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Early Bulletins and Letters to the Members
NB: A number of the early Bulletins and letters are missing from the collection. If you have any of them, please send my way. Presumably GCI has them. See the information in the HWA Papers Collection section of this site.
Information on these early Bulletins was contained in The Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong. See below.*
| Associated Information |
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Item |
Comment |
| History of Worldwide Church of God Publications and Booklets | Magazines, newsletters, books, booklets - dates of publication |
| Lists and Charts of the Early Years of the Ministry of Herbert W Armstrong | |
| Herbert W Armstrong's Early Beliefs and Doctrines | |
| Coworker Letters 1934-1986 | Some of those below are not part of this collection. |
| Photographs of early Coworker Bulletins and Good News | The originals probably reside with GCI. |
| The Bible Advocate articles | Articles Mr Armstrong wrote in 1928 for this Church of God (Seventh Day) periodical |
| The Messenger of Truth | Mr Armstrong was associate editor for this publication in 1931. His explanation of it is here |
| Bulletins 1933-1940s |
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Item |
Comment |
| Photographs of early Bulletins of the Churches of God in Oregon (5 May 1933 etc) | The originals probably reside with GCI |
| Photographs of early Bulletins of the Churches of God in Oregon (5 May 1933 etc) | Attempts at reading the text in these photographs is difficult, but some text has been recovered |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (April 1933) | Vol 1, No 1. I am seeking a copy of this issue |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (1 Oct 1933) | Vol 1, No ? All I have is this extract. |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (April 1934) | Vol 1, No 12. |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (March 1935) | Vol 3, No 1. |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (Jan 1938) | Vol 4, No 1. This is a photograph of the first page extracted from The Autobiography, Vol 1 (1986 edition) - it is difficult to read. All I have is this extract and the following statement: “A bulletin sent to local Oregon church members, dated January, 1938, announced The Plain Truth mailing list was now 1050.” (Autobiography, Vol 1 (1973 edition), p. 539) |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (June 1938) | Vol 4, No 2. There appears to be a misnumbering as there is another June issue that is a no. 12 (below). Either the year is wrong or it could be another month in 1938? Hopefully this can be sorted some day. |
| The Bulletin of the Churches of God in Oregon (June 1938) | Vol 4, No 12. This could be misnumbered and may be no. 2. |
| Good News, Good News Letters and Coworker Letters 1934-1940s | |
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Item |
Comment |
| Coworker Ltr (20 Dec 1934) | |
| Good News (formerly The Bulletin) (Feb-April 1939) | Vol 5, No 1. Retyped, Word version (pages 1-7 only). It was not published again until 1951. Not to be confused with Good News Letter. Further information on its contents below** |
| Good News (formerly The Bulletin) (Feb-April 1939) | Vol 5, No 1. Original PDF (pages 1-8 only. Pages 9-13 missing). |
| Coworker Ltr (13 Sept 1939) | |
| Good News Letter (1940) | Exact date unknown. How to Figure Passover is the article featured in this edition. The article formed the basis for the Hebrew Calendar understanding of the Churches of God. Further information here. |
| Good News Letter (29 March 1943) | No. 1. Missing. |
| Good News Letter (20 April 1943) | No. 2. |
| Good News Letter (8 June, 1943) | No. 2 [should be no. 3]. Retyped, PDF version (Word version here). How to Figure Pentecost is the article featured in this edition. |
| Good News Letter (8 June, 1943) | No. 2 [should be no. 3]. Copy of original. How to Figure Pentecost is the article featured in this edition. This article is obsolete as the Church changed from a Monday to a Sunday Pentecost in 1974. Further information here. |
* Information from The Autobiography:
“I have not mentioned it before,
but in April, 1933, during the Salem meetings, I had started the issuing of a
monthly Bulletin for members of the conference. It was
mimeographed. At Salem, I had the Bulletin printed at the local
mimeograph shop. At the Fisher home, after starting the Firbutte school
meetings, I had borrowed a typewriter, and the Eugene mimeograph dealer
permitted me to use one of his mimeographs without charge — though I had to buy
the stencils and paper. These costs were paid by the Conference treasury.” (p.
444)
“The October 1, 1933 Bulletin carries
the report that "with the Fisher and Ellis families, more than 20 signified
their desire to establish a new Sabbath-keeping Church of God in this
district."” (p. 451)
"Prior to February, 1939, I had been issuing a short
mimeographed bulletin for the church members in Oregon. It was called "The
BULLETIN of The Churches of God in Oregon." It had started during the
days when I was trying to work with Oregon brethren of the Sardis era...
The editorial in that first issue of The GOOD NEWS had
the following:
"The GOOD NEWS makes its appearance, successor to The BULLETIN, with a definite mission and purpose. Its mission is to feed the Church of God with the spiritual manna — to minister to and edify the brethren — to help them to grow in grace and in knowledge."" (Herbert W Armstrong, "And Now, Again - An New Good News," Good News, February 1963, p. 3)
**"Did
Christ Reorganize The Church? appeared as the lead article in The Good News of
the Kingdom, formerly "The Bulletin," described as "a magazine of edification
for the Church of God," Volume V, Number 1, February, 1939. Beginning on page
four of the issue, April, 1939, is the date given on the header. The article was
published on 8.5 x 14 inch paper, mimeographed. Other articles in this 13- page
issue include "How God Works in Saving a Single Soul!" "A Heart-to-Heart Talk
With the Editor," "Are You Being Tested on This Point?" "One Hundred Thousand
Hear the Message Every Week," and "How to Be an Overcomer." In a box on page 11
of the issue is a notice: "GREAT CAMP MEETING to be held this Fall at Eugene. A
Feast of Tabernacles Camp Meeting will be held at Eugene, Ore., September 27th
to Oct. 5th, incl. Leading ministers are planning to come. Plan NOW to come,
yourself, to this spiritual FEAST."" (Richard C Nickels, Early Writings of
Herbert W Armstrong, p. 214)
