; p.16). 'President Les McCullough commented 'My impression is, we need to get the Council to decide, and to agree, on what the purpose of the Church is.

I know we have a mission statement. But what does the Council think the purpose of the Good News is? What is our intent, our aim? It seems to me we’d be better off if that were all nailed down solidly at the upper level and then passed on down through the lower level…as a Council, it doesn’t seem to me that we’re as focused, and as precise, and as intent on ‘what is the purpose [of some of the things we do]?’ We have some very broad general statements that we’ve made, but we haven’t narrowed our statements down to say ‘this is what we mean!’ ‘Preach the gospel to all the world.’ What do we mean by that?

How do we want to go about it?' He recalled that part of our goal historically was to preach the gospel as a witness. That was included as part of the goal, and was understood clearly. Richard Thompson stated that he understood the proposal for a January 2001 meeting by such a new oversight committee was intended to do just that – narrow the focus and bring a report to the Council at its next meetings, in March 2001. 'Then those who are aware of certain things could narrow the focus and bring it to the Council very definitively I think one reason we’re not as focused is because the world isn’t focused'.

'(UCG, aia Council of Elders Meeting Report. December 10, 2000).

UCG's then President Les McCullough reported, 'I have had various comments sent to me that we are not preaching a warning witness as we should, and I have to agree that we may not have emphasized the 'warning' part as much as we could' (Letter from Les McCullough, February 1, 2001). For the period ending 6/30/01, UCG spent 2,750,000 or 15.3% of its income on 'public proclamation' (Kirkpatrick Tom. Audited Statements Reflect God's Blessings. United Church News, September-October 2001. United dropped to 328,000 Good News English magazines (it now is at 380,000 for Jul-Aug 2012) down from a high of over 500,000 partially due to a massive renewal program for waiting room subscriptions--only 312,000 actually seem to have subscribed to it when it was over 500,000 (Johnson, Doug. UCG Council Of Elders Meeting Report 12/11/02 & 5/15/05 and United News May 2003 & May-June 2005 & Good News March-April 2011).

'In the earliest days of the United Church of God, a commitment was made by its leadership to establish and stabilize the Church and its congregations from the conditions of tumult that existed in the mid-1990s. Having regular Sabbath services and stable congregations in as many areas as possible was a top priority. To the degree possible, the leadership of the Church set about to have local congregations overseen by full-time, trained pastors. Experience has shown that this is the best way to nurture, care for and assist in the spiritual development of the people God has called and chosen. That decision obviously has ramifications when it comes to our budget.

Simply put, it takes a considerable amount of money and human resources to establish and maintain stable congregations (and Feast sites) all around the world. That is not an inexpensive endeavor. Nor is it likely to be relatively less expensive if time goes on many more years, since new pastors will need to be trained and put in place to take over for those who reach retirement age. In the short run, considerable resources could be freed up to do other things if the United Church of God’s leadership decided to discontinue local, pastored congregations in all but a few areas (perhaps only those with fairly large concentrations of members). But that would not be wise.

If United were to switch to an 'either-or' approach—either preach the gospel or take care of the Church—considerable resources could be freed up to do other things. That is, if we were to turn our backs on preaching the gospel, and turn all our resources in on ourselves and our local congregations and our individual salvation, then considerable reallocation of funds would result. The same would be true if we decided that nearly all our efforts should be expended in preaching the gospel, with little or no effort to establishing and maintaining local congregations.

We do not believe that this would be wise. Reasonable people of good faith and intentions may disagree, but the leadership of the United Church of God believes strongly that the current model (doing both) is best for the long-term interest of our being used by God to 'do the work.' We believe that we are following the biblical model in this regard. More to Public Proclamation Than Meets the Eye Some may look at the published financial reports of United and conclude that it does not put a high value on preaching the gospel. That is not a correct conclusion. There are other ways to measure the amount of seed being sown, besides just the absolute number of dollars or percentage of total dollars apportioned in an accounting report to a cost center called 'Public Proclamation.'

