It seems like LCG is having issues keeping people connected to the church no matter what they do. From intense disinterest in public speaking presentations in the U.S and Canada to enrollees of its Tomorrow's World Bible Study Course (a cheap imitation of the old Worldwide Church of God's rather sad, proof-texting extraordinaire, Correspondence Course).
Greetings from Charlotte,
The Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course has garnered thousands of new students over the last three years, but most who begin the course do not continue all the way to the end. Most attrition occurs with students who do not progress to the second set of lessons. Our dilemma is, how do we move people along past good intentions? Recently, we began sending letters of encouragement to students at varying lengths of time after they receive their first set of lessons and found what seems to be the optimum time to touch base with them. We have since then seen a dramatic increase in those moving on to the second set of lessons and are on pace for September to set an all-time record for students requesting lessons five through eight.
Weston never mentions what "dramatic" actually means. An increase of 1-2% would be dramatic for a course that fails to keep enrollees interested. If the majority are requesting lessons 5- 8 that means they still have 2/3 of the enrollees not engaged.
Many ministers are traveling at this time. Mr. and Mrs. Dexter Wakefield left Tuesday to spend the Holy Days and Feasts in Kenya and Uganda. Dr. Winnail will be visiting Cincinnati for the Sabbath and Cambridge, Ohio, for Trumpets. Mr. Richard Ames is scheduled to be in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where four congregations will meet together for Trumpets. Be sure to keep up with, and be praying for, your Regional Directors and other ministers in your area who will also be traveling during this busy season.
Our brethren in Haiti are living in a failed state, with unchecked crime spiraling out of control. Puerto Rico was hit hard with massive rainfall from Hurricane Fiona, causing landslides, road closures, and loss of electricity. The Dominican Republic was also badly hit by the hurricane. Please pray for our brethren in Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, that they will still be able to meet together for the Feast of Tabernacles.—Gerald Weston
10 comments:
It's been my experience in life that there is a fixed time period for intense interest in virtually anything in which a human could become involved. After that, the activity becomes routine, and one ends up simply going through the motions. Just like it would be nice to have a puppy or kitten that stayed young and frisky forever, it would be just great if one could preserve one's first love for all of one's interests, but usually humans end up maxxing out an interest and then getting on to the next one.
So, they get the first set and recognize it isn't something they want to spend time in. They then choose to not get the next set. Instead of sending "encouraging" letters to continue, maybe consider making the course good.
Don't finish it!
You need to drop out of that Catechism as fast as dumb Herbert dropped out of High School.
maybe consider making the course good
Have you seen Bob Thiel's rewritten Ambassador College Bible courses?
Only a few years ago CoGs were still calling their Online Courses "Correspondence Courses".
...you do know dumb Herbert was a High School Dropout, right?
...didn't help his critical thinking skills one bit:
...made him fall for kooky conspiracy-theories like Pyramidology & Anglo-Israelism
...as well as Adventist-Sabbatarian-Eschatology
Never mind that the historic church, starting with Paul, has continually refuted the recurring heresy of sabbatarianism: (Gal 4:16 + Col 2:16 + Heb 10:1) read these scriptures in context, don't fall for the clever prooftexting eisegesis of the Armstrongist propagandists.
9:47. This is absolutely Spot on! So many of our kooky beliefs we rip offs of other stupid teachings, particularly Aventis sabbath keeping nonsense. At least Herbie wasn’t stupid enough to go vegetarian! COG eschatology has never advanced beyond freshman Bible class.
spiraling out of control
There is a finite number of times you can use this kind of hyperbole before you lose your credibility. After hearing it my whole childhood, it has lost its effect.
Postmillennialism looks way more realistic IMO; also it's a more helpful world view than the doomsday view of LCG. When Christians see suffering (as in Haiti), instead of concluding that it's the end of the world, maybe try helping. It takes creativity, responsibility, intelligence, and work ethic. But it is far from fruitless. Sure no one can help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Had William Wilberforce been a doomsday guy, the world we live in would not be as positive as it is. What we do matters. Jesus is King, and when we are about His business, He will help us. I think the COGs are missing a great opportunity to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom of God. We pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and in His Graciousness, God gave us the opportunity to go out and make it so.
TLDR: Have faith in the power of God; don't be a defeatist.
"How do we move people along..."?
Have they considered gift cards?
Seriously. I went to a revival meeting a couple of years ago where the preacher gave people Walmart gift cards simply for showing up each night.
"If the majority are requesting lessons 5- 8 that means they still have 2/3 of the enrollees not engaged."
Um... unless they've changed elementary-school math, 1/3 is not a majority.
Anon 947
Of the 41,000 reported Christian denominations that exist, which ONE is the historic church? Obviously you and Anon 10:36! And for your information, Most of them allow for the "heresy of sabbatarian nonsense" with their interpretation of Romans 14:5-6! You should know that!
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