Front page: Organizers of 1997 calendar conference plan another one

By Dixon Cartwright

FAIRVIEW, Texas--The organizers of a calendar conference in Dallas, Texas, in January 1997 hope to sponsor another one, also in the Dallas area, for sometime in early 2003.

Lawrence Maayeh and Michael Turner, both of Fairview, sponsored the conference almost six years ago that broke the ice for many people concerning discussions of the variations of the feast-day calendar.

Many Church of God members and other Sabbatarians observe the yearly days revealed in Leviticus 23. Most follow the reckoning of the Jewish calendar in use since A.D. 359, but many instead determine the calendar by taking into consideration the equinoxes and sightings or calculations of new moons.

Now, after the calendar--or, more properly, calendars--have been cussed and discussed for the last six years, maybe it's time to see where the discussion stands.

Mr. Turner told The Journal recently that a conference might help sort out the "variables" in the various views.

"I mean, I haven't really sat down and counted, but there's got to be at least four or five Passovers every year," he said.

"There are so many variables of different holy days that are being kept. We just want to provide a venue for people to get together and share their ideas with others who have studied it. Even first-time people could come to the conference to get their feet wet."

The Journal, noted Mr. Turner, has provided a forum for calendar discussions in its pages, but there's nothing like face-to-face confabulation.

"At a meeting you can corner people and ask questions," he said.

Mr. Maayeh said he and Mr. Turner do not want to "hammer anybody on the head" regarding calendar beliefs.

"We're not going to say this is the right calendar or else," he said. "It's going to be more a matter of discussing facts about particular calendars."

Mr. Maayeh said an unforeseen benefit of the 1997 conference was networking: People who observed particular calendar variations came in contact with other observers of the same variation.

Another benefit to a calendar conference is simply "information."

"There's a lot of information out there that people just don't know about," he said.

Mr. Turner said he has talked with Norman Edwards of Perry, Mich., publisher of Servants' News, who might end up moderating the meetings.

Mr. Turner also speculated that calendar veterans Herb Solinsky of Carrollton, Texas, Myron Martin of Brampton, Ont., Canada, and Bonne Rook of Marknesse, Netherlands, might number among the presenters.

Mr. Turner said Church of God folks really know how to disagree with each other when it comes to days, months and years.

"About the only thing we can all agree on," he said, "is the Gregorian calendar. We can all agree on the Roman dates. But we can't agree to meet on God's holy days together."

So The Journal asked Mr. Turner if he expected some kind of Churches of God consensus to issue forth from his conference.

"I think that would be great and wonderful and all that," he replied, "but I doubt it--because of our history, because of our human nature. I really don't see this calendar thing being resolved until our big brother comes back. But I think it still needs to be addressed."

Mr. Turner works as a driver and dispatcher for a limousine service in the Dallas area. Mr. Maayeh has a janitorial-and-maintenance company, also in the Dallas area.

For updates on plans for the calendar conference, write Mr. Turner or Mr. Maayeh at mykelturner@airmail.net or 780 Hart Rd., Fairview, Texas 75069, U.S.A.

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