It would take an inordinate amount of time, and in the end would result in highly subjective and arguable numbers, to subjectively apportion these funds between 'Church' and 'Preaching the Gospel.' We choose not to do so. It is helpful to consider other metrics beside money in ascertaining the effort being spent on sowing the seed—preaching the gospel.We are grateful for what God has given, especially in light of the weakened state of the economy and the resultant challenges some of God’s people have faced.

We are doing what is necessary to live within the means God gives us. We of course ask that He will provide us with more, as it is His will. That will enable us to do more in both properly caring for the spiritual needs of the Church and sowing the seed of the gospel of the Kingdom of God' (Kirkpatrick, Tom. 'Is the United Church of God Active in doing God's Work?' United News, December 2002, pp. Apparently UCG's former treasurer was saying how much money UCG spends to get the gospel out is not that important. It is recorded that twice Jesus taught 'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also' (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34).

UCG, like many other COGs is basically saying that if God gives them more money, they will, after more properly taking care of 'the spiritual needs of the Church' it will do more preaching of the Gospel. I would like to comment that LCG does apportion the differences in its spending, does it the same way that WCG did, and (I believe) has a much smaller accounting staff than UCG. 'Plans are on the drawing board to eventually have a home-office-produced television program.The goal of such a program would be to preach about the soon-coming Kingdom of God and also solicit new Good News subscribers who would then be fed an ongoing menu of the truths of God. There is one barrier in the way of United bringing these plans to fruition, and that is simply cost. We anticipate that preparing a television studio at the home office that includes a modern set, studio lighting, cameras and editing equipment, could be done for around $125,000.

Even this amount is not presently available in the Media and Communications Services budget. We pray that in the not too distant future some funds will become available. However, even once a professional television studio is prepared, there is the ongoing weekly cost of airtime. This becomes a significantly higher dollar amount. While we should be able to take advantage of low-cost local community-access television channels, the desire would be to also purchase airtime on broadcast and cable channels that would reach across the country' (Eddington, Peter. Television Efforts Poised for Growth.

United News, February 2003, p. 'For the rest of the afternoon Mr. Kilough led a continuation of a discussion from the Council meetings in March on the topics of preaching the gospel and the Church’s media efforts. The focus of today’s talks centered on defining the term “evangelism,” the Church’s target audience and the voice, tone and personality of the our media efforts. The Council was given a 36-page summary of the results of a brainstorming session held in February, 2003 by several Council members and representatives of the Church’s media efforts. The purpose of the session was to bring to the Council some philosophical, conceptual and specific suggestions regarding our printed media. The Council can ultimately use those suggestions and ideas to formulate specific policies.

The first step will be to define the term “evangelism.” What does it mean to evangelize? The word is encumbered by a great deal of historical and emotional baggage. What is the Biblical meaning and application of the word? How does it apply to pastors? To local congregations?

To lay members? We need to understand not only what evangelism is, but also what it isn’t. Leon Walker pointed out that the problem with the word is the word. We’re comfortable with the concept of preaching good news – which is essentially what “evangelism” means. But because of its connotations, and because the word is so commonly misused by others, the words “evangelism” or “evangelize” make many feel uncomfortable. Victor Kubik said that after eight years it’s time we come to terms with the word or decide to use a different term.

We need a Council consensus on the definition, how to use the word or a different word or term in its place. Jim Franks added that we’ve talked about the problem with the word for years. The decision to use the word “evangelize” or the phrase “preach the gospel,” needs to be built on a biblical foundation. Gary Antion commented that Mr. Armstrong had no problem with the word.

In the early days of his work he had “evangelistic campaigns.” We should not be so short-sighted that we reject a word or term just because others misuse it. Kilough suggested that the Council appoint Doug Horchak to chair a task force which will produce a doctrinal study paper on the meaning and application of the word “evangelism.” It was suggested that the study paper propose proper terminology and use of terminology from a Biblical point of view both within and outside of the Church.

It should lay out the questions first and then answer them, concluding with suggestions on how to apply the findings in the paper. Kilough asked Mr. Franks to craft a specific motion to present to the Council on Wednesday, May 8 that would establish the task force and specify the parameters of the study paper. As the head of the task force Mr.

