President Victor Kubik opened the conference with the main reasons for observing the Feast. He quoted Deuteronomy 14, “that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always,” and stated that this is the “why” of the Feast of Tabernacles. The planning and preparing of all the subsequent details stem from this vision.

The Operation Manager of Ministerial and Member Services, Mark Welch, greeted everyone and expressed how he is looking forward to the Feast of Tabernacles aspect of his new responsibilities. He noted that at the Feast we are there to worship the coming King.

Some new ideas were discussed, but mostly it was determined to follow the principle of “if it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it.” Some behind-the-scenes improvements will be implemented.

We discussed special music, budgets, youth education, membership surveys at each site, assigned articles for publications related to the Feast and better use of the websites for each Feast site.

This year, cards will be available at all U.S. Feast sites to sign for those who are not able to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in person.