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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 29, 1983
PAGE 3
The number of new people responding to God's calling during the first half
of this year is also most encouraging. Baptisms are up 2.6%; new prospec
tive members are up by 118%; and reinstatements are up 133%. The most en
couraging aspect of this latter statistic is that a number of people who
left God's Church during the early 1970s are now asking to be reinstated._
During the first half of this year the number of new readers requesting The
GOOD NEWS magazine rose significantly. By the end of June the list had
grown by 2,974 subscribers to 7,275--an 81.6% increase over June, 1982.
The number of new students taking the BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE has also
increased dramatically. Blow-in cards advertising the course in The PLAIN
TRUTH magazine have been a major contributing factor to the increase. At
the end of June, 1,885 new students were enrolled in the CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE--a 156.7% increase over the same month last year.
Interest in the YOUTH 83 magazine has also been considerable. Currently,
2,820 subscribers, including quite a number of adults, receive the maga
zine. This represents a 26.1% increase over June, 1982.
The ongoing renewal program has kept The PLAIN TRUTH mailing list free of
uninterested readers. Circulation in Australia at the end of June stood at
61.
,614 subscribers. Sixty-eight percent of those to whom renewal letters
have been sent have asked to remain on the mailing list, compared to·S4%
during the first half of 1982, and 22% during the same period of 1981.
This increase in interest in The PLAIN TRUTH by our readers has been accom
panied by a corresponding increase in requests for the Church's publica�
tions. Over 150,900 envelopes containing literature have been mailed out
so far this year--a 62.3% increase over the same period last year.
Rapid growth in PLAIN TRUTH circulation in Asia during 1982 temporarily
limited funds available for advertising in Australia for the first five
months of 1983. However, efforts to control this growth have freed up funds
to continue ongoing advertising in this country.
During the period January to May, new PLAIN TRUTH subscribers have come
mainly from our newsstand program, blow-in cards in The PLAIN TRUTH maga
zine, and "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast. The newsstand program continues
to be a most effective tool in preaching the Gospel, with a consistent 1.2%
of the readers asking to be placed on the mailing list.
In June, the first advertisement in a number of years appeared in READER'S
DIGEST. By the end of June, 2,365 responses had been received, with addi
tional requests still coming in. Throughout the remainder of 1983, ads
promoting The PLAIN TRUTH magazine will appear in other leading magazines:
WOMAN'S DAY, WOMEN'S WEEKLY, NEW IDEA and NEWSWEEK. These advertisements
should add a considerable number of new subscribers to the mailing list in
Australia.
During the first half of 1983, a number of ministers conducted Public Bible
Lectures with very good results. Excluding members, an average 2.5% of
PLAIN TRUTH readers invited have attended the lectures. Interest in the
literature displays has been high, with the majority of the new people in
attendance requesting Church publications. As a result of these lectures,
a number of new people are now in regular contact with the ministry, and
some have been invited to services.