Horchak will present the Council with a list of those he would like to ask to serve on it' (Henson, Don. United Church of God, an International Association Council of Elders Meeting Report Wednesday, May 7, 2003 – Cincinnati, Ohio). 'Jim Franks.hearkened back to how the Plain Truth was used to proclaim the message of hope and the Kingdom of God and the Good News was for Church members, showing them how to come out of the world's ways and live as a Christian in this culture. But now the Good News carries both messages. We should ask ourselves what should our message be to the world as opposed to our message to the Church? Wasilkoff pointed out that the Church now has Vertical Thought, which is aimed at the youth. He asked which categories of audience the Good News most clearly addresses?

Thompson reminded that part of Jesus' message was the need to repent. There are things that are inherently wrong. In bringing a message of hope we can't overlook the need for repentance. Kilough agreed, citing the apostle Paul's comment that we must 'obey' the gospel. Speaking from his perspective as a writer for the Good News, Mario Seiglie commented that there is no feedback from the audience. Writers don't know how readers are responding or whether their articles are effective.

Kilough asked a key question, which started to turn the 'brainstorming' session to a more specific topic. He asked if we are diluting our own efforts because we're reaching out to Church membership and the world in general in the same magazine. Would we be more effective in targeting both audiences if we were to distinguish between the Good News and United News?Mr. Dick expressed that policy springs from corporate philosophy.

He stated that our administration will do a good job of developing policy if the Council gives them a clear statement of philosophy.Mr. McCullough offered that if the Council determines the purpose of the Good News, much of the rest of what we're talking about will fall in place.In concluding the discussion, Mr. Kilough directed Mr.

Kubik, as chairman of the Media and Communications committee, to write a resolution distinguishing the purposes of the Good News from United News for the Council's consideration and discussion later in the week' (Henson Don. United Church of God, an International Association Council of Elders Meeting Report Sunday, December 7, 2003 – Cincinnati, Ohio). 'The television program will energize the Church as members see the possibilities and results.

The actual program is still at least a couple of years in the future, which gives us time to discuss and determine the format and content.Mr. Horchak, chairman of the Evangelism Task Force, gave the Council a report on the status of this study paper project.The task force plans to work with the Doctrine Committee and will strive to complete the study paper and have it ready for Council review by the February 2004 meetings' (Henson Don.

United Church of God, an International Association Council of Elders Meeting Report Monday, December 8, 2003 – Cincinnati, Ohio). 'Another area of discussion concerned the proposed budget increase in for health-care expenditures, based on the expectation that those costs will continue to rise as they did last year. Dean expressed his opinion that the amount budgeted for health-care should be set at the same amount as was spent for that purpose in the last 12 months. He stated that the Council had made a commitment each of the last two years that the next budget would put more emphasis on public proclamation, but this would be the third consecutive year when significant increases had not been put directly into preaching the gospel.

He suggested that the budget for health-care be set at the amount spent in the last calendar year and if the expenses go beyond that, then the Church's cash reserves, increase in income or employee co-payments could be used to cover the difference. Kirkpatrick responded that there had been no commitment or promise in previous years in regard to future budgets' (Henson D. United Church of God, an International Association Council of Elders Meeting Report Friday, February 27, 2004 – Cincinnati, Ohio). 'President Roy Holladay.highlighted a few statistics that reflect media efforts in 2003 and into early 2004.The cable-access television program produced in Beloit, Wisconsin, garnered 518 responses in 2003 and the program produced in the Portland, Oregon, area (which is on about twice as many stations) brought in 2,642 responses through November 2003' (Henson D. Council of Elders Works on Plans for 2004-2005. March-April 2004, p.1).

'Victor Kubik gave a brief overview of our media history, which began with United in a 'defensive' posture in reestablishing our fundamental beliefs.The next day Mr. Kubik presented the Council with a resolution that recognizes the historical marketing philosophy of the Church for preaching the gospel and establishes that the Media and Communications Committee will use those principles as the basis for preparing a marketing philosophy for United. A media policy will be developed and proposed from that marketing philosophy by the committee in concert with the Council, the president and the media operations personnel. The Council unanimously adopted the resolution (Joel Meeker was not present for the vote)' (Henson D. Council Discusses GCE Meeting, Media and More.

