OHIO—“I just learned that you come from many different areas of small congregations,” commented a hotel event coordinator to Philadelphia Church of God Pastor General Gerald Flurry. “You don’t see each other regularly — and yet, when you came here this weekend, you are just like family!”

This was a compliment paid not just to the visiting pastor general but to 274 members from nine northeast U.S. region congregations who gathered in Columbus, Ohio, for the Sabbath of May 31 and Pentecost the following day. Some traveled as long as six hours, and the pastor general and his wife flew aboard the PCG corporate jet from Oklahoma to visit. Brethren said they felt blessed with two full days of kingly fellowship, instruction and much-needed connection with Mr. Flurry.

“Bringing so many people together for multiple days of services created a powerful, feast-like experience,” Kentucky deacon Donnie Belden said. “The presence of the pastor general throughout the entire weekend further elevated that feeling, deeply reinforcing morale and unity across the region.”

Mr. Flurry’s Sabbath message expounded on lessons from the second volume of The Last Lion Winston Churchill biography (Alone, 1932-1940). “God has called people that can stand alone,” he said. “You’re not going to get much sympathy from the world when you obey God. Our reward is elsewhere. Fortunately, we can’t lose if we stay with God.”

Mr. Flurry’s Pentecost message focused on using the power of God’s Spirit to grow and overcome. He said that Herbert W. Armstrong emphasized that Christians with the Holy Spirit must grow in it every day.

“That’s not an exaggeration,” he said, adding that if the inner man is being renewed as it should be, there will be daily growth and that there’s no way Satan can overwhelm and overcome us if we’re using God’s power: We’ll beat him every day.

“It was a very uplifting visit from our pastor general with a sharp focus on our calling,” Ohio deacon Scott Flory said. The weekend concluded with the gleaming Gulfstream G450 disappearing westward into a vibrant orange sunset.