The August 2007 Journal Is Out

The August 31, 2007 edition of “The Journal: News of the Churches of God” is now out.

Today’s post will have clips from some of its front-page articles.

Here is the first:

On July 7, 2007 (7-7-07), at 7 p.m. Meagan Renee Overton and Aaron Keith “A.J.” Dean Jr. united in marriage at the Church of God Big Sandy. Meagan is the daughter of Melodee Overton of Hawkins, Texas, who attends the Church of God Big Sandy, and Mac Overton of Gilmer, Texas, who attends various Church of God congregations. A.J. is the son of Aaron and MichelleDean of Gladewater, Texas.

Aaron Dean is a member of UCG’s Council of Elders.

Here is another:

Members of the Church of God 7th Day based in Meridian, Idaho, have met for the church’s weeklong Camp Meeting just about every summer for 57 years. The annual family-oriented gathering might remind some other Church of God members of the yearly Feast of Tabernacles. The warm-weather get-togethers started around 1950, with church services every day in a big tent. The tent is long gone, but the brethren can still camp out on the grounds.

While CG7 (Denver) is much bigger, it is my understanding (based upon my conversations with CG7-Meredian’s Director of Church Administration) that the Meridian group is more likely to observe the biblical holy days than the Denver group.

Here is another:

MILFORD, Ohio—Joel Meeker, an elder in the United Church of God and member of the UCG’s governing body, the council of elders, resigned his seat on the 12-man board in a letter to church president Clyde Kilough dated July 25, 2007. Filling the vacancy is Leon Walker of Big Sandy, Texas, who in May had lost his bid for reelection to the council. Mr. Walker is back as a councillor because he was next in line in the tally of votes cast by the general conference of elders to fill one of the three international” seats on the council. Mr. Meeker, although an American and resident of the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, was considered one of three international council members because of his “editorial and membership oversight responsibilities in the French-speaking areas,” Mr. Kilough said. Mr. Walker handles similar responsibilities for Spanish-speaking areas.

UCG has a long history of having a variety of governmental peculiarities.

Here is another:

The rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, has apologized for some of the accusations a university official had leveled at Seventh-day Adventist scholar and author Samuele Bacchiocchi. As reported in an article on page 1 of the June-July 2007 issue of THE JOURNAL, a university official had accused Dr. Bacchiocchi of making false statements about his studies at the university in the 1970s and his doctoral dissertation, a version of which he published in 1977 as the book From Sabbath to Sunday. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, the university’s rector, in June “rectif[ied] some of the false allegations,” Dr. Bacchiocchi announced, though some “remain unresolved.” However, “in the spirit of Christian forgiveness I consider the case closed.”

Dr. Bacchiocchi was the first non-Catholic to graduate from that University and for some reason (probably because he somewhat endorses Saturday Sabbath-keeping in a book with an Imprimatur of a Catholic leader), some officials publicly denied he graduated, etc. I am glad he attained some satisfaction here.

Others items included various letters, the “big bang” theory, the death of LCG’s Carl Ponder, the 6,000 year plan, accusations, 2 camps, and covenant matters.

The front and back page of The Journal can be accessed here:

www.thejournal.org/issues/issue121/jf083107.pdf