The UCG Canadian Report
UPDATED May 8, 2008Hello Everyone; (from April 26, 2008 report)
A lot has happened over the past month. We are now nearing the end of the first month of our new fiscal year. Income is running ahead of budget for the month of April, a good start to the new year.
We recently requested 15,755 copies of the May-June issue of The Good News for Canadian subscribers. Compared to April 1, 2007 that is a net increase of 4,063 subscribers. (We added many more subscribers during that time period, but because of our ongoing renewal program, we did have a number of cancellations and others who did not respond to the three renewal letters that were mailed).
Incoming mail is running more than 10% higher than last year. We’re averaging 68 items per day compared to 60 per day in 2007. Internet and email requests are averaging 29 per day this year compared to nearly 24 per day last year. We’ve already had more internet and email requests this year than we did in all of 2004.
Outgoing mail is averaging 20,905 items per month. That compares to 17,105 items per month in 2007, an increase of 3,800 items per month. We’ve already distributed over 1,000 copies of two booklets this year primarily due to the responses to the Semi-Annual Letter sent in February. The booklets are “Are We Living in the Time of the End?” and “The Book of Revelation Unveiled”.
Last week marked the 100th “Beyond Today” program aired in Canada. We are averaging 36.8 responses per week. Two-thirds of the responses are from new people. We’ve added almost 2,500 new people to our database as a result of the TV program since May, 2006.
Two more responses came in this week from the ad in the November 2007 issue of “Reader’s Digest”. That brings the total to 3,991 responses and the response rate is 0.459%.
In the meantime, we received 138 responses to the new ad in the May issue of “Reader’s Digest”. The first 8 cards arrived in Tuesday’s mail and another 105 cards came in Thursday. The cards have come from Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. 22 responses have come from the ad on our website. Three responses came by phone.
We’re almost 1/3 of the way through the calendar year and it’s shaping up to be another eventful year.
On behalf of the office staff, I would like to wish everyone a fulfilling Sabbath and Last Day of Unleavened Bread.
With best regards,
Edwin van Pelt
UPDATED April 11, 2008
Hello Everyone:
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread are only a short week away. Because we know that the Hebrew calendar is solar-lunar, we realize that there is always a full moon on Passover evening. We watch the moon waxing at this time of year and it is a rare occasion indeed when we cannot see the magnificent full moon over head as we travel home after observing the inspiring Passover Service.
Anthony WasilkoffThis past weekend there were three special occasions at three separate locations for UCG-Canada: namely Vancouver (on Sabbath April 5), Penticton (on Sunday April 6) and Montreal (on Sabbath April 5). The first two were World News & Prophecy seminars and the latter was a French-English Public Lecture. Below please read three reports about these three successful events.
April 5th was a special Sabbath for the Vancouver congregation. With visiting brethren from Vancouver Island and Sedro Wooley Washington, as well as some first time visitors an attendance of 112 were given insights into biblical prophecy in a day-long World News and Prophecy Seminar.
Invitation letters were sent to a large number of individuals on our UCG-Canada subscriber list, and a number of those were able to attend, including one couple who drove over 6 hours each way to take in the seminar.
Darris McNeely, editor of UCG’s World News and Prophecy magazine, host of the Beyond Today Television program, and Robin Webber, a senior writer for WNP presented the seminar.
The morning Sabbath service began with Darris McNeely’s presentation “The Purpose of Prophecy.” The second presentation “A Heart Towards Prophecy” was given by Robin Webber. The afternoon seminar sessions included the topics “The Coming King of the South,” “Mark of the Beast,” and”Wars of Religion: An Ancient Scourge Reborn”
With powerful messages, great food and fellowship among members of three congregations, and guests, some likened it to a Feast day. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this special Sabbath certainly had God’s blessing. (David Palmer)
Darris McNeely, Editor and Robin Webber, Senior Writer presented four 50-minute World News & Prophecy seminar sessions to fifty-seven eager people in Penticton, BC on Sunday, April 6. Attendees came from as far away as Calgary, AB, Grand Forks, Cherryville, Kelowna and Keremeos. Seventeen “fresh, new faces” responded to newspaper advertisements placed in Merritt, Princeton, Osoyoos and Omak, WA as well as from the existing Good News mailing list. An exhaustive literature table provided Good News magazines and booklets in French, Spanish and German, as well as English. Fastest disappearing booklets were: God’s Holy Day Plan, The New Covenant: Does It Abolish Gods Law, and interestingly, all German literature disappeared too!
