Herbert W Armstrong

Best Feast Ever: Preliminary reports indicate that we again had “the best Feast ever” in all 92 sites worldwide! I suppose some would say we are foolish for feeling every Feast is the best ever, but the truth is there would be something wrong if each weren’t.

Each year we should have learned more of God's precious truth, increased in personal spiritual growth and acquired a deeper understanding of the meaning and value of God’s annual Holy Days. So each Feast should naturally carry a greater impact in impressing on our minds the reality of the soon return of Jesus Christ to restore the government of God to the dying earth. And this year is certainly no exception! A major highlight, of course, was the distribution of Mr. Armstrong's new book, "Mystery of the Ages." Brethren from all over have already been expressing their appreciation for the book’s clear and meaty presentation of the truth God has revealed to His Church for the last half century through Mr. Armstrong.

We were all disappointed that Mr. Armstrong was not able to speak live on the microwave transmission this year. But many comments were made here in Pasadena during the Feast about how powerful and current Mr. Armstrong's 1984 message was this year. God's truth indeed is timeless! Many brethren and ministers noticed that the 1984 message contained the foundational aspects of the book “Mystery of the Ages." God’s people around the world have expressed their concern for Mr. Armstrong’s illness. I know he appreciates all your diligent prayers for his renewed health and strength.

Tax Review: As the Feast has now concluded, the end of the year rapidly approaches. It is time for you ministers in the U.S. to begin putting your tax records in order for the tax return you will need to file early next year. Below are three items you need to consider in preparing your 1985 return.

Housing Allowance: Be sure to review your housing allowance to be certain that what you have set aside is the appropriate amount. Any amount that has been set aside and not spent during the year must be declared as income. On the other hand, any amount spent but not previously set aside cannot now be deducted. If you find yourself in this situation, you may want to consider filing an updated Ministerial Housing Allowance form.

Monthly Expense Allotment: Regarding the monthly allotment, when your allotment check is mailed, it is sent in advance of projected expenses. At the end of the year, the total of all allotment checks will be added to your W-2 form as income. Unless you can sufficiently justify to the IRS the business expenses that match the expense allotments you received, you will need to pay tax on the allotments.

The allotment check is to be used only for Church business expenses. If you have received more expense money than you actually spent, you should return the excess to the Church. If you find that your allotment has exceeded your expense by a large amount, you may need to consider reducing the allotment. If you want to do this, please include a note to that effect with your reimbursement check.

Second Tithe Allotment: Any unused allotment should be returned. Please make separate checks for second tithe funds and for the monthly allotment.

We need to receive any reimbursement checks by December 16 in order to credit the amount to your W-2 statement. If checks are not received by December 16, your W-2 statement will not reflect the returned money, and you will have to pay on that amount. (You will need to estimate you expense needs for the rest of the year to know how much to return.)

International Feast Report: With this issue we will begin including one report per week from U.S. guest speakers who were assigned to international Feast sites. This week's report (following) is from Mr. Leroy Neff, who served as guest speaker at two Canadian sites, Penticton and Victoria.

"Since Penticton became a Feast site back in the 1960s with its 'Big Tent' for services, I had heard of its beauty and wanted to attend a Feast there. This was the first opportunity for my wife and me to see the area and meet with the brethren for the Festival. This small city is located in a long narrow valley, with lakes on both north and south sides, which produces much natural beauty. The autumn weather was cool but invigorating.

"Services have long since been moved indoors to more comfortable quarters, but must be viewed by several hundred people over closed-circuit TV. About 2,500 people from far and near attended.

"At Victoria, where we attended for the last part of the Feast, we were reminded of a visit during the summer of 1976. At that time we were impressed by the beautiful and world-famous Butchart Gardens, and the riot of colorful flowers in evidence. For the fall season we expected little color, but were surprised by as much color from the myriads of flowers that were blooming this late in the year. The frequent rains make all foliage green and lush for this area of Canada.

"The downtown waterfront would make one think he were in England. The large Empress Hotel, built during the first decade of this century, and the Provincial Government buildings are stately edifices of English rather than American architecture. All this and much more is located across from the beautiful harbor.

"Services were held in the elegant Royal Theatre, which is one of only two 'Royal' theatres in Canada, I was told. About 1,500 brethren attended this Festival. Because of the size of the meeting hall, about 800 requests for transfer had to be denied for this popular site in 1985.

"From our perspective, the Feast operated smoothly, without any serious problem. In Victoria, services were interrupted briefly by a woman from some other church who apparently wanted to tell us how wrong we were. Her Bible apparently did not contain I Corinthians 14:34-35. The commotion did not hinder the service, but instead seemed to liven things up a bit, and ended somewhat amusingly.

"We were impressed more than ever before with the love and respect that was shown to us as two representatives from Pasadena. Everyone was greatly disappointed that Mr. Armstrong was ill and not able to speak live on the first Holy Day. They continually asked us how he was doing and I was pleased to be able to give almost daily progress reports. The sermons seemed outstanding and spiritually edifying. The love, friendliness and unity evident was most gratifying."

Thanks: Thanks to all of you for your part in making this Feast so successful. Your yieldedness to God makes it possible for His Spirit to work in you to do His good pleasure. Keep up the good work!