Behind the Work
Behind the Work takes a look at the news of the Philadelphia Church of God—the organization that publishes this magazine—headquartered in Edmond, Okla. This issue we discuss two other PCG projects, the Key of David television program and Imperial College, as well as our foreign-language publication department.
TV Program Stronger Than Ever
Since the Key of David television program returned to the airwaves on Nov. 2, 2003, after its eight-month hiatus, it has enjoyed the heaviest response ever.
The episode “Mystery of the Church,” which aired December 5, generated the second-largest response ever for the program. The “Mystery of Israel” episode was number one in religious-programming ratings for Sunday morning, January 11, in the Philadelphia market. It even received higher ratings that day than the Fox News Sunday program, which aired at the same time in that city.
The program’s own call center has experienced tremendous call volume—with 75 percent of the calls coming from first-time contacts. To handle the increased response, the call center has expanded its in-home operator base—which uses the volunteer help of pcg members.
The Key of David has a potential audience of over 350 million people worldwide—with the best time slots in its history—covering the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Australasia. Representatives are working to secure additional contracts with high-quality stations in Europe, South America, the Middle East, the Philippines, Africa and Britain.
College Campus Develops
The Imperial College of Edmond campus continues to develop—with the purchase of an additional 10 acres to what used to be a 160-acre campus, and the near-completion of the mail processing center.
The mail center, a 17,400-square-foot warehouse, will store the millions of pieces of literature inventory and also house the mail processing and television departments of the pcg’s headquarters operations. The television department will film The Key of David in its new studio on the second level of the building.
These moves will free up much-needed office space in the pcg’s office suite in downtown Edmond for the editorial staff, the Trumpet News Bureau and the business department. These operations will continue there until an administration building is constructed on the Imperial campus.
Foreign Language Department Busy After Copyright Victory
When the pcg won the copyrights to 19 works of Herbert W. Armstrong (most of which can be viewed in English on www.theTrumpet.com), part of the out-of-court settlement with the Worldwide Church of God included the rights to all the foreign-language versions of these works.
The pcg’s 55-strong, mostly volunteer team of translators is working to make Mr. Armstrong’s literature available in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian and Spanish.
Since Spanish-speaking subscribers comprise the largest percentage of the pcg’s foreign-language demographic, the Church intends to print hard copies of these books and booklets in Spanish. Three are already in printed form: Mystery of the Ages, Pagan Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which? and The Seven Laws of Success.
For the other five languages, the literature will eventually be published online—available for viewing, downloading or printing. Currently, the plan is to launch one language at a time. Those without Internet access may contact their nearest pcg regional office for a laser-printed copy.
The Trumpet magazine is currently translated into Spanish, German, Italian and French.
