The Journal: News of the Churches of God

WCG announces nontraditional FOT dates

By Mac Overton

The Worldwide Church of God, in the March edition of The Worldwide News, announced its plans for the 2001 fall festival season.

The church, headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., will officially sponsor only one full eight-day Feast of Tabernacles site this year, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., although its dates will not correspond to the traditional Tishri 15-22 on the Jewish calendar.

The WCG of old--as do most Tabernacles-observing Churches of God today--observed the Feast on Tishri 15-22, which corresponds to dates on the Gregorian calendar in September or October or both.

None of the dates of the WCG festivals corresponds to the traditional days as designated by the Jewish calendar, although several overlap either the first or the last high day. The eight-day site in South Carolina is scheduled weekend-to-weekend, not high day to high day.

For those who follow the Jewish calendar, including its "postponements," the Feast this year will begin the evening of Oct. 1 and end Oct. 9 (the Last Great Day).

The WCG will observe its eight-day festival in Myrtle Beach Oct. 6-13.

A Church of God member who is no longer a member of the WCG commented that this year's Feast schedule "truly marks the end of an era for the WCG. No longer are they accommodating members who wish to keep the Feast at the biblically defined times."

In the Worldwide News article, "Summer Dates Added to WCG: Come Celebrate Christ's Festivals," by Charles Albrecht, the church announced that "Summer Festival 2001" will join "the seven denominationally sponsored fall festival sites and will be conducted in Athens, Ohio."

Mr. Albrecht wrote that a "new opportunity for celebration" will take place at Ohio University, 90 minutes from Columbus, Ohio, on dates to accommodate families so their children will not miss school.

"It is Church Administration's intent to vary location and time in coming years to provide similar opportunities for people in other parts of the country," he wrote.

The dates for the Athens summer site are Aug. 15-19.

WCG festival sites and dates include:

Myrtle Beach, S.C.: Oct. 6-13.
Riverside, Calif.: Sept. 27Oct. 1.
Davenport, Iowa: Oct. 3-6.
Seaside, Ore.: Oct. 3-7.
Hot Springs, Ark.: Oct. 4-7.
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.: Oct. 5-8.

For more information call (800) 972-9043, or visit the WCG on the Web at www.wcg.org/festival.

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