Member News

Announcements for July 24, 2014

Ministerial Transfers

From Ministerial Services: Following Britton Taylor’s appointment to become the treasurer of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, as announced in March, arrangements have been made to replace him as the pastor of the Fort Worth, Texas, congregation. We also needed to provide a pastor for the congregations pastored by Richard Pinelli, who retired at the end of April. Below is a chart showing the transfers and changes of assignment that have already taken place, or are in process and will be completed by the end of this summer.

Plans are being made to assign a pastor to the Grand Junction, Colorado, and Salt Lake City , Utah, congregations in the summer of 2015. The congregations will be pastored by Larry Neff, and served by other leaders in his congregations and headquarters ministers, until then.

 

Pastor

Current Congregations/Circuit/
Responsibility

New Congregations/Circuit/
Responsibility

Britton Taylor

Fort Worth, Texas; Insurance/Benefits/Risk Manager

Treasurer; Insurance/Benefits/Risk Manager

Ken Giese

Sacramento, Redding & Stockton, California

Fort Worth, Texas

David Register

Portland/Salem & Eugene, Oregon; Seattle/Tacoma, Washington

Sacramento, Redding & Stockton, California

Jonathan Pinelli

Grand Junction, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; Edmonton & Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Portland/Salem & Eugene, Oregon; Seattle/Tacoma, Washington; Edmonton & Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Larry Neff

Berthoud & Castle Rock, Colorado

Berthoud, Castle Rock & Grand Junction, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah

Richard Pinelli

St. Louis & Rolla, Missouri

Retirement from full-time pastoring

John Foster

Roanoke, Virginia; Charleston & Princeton, West Virginia

St. Louis & Rolla, Missouri

Larry Lambert

Greensboro, Hickory and Raleigh, North Carolina (Assistant Pastor)

Roanoke, Virginia; Charleston & Princeton, West Virginia (Pastor)

 

 

Summary of June PCD Activity

 From Cecil Maranville: The Personal Correspondence Department sent 88 replies to people in June. I would like to give an overview in three sections: doctrinal, counseling and “other.” For those who want to hear more, remember, time and space allow only for a summary of the highlights.

Doctrinal questions included:

· Where is the tithing law mentioned in the 10 Commandments?

· After reading our articles on the subject, a senior citizen explained he is confused and wants to know whether he will go to heaven, hell or paradise when he dies. (It isn’t unusual that one learning the truth for the first time would need to review it—maybe a few times—before it sinks in.)

· Isaiah 7:14 prophesied and in Matthew 1:23 the angel told Mary that the Savior’s name was to be Immanuel. When was His name changed to Jesus? We explained the significance of this name and pointed out that the same angel also told Mary to name the Savior Jesus (Luke 1:31).

· How was the act of the woman with the bleeding problem a demonstration of faith? (She pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of Christ’s garment.) She would have been ceremonially unclean, as well as making anyone she touched “unclean,” including Christ, had He not healed her.  

· Graven image worship—how could anyone fall into this sin today? The list of ways to break this commandment is long once a person realizes what the spirit of the law is.

· To be a Christian, is it enough to read the Bible and listen to gospel music and “Christian radio”?

· What types of prayer are there? What does “prayer” stand for?” Do we sell our Book of Psalms to give guidance in prayers?

· Was Cain the offspring of Eve and Satan? Were there other races besides Adam? (Other “human races” was the implication.)

Counseling questions/situations included:

· A person asked if doing drugs is okay as long as one isn’t abusing them or whether it is a sin.

· A person who has not found the help of the Holy Spirit in overcoming wondered if she has become “lukewarm” or if she was ever converted.

· A person who “gave his life to Christ” at the age of 5 and was baptized at 9 wondered if he needs to be baptized again.

· A person baptized in the Roman Catholic Church when a baby wondered if she received the Holy Spirit or if she should look into being baptized again.

· A woman who was told she needed to be baptized again every time she sinned questioned the advice and wanted to know what she should do about baptism. (We directed all of these last four contacts toward baptism.)

· A scientist who is convicted that God is supreme asked for guidelines on how to convince his fellow scientists of this fact. We explained that whether one is a scientist or someone with little education, no one but God can convert a person!

· Two people who have been living in a common-law relationship for 15 years but now realize it is a sin wanted to know what to do until they save enough money to get married. A senior citizen in a similar relationship asked for guidance on how to do the right thing. They will have to decide how to work out the details, but we pointed out that the opportunity to act as if they had not been together for years has passed. A quick civil ceremony would not be expensive and would help them to immediately correct their sinful situation.

· A grandmother asked our advice on a truly impossible situation. Her daughter is cohabitating with an abusive man, by whom she has a child. The daughter asked the mom for help, but now wants her to stay out of their lives altogether.

· A person who appears to understand the truth asked for guidance on how to be forgiven for sin and how to pursue conversion. Even though these truths are published for people on LHT “in living color,” individuals still need encouragement and guidance as they apply the steps personally.

· A husband wrote of marriage problems he is having because his wife finds him “too religious,” even though they belong to the same faith. He could be sharing with her gems of truth that he is learning from our website without realizing that his understanding has changed.

· A person with some complex problems is unable to shake the fear that she has committed the unpardonable sin. We have exchanged lengthy messages, continuing to encourage her; but so far, we have not been able to put her mind at ease. We are directing her to the pathway that leads to conversion, assuring her of God’s mercy and forgiveness. 

“Other” questions included these:

· A young adult wanted to know if we have the rosary available in audio format, so that she can pray on the go.

· A pastor asked for 50 copies of a brochure on “how to save your marriage.” We explained how he could print this and, since the formatted article identifies LHT and has a copyright, we gave him permission to distribute these 50 copies—specifying that each copy should not be altered but contain this identifying information.

· A dressmaker asked if we would publish an article about her products.

· A woman explained at length that she was not looking for an interpretation of a dream she had—then told us the dream in detail and asked us what it meant! (We don’t interpret dreams.)

·          Someone demanded us to give him a straight answer on “how Christ will deal with Mr. Armstrong for the people he hurt.” The questioner had been reading some gossipy websites. We told the man that no one was hurt by learning God’s Word, which Mr. Armstrong taught. Insofar as judging how Mr. Armstrong oversaw the care for God’s people, we told the man that we have complete confidence that Christ judged Mr. Armstrong perfectly. That was a gentle reminder that Christ is the judge—we are not the judge, nor is the man demanding an answer from us. We further reminded the fellow that we should be more concerned with how Christ is judging us.