Why does the COGOP exist?

[EagerBeaver]

...the most recent LDI. I was, quite frankly - amazed - that there were no more people there last week.

Kind of hard for folks from here to take a week+ off work, fly 4,500 miles, pay for hotels and meals, etc. when they are barely holding onto their jobs and income in an ultra-high-cost-of-living area.

I am working on a MASTERS degree online... can't we video these kinds of training sessions and make them available for people in the field instead of always expecting a big event crowd?

I can watch entire courses from STANFORD on iTunes... we ought to be able to video a few great teachers and put them online.

undestood for you and folks like me (even from teh Midwest, it's a lot of expense), but isn't the "core" of the COGOP in the SE? I understand that it is a week off of worm but even considering that - I still find it amazing that there wasn't more of at least a SE contingent attending.

To me it speaks of an indication that fewer and fewer people are as reliant now on training and materials coming out of HQ as they were before. Pastor Gary alluded to the fact that there are cheaper alternatives elsewhere or better solutions for those who do not find it financially feasible to attend events such as this.

To that end I wonder what the attendance at this year's Youth Conference in Sevierville will be.

[RamboPreacher]

in today's economy, there are many colleges providing free or nearly free (non-accredited - mostly, but some are accredited) courses. I take at least half a dozen courses each year from these. but that is not what LDI is about.

that's why I mentioned the SE specifically - the main expense is travel, food and lodging. the LDI registration itself is nearly free!

[rjjunior]

Well, from a recent WWM, it seems there is a concentrated effort to try to answer this question.

Vision
The Church of God of Prophecy will be a Christ-exalting, holiness, Spirit-filled, allnations, church-planting movement with a passion for Christian union. Empowered by prayer, we will equip leaders to carry out the biblical mandate to make genuine disciples of all the peoples of the world, to the glory of Christ our Lord, Head of the church.

These words as a whole intend to mobilize our Harvest Call, focusing all we do to this end. It mentions specifically two of four vital goals that should be clearly understood in our Harvest Call:
• First, we are a church-planting movement. God has called us to birth new communities of faith in every location possible with the understanding that through these churchplants the Gospel of Christ and the Kingdom of God will spread most effectively.
• Second, we are a missionary movement intent on carrying the “good news” to all peoples of the world. Each local congregation is called to participate together toward this goal.
• Third, we must facilitate local congregations to be growing in health and impact toward God’s harvest.
• Fourth, we must target the “young harvest” if we are truly serious about making a lasting difference for the glory of God in our communities.

[dawgs10]

this afternoon my pastor who was in attendance and i will be watching dvds and going thru all the workbooks he brought back from LDI. we plan to put some of the ideas to work. the issue is not classes or traning, its follow thru at the local level.