Fourteen Festival coordinators from the United States and eight from Canada, plus support personnel, met Feb. 7 through 9 in Pasadena to plan for the 1996 Festival of Tabernacles, "A Celebration of Salvation." Wives of eight of the coordinators also came and participated in the discussions.
Topics included the speaking schedule and the Festival lectionary (sermon outlines), the establishing of children's ministries at the Festival sites, and how to make the Festival more cost-effective.
J.M. Feazell, director of Church Administration, finished the conference on Friday morning by discussing the importance of carefully thinking through the content of worship services.
"Our job this year is to provide an atmosphere at the Festival in which members come together to worship Jesus Christ, our gracious Lord and Savior," Mark McCulley, Festival Administration manager, explained to the attendees.
The opening session included worship music on videotape and compact disc. Most sessions after that began with upbeat music also.
Prayer was also an important part of the conference. The opening session included prayers by a dozen among the group.
Glen Weber, coordinator for Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, said: "In previous years we spent hours talking about the physical aspects of the Feast. This year the majority of the conference involved discussing how we can use the Festival to worship and praise God. It is going to be an uplifting Festival that brings the church into a closer relationship with God."
Ronald Lohr, coordinator for Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, said: "The Festival staff and the veteran coordinators were responsive and full of good ideas. I appreciated also that the wives were invited. Their ideas were helpful and respected by all."
Patty Lohr commented: "I hope that I will be a help to Ron in making this a wonderful and joyous Festival. I enjoyed hearing from so many of the other coordinators and wives about their experiences and ideas."
Ted Johnston, coordinator of the Vail, Colorado, site, said: "It has been a great delight to observe our membership growing in joy as we more fully understand and experience the reality of our salvation in Christ alone. We're looking forward to focusing that joy in an eight-day celebration of our salvation."
Mr. Johnston's wife, Donna, added: "I particularly enjoyed the collaboration between the men and women at the conference. There was an open sharing of ideas and feelings regarding making the Festival more joyful for all."
Mr. Johnston continued: "During the conference we enjoyed times to pray together as coordinators and wives and to express our appreciation to God through singing of praise and worship hymns. These powerful tools for worship are becoming increasingly important to us and we look forward to using them more effectively than ever at the Festival this year.
"At times in the past I spent more time trying to make myself right in God's sight through my own efforts than I spent celebrating and appreciating what God has given me by his grace--my salvation and justification in Jesus Christ.
"As God's children we have so much to be thankful for and to celebrate, and that deep appreciation can't help but pour over into our daily lives. God's grace through Christ is both the power for our salvation and, as Paul wrote to Titus, that which teaches and motivates us to live godly lives.
"At the Festival this year we'll be gratefully and joyfully celebrating our salvation in worship. And then in workshops and other breakout meetings we'll be exploring ways to give daily, practical expression to the great gifts of God's grace."
| Home | Issues | Contents |
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God,1996