Wow! What an incredible weekend that was spent by the Beyond Today production team and presenters for the two most recent Beyond Today Live events in Kansas City, Kansas, on Sunday, March 19, and St. Louis, Missouri, on Tuesday, March 21.

The Kansas event drew 65 total people, with 29 of those being new guests, and the St. Louis meeting drew 112 total people, with 40 of those being new guests. Much thanks has to go to the pastors (Joe Dobson and Vince Szymkowiak) and members of the Kansas City, St. Louis and Troy congregations for their help in making the latest tour such a success!

The buzz afterwards in each venue was high, with conversation going on for a long time between the guests and our presenters and local brethren. Besides having our magazine readers and TV viewers come out and meet us, the encouragement it gave to the local congregations to serve in this way is immeasurable.

Bridging the Gap

One of the main reasons we have undertaken these live appearance campaigns is to help bridge the gap between our formal media efforts to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom and direct congregational contact. The plan is to encourage our most interested readers, viewers and subscribers to make the effort to actually call one of our pastors and plan to attend our Sabbath services.

In many ways, this is a big step for people to take—to go from reading our literature in the privacy of their own home, to making a commitment to actually visit us at church. We pray fervently that these live events will help bridge the gap between our proclamation efforts and our local congregations.

We are spending only 1 percent of our Media and Communications Services budget on this, but we feel it has the potential to stir future growth and church attendance as God calls people into His flock.

Final Results and Future Plans

After 17 events, the grand total now is 579 new people reached through this Beyond Today Live presentation. All these viewers and readers have come to see and hear our Beyond Today presenters and had the opportunity to meet our local pastors, the local brethren and the Church’s president.

Each location announced a follow-up Bible study or Sabbath service in the weeks to follow. The program brochure handed out at each campaign also included pastoral contact information for upcoming Sabbath services. There is also the bi-weekly Bible study webcast at the home office that was advertised for attendees to watch.

Plans are now underway to consider cities and locations for events during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. These cities will be announced soon. We will most likely have budget for up to four cities this time.

Your prayer and support for God’s blessing on all of our media efforts are much appreciated.