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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JANUARY 25, 1985
PAGE 3
International News
From Mr. Frank Brown 1984 marked two important milestones in the history of
God's Church in the U.K./Eire. Firstly, we reached the highest ever PLAIN
TRUTH circulation--157,000 copies--and we are now set on a path of steady
growth for the future. Secondly, a large proportion of the Church's print
ing needs are now being organised through Elstree House, and in November,
for the first time ever, over one million PLAIN TRUTH magazines were
printed at Ambassador Press.
Mail income for the year was a little lower than anticipated, but December
brought the second highest income ever for one month, bringing the year-to
date figure up by almost one percent--from 8.8% at the end of November to
9.7% at the end of December. And although we were 2% under budget for mail
income, this was compensated for by Holy Day offerings, which were 16% over
our projections.
1984 was a year of growth in all aspects of the work of God's Church. PLAIN
TRUTH circulation as of December is 53% higher than 1983. The GOOD NEWS is
up 19% and set to rise further. Total number of members is up 6% to 2,430.
During 1984, 250,000 items of mail were processed at Elstree House, an in
crease over 1983 of 17.4%.
Scandinavia: 1984 saw the successful launch of the Norwegian edition of the
PLAIN TRUTH. Circulation of the new edition has grown steadily to its pre
sent level of 22,263. Taking the English and Norwegian files together,
circulation in Scandinavia has increased by 169.3% since this time last
year, and now stands at 34,683, which is almost exactly our projected fig
ure. The Church in Scandinavia is continuing to grow at a steady 1.6% per
year, while the co-worker list has increased 51.3% over 1983 and The GOOD
NEWS list 17.7%.
. Forty-two thousand five hundred iterns of Scandinavian
mail were received during the year, which is an increase of 132% over 1983.
Continent of Europe/Middle East: The number of people on the continent of
Europe and in the Middle.East requesting literature in English continued to
grow during 1984. PLAIN TRUTH circulation grew by 13% on the continent of
Europe and by 45% in the Middle East. The increases in The GOOD NEWS list
are even more encouraging. On the continent of Europe subscribers in
creased 64% to 2,182 and in the Middle East subscribers are up 152% to 885.
The growth in PLAIN TRUTH and GOOD NEWS files is reflected by an increase in
mail--up 28.4% from the continent and 82% from the Middle East. These are
staggering increases for areas which receive no direct promotion in the
English language?
Africa: Tremendous growth in the Church itself is occurring in East and
West Africa. While PLAIN TRUTH circulation has had to be held at 50,000 for
financial reasons, membership continues to grow, increasing by 11.5% in
1984. Indications are that this trend will continue in 1985.
In 1984 new office premises were leased in Nairobi. All mail processing and
mailing of literature for East and West Africa are now handled by the three
local offices in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. This is proving very successful
in providing improved service for members and subscribers in the area.
--Joe Tkach, Ministerial Services