United News, June 2004, p.2). 'Following an executive session to open the day’s proceedings, Robert Dick moderated a discussion of the Church’s media philosophy. At a recent meeting, the Church’s managing editors discussed edits they propose be made to the statement of Media Philosophy. The Media and Communications Committee of the Council reviewed those suggestions, and brought some minor modifications of their own to the Council as a whole. Group consensus favored tabling the proposals and revisiting them in May or August after more time could be given to carefully evaluating the proposed changes, given that this document guides all Church media productions' (Johnson D.

United Church of God, an International Association Council of Elders Meeting Report Thursday, March 3, 2005 —San Antonio, Texas). 'The cost of adding one new subscriber to the Good News file through newsstand distribution has now climbed to an average of $98, primarily, it seems, because many people are content to pick up their copy at the newsstand rather than subscribe.we cannot financially justify supporting this program, especially when we have other advertising methods that add subscribers for $1 to $6 each. As a result, Good News newsstand distribution, as a regular, ongoing program, is being discontinued as of the January/February 2006 issue. The program has also been discontinued in other countries' (LaBissoniere J. Home Office Update, December 15, 2005). 'On December 7 and 8 four more Beyond Today video programs were recorded in the new media center. This brings our total to eight programs.

The next four will be videotaped on January 11 and 12, 2006, with Darris McNeely hosting. Beginning on December 18, Beyond Today will air on 105 local-community cable TV channels across the United States plus on the World Wide Web' (Eddington P. Home Office Update, December 15, 2005).

'Some have looked at projected circulation figures for The Good News and wondered why we have set the goal so low. Actually, the number in the Operation Plan is not a goal but an anticipated result of necessary pruning of nonreaders. We have launched an annual renewal (we have been doing renewals every two years) to purge our list of people who are no longer interested in receiving The Good News. This is according to plan and intended to cut waste in order to reach a bigger audience with the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

For years we have measured the success of our proclamation efforts primarily by the number of subscribers to our flagship magazine. Many of us have been in the Church a long time and are familiar with the process' (Salyer L. United News, December 2008).

Good News Magazine Circulation 328,000 (Good News Magazine, March-April 2011, p. This is down from 362,000 a few issue before (Good News Magazine, October 2010, p. Baptisms 2007 through December: 178. Baptisms 2008 through November: 134.' (Ministerial Services Reports Church Statistics. United News, January 2009, p. 2) 'Through November, we have had 29,461 telephone and online responses to the programming.

Beyond Today currently airs on 177 cable-access television channels, which air programs 267 times weekly. It is also broadcast on 10 radio stations in the United States and two nationwide cable networks in Canada.' (Eddington, Peter. 100th Beyond Today Episode Recorded. United News, January 2009, p. 1) Beyond Today is on no more than 35 television stations (Good News Magazine, March-April 2011, p. The first weekend on WGN America was successful.

Beyond Today had a very good beginning on WGN America for our premier telecast on Sunday, July 11. We received 338 phone calls for the day from Gary Petty’s program, “Getting Control of Your Money.” (Media and Communications Services report cited in Member Letter from Dennis Luker. July 18, 2010). Historically, proclamation of the Gospel has been a tertiary issue for UCG. Which may be why is has taken nearly 11 years to get its own telecast--and over 15 years to get on a major commerical station.

This has not been highly effective. Is that hot, cold, or lukewarm? Now some progress has been made as UCG reports: Beyond Today program ”What is the Real Meaning of Christ’s Birth?” hosted by Darris McNeely, aired on Sunday, December 18, 2011. This episode generated record-setting response out of the 24 programs aired since July 10, 2011.

It attracted 1,198 responses. (Eddington P. “Beyond Today” Record Response and “Word Network” Update, December 28, 2011.

