German member Albert Wilhelm, Paul Kieffer  and Mnazakan Poghossjan in Schluchsee.

A group from Schluchsee enjoys a day outing  to nearby France.

Ingrid Vierle from Munich and Brigitte Behnisch  enjoy the dance evening in Schluchsee.

165 people from 7 countries kept the Feast of Tabernacles from October 7 to 14 in the scenic town Schluchsee, located in the southern Black Forest about 25 miles north of the German-Swiss border. Most of those in attendance were from Germany, along with worshippers from Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States and special guest Mnazakan Poghossjan from Armenia.

Donations made to a special UCOG fundraiser provided the airfare for Mr. Poghossjan to fly from the Armenian capital Eriwan to Frankfurt. Mr. Poghossjan is the only member of the United Church of God in Armenia. When Mr. Poghossjan submitted his application for his visa to attend the Feast, the German embassy in Eriwan originally told him that his visa interview would be scheduled for October 24th. UCOG President Paul Kieffer faxed the embassy to explain that the purpose of Mr. Poghossjan's visit to Germany was to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. The visa interview was rescheduled to allow Mr. Poghossjan to obtain his visa and fly to Frankfurt on October 5th.

Beautiful weather provided a pleasant atmosphere for various Feast activities, including a day trip to ride a nostalgic steam engine railroad and visit the Rhine River waterfall in Neuhausen, Switzerland. A children's party, a senior's activity, a go-cart race for youth and the traditional dance evening with live dance music rounded out the social activities during the Feast.

In addition to daily worship services, Feastgoers in Schluchsee attended two "Ambassador Bible Center" lectures conducted by guest speaker Roy Holladay, former President of the United Church of God and currently the pastor of the Cleveland, Tennessee church. Mr. Holladay's topic for his two lectures was "The Continuation of the Church", highlighting the need to train a generation of new leaders and transfer responsibility to them.

After a short break following services on the afternoon of the first day of the feast, Feastgoers viewed a 35 minute Powerpoint presentation (1.1 MB) highlighting the first ten years of the Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"]. The church was officially registered on August 13, 1996.

With messages being preached alternatingly in German and English, a team of translators provided a valuable service for those who did not understand either English or German. The translation was made available via FM radio, with a small FM transmitter provided last year by UCOG. In addition to guest speaker Roy Holladay, two visitors from the United gave sermonettes during the Feast: Philip Aust and Carl Rothenbacher. Carl spoke in German.

As part of its ongoing speaker evaluation program, the Vereinte Kirche Gottes ["UCG-Germany"] asked Dr. Philip Aust, Assistant Professor of Communication at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia, to evaluate the speakers from the German-language region at this year's Feast in Schluchsee. For his evaluations Dr. Aust agreed to use the evaluation form developed by the Vereinte Kirche Gottes and used by its members in evaluating elders and other speakers who give sermons at church services.

On the final day of the Feast a warm round of applause was the response to the announcement that Darmstadt congregation members Jörg Habich and Helga Moos had become engaged during the Feast. Jörg was baptized during last year's Feast in Schluchsee.

• Paul Kieffer, October 19, 2006