News at a Glance

• More Baptisms Announced
• Elders Credentialed and Ordained
• GN Subscriptions Continue to Rise
• Coworkers and Donors Continue to Increase
• Deadline Near for Houston 50th
• ABC Upgrades
• Houston Music Festival Set for Sept. 3
• Lafayette Plans Fourth of July Melody of Music
• Members Welcomed to Submit Hymns and Suggestions
• Calendar of Events
• Members Boost Good News Brochure Program
• What's New on the Web?

More Baptisms Announced

In addition to the 316 baptisms reported last issue, the following baptisms also took place in 2005, bringing the total to at least 398:

Ghana 55

Kenya 18

Tanzania 6

United Kingdom 3

Elders Credentialed and Ordained

Leroy Neff was credentialed as an elder in the United Church of God during the December Council meetings. He and his wife, Maxine, serve in the East Texas, Texas, congregation.

On Dec. 31, Jonathan Pinelli was ordained an elder. He and his wife, Deborah, serve in the Cincinnati East AM congregation.

Jim Cowell was ordained an elder on Jan. 7. He and his wife, Marlene, serve the San Diego, California, congregation.

GN Subscriptions Continue to Rise

The total print quantity of the January-February 2006 Good News magazine was 401,231. While this is less than our highest print run of 526,173 reached for the September-October 2002 issue, there is an encouraging trend—the number of actual "subscribers" is continuing to rise. Over the past three years, we have made a concerted effort in the United States to replace waiting room program and newsstand program copies with actual subscribers. Having actual subscribers' addresses on file gives us greater opportunity to directly communicate with our readers with various offers and updates.

In addition, putting less expensive advertising brochures and subscription offers on display in public venues is proving to be less expensive than tens of thousands of actual copies of the magazine itself. The following chart show the growth of GN magazine subscribers over the past 10 years' January-February issues.

Print Run U.S. Subscribers

1997 39,742 17,000

1998 71,030 32,606

1999 146,883 55,000

2000 261,372 78,926

2001 323,568 134,900

2002 472,028 230,615

2003 434,419 269,304

2004 426,671 240,515

2005 420,520 284,501

2006 401,231 321,089

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Coworkers and Donors Continue to Increase

Reports show that about 8 percent of United's income has come from those people who do not consider themselves part of UCG. There are 7,323 donors and 3,055 coworkers on the U.S. file. Donors are up 20 percent over the previous year, and coworkers are up 14 percent.

It is very encouraging to see a continued increase from year to year in the number of people who want to contribute to the work of the Church!

Please continue to pray that God will send forth more laborers to assist with the massive work of preaching the gospel of His Kingdom around the globe.

—Peter Eddington

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Deadline Near for Houston 50th

Feb. 17 is the deadline for dinner reservations and payments for Houston's 50th Church Anniversary celebration, which will be held on the weekend of March 10 and 11.

The weekend will begin with a reception on Friday evening, March 10, at the Houston North Church Hall. Sabbath morning will begin with snacks and socializing, which will be followed by a special service from 2 to 4 p.m. This commemorative service will include a Houston history presentation, special music and a sermon that will be given by former Houstonian Clyde Kilough.

Following services, there will be drinks, dinner and dancing. The buffet dinner entrees are pecan-crusted chicken breast and chef-carved prime rib. The dinner will cost approximately $25 for adults and $7 for children under 10. The dance will include a local band and will be supplemented by a DJ.

If you have not already located a reservation form on one of the Houston Web sites, please contact your local pastor for the appropriate paperwork.

Local hotel listings can be accessed on the Web sites as well, at www.united-church-of-god.org or www.ucg-houston.org, or you may call Frank or Nelda Pierce at (409) 945-6256.

—Sharon VanSchuyver

ABC Upgrades

The Ambassador Bible Center student computer lab has been upgraded with new computers, and the cataloging of the 2,500 volumes in the ABC library is nearly completed. "We are very thankful to the Blackwell and Hoeh estates for their contributions to our ABC reference library," said Dave Register, director of educational programs.

Five applications have already been submitted for the 2007 ABC year. "For any who may be interested in attending ABC next year, please consider sending your application early," said Mr. Register. Applications are at www.ucg.org/abc.

Houston Music Festival Set for Sept. 3

The Second Annual UCG Houston Music Festival will be held on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006, Labor Day Weekend, at 20737 Broze Road, Humble, Texas. Last year's outdoor music festival was a tremendous success: 225 people including 36 musicians enjoyed a full day of rock, folk, country and blues music while visiting and relaxing.

This year we anticipate more out-of-town musicians and a larger crowd. Musicians who wish to participate can use stage equipment provided by local musicians including a drum set, amplifiers, keyboards, congas, bongos, timbales, microphones and monitors; guitars may be available by special arrangement.

Musicians interested in participating in the Houston Music Festival should contact David Buchanan by e-mail at BuchananEnvironmental@earthlink.net (please use Subject: Houston Music Festival to avoid deletion of your correspondence), or by telephone at (281) 852-2438, no later than June 30.

Musicians must be members or attending one of the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God—exceptions will be made for nonmember musicians in a backup role. All musicians must conform to Church standards for dress, grooming and conduct.

