Update from Ministerial and Member Services

We have appointed Gary Smith, long-time pastor in Houston, Texas, to be the new regional pastor for the South Central region. As you know, Jim Tuck was handling that responsibility and recently retired from the full-time ministry.

Gary, and his wife, Liz, have faithfully served God and His people in various areas of the United States since becoming a full-time minister in 1982. Gary, along with much support from Liz, directed our teen camp at Pinecrest for several years and has coordinated various Feast sites.

We look forward to working with Gary to serve our ministers and members in the South Central region.

Meeting With Regional Pastors

The same week that Gary was appointed, a meeting of regional pastors was held online on Jan. 27. We welcomed Gary and Robin Webber to their first RP meeting. Robin was recently appointed regional pastor for the Southwest region. Each of the regional pastors gave a report on how things were going in their areas. It was a very positive accounting overall, and a bit of a recounting of the blessings God has been affording us. We greatly appreciate God’s blessing and our ministry for their service to our brethren during these difficult times.

We briefly discussed some of the main responsibilities of our regional pastors, stressing the need to stay in close touch with all our pastors and to encourage them to reach out to all our brethren. We discussed some ideas to help engage our members during this time of pandemic.

Another part of our meeting focused on our desire to move toward a 90-minute service in all areas of the United States. By shortening the time of announcements, keeping sermonettes at 12 minutes and sermons around 50 minutes, this can be accomplished most Sabbaths. Some areas have also gone to having a 15-20 minute interactive “sermon chat” after normal services that has proven to be effective and appreciated.

We also discussed some of the challenges various areas have faced during the ongoing pandemic and the desire to have in-person services for the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread for those who are comfortable attending in person. We will also make available a webcast or a recording of the Passover available for those who will be observing in their homes.

Overall, it was a very productive meeting as we strive to please God more fully and care for God’s people.

Meeting With Pastors

Last week, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, we had an online meeting for all pastors. In this meeting, I expressed my appreciation for God’s evident blessings upon us both spiritually and financially during the pandemic. I have been rather amazed at how well things have been going, considering all the challenges we have faced in 2020. Besides God’s blessing, I believe this is largely because we do have a very dedicated ministry who have been doing a wonderful job and because the majority of our members are patient and committed.

An update was given regarding some serious health issues a few of our ministers and their wives have been experiencing. Next, we discussed the importance of staying in close touch with our members and to be aware of any needs in our congregations. We recognize the loneliness and even the despair, that some of our members experienced in 2020. We desire to be there for them physically, emotionally and spiritually as needed.

We also discussed how a 90-minute service has been working in the Cincinnati congregations and how we would like to see all our services moving in that direction as the norm.

We discussed our desire to provide in-person Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread services wherever possible.

We also discussed our overall approach toward some of the COVID-related challenges we have faced as congregations scattered throughout the U.S. It was stressed that we need to continually remind our members to stay home and quarantine if they are showing any signs of sickness that may be contagious.

We acknowledge that some very serious illnesses, and even death, have resulted because of contracting COVID-19, so it should not be taken lightly. At the same time, we should strive to respect each person’s sincere individual reaction and be careful not to offend others or cause them undue concern. We should all strive to be peacemakers, for it is peacemakers who “shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9)!

We believe that God and true worship must be our first priority as we continue to face various challenges as the people of God!

Wishing you all a most rewarding, and peaceful Sabbath!