The Church Office Staff are busily engaged in preparing for the special conference to be held on January 14-16, 2011. Current planning calls for beginning the conference on Friday evening with a musical program by the Restoration Chorale. The conference will feature one business session on Saturday afternoon and will conclude with the worship service on Sunday morning. We hope the weather will be cooperative. Saints are urged to register using the following form:

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL MEN’S RETREAT AT THE BLACKGUM CAMPGROUNDS

Enjoying mild fall weather at the Blackgum Campgrounds, fifty-two men met, using the theme, “Belief in Christ,” during the weekend of November 12-14, 2010. A variety of activities filled the weekend including classes, worship, prayer meetings, round-table discussions, recreation and wonderful meals provided by Patriarch/Evangelist Carl VunCannon, Jr. As usual, the retreat concluded on Sunday morning when those who could stay, joined in worship at the nearby Blackgum Branch, at which service President Fred Larsen spoke.

One of the highlights of this retreat was a round-table discussion about future improved utilization of the Blackgum Campgrounds.

After introductions, several of the men who were there at the initial groundbreaking and before, shared their remembrances. President Ostrander reviewed the talking points, bringing to light the issues we wished to address. Bishop Romer reviewed the financial reports from 2007 through November 2010. General discussions ensued about options that were available to project the campground into a self-sustaining position. The following items were agreed to:

1. Create a local board, made up of members from Sperry, Blackgum, Locust Grove, Rogers and Carthage Branches.

2. Look into the feasibility of renting to organizations outside the Church.

3. Look into the workability of a local congregational subsidy.

4. Board Member Volunteers:

• Chairman – Donnie Carter – Sperry Branch

  • Elbert Rogers – Sperry Branch

  • Roger Tracy – Sperry Branch

  • Duane Davis – Blackgum Branch

  • Ronnie Rogers – Locust Grove Branch

  • John Atkins – Rogers Branch

  • David Tevabaugh – Carthage Branch

5. The General Church, Office of the Bishopric, will continue to manage the grounds until the Board has a chance to meet and develop a plan to take over.

ATTENTION WRITERS AND CORRESPONDENTS

The Website Committee needs the assistance of persons in the outlying areas to submit monthly, bi-monthly or weekly new items from your branches for inclusion on the new Website Activities Page. If you have this interest in keeping us all properly informed, please contact Sister Megan Romer at (816)-589-7761.

A THRILLING REPORT FROM AFRICA

Seventy Sam Dyer, III gave a very encouraging report on the results of his four-week missionary trip to Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, accompanied by Seventy Friday Mbaoma. Brother Sam flew from Kansas City to Lagos, Nigeria and was joined there by Brother Mbaoma. They baptized over 200 members, blessed many infants and administered to many others in several areas of Central Africa.

All this activity was reported to a combined service of the Remnant Saints on Sunday evening, December 5. Approximately 270 saints witnessed a video presentation prepared by Ecographics with spell-binding pictures of these brothers ministering to many African Saints – singing, preaching, teaching, baptizing and blessing them according to their many needs and opportunities.

The theme of this service, featuring the latest missionary results from the work of the Twelve and the Seventy, presented the challenge for the Remnant message to “go into all the world” as urged upon us by both Matt. 28:18-19 and D&C 83:10a:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, unto the end of the world. Amen.”

“Therefore, go ye into all the world, and whatsoever place ye cannot go into, ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world, unto every creature.”

The video presentation, speedily completed by Sisters Jan Harrington and Judy Scott, was spectacularly revealing of both the great needs and opportunities in Africa. Brother Sam emphasized that while he and Brother Friday made the contacts and the trips, all of our Remnant Saints meaningfully participated through their prayers and their tithes.

YOUTH WINTER RETREAT

Our youth leaders, Megan and Andrew Romer, have announced this year’s Winter Retreat is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, December 28 and will last until Thursday, December 30, 2010. This retreat is planned for youth from 6^th through 12^th grades. Registration forms are available in each congregation. This year’s Retreat will be held at the Gathering Place, 2820 S. M-291 Hiway, Outer Road in Independence, Mo. The cost will be $30. All interested youth are invited and we ask their parents to encourage them to submit their registrations.

NEW SATURDAY CLASS NOW FORMING

A new Saturday morning class, available to both members and non-members having a background in the restoration faith, is being planned to start on February 5 and will be held weekly from 8:30 – 11:00 AM in Room 306 of the Remnant Church Headquarters Building.

The proposed class topic for 2011 is “Exploring Levi and Aaron’s Restoration in the Light of Ephraim’s {already accomplished} Restoration.” Remnant Saints already feel that their re-ordering of the Church has now achieved the re-establishment of the core group of Ephraim, as was discussed and explored in the just-completed class entitled, “Exploring the Gathering of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.” This emergence of Ephraim was felt to have been accomplished as a result of the angelic revealments given to young Joseph Smith Jr. The proposed class instructors for this new class include Arlo Stevenson, Joel Adams and Lane Harold. Others may be assigned specific topics.

The initial event which is felt to justify this class began to unfold in 1831, when the Restoration Prophet received the remarkable and puzzling directive of Section 68, particularly paragraphs 2c,d, and f. In this revelation, reference is made to the possibility that a future literal descendant of Aaron will be found and if his descendancy can be properly certified, he will be entitled to lead the Bishopric and to be the administrator of the further work of the Aaronic Priesthood.

In the past 179 years, no such literal descendant has been found, which permitted both the RLDS Church and the Utah Church to fail to implement this directive. But now, persons claiming this lineage have been located. Among these are the present members of the House of Aaron living in and around the village of Eskdale, Utah. In such a case, such a leader with an Aaronic first-born lineage could serve in a divinely authorized relationship to the President/Prophet of the Remnant Church, who is assumed to be a modern descendant of the Tribe of Ephraim, and who will remain the leader and president of the Melchisedec Priesthood and the Church. The class will also investigate whether such an Aaronic descendant/leader currently exists. The people of the House of Aaron at Eskdale, Utah are known to us and we have had certain interactions with them. This class will attempt to explore these relationships and their beliefs and practices regarding Levi and Aaron’s restoration, to try to discern their validity and their applicability (if any) to the ongoing progress of the Restoration Movement. We ask those who cannot attend to support our investigations with prayerful concern.

2011 THEME HELPS AND CHURCH CALENDARS AVAILABLE ON CHURCH WEBSITE

The process of distributing the 2011 Theme Helps, Church Calendars and Center Place Directory has begun. There will be a distribution of 3 each at no charge, mailed to each outlying Branch. The Center Place Congregations have given us a count and they will be notified when they are ready and can be picked up at Headquarters. Those other members who would desire to have a personal copy of either the 2011 Church Calendar or Theme Helps can now download and print them from the church website www.theremnantchurch.com located on the right side of the web page. They may also be ordered by contacting Church Headquarters (816-461-7215) and requesting a paper copy at a cost of $2.00 each. We hope these will help our members better plan their worship activities during the coming year.