Robin Webber began by presenting A Heart Towards Prophecy … stressing the importance for all to develop the right heart as we study prophecy. We must pray God’s Holy Spirit will guide us with humility, carefulness and appreciation in what is revealed to us. Further, we must remember two vital things: (1) although we don’t know everything, God does! (2) we pray “Thy will be done”, so we can trust it will. Then, with our Okanagan sun shining brilliantly through unblocked rooftop windows, Darris McNeely presented an excellent power point presentation examining the rich history involved with The Coming King of the South. As the future unfolds before us, we can rejoice in knowing there is always hope … hope of the soon coming Kingdom of God.
Audience comments included: “… amazing information,” “… I never thought of it that way before,” “… has always been right in front of me!”
Graduates of Ambassador College, both presenters pastor congregations within the United Church of God: Darris McNeely pastors in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, IN and is also a regular co-anchor on the Beyond Today telecast, while Robin Webber pastors in Redlands and San Diego, CA and also serves as associate WNP editor. (James Ludvigson)
Saturday April 5 was a full Sabbath activity as Mr. Joel Meeker and his wife, Marjolaine, presented a French sermon in the morning, and then an English video of the French areas of UCG that Mr. Meeker coordinates as Regional Pastor.
His French sermon focused on our Passover preparation need to re-commit to God’s calling without leaving ‘options’ open. He began by explaining Christ’s teaching to Peter and the disciples after a fruitless night of fishing (Luke 5:5-10), how that as fishers of men it was going to be God’s provision that would make their human efforts worthwhile. He explained that our present evil age has little commitment to anything. And that people ‘keep their options open’ – even within God’s Church. He mentioned the example of the Spanish explorer Cortez, who deliberately burned his ships after landing in Mexico, so there could be no turning back. We have a need to fully commit ourselves to God’s calling and be busy with that responsibility.
Mrs. Meeker translated the sermon into English for anglophone listeners. In the afternoon Mr. Meeker presented a question and answer period about the African work, and then narrated an English video highlighting areas of Africa, along with their privations compared to our affluent first world lifestyle; and concluded with an invitation to the French Festival of Tabernacles in France. Of the 57 in attendance, 17 adults and children were from other church of God affiliations. Kevin Ford from Toronto kindly played the piano for hymns as well as presenting a special music piece by Chopin. Sandwiches were served at the lunch break with an afternoon tea at the end of the day. Many stayed to fellowship for an hour or more afterwards. Another Public Lecture for Montreal is planned for next spring. (Graemme Marshall)
The next Reader’s Digest ad will soon be in the hands of potential respondents coast-to-coast. The ad will feature the booklet ‘Making Life Work” and will offer a subscription to The Good News magazine. The previous RD advertisement has yielded nearly 4,000 responses. Please pray for God to similarly bless the upcoming advertisement as only He can. May the upcoming Passover season yield enduring and enriching blessings for you and your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Anthony Wasilkoff
UPDATED March 20, 2008
Greetings;
Several weeks has passed since the last Office Update. A number of things have happened in the meantime, and there are a number of things that are scheduled to be done in the near future.
Our current subscriber list of The Good News magazine contains over 15,600 names and addresses. The list includes 400 new subscribers added in February and 400 new subscribers added so far in March. (Since January 1, we added 1,400 new subscribers.) Most of the new subscribers are the result of the internet and the Beyond Today television program. (Since January 1, we are averaging over 28 subscription and literature requests via the internet and email per day – more than one per hour.)
We’re still adding new subscribers as a result of the ad in the November 2007 issue of Reader’s DigestA total of 3,969 responses have been received to date including 51 in the month of February and a further 22 responses in March. The response rate is 0.456% - considerably beyond what was originally anticipated. While a number of respondents have since cancelled their subscription to The Good News, many others have requested additional literature and others have become donors. (In this current fiscal year ending March 31 we have processed more donations than we did in fiscal 2006-2007.)
Total responses to the Beyond Today television program currently stand at 3,433. Just about 2/3 of the responses have come from new viewers and the balance from those already on file. Interestingly, about 2/3 of all the responses have come from the program itself and the rest have come from the beyondtodaytv.ca website.
The average amount of mail received per day since January 1, 2008 is about 10% more than it was in all of 2007.
With all the incoming mail, there’s also a lot of outgoing mail – over 53,000 items so far this calendar year, or 677 items each and every day on average.
More mail will be going out later in the month. Renewal letters will be sent to over 3,500 subscribers of The Good News magazine. United News, United News Canada, World News & Prophecy and the Bible Study Course have yet to be mailed. Holy Day Offering envelopes for the spring Holy Days will also be mailed out before too long.
