News at a Glance

• Treasurer Reports Encouraging Income
• Online Advertising Booms
• New Elders Announced
• WNP Seminars Attract Many Guests
• Sri Lanka Site Picked
• St. Lucia Feast Full
• Eugene Prepares for 75th
• Houston Music Festival to Be Aug. 31
• Wheeling Plans Family Music Festival Weekend
• Attention Graduating Seniors and Parents!
• Calendar of Events
• What's New on the Web?

Note: For charts and graphs mentioned, see the PDF or printed versions.

Treasurer Reports Encouraging Income

With only two months left in the fiscal year, it appears that we will have between a 2 and 3 percent increase in income over last year.

The last three months of mail income have been encouraging. It is trending higher than the year-to-date average, with increases of 9.39 percent in February, 8.78 percent in March and 7.7 percent in April.

The preliminary figure for the U.S. offering on the First Day of Unleavened Bread is a record $814,947.59. This is a 1.8 percent increase over the previous year. The attendance was up 1.5 percent at 13,374. Once all individually mailed offerings are processed, the figure should reach $830,000. The Last Day of Unleavened Bread offering was $792,388 with an attendance of 12,113. Five congregations could not meet because of blizzard conditions. Individually mailed offerings should bring this to $815,000.

—Jason Lovelady

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Online Advertising Booms

From Jan. 1 to March 27, our online advertising responses have shown some significant growth. In particular, two booklet promotions have been very successful: Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? and Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

Interest in our keywords about Easter really generated some responses for the Holidays or Holy Days booklet. We had 33.7 million impressions of our ads, 97,295 clicks and 2,677 conversions (successful booklet/GN subscriptions). Most of these results were gleaned in just the last two weeks of March. It appears that this may be the largest number of online booklet requests of a single title for a two-week period for us ever.

TheMarriage and Family booklet has also generated a lot of interest so far this year. We had 256.3 million impressions of our ads (almost eight times that of our Holidays or Holy Days ads!), 137,021 clicks and 2,494 conversions.

To view these ads online, go to www.gnmagazine.org/family and www.gnmagazine.org/easter.

Through March 27, we have had 29,951 booklet/GN requests from all our ads at Google and Yahoo advertising. For the last two calendar years, March 2006 through March 2008, we've had 170,956 online advertising conversions. These are in addition to the thousands of requests we received from people simply searching the Internet—for which we pay nothing in advertising costs.

The Internet is certainly a very viable tool in promoting the good news of God's Kingdom. Please continue to pray for our success in this arena, among others.

—Peter Eddington

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New Elders Announced

On Jan. 26, Kossi Fiaboé was ordained an elder. He serves in the Lome and Mome Hagou, Togo, congregations.

On March 3, the Council approved the credentialing of Charles Haughee as an elder. He and his wife, Kaye, are serving in the Tampa, Florida, congregation.

On March 8, Edward Dowd was ordained. He and his wife, RaeAnn, serve in the Phoenix, Arizona, East congregation.

On March 22, Anthony (Tony) Levy was ordained. He and his wife, Brenda, serve in the Johannesburg, South Africa, congregation.

On April 19, Bill Bradford was ordained. He and his wife, Joanna, serve in the Chicago, Illinois, congregation

On April 20, Antonio Thiongo Ndung'u was ordained. As the first minister in East Africa, he and his wife, Christine, serve congregations throughout Kenya. He serves full-time as office manager and treasurer.

On April 20, Jerrison Shachoongo was ordained. He and his wife, Nice, are serving congregations throughout Zambia.

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WNP Seminars Attract Many Guests

Two daylong World News and Prophecy seminars were held April 5 and 6 in Vancouver and Penticton, British Columbia.

April 5 was a special Sabbath for the Vancouver congregation. With visiting brethren from Vancouver Island and Sedro Woolley, Washington, as well as some first-time visitors, the attendance was 112.

Invitation letters were sent to a large number of individuals on the UCG-Canada subscriber list, and a number of those were able to attend, including one couple who drove over six hours each way.

Darris McNeely, WNP managing editor and Beyond Today television presenter, and Robin Webber, a WNP senior editor, presented the seminar.

The morning Sabbath service began with Mr. McNeely's presentation "The Purpose of Prophecy." The second presentation "A Heart Towards Prophecy" was given by Robin Webber. The afternoon seminar sessions included the topics "The Coming King of the South," "Mark of the Beast," and "Wars of Religion: An Ancient Scourge Reborn."

With powerful messages, great food and fellowship among members of three congregations and guests, some likened it to a feast day.

Mr. McNeely and Mr. Webber also presented four 50-minute WNP seminar sessions to 57 eager people in Penticton on Sunday, April 6. Attendees came from as far away as Calgary, Alberta.

Seventeen new people came, either responding to advertisements placed in Merritt, Princeton and Osoyoos, British Columbia, and Omak, Washington, newspapers, or a letter to the GN mailing list.

An exhaustive literature table provided Good News magazines and booklets in French, Spanish and German, as well as English. Fastest disappearing booklets were God's Holy Day Plan, The New Covenant: Does It Abolish God's Law and, interestingly, all German literature disappeared too!

Audience comments included: "Amazing information," "I never thought of it that way before" and it "has always been right in front of me!"

—David Palmer and James Ludvigson

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Sri Lanka Site Picked

The Sri Lankan Feast site will be at the Induruwa Beach Resort in Bentota, about 40 miles south of the capital city, Colombo. International guests will arrive at the Colombo International Airport and can hire a taxi to the site for about $50 to $60. The trip normally takes two to three hours, depending on the time of day and traffic.

