Haggai speaks about one “that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”
Although The Tidings does not earn anything, our bank account has a hole in it and is now empty. This is due to the rising cost of printing and postage and the fact that so many of our readers are non-paying subscribers.
Counting the years that The Tidings was known as the Junior Christadelphian we are now 39 years old but unless something drastic happens soon we may not live to see 40.
We appreciate the many kind letters which we receive every year telling us how much you enjoy The Tidings but there are so many who seem to forget to send in their renewal subscription that we wonder if those who enjoy it are really in the minority.
There are a great many Christadelphian magazines published on a regular basis and we recognize that most if not all of them are bigger and better than The Tidings. This little magazine is still the only Christadelphian publication in our fellowship printed by and for the North American Christadelphian body.
We are now making an appeal to the brotherhood to see if we should survive or close up shop.
Many ecclesias faithfully send us the news of what is happening in their meetings and many tell us that this is the first thing they turn to when they receive their copy of The Tidings. We appreciative and enjoy the close ties we have with so many brethren and sisters who have supported us so faithfully and so long.
If we are to continue, we will need to hear from you before the end of the year. Although we are out of money, we feel an obligation to finish this year of witness and God willing, we will put out the November-December 1976 issue. Private donations will have to pay for this final issue but we will not be able to continue past this year unless there is a real response from you, our subscribers, that you want to see it continue.
Once a subscriber, our policy has been to continue to send The Tidings even though we do not receive the next year’s subscription price. Over the years our list of free subscribers has grown to astronomical proportions. Of course, we always want to send it free to anyone who cannot afford it and we will continue to do so if we in fact, do continue.
If we are to publish in 1977 we will need to raise the subscription price to $4.00 and we will need to have more of you who receive it let us know that you really do want the little magazine.
Please consider this article as your personal invoice for $4.00 (or more if you care to donate so others may also receive it). Your response or lack of it, will determine our fate.
In our last issue for 1976 we will let you know the results of your response. Your $4.00 will be used for next year’s magazines and if we die at the end of 1976 we will return the amount of money each has sent us since we would not want you to pay for a magazine you did not receive. If each of our subscribers could interest just one other person in subscribing, then we would double our number and our future would be secure, with God’s help.
God has richly blessed us and we are thankful for the years we could talk to you through the pages of The Tidings. We will now await your answer to see if we should continue.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One