January 2, 2013: During the year 2012 the "Gute Nachrichten" website had 242,892 visitors, 13.8 percent less than in 2011. Part of the decrease was the result of our Yahoo keywords advertizing being offline for about two months as the service was absorbed by Microsoft's "bing" network.

January 9, 2013: For the year 2012 the Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"] distributed a total of 59,795 publications in the German language, about one percent less than previous year. The decline was the result of "Intern" ["United News" in German] being a bi-monthly publication instead of being distributed monthly. The booklets requested most often were "Nach dem Tode – was dann?" ["What happens after death?], "Jesus Christus: Die wahre Geschichte" ["Jesus Christ: The true story"] and "Das Geheimnis Ihrer Existenz" ["What is your Destiny?"].

January 16, 2013: The January-February issue of the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is mailed to 8145 readers in 17 European countries. This issue's circulation is a 6.2 percent increase over the January 2012 issue. A unique cover was used to complement the lead article, "Does Jesus reside in your church?".

January 24, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"] currently has 207 Twitter followers for its regular updates on current events. Editorial staff member Jesmina Allaoua provides regular content updates in German and English.

January 31, 2013: Postage rates in Germany for mailing the bi-monthly publication Intern ["United News" in German] increased by 18 percent at the start of 2013. Currently there are 653 "Intern" subscribers. A circulation of 1,000 subscribers in Germany would qualify "Intern" for a special mailing rate and reduce mailing costs within Germany by 60 percent. "Intern" will now be actively promoted to achieve this circulation goal.

February 7, 2013: Donation income for the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] in January 2013 was 32 percent less than in January 2012, which was an unusually strong month. On a positive note, coworkers and donors (defined as individuals who provide financial support but do not attend UCG-Germany worship services) contributed 16.9 percent of UCG-Germany's income in January.

February 14, 2013: The term of the current Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] National Council expires on June 30, 2103. The selection process for the next National Council has now begun, with members declaring their willingness to serve on the National Council. The selection of the new National Council will be completed by the end of May.

March 4, 2013: The March-April issue of the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is mailed to 8222 readers in 17 European countries. This issue's circulation represents a 4.8 percent increase over the March 2012 issue and is also a new record high. A unique cover was used to complement the lead article written for this issue, "Is the Bibel reliable?".

March 11, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] completes the publication of the booklet "Is God a Trinity" in installments the bi-monthly publication Intern ["United News" in German]. The booklet will be published in booklet form after further editing.

March 18, 2013: United Christian Outreach Germany announces a special fundraiser to provide $1000 for Mnazakan Poghossjan to attend this year's Feast of Tabernacles in Schluchsee, Germany.

March 27, 2013: 98 people met at six locations to keep the Passover on March 24th. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, 136 people attended services in six locations: Dormagen (31), Hamburg (11), Mühldorf (19), Plauen (11), Schriesheim (31) and Winterthur in Switzerland (33). The offering was 11,503 €, which was 0.1% higher than last year's offering.

April 2, 2013: On the last day of the Feast Unleavened Bread, 119 people attended services in five locations: Dormagen (33), Hamburg (10), Munich (13), Schriesheim (30) and Winterthur in Switzerland (33). The offering (8049 €) was 9.3% higher than in 2012.

April 8, 2013: At yesterday's meeting the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] National Council approved conducting two "Open House" church services in the fall in the Dormagen and Mörfelden congregations as a test to complement last year's "Kingdom of God" seminars.

April 15 2013: At its 2013 Feast of Tabernacles site in Schluchsee, Germany, the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] will host a talent show and dance on the same evening for the first time. For the first time, the dance will be organized by church members, instead of hiring outside musicians.

April 23, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"] publishes its eleventh study paper on the internet, Hebt der Neue Bund Gottes Gesetz auf? ["Does the New Covenant Abolish the Law?"]. Several other study papers are in various stages of the editing process.

April 30, 2013: After a slow start (-32% in January) donation income for the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] for the first four months of 2013 has improved to be only -0.1% less than the same period last year. Donation income in April was 41% higher than April 2012.

May 11, 2013: The May-June issue of the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is mailed to 8267 readers in 17 European countries. This issue's circulation represents a 3.1 percent increase over the May 2012 issue and is also a new record high. A unique cover featuring Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan was used to complement the lead article written for this issue, "Will the World See a New Caliphate?".