I hope this brief update is helpful. On behalf of the office staff, I wish everyone an enriching Sabbath,
Edwin van Pelt
UPDATED February 22, 2008
101Hello Everyone:
Last weekend long-time minister and director of ministerial development and leadership training, Richard Pinelli, came to Toronto from the Home Office to conduct a ‘test’ Leadership Workshop. These occasions have been conducted at the Home Office in Cincinnati for quite a few years over the Labor Day weekend. In fact, a few Canadian attendees have been invited to attend the sessions along with their American counterparts. Since attendance is restricted by space limitations as well as by travel and time requirements, a proposal was put forward to bring the sessions to where the potential attendees are located. With the permission of the administration of UCGia, Mr. Pinelli scheduled a leadership development weekend for February 16 and 17 with attendees coming from the Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa congregations as well as one person from the Maritimes. More individuals could have been invited to participate but space limitations at the National Office prevented that from happening. Hopefully the program can be expanded to include more individuals in the near future. An article about the occasion will be appearing in United News Canada and possibly the United News as well.
Anthony WasilkoffLast Wednesday evening marked a special event visible in Canada coast to coast. For the first time in many years, and not again for many more years, a total lunar eclipse was visible to most of the Canadian populace. Conditions were unusually ideal because of little or no cloud cover. Astronomers made know the exact time for the event in each of the nation’s time zones. Additionally, predictions were made as to what color the moon would become at the time of the total eclipse. I had the opportunity to watch the eclipse start to finish with the aid of a pair of binoculars as recommended by an expert on a radio show. That same expert described how observing an eclipse on television or on the internet is one thing, but that watching it live would be something entirely different. After the fact I found the experience to be exactly as explained. Many Canadians took time out of their busy schedules to watch this rare occurrence. Many school children were allowed to stay up past their usual bed time in order to watch this astronomical wonder. No doubt many science classes on Thursday had lively discussions on the ramifications of a total lunar eclipse.
Of course, we as Christians are attune to the Holy Bible and including the many prophecies in both the Old and New Testament. We could hardly take in all of the media hype without thinking of the relevant references in the Scriptures. Joel 2:30-31 states, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.” Matthew 24:29 says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Revelations 6:12 says, “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake: and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.” When we consider these Bible references and compare them to what humans saw in the Canadian sky on Wednesday evening, one thing is clear – we haven’t seen anything yet. Little do the inhabitants of the earth realize that relatively soon they are going to become amateur astronomers, albeit reticently.
Activity at the National Office continues to abound. According to one of the receptionists, “There have been quite a number of interesting calls recently. Today we had three phone calls of special interest. One lady asked several very insightful questions regarding our beliefs and practical applications of beliefs (a conversation of about an hour). She asked where the nearest church service was. A gentleman called asking about our ‘roots’ and some specifics about doctrine. He said he will call back another time when there will be a minister available to talk with him. An additional gentleman called requesting some booklets and giving a change of address. He then asked if there was a congregation in his area. It just so happened that there is and so he was given the phone number of the pastor living closest to him.”
Edwin van Pelt provides the following brief update for the past two weeks: The responses from the previous two Beyond Today programs have been better than average. For the week of February 3-9, the program title was These Graves Will Open and offered the booklet, What Happens After Death? Total responses came to 43 (27 by phone and 16 from the internet). It was the first time the program aired. For the week of February 10-16, the program title was The Coming King of the South and the booklet offered was, The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. It was the third time the program aired and the total responses came to 54 (tied for 10th highest number of responses). Forty-one of the responses came by phone and the balance from the website. The first time the program aired we had 52 responses and the second time it aired there were 45 responses. Overall, the average number of responses per program is climbing slowly and now stands at 35.3. Amazingly the past two weeks brought additional responses from the Reader’s Digest ad. We’re now at 3,943 total responses, for an improved rate of 0.453%.”
A recent subscriber from the Reader’s Digest ad wrote a most unusual and admirable letter: “Dear Church of God! I wish with all my heart to become a member. I have been reading your literature for some time now, also I have been praying to my God for spiritual guidance, and I feel strongly that all what you convey with your booklets and publication, that your dogmas are true and within the reality of today’s life. I sincerely wish will all my heart to discover my God’s will for me within your church. Thank you and God bless you. Please forward my letter to the right person!” This lovely letter was forwarded to the pastor living closest to the location of the dear writer. It is so very inspiring to see new people being called by God and having their minds opened to the precious truths of the Word of God.
The Passover is only eight short weeks away. It is not too early for us to being examining ourselves and preparing to observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Thank you once again, dear brethren, for your unfailing prayers and faithful support for the Work of God here in Canada.
In Christian sincerity,
Anthony Wasilkoff
