Successful World News and Prophecy seminars were held in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, on Dec. 3 and 4. New attendees in both locations were the highest of any previous seminar conducted by the staff.

One WNP subscriber, attending for the first time, commented, "Absolutely the best, most-informative seminar I have ever attended. How great of you to sponsor this!"

In Phoenix on Sabbath, Dec. 3, Cecil Maranville, Darris McNeely, Melvin Rhodes and Robin Webber presented four lectures on a variety of biblical topics. Mr. Rhodes gave an overview of prophecy based on Daniel 7. Robin Webber talked about the mark of the Beast, Darris McNeely presented "A Place Called Megiddo" and Cecil Maranville discussed "The Coming Impact of Islam." Mr. Rhodes and Mr. McNeely gave split sermons in the morning to the combined Phoenix and Northern Arizona churches.

In Tucson on Sunday, Dec. 4, the four lectures were repeated.

Direct Mail and Radio Draw New Attendees

What was encouraging was the number of new attendees at both locations. In Phoenix, 27 subscribers attended the event, out of 995 Good News/World News and Prophecy subscribers who were invited by a direct mailing.

In Tucson, 21 new attendees came from a total of 548 invitations to subscribers.

In addition to the direct mail, there were one-minute spot ads advertising the seminar run on two local radio stations. In both Phoenix and Tucson some of the new people came back to services the following Sabbath. Several also filled out cards indicating they would like further contact with a minister.

Taking WNP on the Road

Seven WNP seminars have now been held since 2002. The editorial staff decided to take World News and Prophecy on the road to local churches in these special weekend seminars. The goal is to give a congregation a focus on prophecy and world events in a special Sabbath format. Congregations have the option to invite Good News subscribers to the seminars.

These seminars allow the audience to meet the writers and allow the writers to understand the makeup and needs of the audience. Since the majority of the WNP circulation is a non-UCG audience, the turnout of new people to the Arizona seminars indicates an increasing interest from the larger audience.

On March 18 a seminar will be held in Akron, Ohio, and on March 19 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UN