Feastgoers will enjoy an abundance of delicious food featuring Sri Lankan curries and international fare. Most dinners will feature a live band playing Western and Sri Lankan music. Photos of the hotel can be viewed at www.villaoceanhotels.com. The rates for full board are: single—$45; double—$52; and triple—$78.

For additional information and reservations, please contact David Baker by e-mail at david_baker@ucg.org or call (585) 624-5166.

—David Baker

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St. Lucia Feast Full

The St. Lucia Feast site has reached capacity and is closed to further transfers.

—Arnold Hampton

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Eugene Prepares for 75th

The UCG congregation in Eugene, Oregon, is beginning preparations for the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the first congregation back in October of 1933. The anniversary celebration is being planned for the Sabbath of Sept. 27. Tours of historical sites in the area will be available on Sunday.

Special guests for the occasion will be UCG President Clyde Kilough and his wife, Dee. The Kiloughs will also be staying for the Feast of Trumpets on Sept. 30.

—John Cafourek

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Houston Music Festival to Be Aug. 31

The Fourth Annual UCG Houston Music Festival will be held Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008, Labor Day weekend. Performances will begin approximately 10 a.m. Sunday morning. Last year approximately 250 people, including 43 musicians, enjoyed a full day of rock, folk, country and blues music while visiting and relaxing.

Out of town musicians can use stage equipment provided by local musicians, including a drum set, amplifiers, keyboards, congas, bongos, timbales, microphones and monitors.

Musicians interested in participating in the Houston Music Festival 2008 should contact David Buchanan at the new e-mail address, BuchananEnvironmental@embarqmail.com (please use "Subject: Houston Music Festival" to avoid deletion of your correspondence), or by telephone at (281) 852-2438.

Song lists and set length must be submitted no later than July 15. To avoid redundancy, songs will be approved on a first-come, first-served basis. 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. As always, we ask musicians to be careful to select music that is appropriate for a church activity.

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. Local brethren will bring extra lawn chairs for visitors.

Our concessions stand will sell food, drinks and snacks to cover expenses. Music Festival entry is free; however, donations will be accepted and funds in excess of expenses will be donated to the United Church of God.

Hotel accommodations may be found in Humble, approximately five minutes from the church building. There will be no rain-out. In the event of rain, music will be performed in the building auditorium.

—David Buchanan

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Wheeling Plans Family Music Festival Weekend

The Wheeling, West Virginia, congregation is planning a weekend of music, family fun and fellowship for July 10 to 13 at Sally Buffalo Park near Cadiz, Ohio. As in previous festivals there will be a special emphasis on bluegrass, but country, folk and pop musicians and music-lovers are welcome too. Jam sessions, parking lot pickin' and an entertainment program will highlight activities on Thursday night, Friday and Sunday

A "reception" is scheduled Friday at 7 p.m.—snacks and refreshments will be provided as we settle in for the Sabbath. On July 12 there will be Sabbath services, a potluck-style lunch and Bible studies for various age groups. Saturday night will feature an extended jam-session and sing-along with lots of great food. Based on interest and available talent, we hope to wrap up the weekend with a "big show" on Sunday, featuring performances by all those who want to join in.

Tent and RV camping are available at the park, and there area a few motels in the vicinity. Weather isn't a factor—if it rains, we can head into the barn to continue the activities.

For planning purposes, we ask that you register if you're going to attend all or part of the weekend. Registration forms are available online at www.ucgnet.org/wheeling/bluegrass. You can request a form and/or get further information (including details on housing and camping) by contacting Bob Miller at (740) 968-3106 or Keith Wilson at (724) 228-2186.

—Don Henson

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Attention Graduating Seniors and Parents!

Congratulations! We would like to feature the 2008 high school graduates in a special section of the July United News. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions and send a photograph by June 16, 2008.

1. Graduate's Name

2. Parents' Names

3. Congregation and Pastor's Name

4. High School Accomplishments

5. Church Activities/Hobbies/Interests (tell a little bit about yourself)

6. Plans After Graduation

7. Additional Comments (favorite quote, favorite scripture, motto, advice, etc. Please identify which it is, so we don't think your advice is your motto, etc.)

Also include your phone number or e-mail address to use to confirm spellings, etc. (They will not be printed.)

Please send with a recent photo (conforming with biblical standards of dress and hair length) of the graduate by June 16.

By e-mail to: Mike_Bennett@ucg.org.

By mail to: United News, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027.

We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length; 250-word maximum length. Thanks!

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Calendar of Events

May 18-19: GCE annual meeting.

May 21-22: Council of Elders' meeting, Mason, Ohio.

June 21: Pittsburgh 50th, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (www.ucgnet.org/pittsburgh/50).

July 10-13: Family Music Festival Weekend, near Cadiz, Ohio (www.ucgnet.org/wheeling/bluegrass; see article above).

July 17-20: Third Teen/Young Adult weekend sponsored by the Garden Grove, California, congregation (Luky2binhb@yahoo.com, Ehsjock14@yahoo.com or (714) 378-6143).

Aug. 31: Houston Music Festival (see article above).

Aug. 29-Sept. 1: Singles/Couples Labor Day Weekend, Kansas City, Missouri (see article above)(www.kc2008transformation.com).

Aug. 12-14: Council of Elders' meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sept. 27: Eugene 75th, Eugene, Oregon (see article above).

Please send calendar items to mike_bennett@ucg.org.

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What's New on the Web?

UCG Commentary.
"Easter, Seder or Neither?"
"Of Rice, Men and God"
"Does God Have Any Real Interest in Jerusalem?"
www.ucg.org/commentary

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