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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JANUARY 22, 1982
PAGE 5
New Zealand and South Pacific 1981 was an exciting and inspiring year for
God's Work 1n this part of the world, continuing the wonderful trend which
began in 1978 when Mr. Herbert Armstrong began to put God's Work back on
God's track. The highlight of 1981 was Mr. Armstrong's personal visit to
Auckland on May 16-18.
Since January, 1979 the income has run at about a 30% increase every single
month, with an annual increase of 28.3% in 1979 and 27.4% in 1980. The
annual income increase for 1981 was a very fine 32.5%. The total Holy Day
offering for 1981 registered a 32.6% increase over 1980, which in turn has
been 40% up on the previous year's figure.
Because of difficulties in securing radio and television openings here for
The WORLD TOMORROW program, we have concentrated our major efforts on
building up a large and solid PLAIN TRUTH mailing list.
During the year 700,000 full-colour flyers offering The PLAIN TRUTH were
distributed in leading newspapers throughout the nation. Advertisements
were also placed in leading national magazines. These promotions, coupled
with a remarkable improvement in renewal response rates, boosted The PLAIN
TRUTH mailing list to almost 46,000 in December, compared with 27,000 in
December, 1980--an increase of 70%!
The PLAIN TRUTH newsstand program was also developed during the year, ris
ing from a total of 700 newsstand copies in January to 21,500 copies in
December. With new outlets speedily being added, this figure has jumped
again with 40,000 copies of the January, 1982 newsstand edition being
printed.
When the mailing list and newsstand copies are combined, the total PLAIN
TRUTH circulation in this part of the world was 67,500 in Decernber--by far
the highest monthly circulation figure ever achieved here. Average monthly
circulation in 1981 was 26.7% up on the 1980 figure.
Renewal responses for The PLAIN TRUTH doubled in 1981. In 1980 they hit an
all-time low of 32%. Last year they have been in excess of 60%--a most
encouraging result. This demonstrates that the magazine is holding the
interest and attention of its readers to a much higher extent than pre
viously.
It also reflects Mr. Armstrong's recent redirection of our
methods of promotion of The PLAIN TRUTH to new subscribers.
Mr. Armstrong's semi-annual letter of November, 1980 brought in over 7,000
requests for THE MISSING DIMENSION IN SEX in early 1981, a response of 26%.
The June, 1981 letter brought in 6,000 requests for the UNITED STATES AND
BRITAIN IN PROPHECY, a response of 15%. By the end of the year, 6,000
requests had come in as a result of the December semi-annual, already a
response of 16.4%, with hundreds more corning in every day.
Church attendance also grew during the year, with 53 baptisms being per
formed. The average monthly church attendance exceeded the 1,000 mark for
the first time ever, registering a 6.1% increase over 1980. Growth was
adversely affected by an attrition rate of about one church family per
month seeking greener pastures in Australia in order to escape New
Zealand's depressed economic situation.