May 16, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"] announces the selection of its National Council members for a four year term beginning July 1, 2013: Reinhard Habicht, Paul Kieffer, Rolf Marx, Kuno Pfeiffer, Ludwig Queckbörner, Kurt Schmitz and Alfred Riehle. Reinhard Habicht and Kuno Pfeiffer are serving as board members for the first time.

May 21, 2013: Statistics for the Feast of Pentecost have been finalized. 142 people met in five locations in the German-language region: 45 people met in Dormagen, and the other locations were Hamburg (9), Munich (25), Schriesheim (31) and Winterthur in Switzerland (32). The offering in the German-language region was 8118 €, a 19.0 percent decrease in comparison to last year's offering. The offering for the 3 spring Holy Days (Unleavened Bread, Pentecost) was 4.2 percent lower than last year.

May 30, 2013: United Christian Outreach Germany's special fundraiser to provide $1000 as festival assistance for Mnazakan Poghossjan to attend this year's Feast of Tabernacles in Schluchsee, Germany has reached 50 percent of its goal.

June 7, 2013: Typesetting has been completed for the next new book to be published by Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"], "Is God a Trinity?". The booklet has now been distributed to a local volunteer team of proofreaders and style checkers for final edits.

June 18, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] provides typesetting assistance to help complete lesson 1 of the Dutch-language Bible Study Course, to be published by the United Church of God-Netherlands. Final typesetting assistance will be provided for the other 11 lessons yet to be completed.

June 25, 2013: At this year's Feast of Tabernacles in Schluchsee, Germany, guest speaker Frank McCrady will conduct a marriage seminar on behalf of the United Church of God Home Office in Cincinnati, Ohio. His subject for the seminar will be "What do we really need from each other?".

June 30, 2013: Donation income for the first six months of the year was 12.8 percent less than the same period last year. After a strong month of April (+41% over last year), May (-25.4%) and June (-46.8%) were weak income months. Donations from coworkers (people not members of or directly connected to UCG-Germany) continue on a positive trend, with the percentage of those donations relative to total income being 21.2 percent in May and 17.2 percent in June.

July 8, 2013: The July-August issue of the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is mailed to 8311 readers in 17 European countries. This issue's circulation represents a 1.9 percent increase over the July 2012 issue and is also a new record high. The July issue was mailed to 7011 subscribers in Germany, 607 subscribers in Switzerland and 574 subscribers in Austria.

July 15, 2013: The total cost for printing, handling and mailing the July-August issue of "Gute Nachrichten" to our 8311 subscribers was 7171 €, approximately 0.86 € per subscriber. The cost of mailing 1300 copies of the magazine to subscribers outside of Germany was approximately the same as for mailing 7011 magazines to all subscribers in Germany.

July 23, 2013: The special United Christian Outreach Germany fundraiser to provide $1000 as festival assistance for airfare, visa and lodging expenses for Mnazakan Poghossjan to attend this year's Feast of Tabernacles in Schluchsee, Germany is now fully funded. Mr. Poghassjan speaks fluent German and is the only member of the United Church of God in Armenia. He is currently unemployed. Without additional financial assistance, he would not be able to attend the Feast.

July 31, 2013: Donation income for the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] for the first seven months of the year was 20 percent less than the same period last year. July's income was 46.1 percent less than last year's unusually strong month of July. Donations from coworkers (people not members of or directly connected to UCG-Germany) continue on a positive trend, with the percentage of those donations relative to total income being 21.2 percent in July.

August 5, 2013: 11 young people from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland attended this year's summer camp hosted by the United Church of God British Isles. Camp was in session from July 26 to August 4. Read more ».

August 12, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] provides typesetting and layout assistance to facilitate the reprinting of the Dutch-language booklet "Wat Is Uw Bestimming?" ["What is Your Destiny?"], published by the United Church of God-Netherlands.

August 19, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] publishes it first booklet in ebook format, "Der Weg zum ewigen Leben – unauffindbar?" ["The Road to Eternal Life"]. The ebook is available in both the epub and mobi (Kindle) formats.

August 28, 2013: Information on the origin of Christmas, originally published in the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine, has been quoted in a new book on the Roman-Catholic church. Read more ».

