REPORT FROM THE TREASURER'S OFFICE
My last report in the PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT was in early September. At that time we were facing a very difficult time financially. As a result of a meeting of the major department heads with Mr. Armstrong, and deferring as many expenses as possible, we were able to keep sufficient money in the bank prior to and during the Feast. Our bank reserves are still too low, but we will endeavor to improve this situation during the next year by allocating more of the budget to reserves.
At this time, I can only give a preliminary financial report for the months of September and October, as there are still some loose ends which will need to be tied together before we have final figures for this period. First, let me say that it appears the year-to-date increase through the end of October is about 16%. This is a larger increase than we had had up to my last report, for which we are very grateful. This has been brought about largely as a result of our very good holy day offerings. The Feast of Trumpets offering was 20.6% more than last year: the Day of Atonement, 15.9%; the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, 13.5%: and the Last Great Day, 17.1%. All of these offerings together are almost 17% more than last year's fall festival offerings.
The per-person offering at one of our U.S. sites was almost $53 for the Last Great Day. Two other sites had in excess of $40 per person and six other sites had per-person offerings above $30. It certainly is encouraging and gratifying to see that God's people are so generous in these special offerings, which are in addition to regular tithes and offerings.
At this point our expense record is not up to date. We hope to have this information within a few days, and then we can see how we are doing expense wise. Above-budget expenses were the problem we faced two months ago. At this point I do not know whether that condition has improved or not. Hopefully we will have all of this information and can give a more comprehensive and accurate report on Church finances in time for the next WORLDWIDE NEWS.
— Leroy Neff, Treasurer
