The counting of the Omer, as it relates to determining the date of Pentecost, involves a significant historical shift within the church of God that parallels subtle societal rebranding. A quiet change was made around 1974 by the Worldwide Church of God regarding how to count to Pentecost when Passover falls on a Sabbath. This change, unlike the well-publicized shift from a Monday to a Sunday Pentecost, was not announced or adequately explained to the congregation. It mandated that the day of the Wavesheaf offering must always fall within the Feast of Unleavened Bread, altering the traditional method of counting from the day after the weekly Sabbath within Unleavened Bread. Scriptural instructions for counting the Omer are found in Leviticus 23:15-16, which direct individuals to count fifty days from the day after the Sabbath, starting with the Wavesheaf offering, to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Deuteronomy 16:9 further specifies to begin counting seven weeks from the time the sickle is put to the grain, aligning the start of the count with the barley harvest. The context of these instructions, placed sequentially after the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Leviticus 23, suggests the relevant Sabbath is the weekly one within this feast. Historically, this method, often referred to as the Sadducean method, allowed the Wavesheaf day to fall just after Unleavened Bread if the weekly Sabbath coincided with the last day of the feast, maintaining consistency in counting from the day after the Sabbath. The 1974 change, however, introduced a requirement that the Wavesheaf day must occur within Unleavened Bread, even in years when Passover is on the Sabbath. This adjustment, reflected in internal church communications and publications from that year, was based on the premise that the Wavesheaf offering should not fall outside the feast's duration. Despite recognition by some within the church that more study was needed, the decision was implemented quietly, and inertia has since sustained this practice as the norm. This shift disregarded the historical Sadducean practice and the scriptural emphasis on the harvest's start, which conflicts with performing work on a holy day, raising questions about the sanctity of God's appointed times.