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RADIO CHURCH OF GOD
WORLD HEADQUARTERS
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
PRESIDENT and PASTOR
Broadcasting
The WORLD TOMORROW
Publishers of
The PLAIN TRUTH
March 5, 1958
Dear Brethren of God's true Church:
It makes my heart heavy to have to write you this letter, but
today we are faced with the decision of calling off the building of
the new Tabernacle near Gladewater, Texas, for one more year.
I have just had to call the Behlen Manufacturing Company, at
Columbus, Nebraska, which is handling the entire contract for the
new, larger Tabernacle.
The ministers here have gone into all the circumstances, and
we have decided that the building of this new Tabernacle must be
called off for one more year.
That probably is shocking news---it surely ought to be. But
the hard cold FACTS are that you Brethren MUST finance this
Tabernacle if we are to build it. We simply CANNOT take money from
the Gospel work and divert it to the Tabernacle used only by our
own members---and you Brethren have been sending in only about
one-third as much in special offerings for the Tabernacle as we
would have to bind ourselves to pay out every month for the next 18
months if we are to start.
We had approximately $90,000 cash in the bank in the special
Building Fund for this purpose. Out of that we have paid the
architect in full (his work is all completed), and spent some at
Gladewater, and there is remaining in this special Building Fund
$85,000. That is about one-fourth enough to pay for the new
building in full. We had planned to pay $50,000 down on it at the
start of actual construction, and $15,000 per month until paid out.
Mr. Walter Behlen, president of the contracting company, is willing
to put up the Tabernacle for us on that basis. HE IS WILLING TO DO
THIS LARGELY DUE TO CONFIDENCE IN ME PERSONALLY. He has so
expressed himself several times, as have other officials of his
company. I have been over there about four times, and he has come
to know me---but he does not know the others of the Church. Once
this Tabernacle is built, with some $95,000 paid on it, and over
$200,000 still unpaid, even tho I would not be legally responsible,
personally, yet I am the one he would look to for his money, and
therefore I am personally assuming a pretty big MORAL
responsibility if I, at the direction of the Board of the Church,
sign a contract for this construction.