God has truly blessed His Church with tremendous growth during the past several years. I thought you would be interested in the rate at which growth is occurring this year in three major catagories: baptisms, new contacts and prospective members.
In 1984, we averaged 465 baptisms per month worldwide. For the first four months of 1985, the average number of baptisms per month worldwide has been 597. The resulting increase in attendance can be estimated by multiplying the number of baptisms by 1.5. As you can see, the rate of growth through baptisms is phenomenal! God is adding to His Church the equivalent of a good-sized congregation every month! About 80% of this growth occurs in the United States. (We can expect this average to drop slightly in upcoming months due to the larger number of baptisms that seem to always take place just before Passover.)
We can also rejoice that the quality of baptisms is very high, due to the instruction we've been receiving from Mr. Herbert Armstrong since he began setting the Church back on God's track six years ago. During the mid 1970s, Christ's instruction to "count the cost" simply was not emphasized, while the concept of "whosoever will" (not mentioned in the Bible until Revelation 22:17, where it refers to the time after the Great White Throne Judgment) was heavily emphasized. This unbiblical approach resulted in many being baptized who simply had never truly repented, who were never conquered by God, and who never were a changed, converted part of the Body of Christ.
In the June 24, 1985, Special Edition of THE WORLDWIDE NEWS, Mr. Armstrong wrote:
We receive the Holy Spirit ONLY after complete repentance of the way we were living. We must come out of this world to live a life separate from the life and ways of the world, with our minds on things of God, not things of this world ...some who become somewhat interested, are baptized and start in the Church, drift back into the world and leave the Church. Many professed to repent and be baptized who had not repented, but were accepted by Church members as brethren. These false brethren did and always have entered into the Church professing to be members.
We all need to continue to carefully follow Mr. Armstrong's instruction to be as sure as we possibly can about a person's repentance in our baptismal counseling.
The second area of growth I want to share with you is that of new individuals contacted by the ministry. In 1984, we averaged 1,292 new contacts per month worldwide. Through April of 1985, we've averaged 1,972 new contacts per month worldwide!
The last area is that of prospective member additions. (Here again, we've had some recent instruction about keeping the PM listings accurate and up to date.) The PM lists also show considerable potential future growth in the Church. The 1984 monthly average for PM additions worldwide was 453. Through April of this year, the worldwide monthly average has been 566.
The growth God is granting His Church results primarily through His blessing the increased exposure of "The WORLD TOMORROW" program and the increased distribution of The PLAIN TRUTH. As Mr. Armstrong has so often said, when our ways please God, He will bless us. Our job, then, is to see to it that our ways do please God. Our personal examples as ministers, and our faithfulness in teaching God's Word to His people, are of great importance to God. We must be ever vigilant to remain in close contact with God through prayer, personal Bible study and fasting. We must take our calling and our responsibilities before God seriously as faithful children and servants.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers for our brethren in India and Sri Lanka. Mr. Robert Morton reported that all members in northern India were safe during the recent bombings there. Let's never neglect praying for the safety and provision for God's people all over the earth in these troublous times.
Recent Ordinations
On June 19, Messrs. Dean Blackwell, Guy Ames and Rod Matthews ordained five men in the Philippines. Raised from local elder to preaching elder were Jessup Bahinting, Cagayan de Oro; Felipe Casing, Tacloban City; and Ireneo Marquez, Santiago and Roxas. Two ministerial trainees were ordained local elders: Pacifico Magno Jr., San Fernando, Pampanga; and Rodolfo Salisipan, Baguio City.
FROM MINISTERIAL SERVICES
Worldwide Church of God