September 5, 2013: 127 people met at five locations in the German-language region for church services today on the Feast of Trumpets. In Dormagen the attendance was 34. 31 people met in Schriesheim (near Heidelberg), and 31 were in attendance in Winterthur, Switzerland. In Munich the attendance was 21. 10 people attended the afternoon service in Hamburg.

September 11, 2013: The September-October issue of the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is mailed to 8383 readers in 17 European countries. This issue's circulation represents a 2.3 percent increase over the September 2012 issue and is also a new record high. The September issue was mailed to 7067 subscribers in Germany, 613 subscribers in Switzerland and 584 subscribers in Austria.

September 20, 2013: 223 people from 10 countries meet in Schluchsee in the southern Black Forest to observe the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. Read more »

September 27, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] publishes the booklets "Lebendiger Glaube" ["You Can Have Living Faith"], "Himmel oder Hölle: Was lehrt die Bibel wirklich" ["Heaven & Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?"], "Der Weg zum ewigen Leben" ["The Road to Eternal Life"] and "Nach dem Tode – was dann?" ["What Happens After Death?"] in ebook format. The ebooks are available in both the epub and mobi (Kindle) formats.

October 4, 2013: The offering statistics for the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day in the German-language region have been finalized. The offering on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles was 14,189 €, 28.4 percent more than last year. The offering (9812 €) on the Last Great Day was 4.2 less than 2012. The total offering on the seven annual Holy Days in 2013 was 0.8 percent more than last year.

October 11, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] "sold" 20 ebooks via Amazon in September. Because of German book price regulations, the ebooks have to be offered at the minimum price 0.89 €.

October 19, 2013: 4 visitors attended the first "Open House" church service of the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] in Dormagen. The "Open House" was advertised via the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine.

October 25, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] publishes the booklets "Das Reich Gottes – eine gute Nachricht" ["The Gospel of the Kingcom of God"], "Schöpfung oder Evolution" ["Creation or Evolution?"], "Gibt es einen Gott" ["Does God Exist?"] and "Gibt es wirklich den Teufel?" ["Is There Really a Devil?"] in ebook format. The ebooks are available in both the epub and mobi (Kindle) formats.

November 2, 2013: 4 visitors attended today's "Open House" church service of the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] in Oberndorf near Salzburg, Austria. The "Open House" was advertised via the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine.

November 8, 2013: The November-December issue of the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is mailed to 8447 readers in 17 European countries. This issue's circulation represents a 3.1 percent increase over the November 2012 issue and is also a new record high. The November issue was mailed to 7119 subscribers in Germany, 627 subscribers in Switzerland and 596 subscribers in Austria.

November 15, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] "sold" 9 ebooks via Amazon in October. Another 405 ebooks were distributed free-of-charge via the Smashwords distribution site, including 191 downloads from the Apple Store and 19 downloads from Barnes & Noble.

November 23, 2013: The UCG-Germany National Council approved the 2014 budget of 225,000 €. Income is projected to be 190,000 €, with the deficit being paid from cash reserves. The budget includes funds to publish the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine for 8,500 subscribers and to print one new booklet and reprint two current booklets.

December 6, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] publishes the booklets "Biblische Prophezeiung: Ein Blick in Ihre Zukunft?" ["You Can Understand Bible Prophecy"] and "Das Buch der Offenbarung verständlich erklärt" ["The Book of Revelation Unveiled"] in ebook format. The ebooks are available in both the epub and mobi (Kindle) formats.

December 13, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] begins to distribute its booklets in ebook format via the European ebook publisher "Xinxii" and via the Google Play Store.

December 16, 2013: The Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] "sold" 10 ebooks via Amazon in November. All twelve booklets availble as ebooks are now listed on the amazon.de website.

December 23, 2013: At the end of the year the "Gute Nachrichten" magazine is being sent to 8590 subscribers in 27 countries, an increase of 4.2 percent over last year. There are 7182 subscribers in Germany, 602 in Austria and 641 in Switzerland.

December 31, 2013: Donation income for the Vereinte Kirche Gottes [UCG-Germany] in 2013 decreased by 5.6 percent in comparison to 2012. Coworkers and donors (defined as individuals who provide financial support but do not attend UCG-Germany worship services) contributed 12.3 percent of UCG-Germany's regular income during 2013.