Herbert W Armstrong

   Greetings from gorgeous Pasadena! We are having another sparkling clear day with the mountains visible, "clear as a bell" from my office window and a breeze blowing outside. We are all fine here and some of our team is already on the way for their respective trips during this Passover season. I won't be leaving until Wednesday morning so that I have a maximum amount of time here to handle the constant deluge of problems, calls, paperwork, etc.

   Messrs. Sherwin McMichael, Burk McNair and I flew over to see Mr. Herbert Armstrong last Thursday and had a very profitable visit with him. We were able to go over and gain his approval on all of the ordinations to be conducted during the Passover season. Also, we talked over in detail with him all of our plans and the entire format for the three-night Evangelistic Campaigns coming up within a few weeks. He continues to be in good shape and good spirits and gave us some very helpful ideas about the campaigns.

   For those of you who might be concerned, we want to let you know that things have been so terribly busy that we will not be able to complete making our summer assignments until after the Days of Unleavened Bread. So if you are in any way involved in some of these changes, please be patient.

   In this regard, I am sorry to report that Bobby Boyce sent Mr. Luker a note last week expressing his desire to go non-career. He may have had many reasons for this, but I know he was disappointed that we felt it imperative to assign someone else to the Longview, Texas church at this time, which he had asked for. However, none of us in P.A.D. had in any way encouraged him to go non-career and it was a sincere surprise to us, as we had planned to give him another assignment in the general area. However, we wish him well and all of you fellows who choose the non-career route — though I hope that someday in the not too distant future, the Work will move forward with such obvious power and inspiration, and prophecies will start happening so rapidly that all of you — along with many others — will again want to literally GIVE YOURSELVES full-time to the service of the Work of God.

   Another matter I feel should be discussed openly at this time is our decision to make a change in the Oklahoma City pastorate sometime this spring or summer. This was done after visits to the area by Messrs. Waterhouse, Neff, and McMichael — all from our headquarters team. However, because of a truly saddening situation regarding the fact that young Joe Pyle has very recently been found to have cancer and has only been given one to three months to live, we have decided to postpone any final decision and action on this matter until summer. It turns out — which I did NOT know earlier — that Joe is right there in Oklahoma City staying with Ray Pyle, his older brother. And we certainly do not want to add unnecessary further burdens to the Pyle family at this time, and so have modified our previous plans because of this unusual situation which has struck a family so many of us have known and loved so long. Please PRAY for Joe Pyle! Ask our Creator and our Healer to intervene supernaturally and raise him up SOON — as He is able. We know this will work out for good, and we are deeply sorry that all of these situations had to hit at such an inopportune time — and ANY time is "inopportune" to be struck with cancer. So remember Joe in your fervent prayers!

   Fellows, as we preach to others during this Unleavened Bread season, let's be sure we also put out ALL the sin we possibly can from our lives and from God's ministry! Let's be sure that we avoid the "leaven of the Pharisees'' which is hypocrisy. Let's be sure that each one of us sincerely in our hearts supports God's Work and God's apostle, Mr. Herbert Armstrong, during the difficult days of this present crisis. Let's be sure that in our hearts we try to get back to the WAY OF LIFE and true doctrine which God has set in his Church through Mr. Armstrong in our age. And let's all realize that many of us have not been as totally loyal, yielded and humble before our God — looking for HIS guidance and direction in the Work and in our lives as we ought to have done. Realizing the above, let us fervently renew 'our commitment to Christ and His leadership and His Church at this time and grow toward an even deeper commitment than we have ever had before.

   Fellows, please put your whole hearts and fervent prayers into preparing your sermons for this spring festival season! Let's all try to give God's people the encouragement, the lift and the inspiration they need so much. And in this time of special need, please encourage the brethren enthusiastically to give generously for the final holy day offering of the Days of Unleavened Bread. I am sure you realize this is a critical need at this time, so let's all "rally" to the cause in our prayers, our encouragements, and our personal offerings to Christ and his Work at this time.

   Have a good Feast, and our prayers are with you all.

With Christian love,
Roderick C. Merddith