"Our family appreciates the two years we have experienced being in a cell group," writes Martha Riley from Wichita, Kansas. Because of this experience, we prayed for our Wichita church youths to also experience basic Christian community in a cell group.
The teens enjoyed the first cell meeting. Relationships among the teens began to grow. When the cell meeting was scheduled, more teens attended worship services.
Also, the Bugo cell group from Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, is now a full-fledged congregation. It conducted its first service June 28. Page 5.
Three basics of Christian life are illustrated in Acts
2:42: 1) Discipleship, or growing in grace and knowledge; 2) Fellowship, or a sense of
community among the believers; and 3) Worship, represented in this verse by prayer,
perhaps also by the breaking of bread.
Discipleship, fellowship and worship are three "ships" that form the framework for what the church does today. To keep the church ship-shape, we also need to devote ourselves to discipleship, fellowship and worship. Page 6.
"Racism among Christians is one of the sad and destructive blemishes on the body of Christ," said Pastor General Joseph Tkach.
"Jesus came to redeem and deliver all people everywhere, and racism conflicts with the core of the gospel message."
In an effort to stand against growing racial incidents in America and around the world, the WCG has, for the past three years, conducted racial healing weekends and seminars in association with the Center for the Healing of Racism in Houston, Texas.
Now Curtis May, regional pastor in Pasadena, will act as director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries in Church Administration in Pasadena. Pages 8 to 11.
In March, the Advisory Council of Elders appointed a doctrinal advisory team to be responsible for the review of doctrinally related church literature.
Part of the team's responsibility is to review the church's Statement of Beliefs for accuracy and choice of content and to make recommendations, as needed, to the Advisory Council of Elders for changes, additions or deletions.
Each member of the doctrinal advisory team serves by appointment of the Advisory Council of Elders, which in making the appointment considers, among other things, level of education in theology and related subjects, age, experience in Christian leadership and current responsibilities within the Worldwide Church of God.
Current appointed members of the team are (in alphabetical order), Mr. Albrecht, Dean Blackwell, Carn Catherwood, Randal Dick, Russell Duke, Mike Feazell (chair), Herman Hoeh, Ron Kelly, John McKenna, Michael Morrison, Ralph Orr, Richard Rice, Dan Rogers, Bernie Schnippert, Norman Smith and Joseph Tkach. Pages 12 and 13.
The church's Statement of Beliefs appears on pages 13 to 17.
July closed with a
daily mail average of just less than $98,000. This ranks second only to January of this
year ($90,000 a day) as the lowest income month in recent memory.
As I review the figures, I am reminded of the prudence of making the painful but necessary budget cuts we made during the past several years both here at headquarters and more recently in the field ministry.
July's average brought the yearly average down to $108,000, a little less than this year's revised budget of $110,000 a day. Page 22.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1998