Through consultative meetings, the brethren in the Church have the opportunity to consult Bro. Eli Soriano. This gives them the chance to unload emotional and spiritual burdens, to which Bro. Eli attends in order to give them hope and to strengthen their faith.
Consultations were first held during Quarterly Thanksgiving. For a time, 1-2 hours were allotted for the affair, but Bro. Eli saw that it wasn’t enough to give chance to all of the brethren lined-up for the consultation, so he suggested sparing one hour for the said activity every week during regular Thanksgiving.
The consultations were successful in providing the members the chance to check their faith and their service to God, and to listen to Bro. Eli’s advices for each problem presented. Bro. Eli felt later on that he needed to allocate more time to answer all of the brethren’s concerns, so he recommended having one whole Thanksgiving day dedicated for the consultation.
Even a whole day of brotherly conversation was not enough, however. So in 2007, consultative meetings were held by the district. Initially, it started in one of its biggest districts in Metro Manila, the Central District (January 7), then it moved to North District (Jan. 14), East District (Jan. 21), and West District (Jan. 28). It further proceeded to the South District (Feb. 4) and Cavite (Mar. 25).
Consultative meetings are also held on special events such as the International Youth Convention and the International Couples’ Convention. During these events, brethren from other regions of the country and from abroad hook up through the internet to send their queries through instant messaging.