Cartwright’s Journal out: 20th anniversary, CCOG Africa conference, RCM, and Jeff Booth

The latest issue (says #192, print date February 28, 2017) of The Journal: News of the Churches of God was sent out electronically and just received.

There was information regarding itself, the CCOG African conference, Roderick C. Merdith, and Jeff Booth

Here is what The Journal reported about itself:

THE JOURNAL, as of February 2017, has been publishing for 20 years. This newspaper’s Vol. 1, No. 1, came out in February 1997 one month after In Transition, published by John Robinson, ceased publication with its January 1997 issue.

“Although In Transition was the inspiration for our newspaper, we are not the same paper and not a continuation of In Transition,” said JOURNAL publisher Dixon Cartwright. “John decided to end his paper after two years, 1995- 97, and I could not talk him out of discontinuing it. We also could not come to an agreement by which I would buy it or otherwise acquire it and keep it going. So when he folded up shop in January of ’97 my wife, Linda, and I began T HE JOURNAL ” in February of 1997. “Hard to believe it’s been 20 years and, so far, 192 issues.” Mr. Cartwright said. “Time marches on.”

The Journal had an article I wrote about the CCOG African conference which it titled Is Africa conference evidence of fastest-growing Church of God? The Journal chose to use an older photograph of me on its front page but later included the following photograph from the conference:

Conference attendees in Nairobi

Another headline that put with the article was Continuing says it’s fastest-growing COG in 21st century. Since the Continuing Church of God is the fifth or sixth or seventh largest COG (probably sixth), and all those that are larger than it began before it and/or began the 21st century with more members, but without massive growth since, there is no other COG that could have been the fastest COG in the 21st century. Anyway, for more details on the African conference, check out the article Africa Conference 2017.

A few months ago, the 7th Day Churches of God, Church of God News page, reported the following:

Continuing Church of God

Robert Thiel reports:

“We had 1900 people attend the Feast of Tabernacles’ sites of the Continuing Church of God this year, which is up over 30% from last year. For details and photographs, here is a link to a series of reports titled: 2016 Feast of Tabernacles Report. We also have others that claim affiliation, but were unable to attend because of financial limitations. Currently, we have over 2000 (including children) declaring they are in the Continuing Church of God.”

This is the highest festival attendance of any church group not started by former ministers of the Worldwide Church of God.

That observation about the high festival attendance is correct. The other 4-5 COG groups whose leaders were once part of the old Worldwide Church of God (WCG), that are larger than the Continuing Church of God, were all started by men who were ministers in WCG. They also have not had massive growth this century (although one larger one formed in the 21st century, it formed as a split from a larger group, but without having a high growth rate since. (See also CCOG’s Four Years and God Revealing Philadelphia?)

The Journal mentioned that LCG’s Dr. Meredith was ill with cancer. This was covered on the News of those once affiliated with the Global Church of God page before (see 02/18/17 a.m. post there).

Although this was a fairly short edition of The Journal it spent a lot of space (the longest article) related to Jeff Booth:

Legend has it that Jeff Booth, on his way out of the Worldwide Church of God, berated an aged and ailing Herbert W. Armstrong for hours on a sunny winter’s day 20 years ago in Mr. Armstrong’s Tucson, Ariz., residence. Mr. Booth, today [in 2000] the 52- year-old pastor of the Christian Church of God of Amarillo, is rumored to have indulged in heated and disrespectful verbal abuse of the then-87-year-old Worldwide Church of God founder because of Mr. Booth’s burgeoning disenchantment with the WCG. But Mr. Booth tells a different story.

In interviews with THE JOURNAL last year at the Feast of Tabernacles in San Antonio, Texas, and only a few days ago, he determined to set the record straight about his famous (in some Church of God circles) three- hour meeting with Mr. Armstrong.

Fired seven times

It was January 1980. Not many WCG members, even church pastors, could muster the temerity to request an appointment with Mr. Armstrong to ask him anything, much less probing questions about his opinions on pressing doctrinal questions of the time. Though direct and to the point in the interview, Mr. Booth says he was never disrespectful, never raised his voice and never asked any personal questions, although the founder of the WCG and Ambassador College did “fire” Mr. Booth from his job as a church pastor seven times over a span of three hours and 20 minutes.

Jeff Booth reported that he raised questions about church governance and other doctrines. For more about proper church governance, please see the article The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government.

As far as The Journal goes, it also had the usual letters to the editor and other advertisements, various comments, and opinion articles. The advertisements mainly seem to be from possibly Laodicean groups and/or individuals (not all seem to be COG) who seem to think that the ads are somehow doing the work of God. More of the real work that the COGs should be doing are in the article The Final Phase of the Work.

The Journal itself is available by paid subscription (though Dixon Cartwright says some subscriptions are free to those who cannot afford it). It tends to have a non-Philadelphian approach to many, but not all, matters.