For attendees who must avoid the sun, several canopies will be erected, but most will bring a chair or blanket and sit on the lawn, which should accommodate over 600 people. Local brethren will bring extra lawn chairs for visitors. Our concessions stand will sell food, drinks and snacks.

Festival entry is free; however, donations will be accepted to defray expenses. Extra funds will be donated to the United Church of God. Hotel accommodations may be found in Humble, Texas, approximately five minutes from the church building. In the event of rain, performances will be held in the building auditorium.

—David Buchanan

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Lafayette Plans Fourth of July Melody of Music

The Lafayette, Indiana, congregation would like to invite brethren of all ages to the Fourth of July Melody of Music July 2 to 4. This event will include two and a half days of Christian music, camping and fellowship. Attendees will experience a variety of Christian music in folk, country, blues, jazz, rock and traditional styles. The mission is to share quality time by way of music and give praise to God.

For more information about cost, camping, directions and registration, see the Web site at www.mom07.com. Or contact Tony Pacelli by e-mail at mom0007@verizon.net, fax at (765) 447-7051 or mail at Melody of Music, VisionQuest Production, P.O. Box 5314, Lafayette, IN 47905.

—Tony Pacelli

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Members Welcomed to Submit Hymns and Suggestions

The UCG hymnal team is seeking hymn submissions for inclusion in our upcoming hardbound edition. If you would like to suggest a hymn or if you have composed a hymn that has not previously been evaluated, we would like to review your recommendations.

Rather than just sending us the title of a song, sheet music should be submitted as a PDF file and e-mailed to steve_myers@ucg.org or a hard copy of the sheet music can be mailed to Steve Myers, 25897 655th St., Kasson, MN 55944. The deadline for suggestions is March 1.

Steve Myers

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Calendar of Events

Feb. 18-19: Winter weekend, Wooster, Ohio (glt-bj@ispwest.com).

Feb. 24-March 1: Council meetings.

March 10-11: Houston's 50th Church Anniversary (www.united-church-of-god.org or www.ucg-houston.org).

March 10-12: Seattle Singles' Retreat (www.ucg-seattle.info/singles/ or toll free 866-429-2727 x52719).

March 24-26: "Hidden Treasure—The Pearl" ladies' retreat, Portland, Oregon (scruggsjr@aol.com).

March 25-26: Families for God week end, Minneapolis, Minnesota (www.ucgstp.org/familiesforgod).

May 7-8: General Conference of Elders annual meeting.

May 9-11: Council meetings.

May 19-21: Ladies' Retreat on Deer Lake (north of Spokane, Washington). Theme: Pearl of Great Price; guests: Victor and Beverly Kubik; for more information call (509) 466-4899 or e-mail mmickelson@msn.com.

May 26-29: Memorial Day Weekend, Kansas City, Missouri (www.kc2006.com).

July 2-4: Melody of Music, Lafayette, Indiana (www.mom07.com).

Sept. 3: Second Annual UCG Houston Music Festival.

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Members Boost Good News Brochure Program

Since Jan. 1, 2005, over 300 brethren and congregations have participated in the updated Good News subscription brochure program. In the past 12 months, members have distributed over 108,000 brochures on 1,500 clear acrylic display units. This is a large increase over 2004 when just 14,000 brochures were distributed on 300 displays.

This "take-one" distribution program has proven to be a very cost-effective means of reaching new people with the gospel. Brochures cost less than 4 cents each to print and distribute. Over recent years, subscriber response has reached an excellent 3.7 percent at a cost per response of only $2.43.

Currently we have about 95,000 subscription brochures in inventory awaiting distribution. We highly encourage many more brethren to become involved in the program.

To request a supply of materials, please e-mail John LaBissoniere at john_labissoniere@ucg.org or call him toll-free at (888) 369-9940.

What's New on the Web?

On www.ucg.org

Compass Check

See video of home office weekly meeting.
www.ucg.org/about/homeoffice/compasscheck.htm

UCG Commentary on This Week's News

Weekly commentaries by UCG written on world news and trends, from a biblical perspective. Read these and more:

"How Life Began: The Never-Ending Debate"

"The New Pulpit: 'Let Us Make You Feel Great!'"

"The DaVinci Code: Not Just Unbiblical but Anti-biblical"

www.ucg.org/commentary/

Current World News & Trends

Browse up-to-date world news events by subject categories!
www.ucg.org/worldnews/

E-mail Updates and UCG eNews

Receive e-mail updates relevant to UCG members and weekly HTML newsletters with ucg.org updates. Sign up today!
www.ucg.org/contact/updates.htm

On vcmagazine.org

The February VCM has articles on "Overcoming Adversity," "Sticks and Stones," "Sauerkraut," communication and more.
vcmagazine.org

On verticalthought.org

New articles posted on the Web site for February are "Credit vs. Debt" and "What Do You Know About Credit?"
verticalthought.org

Featured Links of the Month

World News and Prophecy Online with blogs on the day's news, podcasts and more.
www.wnponline.org

UCG News pages with Council meeting reports, letters, Home Office Updates, etc.
www.ucg.org/about/council
www.ucg.org/about/homeoffice

If you have questions, contact: webmaster@ucg.org