FROM PASTORAL ADMINISTRATIONFROM PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION

Dear Fellow Ministers:

   Greetings from beautiful Pasadena! Once again, the air is clear and the mountains loom beautifully up over the city. We are all fine here, and the confidence and unity of the brethren and ministry is increasing almost weekly. Thanks so much for your many encouraging letters and comments!

   Dennis Luker and I flew over to Tucson last Thursday to see Mr. Armstrong. We had a very encouraging and profitable visit. He is behind the field ministers 100% and appreciates the fine job most all of you are doing. And all of us here appreciate your zeal and loyalty during this time of crisis.

   One of the most encouraging things during our visit was that Mr. Armstrong himself brought up the need that he and all of us have of getting really close to God and recapturing some of the personal spiritual fervency and sacrificial spirit we used to have in the earlier days of the Work. Though we have our parts to do, he emphasized how we have to rely on GOD, in the end, to ultimately win our battles. It was inspiring to see, once again, the depth and total commitment of this man we have all looked to as the human leader and apostle over God's Work. He certainly is not slacking in his spiritual zeal, fellows!

   Last night, Sunday, my wife and I attended a "Southern Serenade" put on by the combined Ambassador clubs. There were two or three hundred in attendance. We had a fine banquet and excellent speeches by the top men and women speakers of the clubs here on campus. Then I had the honor of presenting gift certificates to the best speakers for the ladies and men, respectively, and afterward a fine dance was held in the beautifully decorated Student Center. All in all, it was a warm and loving atmosphere which reminded me of former occasions in years gone by and one which I would have been very happy to bring to Mr. Armstrong. The students' speeches as a whole were excellent and showed the kind of potential that is coming along in God's Work. Hearing them speak and visiting at length with a number of the leading students was a very satisfying experience and helped show me that Ambassador is truly producing "good fruit" in our new program:

   This morning, I had a fine telephone conversation with Mr. Tom Grede. As many of you know, Mr. Grede is an outstanding leader among our lay brethren in the Milwaukee church and a very successful business-man and industrialist. He is the chairman of "the Emergency Committee for Defense of Religious Freedom." He is a very dedicated and converted man, and has spent up to 18 hours a day on a number of occasions recently donating of his time and his own money, incidentally — to helping out in the effort this committee of the lay brethren are pursuing. As his personal minister, Mr. Carl McNair works very closely with Mr. Grede and knows him and his family intimately. Please give him every cooperation and support as he serves God' s Work!

   One interesting point Mr. Grede brought up in our lengthy telephone conversation, was that when the challenge was first presented to him of helping to organize this committee, he hired two separate teams of attorneys in Wisconsin and in Washington, D.C., respectively, to go over all the records and transcripts as well as newspaper clippings and other reports of the " receivership issue" — as we might call it. He stated that both teams of attorneys — working entirely separately — arrived at the same conclusion. They both agreed that according to all normal legal procedure, the actions of the judges and the Deputy Attorney General should have brought about impeachment proceedings and proceedings to disbar said individuals.

   I thought that was most interesting and helpful as it was done by a highly respected layman in God's Church entirely on his own. Sometimes, perhaps, many of us ministers are not as close to the details of the outrageous misuse of the legal machinery which has been perpetrated upon God' s Church; and therefore do not feel the sincere and vehement INDIGNATION we should regarding this gross miscarriage of justice!

   Now, fellows, I want to ask for your loyal and zealous cooperation in an absolutely VITAL matter. No one has asked or even hinted that I ought to take this action, but I want you to know where I stand and where I hope all of YOU stand, Many of our brethren are still somewhat confused and frustrated by the events of the last few months. That is understandable. But I trust that all of you — as their spiritual shepherds now have had ample opportunity for the last two months to see that Mr. Herbert Armstrong is very much alive and in charge of this Work, and that the team he has appointed here in P.A. D. is carrying out his wishes and directions in helping get the churches back to the law of God and the way of God.

   Therefore, I want to ask every one of to give a sermon within the next couple of weeks encouraging the brethren to do their part in God's Work and to enthusiastically build their zeal toward paying God's tithes to his Work and toward generously and even sacrifically giving the generous offerings that are so needed at this time in the very Work of the Living Christ: I hope all of you will prepare thoroughly and pray fervently about this, and let the brethren know you really mean it!

   Frankly, fellows, finances are VERY TIGHT, and we now perceive that one reason for this is the confusion in the minds of several thousand of our brethren over whether to continue to tithe at this time and where to send their tithes and offerings. It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that each of you does his enthusiastic part to CLEAR UP THAT CONFUSION. Do it in the above mentioned sermon! And do it each and every Sabbath through comments and announcements we all — I am preaching this to myself here also need to make more regularly about God's Work and our deep commitment to it!

   Also, let the brethren know emphatically that Mr. Armstrong has directed (and, for the record, I and all on our P.A.D. team emphatically agree!) that ALL U.S. tithes and offerings be sent to Herbert W. Armstrong P.O. Box 431, Tucson, Arizona 85702." And be sure and let them know that we are absolutely assured now that all such tithes and offerings will be tax deductible as of January 24 of this year and from now on!

   Please DO THIS, fellows, soon and emphatically! And let us all as ministers of the Living God fast and REGULARLY like we used to back in. the 50's for God to intervene; to deliver us from our enemies, to send the money so needed for His Work in this modern age, and to inspire and EMPOWER us to get the Work going as never before!

   Thanks, in advance, for all your help.

With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith

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Pastor General's ReportMarch 05, 1979Vol 3 No. 7