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WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91123
HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
PASTOR GENERAL
July 25, 1985
Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:
Many things have happened since I last wrote to you a month
ago. The passing time seems to speed up. These are the summer
months in which we cannot afford to bask lazily in the warmth of
the sun in idle leisure. Rather, more than ever, we need a sense
of URGENCY. Events in the world are not taking a vacation, but
speeding to the climax of this world and civilization as we know
it.
Since my last letter I, with several members of the
editorial staff and the television crew, attended the 40th
anniversary of the San Francisco Conference of 1945. Ambassadors
to the U.N. from many nations were there. I was one of three
or so who attended the entire Conference of 40 years ago. Most are
not still living. I was honored by sitting at lunches and dinners
at the speakers' table, and introduced to all delegates each time.
I was glad to renew acquaintance with General Carlos Romulo
of the Philippines, with whom I have maintained an acquaintance on
my frequent visits to Manila. The Ambassador from the Soviet Union
spoke to me twice and said I am too hard on the Soviet Union on the
air, although he admitted I was not as hard on them as other TV
evangelists, and invited me to visit the Soviet Union.
On June 25 I attended the 20th anniversary of the church at
my home city of Des Moines, Iowa. It was an experience to be
photographed at the very spot where I was born, and to see the
tremendous change that has come to the city where I grew up. The
anniversary service was held in a new hotel located over the very
spot where I worked for three years as editorial representative of
the nation's largest trade journal--The Merchants Trade Journal--
during the years of 1912-19l5.
Since, I have visited the YOU camp sites at Orr, Minnesota,
and Big Sandy, Texas, and spoken to the campers at each. All
international camp directors were in session at Orr. What these
camps are doing for the youths of the Church is amazing. There is
no other youth program in the world that remotely equals what is
being accomplished at our YOU camp.
The great Work of God proceeds full steam ahead all over the
world. In the first five months of this year a new all-time record
was set in number of letters and cards received worldwide. A total
of 3.8 million cards and letters were received, as against 3.1
million last year. In 1984 we averaged 465 baptisms per month
worldwide--and for the first four months of 1985 the average was
597 baptisms per month. God is adding an average of one new large
church congregation per month. This year our ministers have
averaged 1,972 new contacts requesting a visit, compared to 1,292