Cartwright’s Journal Out: Upcoming AC Pasadena reunion, COG merger, John Kiesz, and blood moons

The latest issue (says #164, print date July 31, 2014) of The Journal was sent out electronically and just received.

One of its lead articles had to do with an Ambassador College reunion:

An organizer of a reunion planned for next year in Pasadena says it will focus on the first 30 years of the California campus of Ambassador College. Bob Gerringer said the event will “celebrate our unique experiences and friendships as AC students.” It will bring together students who attended AC Pasadena between 1947 and 1977. The reunion will be Friday, Feb. 27, through Monday, March 2, 2015, in the Pasadena Hilton Hotel.

While college reunions can be fine, it would be best if those who ever had anything to do with Ambassador College would focus on the spiritual and truly “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Instead, most are more focused on the physical and not truly on supporting the work of God at this time (see also Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? and The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made?).

Another lead article was about a merger between two CGI spinoffs:

The Church of God Downers Grove and the Chicagoland Church of God, two Chicago-area locally governed spin-offs from the Church of God International (CGI), have agreed to meet together and conduct regularly scheduled joint church services in Naperville, Ill…

The Chicagoland Church of God, which averaged a weekly Sabbath attendance of about 12 persons, is overseen by Duane Nicol and Jim Patterson. The Church of God Downers Grove, which averaged about a 30- person attendance, is overseen by Ken Svehla…

On another note, it is apparently still up in the air what role the Church of God Downers Grove will play in the publication of Shepherd’s Voice magazine, a project of the Chicagoland Church of God. Although the magazine is sponsored, funded and published by the Chicagoland group, its editors—Mr. Patterson and former Servants’ News publisher Norman Edwards of Port Austin, Mich.—run the magazine with minimal input from the members of the church.

I have spoken to Jim Paterson in the past and sometimes have quoted his Shepherd’s Voice magazine (e.g. see Shepherd’s Voice: COG needs more prophets).

More on CGI beliefs can be found in the article Teachings of the Church of God, International. Another article of interest may be Unity: Which COG for You?

Another lead article was related to John Kiesz and his descendents. He was a long-time member of CG7 Denver:

Born in 1903, John Kiesz grew up in a German Sabbath-keeping Church of God congregation near Eureka, S.D…About 1925 Mr. Kiesz became contributing editor of the German edition of the Church of God (Seventh Day) magazine The Bible Advocate. He met his future wife, a native of Canada, at a camp meeting near Eureka, Mo., in 1927. They married in 1929. After they graduated from Arizona Teachers’ College they traveled and played and sang gospel music. Their ministry took them to 37 states and several Canadian provinces. In 1931 Mr. Kiesz traveled to Stanberry, where he served for two years as the editor of The Bible Advocate. In 1934 the Kieszes entered fulltime evangelistic work. He worked closely with Radio (later Worldwide) Church of God founder Herbert Armstrong from 1935 to 1945…In the 1980s the Kieszes retired to live in Canon City, Colo., where Mrs. Kiesz died in 1993. Until 1996 Mr. Kiesz continued to conduct Sabbath services from his home. He died April 22, 1996, in Canon City.

Although I never knew John Kiesz personally, I have quoted him from time to time (see, for example The Sardis Church Era and Church of God, (Seventh Day): History and Teachings).

The back page of The Journal mentioned the following:

Blood moons

BATTLE GROUND, Wash.— The current edition of The Sabbath Sentinel, the magazine of the Bible Sabbath Association, features an article on the “blood moons” by Lenny Cacchio and an essay about a “culture of excellence” by Whaid Rose.

Whaid Rose is president of CG7. For more information on Blood Moons, please check out the article: Blood Moons and Prophecy (a related YouTube video is also available: Blood Moons, Prophecy, 2014, and 2015).

Also in The Journal there were the usual letters to the editor and other advertisements, various comments, and opinion articles.

The Journal itself is available by paid subscription (though Dixon Cartwright says some subscriptions are free to those who cannot afford it) and often tends to take a non-Philadelphian era view of certain church matters.