Living: 'The New Testament pattern was to proclaim the Gospel first and then to feed the sheep' (Dattalo, Fred. Church Government and Church Priorities. Living Church News. Jan-Feb 1999; p.7). 'So the primary function of the true Church of God is to GO to all nations and preach the same powerful message Jesus preached about the coming Kingdom of God!' (Meredith, Roderick C.

Should You Be Baptized? Within 9 weeks of its founding, the Living Church of God was proclaiming the Gospel on cable super-station WGN (the transition from the World Ahead to Tomorrow's World was less than 7 weeks). The presenters are used include: Roderick C. Meredith, Richard Ames, Mario Hernandez, Dibar Apartian, Rod King, and Wally Smith. Historically, Living spends approximately 35-47% of its total revenues on 'public proclamation' (Dattalo, Fred. Report from Treasurer. Candy Crush Download For Blackberry Q5 Features. Cyril Hare Ein Perfekter Mord Pdf Editor.

Living Church News. May-Jun 2000; p.16; Living Church News, 2010). Wayne Pyle very recently reported, 'Our master file shows that 113 of the 57,426 WGN-respondents have now been baptized.

This is a ratio of one baptism for each 506 people added to the master file, which is simply superb. Armstrong’s time, at his peak in the mid-1980s, there was only one baptism for each 1,300 TV respondents who had been on the mailing list for four years.

Only a fraction of our respondents have been on file for three-and-a-half years, so it is evident that the Church is really being blessed!' Therefore, brethren, we can be very thankful that—even though we are much smaller— God is adding o ver twice as many new members to us proportionate to our mailing list as He did in the WCG years!' (Meredith, Roderick. Co-worker letter, August 23, 2002).

'We are also watching the spiritual seeds coming to fruition, with more than 800 baptisms in North America from the telecast alone since its launch in January 1999, of which 414 of these baptisms originated directly from the Tomorrow’s World telecast. Our member files now show more than 1,800 baptisms from all sources in our U.S. And international Living Church of God congregations since 1999. The telecast has been averaging 3,800 responses each week since the beginning of the calendar year' (Pyle W. The World Ahead Weekly Update. November 30, 2006).

In 2008, we recorded 249 baptisms; 20 less than the previous year (2007 is our record year, so far, in number of baptisms). In ten years, we had at least 2,200 baptisms in the Living Church of God. So far this year, we have recorded 123 baptisms (from January through the beginning of May) (The World Ahead Weekly Update. May 21, 2009). Matthew 24:14 states: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” This Great Commission is being fulfilled as a result of our international telecasts and magazines, our worldwide presence on the Internet, our extensive mailings, radio in foreign countries, and last, but in no way least, by word of mouth. Through these media we are now virtually reaching all nations on earth!

This past year we added over 120,000 new Tomorrow’s World magazine subscribers in countries around the world. Our international telecasts were watched by 2.7 million brand new viewers in 2011, and our TomorrowsWorld.org Web site drew 1.4 million new visitors around the world. Thanks to member and co-worker support, the Tomorrow’s World TV programs were carried on 232 TV stations or networks around the world.

Eighteen of the TV stations or networks were added just last year. Our TV coverage brought in more than 286,000 responses through free phone calls, letters and the Internet. From all media sources combined, a total of more than 832,000 booklets, reprints, lessons, CDs, DVDs and other published items were sent upon request worldwide—making 2011 our biggest year ever and an increase of 19 percent over all the items sent in 2010.

More literature was mailed last year than in our first five years combined! On top of all this, nearly 2 million Tomorrow’s World magazine copies were mailed in 2011. TV coverage in the United States and Canada now reaches more than 105 million homes via over-the-air telecasts, cable and satellite TV—82 percent of all TV homes in North America can watch a Tomorrow’s World telecast on TV, plus even more millions could see our telecasts on any day or at any time on our website. (Meredith RC.

