Hello Folks,
It has been a couple of weeks since I last sent out a blog. Ruth and I were in Anderson, In for the International Camp Meeting, then from there to Pekin, Il to visit with Deb, Tom, Bob and the grandchildren, then back to Greenwood, In to see James, Michele and the grandchildren there. The time with the kids and grandchildren was great! We got to spend some time with them, paint for Deb, go to Alexis' ballgame and just visit in general. I needed to come back home to recover from all the driving and just not sleeping in my bed.
During he General Assembly at Anderson there were notable changes over the past few years. Due to some circumstances Ruth and I had missed the last two, we have only missed 4 or 5 total since 1980, and I was glad to get to go this year and see some folks that I had not seen in quite some time. Yet the overall attendance has taken a very noticable decline. According to the local paper there were "over 400" people who voted for the items that came to the floor on Tuesday. This particular day used to have over 1000 in it. We must ask ourselves the question of whether our pastors and other leaders have abdicated their responsibilty by failure to attend and participate in the process. I realize that some feel as if it does not matter if they are there but do we not have some kind of obligation to God, the Movement and our congregations to voice ourselves in this process?
Ruth and I were able to attend the evening worship on Monday and Tuesday and most of the worship was very good. I personally think that interpretive dance has no place in the worship and for those who would use King David as an example I simply remind them that he danced in the street and not in the Temple so if you want to emulate him please go dance in the street. But other than that one instance I was able to truly enjoy the worship. One sermon was "ok" to me and the other was exceptional. That might have as much to do with personal taste as it does with the presentation. Once again attendance had no hint of the past. We worshiped in Reardon Auditorium and the maximum that I would guess to be there was not over 2000. In the past when Warner Auditorium existed I have seen upward of 8000 people. The great question and struggle that this produces is whether Anderson Camp Meeting has lost its usefulness. Are we wasting resources in an attempt to keep a dying event going? By the way this question was part of what was addressed in General Assembly and in 2012 there will be recommendations presented as to what we should do in future. Many have already voted by simply not attending so it makes me wonder what will come next.
Here at Greeneville First Church of God we are getting material ready for the new thrust called Christian Learning For Christian Living or CL4CL. Our congregation will be presented with an opportunity to learn more about how to worship, make disciples, reach the lost and live in a God honoring manner. I pray that if you attend here you will avail yourself of this opportunity. If you do not attend here and want the material we will make it available for a cost. Just call here and we will give you the details. The number is 423-638-4818.
May the Lord bless you all.

Pastor H. G. Rudd