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PASTOR'S REPORT, May 29, 1979
Page 3
in Switzerland. Services were also held at Muehlleithen in East Germany
for the first three days, conducted by local deacon Heinz Pistorius and
visiting Austrian deacon Helmuth Kaserer. The total offerings were up
9.7 per cent and 19.2 percent respectively over 1978.
As far as the imposition of the Receivership earlier this year is concerned,
at present no substantial negative effect has been reported by our local
ministers. (Actually, only one case of a member having been really turned
off has been reported). The German press has not mentioned the receiveship
crisis at all, to our knowledge. It is apparently considered an event of
purely local American interest.
For various reasons April's incoming mail was down considerably
to April of last year. However, for the year to date our total
16,123 letters, is only down 12 per cent compared to last year.
last year's advertising campaign in the German magazines SPIEGEL
contributed greatly to the larger volumes of mail last year.
compared
mail count,
Obviously
and BUNTE
Another possible reason for fewer letters hinges around the poor weather
and Easter vacation. Many more people here took advantage of the Easter
vacation to get away from the bad weather which has been continually wet
and cold all year round for the last two years.
This trend of decreased mail is especially apparent in summer when many
readers go on vacation. In April it was unexpected. Another reason for
the low mail count is the small number of renewals sent out in April.
As a result, renewals sent back amounted to only one sixth of the total
mail (363 renewals) in April as compared to one third to one half of the
total mail for the first three months of 1979.
In April the annual thank-you-letter was mailed to all who donated in 1978.
In the letter were offered booklets, an annual receipt for 1978 donations
and a visit. The cash sent with some of the responses has amounted to DM
3.800 ($2,054) so far, not to mention bank and post office money transfers.
Consequently, booklets sent out in April amounted to more than the previous
two months combined--around 3400 booklets.
United Kingdom
Income continues on the up and up. April showed an increase of 13% over
the corresponding month last year. The year-to-date increase is 20%
over the 1978 figure, with the fiscal year-to-date rise running at 15%.
Holy Day offerings have also followed last year's good trend, showing
increases of 15% and 9% respectively for the first and last days of
Unleavened Bread. Attendance figures were 3,169 and 3,149, with 2,008
taking the Passover (3% up on last year).
Ministerial Move: Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Hegvold are returning to Pasadena
at the end of May to take up their respective responsibilities on the
faculty. Sincere thanks are due to the Hegvolds for their 5� years of
service during which time Mr. Hegvold has helped to build and strengthen
the Dublin Church and Cork Bible study.
Mr. Mark Ellis will now be moving to Dublin, from where he will pas�or
all three Irish churches--Ballymena, Belfast and Dublin itself--with the
help of local elders, Hugh Carton in the North and Brian Bedlow in the
SYJ.th.