Herbert W Armstrong

Frequently we receive questions as to why we use such a general greeting, rather than specifically mentioning the Church or "The World Tomorrow." The reason for this simple salutation is primarily to avoid confusion in the minds of many new "first-time" callers. The WATS number is occasionally used in nationwide spot commercials — as well as in many of our booklets and magazines. Calls to the WATS number come from spot ads, booklet cards, PT newsstand copies, as well as from ministers and members. And, because the Work has many entities — Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, the Worldwide Church of God, Ambassador College, AICF, PLAIN TRUTH, GOOD NEWS, etc. — calls can be in response to media efforts of any of these entities.

In answering any given call, the operators have no way of knowing the background of the caller, and are therefore using a general non-specific approach which will be appropriate for whoever is calling.

This simple greeting is being used, then, as a means of avoiding confusion — and yet is a friendly acknowledgment to each call. (Unfortunately in the past, some new callers have responded to booklet spot commercials and when hearing our operators say "The World Tomorrow program," they thought they had a wrong number and hung up!)

So, if you happen to use the WATS number and hear this general greeting, this is why we use it. It allows us to respond to a wide variety of listeners — some who know a great deal about the Work, and some who know very little. Our goals are to serve everyone as equally well as we can.

Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center