Co-worker letter, January 17, 2012) The proportion of television responses that LCG tends to get per member per dollar is actually higher than WCG used to get. LCG also holds public lectures to get the gospel out: In 2010, Living Church of God ministers conducted 102 Tomorrow’s World special presentations (TWSPs) in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and parts of Europe and Africa. Along with thousands of you brethren and co-workers, more than 3,400 new visitors came to these presentations, where they heard the Gospel preached with power. Co-Worker Letter, January 14, 2011). LCG now distributes 338,000 copies of its Tomorrow's World Magazine (Ames R. Co-Worker Letter, January 14, 2011).

Wayne Pyle reports: Wow, wow, WOW! A number of factors came together last weekend to make last week’s response the highest ever for a Tomorrow’s World telecast. Three new TV stations began airing, plus BET aired two times. The biggest factor, of course, was the program itself: program #318, “Overcoming Satan,” which offered the booklet Twelve Keys to Answered Prayer. The two previous airings earlier this year had both produced 4,000-plus responses. The first airing back in February generated 4,889 replies, and the second airing in April brought in 4,375 responses. But this weekend’s third airing of program #318 shattered all previous response records—making this week’s telecast the third time ever for a Tomorrow’s World program to break the 5,000-barrier.

We are expecting the week to end with well over 5,100 responses (World Ahead Weekly UPdate. September 11, 2008). Wayne Pyle reports: “This weekend we aired program #265 [“Seven Satanic Deceptions”] for the sixth time! And it is breaking all response records! From Thursday through Monday, we received 4,937 phone calls. We are expecting another 400 calls by the end of the week, plus 600 responses through the Internet, office calls and mail replies.

These numbers push the total response to over 5,900! And the first-time caller count set a new record with over 3,000 new viewers (52% of the total callers) (World Ahead Weekly Update, November 13, 2008). As of today, the Tomorrow’s World telecast in North America has produced a total of more than 30,500 responses in the past seven weeks, which is 20.4% above the same period last year.— Wayne Pyle (Media. World Ahead Weekly Update, February 19, 2009) Just recently, we received the highest response ever to the Tomorrow’s World television program. Nearly 6,700 telephone calls and letters came in response to just one Tomorrow’s World telecast! To date, the telecast has now reached more than 50 million people—men, women and children.

Each week, the telecast is reaching from 40,000 to 60,000 new, first-time viewers. Our average audience each week numbers 500,000, give or take (Meredith RC. Co-worker letter.

April 12, 2011). For 2011, LCG received on average 5,500 responses per week to its Tomorrow's World program. (For a related article, please read ) 2. Handling Income Surpluses in 2001 United: 'Income patterns lead us to believe the United Church of God will finish the fiscal year, if present trends continue, with approximately $900,000 of income in excess of expenditures.

“I think God is at least somewhat satisfied with what the UCG is doing!” observed Mr. Kirkpatrick suggests using most of the $900,000 expected income (above budget) for all “one-time” costs associated with the acquisition of a new home office facility (if approved by Council).

This would come to approximately $780,000.' (UCG, aia Council of Elders Meeting Report. March 14, 2001). Living: 'Although I did not mention our financial needs in the last letter, many were inspired to send in extra special offerings—for which we certainly thank God! As a result of this, we are now in a position to add some new television stations.

We are negotiating to add three or four more commercial stations to our television log—and more later as God enables us. The great God is inspiring our little group of dedicated members and co-workers to go 'above and beyond' the call of duty.

He will bless us and use us mightily if we seek and serve Him with all of our hearts!P.S. Even since I began this letter, news has come from our Television Production Coordinator, Wayne Pyle, that we are now approved to go on three new television stations! Each of them will begin airing the Tomorrow’s World program on Sunday, August 19, 2001. Here is the list. If you live in one of these areas, jot it down and encourage your friends and relatives to view these powerful Tomorrow’s World television programs.

They NEED this message! Lafayette, LA Sunday 7:30 am KATC/ABC/3 Tyler, TX Sunday 6:30 am KLTV/ABC/7 Joplin, MO Sunday 6:30 am KOAM/CBS/7' (Meredith, Roderick C. Co-Worker Letter. July 27, 2001). Perhaps I should add how LCG handled its 2007 surplus: The building has 5,000 square feet of space and will house our television facilities.Because the Church finished 2007 with a surplus of%163,903, funds were available to allow the Church to afford a down payment on the new building (Crockett D.

