Dear Members, Co-Workers and Friends,
This year some Church members had to stay home due to sickness and other health-related issues, or they were unable, due to long distances, to attend the Feast site which God had designated to be in Germany for members of the Church of the Eternal God.
Normally, Church members are instructed to attend the designated Feast site to spend the Feast together with other members.
We read in Deuteronomy 16:11:
“You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.”
Deuteronomy 16:13-15 adds:
“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.”
Deuteronomy 14:22-25 instructs us as follows:
“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.”
These are the rules which we are to follow, but God also knows that there may be circumstances which would prevent someone—or the entire family—from attending the designated Feast site.
And so, we read, for example, in Exodus 23:14-17:
“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread… and the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost]… and the Feast of Ingathering [Feast of Tabernacles] at the end of the year… Three times in the year [that is, at the three seasons] all your males shall appear before the LORD God.”
Deuteronomy 16:16 adds:
“Three times a year [during the three annual Festival seasons] all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”
The emphasis on “all your males” allows for circumstances when the “females” might not be able to attend, due to sickness or other health-related circumstances, but it is the understanding and teaching of the Church of the Eternal God that the same would be true for a male who could not attend, while the female and her children could do so.
As mentioned, the Church of the Eternal God kept the Feast this year in Germany, but not all members could travel there. However, God provided opportunities for those who could not go there, or who could not leave their homes at all, due to their individual circumstances. And as we will show, they still had a good Feast, as they followed God’s direction as much as they could.
My wife Delia and I live close to Penticton, Canada. Since Delia has difficulty sleeping or staying in a hotel due to health reasons, we had the opportunity to host the Feast in our home this year for those who could not travel to Germany, but who were still able to travel in a more limited way.
Penticton was a feast site for the former, now defunct Worldwide Church of God for many years and it was used by the Church of the Eternal God in 2002. The group of Church members was able to watch the entire Church services on TV when live English services from Germany were available. In Germany, services were conducted, alternately, in German and in English. For the services conducted in German, the Church had prerecorded and prepared a list of English sermons and sermonettes which were posted on YouTube. This list was also available for our scattered Church members who were unable to travel at all to Germany or to Penticton, and it was made available for our brethren in Australia.
For song services, our group in Canada went to a Herbert W. Armstrong website where the hymns were all available so we got to pick certain hymns, and those men in attendance were able to give opening and closing prayers.
After services, we spent time talking about the messages and we got to know each other better. After a few hours of fellowship, the guests went to their hotel to rest up or shop, and then we met in restaurants to have a pleasant meal and fellowship.
We also enjoyed watching the dance in Germany on our cell phones, and we went on one outing on a train ride.
We have pointed out all of this to show that even though not being an ideal situation, those who were not able to attend the Feast site in Germany were still able to keep and enjoy the Feast as much as possible. We pray, of course, for God’s speedy and powerful intervention and healing for all those who could not attend this year at the designated Feast site in Germany for health reasons and we are exploring the possibility of an additional Feast site in the USA in 2026, hoping that we will see all of you next year at one of our designated Feast sites.
Your brother in Christ,
Rene Messier (Canada)