Audit 2007: Counting the Cost, Doing the Work. Living Church News, July-August 2008, p.

LCG has normally had a different emphasis than UCG does. Size: Elders, Churches, and Feast Sites United: United once had '400-plus elders' (McCullough, Leslie.

What Exactly Does the Council Do? July 1999; p.15).

United had around 374 churches and groups (Source: Local Churches. United has had more members (on average) per group than does Living. On February 4, 2011, Victor Kubik wrote: For your information, in early 2010, there were 492 credentialed elders in the United Church of God, an International Association. Of that number, 323 (66%) are still with UCG.

Of that total, we have retained 62 of 131 salaried field ministers (47%); 15 of 20 elders salaried by the home office (75%); 9 of 14 retired elders (64%); and 237 of 327 non-salaried elders (73%). In the United States, we have retained 250 of 382 elders (65%). Of that total, we have retained 46 of 100 salaried field ministers and 180 of 248 non-salaried elders (73%). So, UCG lost most of its paid ministry in the USA. It also lost its CEO for the United Kingdom effective 2/8/2011.

From what I have seen UCG lost at least 174 elders from June 2010 through March 2, 2011 (a few were put out by UCG). Many who left UCG, including former President Clyde Kilough recently formed another group called Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA). For more details, please see ). Aaron Dean reported that income for its fiscal year ending 6/30/11 is expected to be about US$18,500,000 (Dean Aaron. COE Video, 2/28/2011), which represents a drop of about 22.5% from the prior fiscal year (with a higher percentage of drop in the last 1/2 of the year). [According to Jim Franks (now with COGWA), COGWA had 170 elders and 8,000 attendees as of March 1, 2011 (Franks J. Letter to the Ministry, March 4, 2011).

Organizationally, UCG has been hit hard by this crisis. Which amongst other things, suggests that UCG was not truly 'united.' I believe that the 2010/2011 crisis was a wake up call, a “knocking on the door” (cf. Revelation 3:20) if you will, for those in or formerly in UCG. Yet, it seems that most who are or were part of UCG have not truly understood this warning as they have tended to be satisfied with a work that was not hot (Revelation 3:14-17).

This crisis affecting UCG could be have been part of a major warning to those who have rejected and gospel proclamation priorities to get them to consider their state (Revelation 3:17-19). Perhaps I should add that I have heard from a UCG supporter that there is no crisis in his local congregation and essentially that all is well--but, in my view, UCG losing over 1/2 its paid USA ministers is a problem, and those in or part of UCG should not be satisfied with its works for its approximately 16 years of existence (cf. Revelation 3:14-18).] United services normally last 1 1/2 hours (I used to attend United about once per year when I travel to areas without Living groups--but once it had a two hour service)--in some areas United services are up to two hours. 'All together at the 62 sites around the world, 20,476 attended the Feast with United' (United Brethren Enjoy Feast at 62 Sites. November 2007, p.1). 'Total worldwide Feast of Tabernacles attendance (including shut-ins who received tapes): 2005: 19,765 2006: 20,436 2007: 20,476 2008: 20,349 The following are the attendance figures from the Church Information System—the number listed as attending fluctuates from month to month.

Church attendance according to file Jan. 31, 2008: 15,498. Church attendance according to file Nov. 26, 2008: 15,345.' (Ministerial Services Reports Church Statistics. United News, January 2009, p.

2) Here is the Feast attendance for 2009. TOTAL ATTENDANCE 21,114 (United News, November 2009) UCG announced it had 60 FOT sites in 2010 with an attendance (including shut-ins) of 19,662 (United News, November 2010). However, its attendance at the Spring Holy Days for 2011 was much lower: Days of Unleavened Bread Holy Day Attendance and Offerings Reported The totals for the attendance and offerings for the 2011 Days of Unleavened Bread season have been tabulated and reported by the business office.

Those figures are as follows: First Day of Unleavened Bread Attendance: 8,225 Offering: $544,408.14 *.